What is Annual Travel Insurance?
Annual Travel Insurance (also known as Multi-Trip Travel Insurance) is an insurance policy that provides cover for those who travel regularly and often.
Annual Travel Insurance cuts the hassle and works out to be overall cheaper than taking out travel insurance policies on each trip, as you submit and pay once for 12 months’ worth of coverage.
What does Travel Insurance cover?
Annual travel cover could be a good choice for anyone who makes two or more trips in a 12-month span. For those taking a one-off holiday, single trip cover might be better.
Benefits of an annual policy include:
Ease
This provides for one less thing to worry about as you can travel at a moment’s notice without having to do the administration of purchasing Travel Insurance.
Affordability
If you aware in advance of having to take several trips a year, it can be cheaper than paying for multiple single trips.
Suitability
With several types of annual multi-trip policy targeting different regions of the world, you only need to pay for insurance for the areas you know you’ll be visiting.
Flexibility
Insurance providers offer a range of cover options, so you can choose between a typical policy and one with much higher limits for pay-outs.
That means if you travel once a year, a single-trip policy could be cost-efficient. However, if you travel two or more times a year, you’ll probably find that the best way to save money is by signing up for an annual multi-trip policy.
What is not covered in Annual Travel Insurance?
Every insurance policy has a list of exclusions that an insurance provider will not pay out claims for. You should always read the policy documents carefully before buying them to ensure your personal needs are covered. Exclusions may include:
- Treatment if you have a pre-existing medical condition.
- Any sports that are played in a professional capacity or in competition.
- Extreme sports such as big wave surfing, cliff jumping, horse jumping, potholing, ultra-marathons, biathlons, triathlons and stunt riding.
- Strikes that were public knowledge when you bought your insurance.
- Claims arising from travel to a place where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has advised against travel, prior to your trip.
- Claims resulting from drug or alcohol consumption.
Frequently Asked Questions
About Annual Travel Insurance In Singapore
- Ideally, you should get travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked your flight and accommodation. This is because your airline might cancel your flight before you leave. You can qualify for trip cancellation coverage, depending on the terms of your policy.
- The cost of annual travel insurance in Singapore can vary, depending on your age, the extent of your stay overseas, level of coverage or any ongoing promotions that the insurer has. But you can generally expect to pay anywhere between $500 to $3,000 (in SGD) for global coverage.
Many insurance companies offer COVID-19 coverage on annual travel insurance plans in Singapore. Some provide wider coverage, but you can generally expect the following benefits:
- Reimbursement for overseas medical expenses incurred for up to 90 days since diagnosis
- Trip cancellation benefit
- Trip alteration
- Overseas COVID-19 quarantine coverage
- Early return home
- Annual Multi-Trip Plans can cover multiple trips during the 12 months period. This will be subjected to a maximum of 90 days per trip.
- Getting single-trip travel insurance is much more affordable than annual travel insurance if you rarely take trips overseas. But if you’re planning multiple trips in a year, you’ll get better value by buying annual travel coverage.
- Annual group travel insurance is designed for groups of travellers who frequently travel together, such as corporate employees, sports teams, or student groups, and provides coverage for multiple trips throughout the year.
The specific coverage and benefits can vary depending on the policy and insurance provider, but annual travel insurance typically covers the following:
- Trip cancellation benefit (for flight cancellations, delays, and interruptions)
- Overseas medical expenses
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Coverage for pre-existing medical conditions (depending on insurer)
- Emergency repatriation due to political unrest or natural disasters
- Theft of money or personal belongings
- Individual or family cover
- Yes, some insurers offer coverage for cruises too.
- Yes. Some insurers offer trip cancellation payouts for accommodation expenses like hotel bookings, tickets, airfare, and other non-refundable costs.