Discover what you need to know about insurance for Vietnam - With Shane DIllon | PodSwap Vietnam Is Awesome

In this episode of the Vietnam is Awesome podcast, host Niall Mackay, an expat in Vietnam since 2016, and guest Shane Dylan, who has spent 17 years in Vietnam and founded an insurance brokerage firm, discuss the importance of insurance for tourists to Vietnam. 

They debunk common insurance myths, discuss the necessity of having insurance for healthcare, travel, and accidents, and share personal anecdotes to illustrate the consequences of being uninsured. 

The conversation covers the types of insurance available, tips for selecting policies, and guidance on handling insurance claims, especially in emergency situations. Additionally, they touch on legal considerations for riding motorbikes in Vietnam, the risks of sports and adventurous activities, and navigating the Vietnamese healthcare system. 

The podcast aims to educate and encourage expats and travelers to prioritize insurance as a key component of their preparation for living or traveling in Vietnam.

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Transcript

Niall: 0:19

Who said insurance can't be sexy? Well, I don't think anybody said that, but I imagine somebody did, and I'm going to prove you wrong, because in this episode, I'm talking to Shane Dillon from Tenzing Pacific with myself. It is the definition of sexy, I'm sure you'll agree. But in this episode of the Vietnam is Awesome podcast that I'm bringing to you as a pod swap on a Vietnam podcast where we're on a break I'm gonna talk to Shane Dillon about insurance and I know that sounds like such a boring topic and it can be but it is also something really important to me and I think it should be important to you whether you're thinking of living in Vietnam or visiting here I it's so important. I feel like over the time of my life, I've definitely come out on top when I have insurance. So in this episode, I grill Shane about some of the myths that I've heard about Vietnam. We're going to talk about what insurance you need to visit here and what insurance you need if you live here and what not to do. So check it out. This is an episode of the Vietnam is Awesome podcast brought to you on a Vietnam podcast by me, Niall Mackay. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers. Hey, it's Niall Mackay from the Vietnam is Awesome podcast. I have been living in Vietnam now since 2016. I came here for just a few weeks, absolutely fell in love with the place and decided that I'm going to stay and have an awesome time. So I've traveled all over Vietnam and I absolutely love it. And in this podcast, we are mostly going to share with you awesome experiences in Vietnam. So make sure you go on vietnamisawesome. com and check out those awesome experiences. But today we're going to talk about something a little bit different. So you may think that this is going to be the most boring, dull episode ever. No, I'm kidding on. Of course it's not. I'm really exciteD. My guest today he's now in his 17th year in Vietnam. He started his own insurance brokerage firm. And my guest today is Shane, Dylan. Shane, thank you very much for coming on the Vietnam is awesome podcast. Now, I did give a bit of a bad preface that this could be a very dull episode, and people listening might think, Why am I going to hear about insurance? But, I do have to say, I think insurance is one of the most important things when you're travelling. I've lived overseas from my home country for over 20 years, and I really, if ever, I don't ever travel without travel insurance. There was a pause there, because one time, I did go back to my home country and you probably know as well. Going back to Scotland, where I'm from, I actually don't have National Health Insurance because I don't live there and that's a common mistake. People think that, if you're from the U. K., you can go away for any number of years and just walk back in and use the healthcare system. And I knew that I couldn't do that. And I didn't realize till I'd gone home and then come back to Vietnam that I hadn't bought health insurance. So thank goodness nothing happened to me. But my biggest fear is one day I will have to set up a GoFundMe page.

Shane: 3:36

Yeah, and that's definitely not a position anyone wants to be in. We see that all the time. If you're in any of the Facebook groups, people get into these really terrible situations and, we must have empathy for them. But a GoFundMe campaign is not a plan. It's not a strategy. It's not something that you should be doing. If, we always tell people, If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel. If you can't afford basic health insurance as an expat, you really need to prioritize where you're spending your money because things do happen, particularly on the medical side, and it can be, exorbitant, the fees that are involved. and unless you have something in place, you're really reliant on either the generosity of your friends and family or the community. And of course, nobody wants to be in that position.

Niall: 4:29

And you are right. It can be astronomical what you're going to be landed with. So just pay that extra 60 or whatever it is. And I've never had that one before. If you can't afford travel insurance, don't travel. That's a good one. So what options are available for somebody coming to Vietnam?

