I traveled for 3 years before realizing my insurance was useless

I traveled for 3 years before realizing my insurance was useless. Last spring I was in Chiang Mai and got hit with a bad case of food poisoning. Ended up in the hospital for two days, thought no big deal since I had travel insurance. When the bill came I pulled up my policy and found out it only covered me for 30 days per trip. I had been bouncing around Southeast Asia for 6 months straight on one continuous journey. The insurance company denied the whole claim, said I needed a return home every 30 days to reset the coverage. So i paid $1,400 out of pocket for something I thought was covered. That moment in the hospital lobby reading the fine print on my phone made me realize I never actually understood what I was paying for. The agent I bought it from just said it was good for digital nomads and I never questioned it. Now I always ask about trip duration limits and read the policy PDF before buying. Has anyone else found gaps in their coverage that almost ruined a trip?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_butler502d ago

Thirty days? Wow, that's a ridiculous rule. Makes you wonder what else they sneak in the fine print.

blakem821d ago

Honestly I used to think stuff like this was just people overreacting to fine print. Like yeah companies have weird rules but who actually reads all that stuff anyway. But thirty days to file a claim for a damaged package? That changed my mind real quick. I had a package show up with a hole in the side last week and by the time I got around to opening it and seeing the damage it was already past that window. They told me tough luck pretty much and I just sat there feeling like an idiot for not checking sooner. Now I'm definitely one of those people who goes through terms with a fine tooth comb because if they're hiding something like that who knows what else is buried in there. It makes you feel really stupid when you realize you basically signed away your rights without knowing it.