Pittwater Life January 2018 Issue

Business Life: Money
Business Life
At a premium: why travel
insurance is paramount
In this traditional holiday
month we take a brief look at
the value of travel insurance;
for me there were a couple of
reasons why travel insurance
has been front of mind.
The first reason is that I have
lost the ability to simply click
and pay for insurance for an upcoming
trip next year courtesy
of a tiny piece of metal holding
one of my coronary arteries
open. It’s a wonderful thing
finding yourself at that stage of
life when you have things called
‘pre-existing conditions’ and
insurers begin to take a great
deal of interest in you because,
well, because they may have to
pay out.
The second reason is that
we have recently had one our
teenagers away on schoolies;
she was in Byron Bay thankfully
and not Bali, but it was the fate
of the Bali group from Barrenjoey
High School that made me
pause and think again about the
value of travel insurance.
In fact Bali and travel
insurance seem to go hand in
glove as issues. There’s been
no shortage of recent media
coverage about the two and in
particular since Mt Agung made
its smouldering presence felt in
September.
But in general terms Bali
seems to me to be the sort
of place you shouldn’t go to
underinsured. It is the only
place in the world I have ever
witnessed a grossly sunburnt
middle-aged woman wearing a
tank top, thongs and no helmet
trying to ride a motor scooter
while balancing a case of wine
on the footpads.
Denpasar airport is also the
only place where I’ve seen a
screaming child in what was
supposed to be a peaceful
airline lounge pause mid-wail
to throw up on the carpet. And
for that matter the flight home
is the closest I’ll ever come to
experiencing the conditions on
a medi-vac flight out of ‘Nam.
But don’t for a minute take
my comments as a downer on
Bali; I actually like the place. Bali
is what Bali is and I suspect that
the charm of the place in part
anyway is the freedom and risk
that we are so protected from
here at home. But insurance
is all about managing risk, so
with that in mind the following
few tips are aimed at helping
achieve a safe holiday whether
in Bali, the US or Europe.
The first is simple – don’t
buy travel insurance from
whoever sells you your travel or
flights. They are quite possibly
more motivated by a commission,
not your well-being and
research from consumer groups
such as Choice suggests you
will usually overpay.
Some time ago the media
reported the story of a travel
agent who was both an active
travel insurance promotor and
customer service guru. He religiously
followed up his customers
after they returned home
with Brian Hrnjak
to enquire about how well their
trip went. It turns out he was
only submitting the insurance
policy applications if something
went wrong on the trip – apparently
pocketing the entire policy
amount. I gather the insurance
industry has tightened its processes
since then.
But credit card-based travel
insurance is another area where
you can be lulled into a false
sense of security. I have a
Computer repairs made easy
It’s one thing to have your computer repaired;
it’s another to understand what went wrong in
the first place.
That’s one of the benefits of Jean-Paul de
Ronserail’s local business Bits & Bytes Business
Solutions which has been fixing computers
across the Northern Beaches for 21 years.
A Pittwater local for two years, Jean-Paul – who
visits you in the home or office – says he makes
things simple by communicating with clients in
people speak, not ‘geek speak’.
“I started in 1996 when people had to take
their systems in to a shop to have them repaired,”
he said. “I understood that what people wanted
was not just to have their computers repaired but
to understand what it was that was being done
for them.
“I have clients from all walks of life that I have
been servicing for over 21 years,” he said. “No
job is too small – I’ve seen my clients’ children
grow through primary school, high school
and University, and I now fix their children’s
computers!”
Jean-Paul says trust and privacy are the
cornerstones of his business – “Clients can be
assured that their data and private information is
safe with me.”
He provides a range of other computer
services (see ad p18).
“Living on Pittwater (with a boat) means that I
can service both the offshore community as well
as the mainland community,” he said. “I do not
charge a call-out fee, I only charge my hourly rate
and if I can’t fix or find the problem, then I don’t
charge!”
For more info call Jean-Paul on 0412 475 119.
56 JANUARY 2018
The Local Voice Since 1991