Shane: 4:45

So there's a lot of options, and I guess it's The beginning we should preference to say there's a lot of different insurance policies available. Everything from travel insurance to comprehensive health insurance, going into things like life insurance for longer term expats. I believe that It's really critical that people understand that insurance is, at the end of the day, a basic contract. we will cover your future medical costs for a fee up front, or your future liability against some sort of claim, whether that's, you've lost your passport, you've been robbed, someone's stolen your laptop while you were sitting at a cafe. Insurance policies are available for all of these types of risks. And it's just about understanding what your risk profile is and then getting a policy that Covers that.

Niall: 5:35

What type of insurance should somebody coming to Vietnam get?

Shane: 5:39

Yeah, they should definitely look at getting a travel insurance policy, and travel insurance isn't medical insurance in a traditional sense that it's not a long term strategy, but normally you can get travel insurance from anywhere from a couple of days up to about 12 months depending on who provides that insurance. Travel insurance tends to cover three main areas. One is related to your actual travel. So for example, if there's a natural disaster and your flights are cancelled, it will cover the cost of your travel or reimburse you for that to book another trip. the second thing is around your belongings. So if you're robbed or your passport goes missing, there's a coverage there so that you can, continue on your trip, or get an emergency flight back if your passport's gone. And then the last one is around your health. So a lot of that is focused on emergencies, if you have an accident, if you do come down with a sudden illness while you're traveling, which, happens more than people think, it will cover those medical costs or those emergency treatment costs.

Niall: 6:46

Yeah, there's so much that can go wrong. so when I first came to Vietnam on a vacation, we were up in Hanoi and my wife had her phone pickpocketed. It happens so quickly. You don't even know it happened. She went to get her phone to take a picture or whatever. And she's wait, where's my phone? And then you're like, it's gone. And we had insurance, thankfully, and we're able to get it back. And it makes it, it just makes life so much easier when you have it right.

Shane: 7:12

Yeah, absolutely. that's what it's there for. ideally, nobody wants to use insurance. Most of the time, nobody wants to buy insurance, but when something bad does happen, you'll be very thankful that you did.

Niall: 7:25

And that's, I'm Scottish, I don't like spending money, but when I look at the price of an insurance, whatever it is, 60, 80, and I'm like, But then I tell myself, how much is it going to cost? That one time getting our phone back? Which is 1, 000. So even if you don't use your insurance for nine out of the ten times that you buy It's definitely more than worth it

Shane: 8:00

Again, nobody wants to think about the worst case scenario while you're travelling, but if something does go wrong and you need emergency evacuation, you need to be flown in an emergency plane to where there's medical care available, that can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars very

Niall: 8:19

Now let's talk about some of the insurance myths that are out there. So one of them is that you cannot buy insurance once you've left your home country. Is that true?

Shane: 8:29

no, that's no longer true. That was true for a long time. there are now policies that will let you buy insurance, once you've arrived in a country, but there are some limitations there. again, travel insurance, as it says in the name, is for travel. I've seen many long term expats continue to just re get travel insurance all the time. There are limits to how long you can be in a certain country, and there's limits in terms of you've got to leave at some point as well.

Niall: 8:58

So you can't lose your bags without insurance and then suddenly get insurance and get your bags back?

Shane: 9:03

what are some of the most egregious examples where

Niall: 9:15

it. So tell me, what are some of the most egregious examples where you've had come across some poor person who's befallen an accident or an incident and then they're still trying to claim back insurance?

Shane: 9:29

Oh, I've seen that a lot, over my life, particularly as we sell insurance into developing markets, people who show up that are six months pregnant wanting to get, coverage for their pregnancy care. people with, who've just been diagnosed with cancer, wanting to spend a few hundred dollars on insurance to instantly claim 50, 60, 000. some of that is a misunderstanding on how insurance works. Okay. running all the way through to people actively trying to make a fraudulent claim.

Niall: 10:00

So have you any good stories about ridiculous fraudulent claims that you can legally share without any names or details of the person?

