Insurance is a must for Vietnam, as the cost of major medical treament is prohibitive. A travel insurance policy to cover theft, loss and medical proplems is the best bet

Unfortunately things can go wrong on holiday. You could fall ill or have an accident; you could have money or luggage stolen; your visit might be cancelled or cut short through injury or illness; your family may need to fly out to be with you if there is a serious incident.  

Costs - particularly medical treatment costs - can easily run into thousands of dollars. Local medical facilities are unable to provide the full range of medical services available in developed countries making evacuation a requirement in many non life threatening medical emergencies. The costs of relocation as well as local international standard care are extremely high. In the most serious emergencies, you may not be positioned to authorise payment for an appropriate medical response that is urgently required. This may delay or prevent the provision of critical and possibly life saving medical attention. 

Market surveys show that many people don't take insurance. People believe that their credit card accident cover, home insurance, or private health cover is sufficient. However, it is unlikely that these will give adequate cover. If you do not already have a policy we urge you to take out insurance as soon as you make a booking with us to ensure you have adequate cancellation cover.

Know what your policy covers and check that the cover is adequate.

If in doubt ask your insurer.

• medical and health cover for an injury or sudden illness abroad – more infomation on medical and health cover 

• 24 hour emergency service and assistance 

• personal liability cover in case you’re sued for causing injury or damaging property 

• lost and stolen possessions cover 

• cancellation and curtailment (cutting short your trip) cover 

• extra cover for activities that are commonly excluded from standard policies, such as jet skiing.

The policy should cover the whole time that you’re away.

Your policy may also have:

• personal accident cover 

• legal expenses cover 

• financial protection if your airline goes bankrupt before or during your trip. 

Many insurers will extend cover if you ask them. If not, shop around for a specialist policy.

 

Always check the conditions and exclusions of your policy:

• most policies will not cover drink or drug-related incidents 

• you must take reasonable care of your possessions or your policy will not cover you.

• shop around to find a good price and the right product rather than opting to travel without cover 

• cheaper policies will usually have less cover – for some the price seems most important, but is it worth the initial saving? 

• consider annual multi-trip insurance if you make several trips a year – you’ll save time and money.

A good insurance policy will cover you for cancelling or cutting a trip short. Check carefully to see exactly what you’re covered for:

• accident 

• illness 

• pregnancy (unknown when you buy the policy) 

• jury service or witness summons 

• home emergency: fire, storm or flood, burglary 

• redundancy 

• strikes 

• bad weather – affects the departure of flights and ships. 

 

• will refund the full cost of your holiday 

• pays out if you need to cancel or cut short a trip because you fall ill for example 

• covers pre-paid expenses such as excursions 

• covers extra costs incurred to get home

If you accidentally cause an injury to someone or damage their property they may sue you. Good travel insurance will cover you for personal liability.

 

Travel insurance can cover a personal accident payment made for permanent disability or death.

You can normally choose the limit in your policy. Limits for single items such as cameras and jewellery can vary from as little as US$250 up to US$1000 or more. Check these limits are adequate and realistic.

You should report a loss to the Police within 24 hours. Proof of notification will be required when you make your claim.

All insurance policies say that you must take care of your belongings at all times. If you don’t, the policy may not pay out.

Tip: take as much care of your property as if it were uninsured.

Do not rely on compensation from an airline if it loses your luggage.

By law, airlines only have to pay a specified minimum value per kilo of lost luggage. This is unlikely to cover the full value of your things.

Taking out legal expenses cover will help you to pursue compensation or damages following personal injury while you're abroad – very important in countries without a legal aid system