What To Do In A Car Accident Overseas: A Step-By-Step Guide
Accidents happen to anyone and in many forms, from small bumps to toe stubs. Small accidents are usually tiny annoyances, with temporary and often brief after-effects.
Big accidents, on the other hand, can have serious consequences and are much harder to deal with. Minimize the heartache and financial burn with this step-by-step guide that helps you through the entire experience of a car accident overseas:
Before
Step 1: Choose Your Travel Insurance
The first step isn't to just buy travel insurance. Some people tend to purchase the first policy they see because they regard travel insurance as a quick buy for a short-term holiday when in fact, it is still important to compare and choose wisely.
Match the insurance coverage to your specific needs on this holiday. For example, TravelEasy's rental vehicle excess coverage and high personal accident coverage is a good fit if you're doing a road trip.
It is also important to ensure your plan has sufficient coverage for overseas hospitalisation and medical evacuations, as those can be extremely costly.
Step 2: Decide If You Need Extra Protection
With the number of Singaporeans getting into overseas car accidents growing, you may want to consider getting more coverage beyond a standard travel insurance policy, just in case.
If that's up your alley, you can start by looking into personal accident plan to supplement your protection. A huge pro is that unlike travel insurance, your personal accident plan doesn't just cover you for the duration of your holiday.
One good option to consider is our ProtectionPlus plan. It gives you a high permanent and total disablement payout of up to $375,000, hospitalisation cash benefit and even includes overseas coverage that is perfect for your travels. Find out more here.
Step 3: Buy Your Insurance
Instead of waiting till the day before your trip, get this sorted out as soon as possible. While this doesn't necessarily help in the event of a car accident overseas, it does ensure you are properly covered for incidents such as unfavourable travel conditions and unforeseen circumstances such as flight cancellations.
Bonus tip: Save your insurer or agent's contact numbers on your phone - this will come in extremely handy later on.
During
Step 4: Call Your Insurer Or Agent
It may seem counter-intuitive and strange but it literally pays to call your insurer or agent first, immediately after the accident. In a crisis, you may not be level-headed or able to think clearly, so it helps to speak to someone who can and is well-versed in your policy's T&Cs and coverage.
Explain the situation as calmly as you can, and get the insurer or agent to advise you on exactly what your coverage does and does not include as well as the next steps. Don't forget that with MSIG, you have access to a 24/7 MSIG Assist helpline that helps connect you to medical care and evacuation, no matter which time zone you are in.
Step 5: Take Photographs
If you are physically able to, document everything as much as you can - these are very useful when making claims. It is important to take photos of the damaged rental vehicle and gather the following supporting documents:
Rental agreement
A copy of the police report
Original invoice for the rental excess
After
Step 6: Submit Your Claim
Do this as soon as you can to get your claims processed as early as possible - that's where the earlier steps come in to speed up your claim. With TravelEasy's award-winning claims team, you can get it settled in 2 to 3 weeks on average*. Here's a handy checklist of supporting documents you'll need.