Shane: 10:09

probably the worst one I've seen was Someone at a sporting event, who had a really horrific injury, and put a lot of those photos on social media, and then tried to claim it saying that he was walking along the street and, slipped in a puddle and twisted his ankle when really it was multiple fractures at a rugby game, I believe it was. and that was just too obvious because The injury was so horrific it was shared on social media. He's still in his rugby boots. And then he tried to claim against the insurance company saying that he wasn't playing sport. He'd got a policy where he wasn't covered in organized sport. and yeah, those ones are pretty obvious to catch. but you do see it. It doesn't happen as much as people think, most people get insurance for the right reasons. They get it in advance. but obviously people get in really desperate situations. If you're sitting there and your legs twisted around the wrong way, the hospital saying, unless you can guarantee me 25, 000, we're not going to do anything. you can get put in a really difficult position very quickly. And it's a very awkward conversation with family back home. calling mom and dad asking, can I get a 50, 000, you've got to start selling your car or selling your house. And I've seen that happen.

Niall: 11:29

happen. I thought you were going to say selling your kidneys.

Shane: 11:32

I have seen someone try and organize to buy a kidney before, but that's another story.

Niall: 11:38

Now there's lots of talk in Saigon, especially for tourists and expats around motorbike travel. So what can you tell us about using motorbikes in Saigon?

Shane: 11:47

I see these questions all the time. what's got to be remembered with insurance anywhere in the world is that if you're doing something illegal, you're not covered. So if you're riding a motorbike and you have the correct license, you're not, intoxicated, you're not speeding down the wrong way of the street. you are covered in most, nearly all the time. where we see this go wrong is people riding without licenses, people riding intoxicated, people breaking the law at the time of an accident. make sure the policy is going to cover you for handling a vehicle in the country. talk to a broker, the brokers understand the insurance products available, in the same way that you can get insurance for any vehicle. more adventurous activities. Some policies, for example, will cover scuba diving. Others won't. Some will cover skydiving. Some won't. so just talk to someone, or ask those questions before you buy it. And when it comes to motorbikes, the number one rule is, are you breaking the law? so make sure you've got the right license. If you don't have the license, make sure you're riding a motorbike with a capacity where you don't need a license, and so on.

Niall: 12:57

And what capacity is that, just to be clear?

Shane: 13:00

the last time I saw this, and I'm not a Vietnamese traffic police officer, I believe it's 49cc. It has to be under 50cc. Yeah, so I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe it's under

Niall: 13:14

50cc. Oh, that makes it interesting then, because I know so many people that get a Honda Cub 50cc, but you need to get it 49.

Shane: 13:22

Yeah, I'm not sure how they've changed that, and the legal situation here changes all the time. but just make sure that if you are riding a motorbike, it's 50cc. A lot of the 50cc motorbikes will be registered as 49. and again, at the end of the day, it comes down to, what is legally provable in a claim situation. if you're on a motorbike that's registered legally, you've got a license that's legally in the, in the Vietnamese traffic system, then you'll be fine, They will, often times, if you're in a motorbike accident, depending on what's happened, a lot of hospitals will do alcohol tests, will do sometimes even drug tests, because they want to make sure that's covered for any future liability against insurance or liability against someone else that might have been in that accident.

Niall: 14:12

And what about if you're riding as a passenger on a bike? So for example, you're on a grab bike or you're on a friend's bike, and maybe you're not a hundred percent sure of what their license status is or whatnot. How does that affect your insurance?

Shane: 14:31

you're not liable for who's driving the bike, particularly if it's like a grab bike or something like that. I believe that would also be true if you were with, a friend and they were driving the bike. At the end of the day, you're a passenger in a vehicle, you're not in control of the vehicle. and that's nearly always covered as long as you're the passenger.

Niall: 14:50

When I first arrived here eight years ago, there was no Grab. There's no Uber, no ride sharing apps. Everyone used what was a Xeom, which you've been here for long enough, you remember what a Xeom is. If anyone doesn't know what a Xeom is, it would be a guy normally half asleep on his bike on the corner and when you would walk by he'd be like, motorbike, and You would basically, it was like before Grab, you, he would take you on the back of his bike somewhere, which now just seems ridiculously dangerous because half of the Grabs don't have good helmets. Sometimes you don't know if they're sober or not. You're already putting your right, your life, you're already risking your life in somebody else's hands. At least with Grab, it's more recorded. But when I first got him, there was a myth, a rumor that went about that I've never known to be tested, that if you fell off your bike while you were driving, while you were drunk, or doing something illegal. all you did was tell your insurance that you were on the back of a Xeom and you'd fallen off and the Xeom drove away. And then that would get you, then you would technically legally be covered for insurance. Have you heard of this rumor before or this myth?

