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With more and more people taking flights, cruises and train trips, it makes sense to buy travel insurance to protect you from a range of risks associated with travel. Travel insurance usually provides cover for six broad categories of risk: medical expenses, personal liability, personal accident, cancellation and curtailment, delayed and missed departures, and money and belongings. If you travel frequently, you will be better off buying a 12-month multi-travel policy rather than a single trip policy.

Medical expenses are the main reason for buying travel insurance. If you become ill or are injured while you are away, you will be covered for hospital bills (in-patient or out-patient); cost of prescribed medications; cost of a close relative or friend staying behind to look after you; being returned home for treatment, including by air ambulance; cost of your burial abroad or the cost of bringing your remains home in the event of death. You are advised to buy a policy that provides minimum medical cover of €1m, especially since you may require prolonged hospital care abroad.

Cancellation or curtailment of your trip due to circumstances beyond your control is another good reason for buying travel insurance. In the event of a delayed departure, you will need to get documentation from the carrier confirming the details of the delay. Similarly, if you miss your departure, you will need written proof that you missed your departure for reasons beyond your control, as specified in the policy. Examples include a sudden delay or cancellation on the public transport system taking you to the airport. Don’t forget to keep copies of receipts and any other relevant documentation to support your claim.

Travel insurance covers loss, damage or delayed arrival of your personal possessions, loss or theft of money, and replacing a lost or stolen passport. If you are robbed while away, you must report the loss to the local police within 24 hours and get written evidence of the report. You may also need to report the incident to your hotel and/or tour operator. If your baggage is delayed or is lost, keep your tickets and the baggage tags, which are usually stuck onto your ticket by the carrier as proof of your checked baggage. Remember to ask for a copy of the written report from the carrier regarding the loss/delay of your luggage.

Your policy covers your legal expenses and personal liability cover in the event of you injuring a third party or damaging their property as a result of an accident. Your policy also includes a fixed payment if you suffer permanent disability or death while travelling.

When you buy travel insurance, you will be given a 24-hour emergency help-line number. Keep this number handy when you are away, together with a copy of your policy. Call the emergency number as quickly as possible, particularly if you need hospital treatment.

Because your policy may have a time limit for the making of claims, remember to submit any claim covered by your travel insurance as soon as you can after you return home.

Momentum continues to build around the ways drones could change insurance fraud. Drones have been particularly effective in fighting workers compensation and disability fraud. The New York Post reported last year that a private investigator accessed private rural property to capture images of a man suspected of insurance fraud. Though the suspect claimed he was fully disabled, the drone took photos of him allegedly engaged in heavy physical activity.

Drones can help cut losses due to workers compensation fraud by providing quicker, cheaper and safer surveillance and documentation. Drones can also be an efficient tool for collecting a wealth of information about a property. This means insurers can better document the condition of a risk before issuing a policy. Drones provide great views of roofs, siding, windows, gutters and other components with a higher resolution than satellites or manned aircraft.

Drone data captured during or after a fire can be analysed to investigate why a fire spread the way it did. Was it wind and ventilation, was it fuel, or was it a fraudster armed with gasoline?

The biggest challenge to the use of drones in combatting insurance scams is legislation. In many countries, there are restrictions on the circumstances can be deployed.

The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud in the USA conservatively estimates that insurance fraud costs $80 billion a year in stolen claims, not including the social costs. When you add the lost productivity of businesses, the lost life savings of individuals and the cost to investigate and prosecute, the total figure is much higher.”

Here are some examples of fraudulent insurance claims:

Isabel Parker, the 72-year-old queen of the slip-and-fall scam, prostrated herself in department stores, supermarkets and liquor stores 49 times for claims totaling $500,000 during her long career, a sad byproduct of her gambling addiction.

Carla Patterson tried to tap a Virginia restaurant for a $500,000 insurance settlement after discovering a mouse in her vegetable soup. But the national chain investigated and found that the mouse had no soup in its lungs and had not been cooked. Patterson was sentenced to a year in prison.

Nicholas Di Puma of Walton, N.Y., torched his home and his convertible to collect on his homeowners and auto insurance. He claimed that it all started when pans on his stove ignited. After trying to extinguish the inferno with a rag, Di Puma said he threw the first pan out the door, where it landed in the backseat of his convertible. While en route to tossing the second pan outside, he tripped and the pan landed on his couch. Unbelievable? That’s what local law enforcement thought, too. He received five years of probation — and no insurance benefits, of course.

