Peak Travel Season, Peak Accident Season: Hebei’s 2013 Travel Insurance Tips

Adapted from a travel insurance advisory published on June 28, 2013.

July and August are both peak travel season and peak accident season. After analysing travel insurance cases from 2010 to 2012, the quality supervision office of Hebei’s tourism bureau issued an advisory: travel risks concentrate in accommodation, transport and sightseeing — with transport the riskiest, since so much of any trip is spent in vehicles. The good news: cases fell year on year, showing rising safety awareness and management standards.

How do agency liability and personal accident insurance differ?

Travel-agency liability insurance is mandatory by law and covers only the agency’s legal compensation liability to tourists; accidents that are not the agency’s fault are not covered at all — it can never replace personal travel accident insurance for the traveller. The bureau advised package travellers to check their agency’s liability cover, and independent travellers to buy travel accident plus emergency rescue insurance themselves.

What counts as an “accident” in insurance terms?

An insurable accident has four elements: it must be external, sudden, unintentional and non-illness — all four must hold; accident insurance protects the traveller personally, and any incident meeting the four tests qualifies for a claim regardless of fault — a strict but clear test. Tourist Wang’s case proved the point: a fall on an eight-day Taiwan trip left him with an open wrist fracture costing over RMB14,500 — with no travel accident cover bought beforehand, he bore the entire loss himself.

What are the steps to file a claim?

On package tours report to your guide immediately; travelling independently, rescue yourself and call for help, then report to the insurer; collect evidence such as hospital certificates, test receipts and accident reports; keep original medical receipts; get the insurer’s consent before transferring to a home hospital; and file the claim promptly after treatment. In detail:

1. On a package tour, report to your guide at once (especially if alone in your room or on the road); travelling independently, rescue yourself or call for help, and report to the insurer promptly;
2. Collect evidence yourself or with the guide’s help — hospital certificates, test receipts, accident reports — and keep them safe;
3. Keep original medical receipts and itemised bills for the claim;
4. If you need to transfer to a hospital back home, get the insurer’s consent first and ask the treating hospital for a written transfer report;
5. After treatment ends, file the claim with the insurer and complete the claims process.

When buying, also check the policy essentials: coverage period, scope, exclusions, benefit amounts and medical-expense limits.