Shane: 15:58

I've heard of it. again I think you've slightly used the wrong word that you would be legally covered. you would not be legally covered because you are making a false claim and a false statement, regarding an insurance claim. That is illegal in Vietnam. it's illegal in the policy wording of, every insurance policy if they ask you for a statement. where I have seen that In practice, or I've seen that more than once. the insurance company can make you go and make a statement to the police and sign that. So again, you're putting yourself in a position to say, okay, are you going to lie on an official police statement in Vietnam that is illegal and take that risk? and people do it, again, for an insurance claim, it's about what's legally claimable. If you have those. ducks in a row and you're willing to take that risk, I guess an insurance company is liable to pay. but if you get caught in that act, that is insurance fraud. It is illegal. you deal with the consequences of that.

Niall: 17:09

And I think these days now, because Grab is so ubiquitous, I feel it's even more difficult to pull that off, because there's not many stay at home drivers around these days that you can just pin the blame on, which is pretty cruel as well if you think about it, I'm just gonna pin the blame on someone else.

Shane: 17:29

most likely saying that you don't know who that person is. You don't remember what their license plate is. where I would be more concerned as someone considering that as an option, one is there's cameras everywhere now. there's a very good chance if you have an accident in a major city that it is on camera. It's easy enough for insurance companies to investigate some of these things, see if you were out again looking at people's social media, and then also things, there's lots of things an insurance company can do. I used to work for an insurance company. I've investigated a few of these types of claims, both in Asia and in Europe. depending on the cost of that claim to the insurance company, we may even get special investigators, private investigators, ex policemen, to investigate those claims. we've had one like this. many years ago where it was a very expensive claim. It was, it involved an emergency evacuation plane. It involved a long term treatment. we did hire a private investigator, and that person was able to get video footage from bars of the person in it, the person getting on their motorbike. So again, it's up to you. most of the time the insurance company isn't there to not pay a claim, as an insurer, as a broker, we're there to sell risk protection assets, so that it is available if you need it. but obviously there are caveats to it. if you're getting insanely drunk, you're at a bar, get a grab, that extra couple of dollars is a good spend. driving drunk, not only the potential that you could hurt yourself and it wouldn't be covered, but you should really be thinking about what damage could you do to somebody else who's driving. there's lots of kids on motorbikes. There's lots of, young families, it's just not worth the risk, particularly around drink driving. I have very strong feelings about that. but going back to your point, yes, people do try and, elaborate the story prior to an accident. sometimes they get away with it, sometimes they don't.

Niall: 19:52

have you got any other tips on how we can commit insurance fraud? I'm just kidding. I'm realizing that they're making myself sound really bad here on all these different ways. I'm thinking this is how you can get around it. But no, as I said in the beginning, it is really important to have it, but it is really important to know the limits and what you can and can't do with it. So you are in Vietnam now, you have insurance, something happens to you, you have an accident, and Yeah,

Shane: 20:18

Yeah. So depending on the severity of the accident, and it really comes down to, is this a medical treatment issue or is this an emergency? Is this life threatening? Is this something that needs immediate medical attention? in which cases insurance companies, have emergency response, services. So there is always a 24 seven number. It normally can offer things like translation, say you're, on the side of the road and nobody else is speaking your native language. They can organize that, all the way through to organizing an ambulance, organizing an emergency plane. so that's one case that emergency situation. And in that, case before you go and, or you've already bought your insurance, make sure to read it, understand, talk to the broker or talk to the insurance company to understand like what's the number to call in an emergency. and it's normally as simple as that, they'll have a number, it'll be 24 seven. make sure you have that number saved on your phone in case of the worst case scenario. If it's something else that's a more Typical, maybe a little bit more mundane. The most common one I see all the time is food poisoning. okay, you've got to go to a clinic, you need to see a doctor, you need to get some medicine, worst case scenario, maybe you're in the hospital for a few hours getting, the saline drips, getting rehydrated. in those situations, again, call the insurance company, let them know, Make sure you understand what documents do you need to collect to make a claim. in some situations, if it's a lower level claim like that, they can pay in advance and sometimes they can't. And it's just around knowing, okay, what documents do I need to get from the medical provider? What do I need to get in terms of proof of payment? I would always tell people it's best to pay on a credit card because then you have that record of the payment. and then normally they'll have an app or your broker will have an app and you can just submit the documents that way.