Insurance agent James Lee Graff robbed some 30,000 people of more than $40 million in stolen health insurance premiums, leaving them to pay medical bills from their own pockets. The clients paid Graff their premiums, expecting him to forward the money to the insurance company. But instead, Graff pocketed the money and issued a fake policy that looked real. But the clients remained completely uncovered.

We have all heard of customers being told that they are under-insured only when they make a claim, by which time it is too late. In some cases of under-insurance the company will refuse to pay a penny. In others, it will only pay a proportion of the claim.

In November 2012, Carol and Patrick Warren woke up to find the ground floor of their Somerset house submerged in rainwater. A devastating flood left the Warren family homeless and their possessions destroyed. However, the £127,900 needed to pay for the damage and rent for alternative accommodation was not covered by their insurer, as the family of four had thought.

The insurer agreed to pay just half this sum, on the grounds that the Warrens had failed to provide an accurate value for the property – despite the fact that the family used the valuation calculator recommended by the insurer.

Unknown to the Warrens, the calculator was completely unsuitable for their circumstances. It considered only properties with up to four bedrooms, whereas their home had six, and did not consider that the house was Grade II listed. The insurer offered the Warrens just £55,000 – less than half the cost of the damage.

The insurer’s loss adjuster claimed that the Warrens were “confused” over the cost of the damage and required money “wholly disproportionate” to the actual cost. Fortunately for the Warrens, the official dispute resolution body, the Financial Ombudsman Service, sympathised with the family’s plight and intervened in summer 2014. The Ombudsman deemed the insurer responsible for the property being under-insured, and ordered the full claim to be paid, with 8% interest added.

Hi-tech gadgets are part of our everyday life. We regularly carry with us a combination of different gadgets: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, iPods and Kindles. It is not unusual to have up to €1,000 worth of gadgets with us on a daily basis.

Because these gadgets are portable, they are also vulnerable to theft, damage and loss. So the first question you need to ask is: Can I do without my gadgets? And can I afford to replace them? If the answer is no, it is worth considering gadget insurance options.

Before taking out dedicated gadget insurance cover, you need to do your homework. Does your home insurance offer sufficient cover for gadgets? Are your gadgets already covered through warranty, travel insurance, bank account or credit card?

The first thing you should do is carefully study your existing home contents insurance cover. You need to know what protection it offers, and you need to consider the potential impact of a claim for a gadget on your home insurance no-claims bonus. Many home insurance policies offer you the option of specifying which gadgets you want to insure. Take cell phones as an example. According to independent financial researcher Defaqto, over 300 home insurance policies in the UK provide cover for mobile phones within the home as standard.

Also, check the terms of any warranty you may have on your gadgets. For example, many people take out specialist gadget cover from a retailer when they buy their hi-tech device. Mobile phone insurance has become almost standard. Just remember that this might not be the best or most cost-effective option to take.

Sometimes, purchases made by a premium credit card or packaged bank account are also covered by a special warranty. While it may seem like a good idea to have extra protection for your gadgets, doubling up on insurance is not to your advantage. Also, carefully check your travel insurance terms to see whether they include gadgets – and which ones.

Be aware that in the event of a claim, insurers usually apply a ‘single article limit’ to items, including gadgets. This is the maximum amount an insurer will pay for an item, and this may differ between item types as well as between insurers. You need to decide whether you want to include accidental damage cover for your gadgets – and make sure you read the small print so that you know precisely how the insurer defines “accidental.”

Check the excess charged by your home insurer. If the excess is greater than the value of your gadget, it may be worth paying for a replacement yourself. Remember that cover for personal belongings in a car is typically only found on fully comprehensive policies, and tends to offer rather limited payouts.

For many people, the most valuable thing about their gadget is not the gadget itself – it’s the data stored on it. The trick is to regularly back up your data, music, photos, files, contacts and other information. The cloud offers a sure way of protecting your data, while physical back-ups such as home computers and detachable hard discs can also help you ensure that the loss of the gadget does not mean the loss of valuable data.

When you have been behind the wheels you must have often said to yourself;” Its fun being reckless. It is alright to do anything on the road as long as I am out of trouble. Who cares about exceeding the speed limit. Speed is true excitement” A significant section of male drivers will agree to have raced a car on a public road leading to fatalities as indicated in the graph above. Clearly, our attitude to the world around influences our driving to a large extent. It is our perceptions about ourselves and the external authority which effect our driving. At times few of us may feel that the speeding limits are too restrictive spoiling the fun of fast driving. But on the contrary, these limits have been imposed to ensure our safety on the roads which few of us realize.

