Ins and
Outs of Trip Insurance
Trip
insurance is strongly recommended. Period. It's for your protection.
1. Some or all of the monies you pre-pay for
a trip are at risk of not being refunded if you have to cancel your
trip because of illness, injury, or death of you, your traveling companion,
or a family member.
2. If you become ill on your trip or a family
member at home becomes extremely ill or dies, it could be very costly
if you have to interrupt your trip to return home early.
3. It is also very costly if you need special
accomodation because of an illness or injury while traveling. For
example, if you end up in a body cast, you may need to occupy two
seats when you fly home or even be put into the larger seats in first
or business class. You would not want to have to pay that extra cost
yourself but you would have to in an emergency if you don't have the
right travel insurance coverage.
4. If you need emergency medical assistance
on your trip, you will have to deal with the expense and bother without
any help if you don't have trip insurance. Remember: Medicare doesn't
cover medical expenses when you travel outside the US.
5. If you miss your flight for no fault of
your own—as when you are involved in an accident on the way to
the airport or the connecting flight you need is cancelled or late—your
whole trip can be ruined if it means you won't be able to get to the
cruise ship before it sails or to the tour before it starts. It could
be expensive to do what it takes to "catch up" with your
trip.
6. If your luggage stays behind and you've
gone to Paris, you will have to deal with the airline to help you
get a change of clothes so you can start enjoying your trip. And the
airlines really limit how much help they are willing to be in such
a case.
You
can get insurance at any time up to the date of travel.
But sooner is better because you don't have protection until
you buy the insurance. Also, the best level of protection occurs when
you buy early enough to have a "pre-existing condition waiver"
as part of the policy. A delay in buying trip insurance just reduces
the value of the insurance to you.
Travel insurance companies protect you against
loss due to unforeseen and unforeseeable situations. Obviously, if
you buy a trip knowing that you probably
will need to cancel, the insurance company won't want to insure you
because you are a bad risk for them. But if the situation is just
one of possibly
needing to cancel, then they will insure the trip provided you buy
their insurance soon after you make your first payment on the trip;
that's the way they recognize that you and they are willing to share
the risk. It's their incentive to get you to buy their insurance.
Pre-exising
conditions. The travel insurance company will allow cancellation
due to illness that is part of a "pre-existing condition"
as long as the insurance is bought within a given number of days of
the initial deposit on the trip. For example, an insurer may require
the insurance be purchased within 15 days of the initial trip deposit.
This is called a "pre-existing condition waiver." E.g.,
if you been treated for a heart problem in the past, that is a pre-existing
condition. If you have a heart attack and need to cancel your trip
because if it, ordinarily the pre-existing condition would disqualify
you from getting a refund of the money paid on the trip. However,
by getting the insurance early enough to qualify for the pre-existing
condition waiver, you would be entitled to the refund.
Do
you need insurance if you are not spending much money on your trip?
Let's say you are using your frequent flyer
miles to get to your destination and you are staying with friends
when you get there. Or that your lodging reservations have lenient
cancellation policies. You still should get trip insurance. That's
because you still need the medical assistance provisions and the help
with lost luggage. And, since the cost of the insurance is based on
the amount of trip cost at risk (hardly anything in this case), you
can get those medical and luggage benefits at very reduced cost. Why
would you not want trip insurance?
How
do you get trip insurance?
1. Call (800) 759-3238 or email
Carole at Europe Traveler and ask for a trip insurance quote. She
will be able to help you pick an insurance policy that gives you the
coverage you need at a price you are willing to pay.
2. What Carole will need to know about each
traveler to be covered is:
• The departure and return date for
the trip. The return date should be the date the travelers finally
reach home.
• The name of the cruise line or tour
company, if any.
• The main travel destination.
• Each traveler's name as is shown on
a photo ID (when a passport is not necessary) or passport.
• Each traveler's date of birth.
• The cost of the trip for each traveler.
Include only those costs that are at risk; for example, if there
is no penalty if you don't pick up the rental car that's booked
for you, don't include it as a cost that is at risk.
• The date when the initial payment
of at-risk money was made for the trip.
• Your phone number and address.
• The best time to call you with a quote.
Special
note for divers and others indulging in "hazardous" activities
Most
trip insurance policies do not cover you for injuries sustained
while engaging in scuba diving, bungee jumping, sky diving, or similar
risky activities. If you plan on doing anything that could be construed
as unusually hazardous, contact Carole
for more information. She will help you identify and buy a policy
that will work for your trip.
Divers:
have you considered joining the Divers
Alert Network? DAN members are eligible for dive accident,
group term life, and equipment insurance. As a diver myself, I would
not be without my DAN membership. The cost is minimal and the benefits
immeasurable, such as 24/7 emergency hotline assistance in the event
of a dive accident. Contact Carole
for a referral or more information about DAN.
Nondivers:
insurance from Divers
Alert Network may be a good choice for you, too, because
DAN's insurance provides such good medical coverage while you are
traveling. Plus, you buy a policy annually, so all the trips you take
during the year will be covered. Remember, however, that the DAN insurance
is not trip cancellation insurance. For that you will need to buy
a policy from another travel insurance company for each trip you take.