Niall: 22:19

That's a good point about the records and that's why I wanted to find out more from you when you do go to the hospital, for example, or the police station. So a couple of stories that I had, so I mentioned about my wife's phone got stolen in Hanoi and that was a bit of a, I was going to say a nightmare, not a nightmare, that's too strong a word, but quite difficult. We had to go to the local police station. Get a rapport. Sometimes there may be a fee. Cool uncle? to the policeman to get that police report. There's obviously a language barrier when we were there. Couldn't really communicate Google translate. I don't even think it was a thing back then. So getting that paperwork was difficult, but we were able to get it. It's a shame you're on holiday and suddenly have to take a few hours out of your day to go and find the police station, try and get this certificate. and the one I was talking to you about before we started was I slipped foot and fell going into the pool in our villa. And this was up in Hoi An, so it was a Sunday morning, everything was closed, all the local, what do you call them, healthcare providers seemed to be closed, so I went and found the big hospital. Pretty crazy experience like there was just patients wandering about couldn't find any doctors. There's no reception. There's no nurses It was very strange and as we were about to leave and I don't know I can't even remember what we were gonna do because like we may have to drive all the way to Da Nang now Which is about a 40 minute drive suddenly someone appeared out of nowhere They were lovely, like most, nearly all Vietnamese people are. Ushered me into an operating theatre. I was really lucky that my friend that was with me was a doctor herself, and she doesn't mind blood and gore and all of this stuff, so she actually came into the operating room with me and watched everything he was doing, and she was like, he was really skilled at what he did, like the stitches, she's he was really good at it. Everything was clean. So that's, it's always this thing in Vietnam, like this juxtaposition. We're in this like pretty ugly hospital. Didn't look, on appearance, he's very clean. Go into this operating theater that looked like something out of a Saw movie, to be perfectly honest. And that was wonderful what he did. He's really skilled, really clean. as living here, I got about 10 meds. Big bag full of medication. I got the note signed, got it stamped, and then I went to claim my insurance, and it wasn't good enough. So what should I have done, or what should somebody listening do in that situation? And again, you're not really thinking straight because you just want to get your elbows sewn up or your arm reattached, whatever it is. You're not really thinking I need to get this on a credit card. We paid cash. I didn't get a list of all that medication they gave me, which when my doctor friend Googled all the medication, there was like two of them that I needed instead of the ten. So what should somebody do in that situation?

Shane: 25:01

Yeah, at the end of the day, as we said, insurance is a legal contract to cover you if you can prove that you've had a claim, that's covered by the policy. Normally, that proof comes in two ways. One is proof of payment, so did you prove that you paid for it so that it has been paid? and the second one is can you prove the treatment? Okay. Oftentimes that's also proving the treatment and the cause of why you needed the treatment. so normally that comes down to having a bill, a receipt of payment, and then a medical record of what happened. it can be difficult if you're in a foreign country. they're giving you documents that aren't in your native language, they're stamping things, they're asking you to sign things, that can definitely be a challenge. Most insurance companies, know about that or are understanding about that. and normally, I'd be surprised you didn't get that paid

Niall: 25:55

I literally sent them the video of my arm being stitched up and they still didn't cover it, but I will be clear, it was not Tenzing Pacific, and it was a local insurance company that I will not name, but they generally make things very difficult for you to claim.

Shane: 26:10

and that's a, that's a great point. being a broker, we work with about 40 international insurance companies and local insurance companies. we'd like to be able to give a wide range of products and recommendations, price points, through those partnerships. But there are definitely companies that we do not recommend. And there are, companies that are notorious for making it very difficult to claim. while at the same time, there's companies that make it very easy. They have apps, you don't need original documents, you can scan things or just take a photo with your phone. and that's really what it comes down to in terms of, What is the right policy for you and for your trip? as I said before, there are limitations with different travel insurance providers. there are age limitations, some won't cover you past a certain age. there's a lot of limitations around preexisting conditions. And we've seen this before someone elderly comes, they've had a heart condition for the last 10 years. The joy, stress, excitement of traveling has caused them to have a major incident, and then they realize their travel insurance isn't covering that.

Niall: 27:23

And I think that just is a really good reason why somebody should contact you, because you are going to help make sure that they get that right insurance. And I'd mentioned to you before, the insurance company that didn't pay out, and they are one that you don't work with, and I am with a different insurance company now. And it is We think of our own quality of life. If you want to use that phrase, it makes life so much easier that I can just make a claim online instead of going, honestly, it was about 10 emails back and forth. And I still, I gave up in the end. I was like, fine, just have my 70. And that was the other thing I got overcharged as well. But should people be worried about being ripped off overcharged when they're visiting Vietnam?

