Golf Vacation & Travel Tips

What about Health and Travel Insurance?

Options and Advice for the Golfing Traveler

With the enthusiasm surrounding your upcoming golf vacation, it can be difficult to plant your feet firmly back on solid ground and contemplate the idea of needing special insurance coverage for your trip. More than likely you already have various forms of insurance that will provide you with some type of protection…whether a homeowners policy that will cover the replacement of your golf clubs if they're lost or damaged "off-site" or a health insurance plan that safeguards you even while traveling.

Look over your current policies to verify your existing coverage and, if necessary, consult with your insurance agent to clarify your understanding of such protection and how it relates to your vacation. You might discover that you need to increase the coverage associated with your golfing equipment if its value exceeds the preset limit. Also, verify at what level your policies will reimburse you…for the actual full replacement cost to purchase a new piece of golfing equipment, lost luggage items, etc or the lower actual cash value of what your used (i.e. depreciated) item is currently worth.

An often overlooked source of coverage actually involves the policies that "kick in" when you use your credit card to purchase various components associated with your trip; from flight insurance to auto rental coverage, it's worth checking into to see if you have yet another form of on-the-road protection. This can come in handy even if it's simply to dispute the cost associated with something that you deem to be "unsatisfactory."

Some travel agents and/or golf vacation providers will require the purchase of various forms of insurance along with the acquisition of a golf package. Understand just what items, plans, and/or illnesses are covered in such a package provision. Be aware that many vacation related insurances, regardless of whom they are purchased through, allow only specific reasons (e.g., illness) for cancellation to receive a refund. Many also have specific time constraints to file claims and any "rain check" types of reimbursements are often non-transferable to another person and/or non-redeemable for the equivalent in cash.

While airlines often have some form of insurance coverage, it's best to fully understand what's covered and at what rate of reimbursement. You might discover that it will cost you the full amount to replace your lost golf clubs because the deductible associated with your own policy must be met before the airlines will assume any financial responsibility, some of which is limited to the cost of your airfare.

Whatever type of coverage that you have and/or that you obtain for your special journey, make certain that such policies are applicable outside of your country of origin. Overseas requirements might differ and it's important to know that before you find yourself in the situation of actually needing to file a claim and discovering that the policy simply doesn't provide the coverage that you were expecting simply because you're in a foreign country.

Some of the unique golf-related insurance policies that you can purchase include:

• "Cancellation for any reason" policies (often the reimbursement must be applied to future travel and must occur within a certain time period)
• Coverage for single trips as well as multiple trips per year (each trip covered for a certain number of days)
• Dental coverage if you sustain oral damage while on the golf course
• Golf equipment rental (if yours is lost, damaged, and/or stolen)
• Hole-in-one bar expenses
• Liability insurance if you should injure anyone while on the golf course
• Loss of green and/or club fees (these often only apply if you cancel for specific reasons such as verifiable illness)
• Loss, theft, and/or damage of equipment when it's in the clubhouse, pro shop, or other golf course facility
• Medical and/or accidental insurance if you become ill or get hurt while on the golf course (this can include death, loss of limb, and/or permanent disability; some of these have certain age restrictions associated with them)
• Rain insurance for rounds that were paid for but that weren't played due to inclement weather

If your local insurance agent cannot provide you with any of these special forms of coverage that you believe are necessary for your vacation, you can actually search online to gain further insight into the wide range of golf travel insurance policies that are available. You can easily receive quotes, as well as purchase such coverage, directly over the internet. Simply approach this transaction as you would any other important one; take the necessary time to verify the reputation of the provider and the satisfaction of those who have been prior customers/claimants.

With proper planning, any accidents, mishaps, and/or losses that occur on your golf vacation will be adequately covered with the insurance that you so wisely obtained prior to your departure. "Better safe than sorry" will certainly go far to relieve any pains that might arise during your golfing trip. Who knows, you just might need that hole-in-one bar expense coverage.

See you on the Golf Course, John "Duffer" Walsh

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