A motorist’s psychology

Drivers can be categorized into two categories; the reptilian drivers and the cortical drivers. When a motorist tries to merge into a lane, a cortical driver may get annoyed but tell himself that there is nothing he can do about it. On the other hand a reptilian driver will drive aggressively with the thought that he needs to get ahead of the motorist.

However, this quote sums up the true essence of being behind the wheels for all drivers, “The fights with his machine often lead a motorist to bitter anger and sorrow. But the good side is that this creates precious qualities like patience, skill, inventiveness and courage. Our motorist will therefore accept all adversities of the road without despair but with laughter: for the automobile bestows strength of will.”

Essential figures and facts

A study undertaken by a psychologist reveals that males below 25 have reported of breaking the 60km speed limit for more than 10 kilometers. Some have reported of breaking the 120km speed limit and overtaking a car when it has been maintaining the right speed for a particular condition. In real life if you have been driving for a while you will be able to relate to incidents when you have witnessed obscenities flying from the driver’s mouth or a level headed woman suddenly turning into a road warrior much to your disbelief. Situations such as these can be classified under road rage which can worsen your experience while driving.

To tackle road rage avoid eye contact with the other driver and try to move away as soon as you can . To meet the challenges of driving, it is essential that you develop your cognitive skills. At the same time, by making the endeavor to hone your driving skills and practicing defensive driving you can� ensure greater safety on the road. Predictably, this insight into the psychology of driving will help you to drive better.

A survey on child car safety reveals some sobering facts. In 2011, in United States alone more than 650 children below the age of 12 years lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes. An alarming 33% of the children who died in the crash were not buckled up. The use of car seat reduced the risk of death for the infants by a sharp 71%. When booster seats were used, it reduced the risk of serious injury by 45% for children aged between 4 to 8 years. These statistics indicate the vital importance of� buckling children properly in their car seats.

Exercise precaution

Know which safety precaution is ideal for your child after into take into consideration the stage they are in. Make sure that you install the car seats and the booster seats after consulting a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician. You must not seat your children in front of an air bag. If your children are riding in the front eat, the detonation of the air bag can pose a serious threat. It is surprising to note the awareness gap which exists. Although 96% of parents believe that they have installed the child safety seats correctly, only a small 10% of the children are properly restrained.

Install the right safety seats

There are some common mistakes we make when installing child safety seats. Most of the times we do not use the child safety seat which is appropriate for the child’s size and age. Additionally, it is important that we place the seat in the right direction. Using a defective or a broken child safety seat can give rise to serious accidents and compromise your little one’s safety. It has been seen that using booster seats is safer for kids than restraining them with a seat belt alone. In addition to the safety measures, one should also take a� car insurance that covers all third party from injuries, damages & roadside assistance.

Ensure that the kids are happy

Driving with bored and unhappy children can be very distracting. It can make it difficult for you to concentrate and drive safely. Take a little time out to chat while you drive. This will distract your child. Do not forget to point out of the window, ask your tot to sing along with you or recite his favorite nursery rhyme. It can help a great deal if you praise your child for exhibiting good car behavior. If he has not tried to wriggle out of the seatbelt or has not been playing with the locks, he deserves a praise during the journey for the great behavior. If you want to focus on your driving better, store mgnetic board games and coloring books in the back of the car.
It is recommended that you have a stock of goodies in your car which will keep your child busy. Double check to ensure that the seat belt has not been fastened too tightly which can cause discomfort to your child. Driving is a big responsibility and the risks are higher when you have a child with you in the car.

We deeply regret the closing of Setanta Insurance and the impact that this is having on those customers of ours insured with the company.  We are also very sorry for the people who are employed by Setanta and whose job future is now uncertain, a sad time for them.

If you are one of our existing Setanta Insurance customers we are arranging cover with an alternate insurer on your behalf. We are ringing every customer who has provided us with a phone number – we need to speak to those who have yet to make contact with us to explain the cover options available.

Please phone us on 0818 22 44 33 to speak to us about your insurance, the sooner we place your business elsewhere and cancel your Setanta policy the sooner we can request a refund from Setanta for you.  It is uncertain the level of refund that Setanta will be able to pay; our sense is the sooner we cancel, the larger the amount that may be retrievable for you, but we cannot confirm at this time what refunds will be paid until we get further updates from Setanta.