Shane: 28:02

that's a big question. let's keep it sticking to medical, to medical costs. In general, Vietnam, it has a wide range of medical facilities available. from very localized clinics, that oftentimes can be very stretched in terms of, how busy they are, how much access to resources they have all the way through to very modern international hospitals here. and as you would expect, the cost points in those are vastly different. one might cost you 5 for something. One might cost you 500 for the essentially the same thing. that's the nature of medical treatment, around the world. that's what it is. We can't change that. so would I be worried about getting ripped off in Vietnam? Most of the time I would say, no, I've lived here for a long time. I find Vietnamese people to be honest, to be friendly, to be fantastic. as you would say in this podcast to be awesome. now, does that mean I've never seen it? No, that's very common. and anyone who's from America will understand that. Medical fees and medical charges tends to come down to a fight between an insurance company and the medical provider. they obviously go into that conversation with different goals. One to get as most money as possible and one to pay as least money as possible. At the end of the day, both wanting the client, the customer, the patient, to have decent treatment, to survive, to, get their health back. what I would say is to be prepared because that medical costs, if you are in Vietnam and you want to speak to a Western trained doctor who speaks your native language, that is going to cost you a significant amount of money.

Niall: 29:54

Now, Vietnam is not like New Zealand. It's not known for its adventure sports, but there are lots of adventurous things to do here. So I'm a scuba diver. I've been scuba diving up off of Hoi An on Cham Island. obviously motorbike riding is a massive, thing here. People up and down the country and Ha Giang is Absolutely stunning. I was talking to someone last night about Hezang. I've done it and I was just like, there's no words to describe how beautiful it is, but it is extremely dangerous. Not extremely dangerous, but it is dangerous. You're driving about on a motorbike going up and down massive hills. Now, other things, I've heard people come here for sports tournaments, I know friends that play Australian rules, what do you call it, AFL, Australian? Australian Yeah, it's not a real sport anyway, sorry Wayne if you're listening, sorry. But I know they travel to Thailand, teams from Thailand come over here and play sports. What kind of things should people look out for that are and aren't covered if they are looking to do something that's maybe a little bit adventurous?

Shane: 30:49

Yeah, great question and something I've seen, many times over the years. there's two types, right? if you already have say, comprehensive health insurance, that might cover you while you are playing in these sports while you are traveling, if you are relying just on travel insurance, you don't have private international, personal medical insurance, then what you need to do. is either speak to your broker or speak to the insurance provider and ask, just be upfront and say, look, I'm going to be doing these activities. Do you have a policy that covers them? There are insurance companies that specialize in covering adventure sport. There are travel insurance companies. There are travel insurance companies that will cover Organized sport as long as it's not professional organized sport. so that tends to cover people going on, sporting trips to play in a regional tournament or to play in some sort of competition. and it will cover that sport again, as long as it's organized, but it's not professional, they're not getting paid. With all insurance, it's about understanding what you will be doing and what you want to be covered for. So if you're traveling to a country to ride a motorbike, I love riding motorbikes. I'm, it's one of the huge pleasures I have living in Vietnam for so long. It's got awesome motorbike journeys all over the country. But you've got to understand what sort of motorbike are you going to be riding? Are you going to be able to get a licence for that sort of bike? hopefully in the future Vietnam will allow international driver's licence, so that becomes easier. At the moment it is quite a challenge to get a local licence. but I do understand that people want to ride motorbikes and in all honesty, when I was first here, I was riding a motorbike without a license, but at least I understood I was taking that risk. And if something did happen, it was on me. to cover those medical costs or to cover any liability, should anything happen. so likewise with sport, likewise if you're elderly, if you're doing anything that's outside of the normal I'm going to walk around and visit the sites tourism, just make sure that when you're looking at your travel insurance, when you're speaking to your insurance broker, to let them know what you want to be covered for Thank you. And. Nearly every time, there's a few cases I've seen where we couldn't find someone to cover it. but most of the time we'll be able to find someone who can cover it. the exceptions being, we can't find someone that'll cover, If you're riding a motorbike, if you don't have a license, if you're riding a bigger bike, you don't have a license for that bike, that's impossible because you're breaking the law. other ones we've seen, we worked with a, TV production company that had very expensive cameras, like where their cameras were 50, each, We couldn't find someone to do that locally, but we could find someone internationally who would cover that. But, it was expensive, but they could get cover if they needed it. so again, working with a broker, they'll be able to find what you need to cover what you want to do within, reasonable expectations around, we can't help you to get a, the ability to ride a motorbike without a license yet. I

Niall: 34:06

I think the most important question that everybody's thinking right now is crossing the road in Vietnam considered an adventure sport? And is that covered by insurance?

