What to Look For When Buy Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance can help protect travelers against the financial repercussions of traveling, such as accidents, illnesses, missed flights or tours, lost luggage and theft.
It is ideal to purchase travel insurance before embarking on your trip. Ideally, purchase coverage no later than 15 days prior to starting your journey.
Pre-existing medical conditions
Pre-existing medical conditions can have an adverse effect on your travel insurance coverage, so it's essential to comprehend all terms and conditions before purchasing one.
The definition of a pre-existing condition varies by insurer, but generally refers to any illness or injury diagnosed or treated within 60-180 days before purchasing your policy. Additionally, if you've been prescribed medication or received diagnostic testing during that time, then it will be considered a pre-existing condition.
Pre-existing conditions can range from mild congenital ailments such as asthma or type 2 diabetes to more serious and life-threatening ailments like heart disease or cancer. If you have a course of treatment, diagnosis, or prescription for your pre-existing condition, it's likely to be included in your travel insurance package.
Trip cancellation
Travel insurance should always be purchased as soon as you book your trip, to guarantee that you're covered should something unexpected come up and force you to cancel due to a preexisting medical condition. Don't wait until months prior to departure if this becomes necessary; buying it now could give you peace of mind that your plans won't be disrupted in any way.
Some policies offer a "cancel for any reason" option that will reimburse up to 75% of pre-paid nonrefundable trip costs. However, be aware that this may not be an exhaustive policy.
Some plans also provide coverage for unexpected illness, injury, or death that prevents travel. Travelers can get reimbursed for unused trip expenses in the event of a natural disaster like Hurricane Maria; although this coverage isn't available on all policies, it could be wise to add it onto your policy if you think that might be needed. Be sure to read all details carefully and consider adding it if you plan on traveling frequently.
Trip delay
When purchasing travel insurance, make sure it covers trip delays. These can occur due to various reasons, such as bad weather or mechanical difficulties with your airplane.
Travelers often have to cover accommodation and meals until their journey resumes, plus some may need to purchase additional items or necessities such as prescription medication.
When traveling internationally, it's essential that your travel insurance coverage includes trip delay reimbursement.
Airlines are not required to compensate passengers for flight delays, but many premium credit cards and travel insurance providers provide trip delay coverage as an added benefit. Some plans even cover return trips that get delayed due to insurable events. It's wise to compare different plans and understand their terms and limitations before purchasing a policy.
Trip interruption
Trip interruption insurance can help cover prepaid expenses if your trip is interrupted due to an insured reason. This optional benefit is included in most comprehensive travel insurance plans and some premium travel credit cards.
Trip interruptions are commonly caused by medical emergencies or home emergencies. However, trip interruption coverage also covers a variety of other scenarios like death of a loved one, severe weather conditions, natural disasters or terrorism attacks.
Trip interruption coverage can range from 100% to 200% of prepaid trip costs, be capped at a certain dollar amount or be purchased as an add-on. Many comprehensive travel insurance policies and some premium travel credit cards provide this benefit; however it's essential that you read the fine print to understand exactly what's covered.
