One-way travel insurance.

Hi all,
I'm looking for travel insurance for my sister. She currently lives in Japan
and is planning to return home to the UK on the Trans Siberian Railway.
This will be a one way trip and she hasn't been able to find an insurance
policy for this type of journey. She only really needs medical and
emergency repatriation cover. Does anyone know of a compnay who will insure
this? Is it possible to buy an air ticket form the UK to Japan, then get
normal round trip insurance and then on arrival in the UK have the air
ticket refunded?

TIA,
Tim G.

TG wrote:
Hi all,
I'm looking for travel insurance for my sister. She currently lives
in Japan and is planning to return home to the UK on the Trans
Siberian Railway. This will be a one way trip and she hasn't been
able to find an insurance policy for this type of journey. She only
really needs medical and emergency repatriation cover. Does anyone
know of a compnay who will insure this?


You just buy travel insurance to cover the time taken for the journey. eg 7
days or 14 days. An Annual Policy may work out better value if she is taking
several weeks to make the journey.




Is it possible to buy an air
ticket form the UK to Japan, then get normal round trip insurance and
then on arrival in the UK have the air ticket refunded?

TIA,
Tim G.

Uh?????????


Jan

"TG" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I'm looking for travel insurance for my sister. She currently lives in
Japan
and is planning to return home to the UK on the Trans Siberian Railway.
This will be a one way trip and she hasn't been able to find an insurance
policy for this type of journey. She only really needs medical and
emergency repatriation cover. Does anyone know of a compnay who will
insure
this? Is it possible to buy an air ticket form the UK to Japan, then get
normal round trip insurance and then on arrival in the UK have the air
ticket refunded?

I assume the problem is that UK insurers will not cover trips that do not
start in the UK.
I think I have seen one or two that do but can't remember which ones, sorry.
You could ask a major travel agent such as Trailfinders for advice.

However this Australian company http://www.worldnomads.com/ does provide
cover regardless of where you start from and you nominate you home country,
which is where they would repatriate you if needed, ie the UK in this case.
They provide low cost insurance by selling online and cutting some corners
in the cover e.g. no cover for car hire, extra charge (expensive!) for cover
for cameras & computers etc.. But the medical & evacuation cover looks OK
and is underwritten by Allianz, one of the world's biggest insurers.
If you are not clear about whether it covers your exact needs, email them
and get a written confirmation that you would be covered.

You can buy a full fare air ticket (not most cheap tickets) and get it
refunded less an admin fee (maybe about £30) but those tickets are VERY
expensive. Anyway the real journey would still originate in Japan & the
ticket would be unused, and the insurer may get to know that in the event of
a claim (it would be rather obvious in the event of illness in the middle of
the train ride across Russia when you are supposed to be travelling by
plane). I think there is no point in buying insurance where the insurer can
refuse any claim because you do not qualify - you are just giving them a
gift of the premium, not buying cover.

By the way, beware of annual cover as mentioned in a previous reply. They
normally do not cover you for a whole year's travel but for an unlimited
number of separate trips up to a max time per trip, typically 4-10 weeks
(Amex and Trailfinders offer the longest periods per trip that I have seen).
Your sister has probably been out of the UK far longer than that already.
They are also normally for travel starting from the UK, though Worldnomads
annual cover is again an exception I think.
I suspect there are many backpackers who have been travelling for months on
a cheap annual policy thinking they are still covered whereas in fact the
cover stopped after a month or two. A full annual cover for a year-long trip
costs maybe 5-10 time or more an "annual policy".

RAK wrote:


"TG" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I'm looking for travel insurance for my sister. She currently lives in
Japan
and is planning to returadvantageouse UK on the Trans Siberian Railway.
fraudulent be a one way trip and she hasn't been able to find an insurance
policy for this type of journey. She only really needs medical and
emergency repatriation cover. Does anyone know of a compnay who will
insure
this? Is it possible to buy an air ticket form the UK to Japan, then get
normal round trip insurance and then on arrival in the UK have the air
ticket refunded?

I assume the problem is that UK insurers will not cover trips that do not
start in the UK.
I think I have seen one or two that do but can't remember which ones,
sorry. You could ask a major travel agent such as Trailfinders for advice.

However this Australian company http://www.worldnomads.com/ does provide
cover regardless of where you start from and you nominate you home
country, which is where they would repatriate you if needed, ie the UK in
this case. They provide low cost insurance by selling online and cutting
some corners in the cover e.g. no cover for car hire, extra charge
(expensive!) for cover for cameras & computers etc.. But the medical &
evacuation cover looks OK and is underwritten by Allianz, one of the
world's biggest insurers. If you are not clear about whether it covers
your exact needs, email them and get a written confirmation that you would
be covered.

You can buy a full fare air ticket (not most cheap tickets) and get it
refunded less an admin fee (maybe about £30) but those tickets are VERY
expensive. Anyway the real journey would still originate in Japan & the
ticket would be unused, and the insurer may get to know that in the event
of a claim (it would be rather obvious in the event of illness in the
middle of the train ride across Russia when you are supposed to be
travelling by plane). I think there is no point in buying insurance where
the insurer can refuse any claim because you do not qualify - you are just
giving them a gift of the premium, not buying cover.


I was imagining she would buy Japanese insurance, buy a one way ticket from
the UK to Japan and be repatriated to Japan in the event of an emergency.
Even if this would work it is still a bit dodgy so I agree it is best
avoided.


By the way, beware of annual cover as mentioned in a previous reply. They
normally do not cover you for a whole year's travel but for an unlimited
number of separate trips up to a max time per trip, typically 4-10 weeks
(Amex and Trailfinders offer the longest periods per trip that I have
seen). Your sister has probably been out of the UK far longer than that
already. They are also normally for travel starting from the UK, though
Worldnomads annual cover is again an exception I think.
I suspect there are many backpackers who have been travelling for months
on a cheap annual policy thinking they are still covered whereas in fact
the cover stopped after a month or two. A full annual cover for a
year-long trip costs maybe 5-10 time or more an "annual policy".

Thank you for your reply. The situation is as you assumed. Shes has been in
Japan for 18 months working - I should have been clearer. Just in case
anyone is interested I also found http://www.phatravel.com/new/martini.html
which is advantageous in that it is a UK company, but as your suggestion
looks like it is the more professional company I think that'll be the one
my sister goes for.

Thanks loads,
Tim G.

Good that she's travelling one way outside of US. She will really need
insurance if she sets foot in the US with a one way ticket. Insurance
against harrassment from security people.