Shane: 34:16

yes, it is covered by insurance. No, it's not an adventure sport, even though it feels like that. It's more like a game of Frogger sometimes. but covered, Again, with the caveat around, Intoxication. there are limits where they're saying you're putting yourself in risk. normally, that doesn't come into play unless you're, you're in control of a vehicle, for example. and I guess the difference I would always say, and we've seen this is a true story. There's a difference between walking across the street intoxicated and running down the street the wrong way with no clothes on intoxicated. one is covered, one is not.

Niall: 35:00

think that's fair. Anything else that anyone needs to know before they come to Vietnam regarding insurance?

Shane: 35:06

I think just be prepared, make insurance part of, when you're preparing for your trip, make that part of the preparation. Don't be leaving it to the last minute. and to bring it back to the very beginning of the podcast, relying on setting up a GoFundMe page while you're lying in hospital, needing surgery is not a plan and nobody wants to be in that position. And I would say again, if you can't afford that couple of dollars a day, to get travel insurance, you really should be rethinking, about travelling in the first place, because if something does happen, literally bankrupt you, you can bankrupt your family, I know from when I was young traveling, starting, my early twenties, that was one of the first things I always bought because I didn't want to be in that situation to call my parents and say, Hey, I need 200, 000. that they don't have, my friends don't have, so just make that part of your preparation

Niall: 36:04

And as I said in the beginning, it may not be the sexiest topic, but I think it is so important. And I've had nothing but positive experiences over the years with health and with not health insurance, and just insurance in general with replacing things that have been stolen, lost, robbed, accidents. I mentioned that one where it didn't get paid back, but it was 70 I'll survive. But generally it is really important. And if you're into a country like Vietnam. the healthcare system is great if you have insurance and you can be looked after or if you just have the money, and when I think about the money I've spent on the insurance versus how much I've claimed, I've come out on top, what are some of the biggest claims that you've ever seen?

Shane: 36:42

Yeah, I've seen some huge, claims over the years. I've worked in insurance for over 15 years now. I've seen in terms of locally, we've seen in Thailand ones where people have fallen off elephants going on elephant riding adventures. that was about a 50, 60, 000 claim. I've seen ones that were over a million dollars where someone had been hit by a tram. again, these are things that are covered. Nobody's expecting that to happen. A really common one that causes accidents is people coming from a country where they drive on the other side of the road. And so as they're going to cross the road, they instinctively look the wrong way and then they walk and the cars on the other side and they get hit. this also happens surprisingly a lot when people go back to their home country and they've been so anxious about looking the other way that when they get home, they look the other way and get hit. So just things we see, trends I've seen over the The point being that, insurance does work when it's needed and it can be insane the payouts that we've made, that we've helped our customers make, and for something that's really only costed them a couple of dollars, even if that a day. So it's definitely worth the investment. It's definitely something you need to have in your back pocket in the same way you've got your passport and your phone and your spare cash. it's very important to have, an insurance card and insurance number, someone you can call when you need it.

Niall: 38:12

can't agree more. thank you so much for coming on the Vietnam is Awesome podcast. I think that's so much valuable information you've shared with us today. So I really appreciate it. Just remember, if you want to get more information about Tenzing Pacific and Shane, then go to the Vietnam is Awesome website, which is Vietnamisawesome. com. Check us out on social media and thank you for listening. If you do this show, make sure you please rate and review. And the most helpful thing you can do is share it with somebody else. Share the love, tell someone else about this podcast. And if you are coming to Vietnam, please reach out to me personally. I've had people do it recently and it's really exciting. Happy to help you with any tips. a lot of you have come to my quiz night. I run a Tuesday quiz night and I've had people show up there. It's been really exciting. And I was like, Oh, how did you hear about. The Quiz Night and said, Oh, I was listening to your podcast while I was walking the dog in Australia before we came to Vietnam and we came to your quiz night, so it would be great to see you there. Just send me a message and let me know you're coming and Shane. Thank you very much.

Shane: 39:09

Thank you. It's been great. Vietnam is awesome.