travel insurance

[braumeister]

I had nonrefundable tickets to Italy but Delta gave me a 100% refund when I canceled them a couple of days ago. Timing is everything.

 

[ncbill]

I posted this question also on the Travel thread. Not sure where it belongs.

Here is a question for you folks.

I posted this question on the travel thread also.

We are about to cancel our Dominican trip. We can cancel the hotel with no issue, but the airline fare is different.

We already paid 1200 for the airfare and have insurance coverage through Alliance.
It states in the Alliance policy that an Epidemic is not covered. I asked how about if a pandemic is issued by the WHO?
The rep stated that if it is not stated that it is a covered event, then it is not covered.
I countered that it doesn't state anywhere in the policy that it is not covered as the default choice, if it is not stated as covered.
If a pandemic is declared, do you think I have a case for a claim?

When is the trip?

I.e. an you wait up to the last minute & see if the airline itself will let you cancel w/o penalty?

 

[DrRoy]

We have a Danube cruise in a few months. Planning to be in the Italian Alps afterword. We have never bought trip insurance and have saved quite a bit over the years, so self-insuring. We had an update on the issue from the travel agent saying that most trip insurance has exclusions for "epidemics", so the insurance would not help.

 

[Dtail]

When is the trip?

I.e. an you wait up to the last minute & see if the airline itself will let you cancel w/o penalty?

The trip starts on Apr 9th. It looks like I have to deal with American Airlines to have a chance on a refund.
I will make a first attempt this week, then if no refund, will try again at the last minute.

 

[Gotadimple]

We already paid 1200 for the airfare and have insurance coverage through Alliance.
It states in the Alliance policy that an Epidemic is not covered. I asked how about if a pandemic is issued by the WHO?
The rep stated that if it is not stated that it is a covered event, then it is not covered.
I countered that it doesn't state anywhere in the policy that it is not covered as the default choice, if it is not stated as covered.
If a pandemic is declared, do you think I have a case for a claim?

No, you have no case. By definition, a pandemic is an epidemic that has spread across a wide geographic location. The better question to ask is medical evacuation excluded during an epidemic, or is just medical coverage excluded?

Your travel policy comes with several components: medical coverage, medical evacuation, and repatriation of remains. What is the most expensive event you are insuring for? Medical Treatment? Medical Evacuation? Repatriation of Remains?

 

[Rosie]

I tried to read the policy I bought for April. Hehe, tried. There's no mention of "pandemic". The best I could figure was it fell under "hazard", and looked covered if I had to cancel due to an outbreak somewhere on my flight path. I paid $88 for it, and it's limit is $2,500.

This is a link which opens a PDF to the details of the policy, if anyone wants to help me parse it, or you're simply masochistic https://www.worldnomads.com/pds?RegulatoryWordingTranslationId=1668

I was looking through my World Nomads policy & their website to see what's covered for my trip to Montreal next week, mainly to see if I could be compensated if the event I'm attending (the World Figure Skating Championships) is cancelled due to Coronavirus.

(Short answer: I'm not covered for cancellation/trip interruption due to COVID-19 unless I'm actually infected. Oh well.)

This might be helpful for others:

-------------

from https://www.worldnomads.com/usa/help/insurance/recent-events/coronavirus-faqs

How can travel insurance help if I'm concerned about traveling because of COVID-19?

For plans, such as World Nomads, that don’t have pandemic/epidemic or known event exclusions, travel insurance can help with emergency medical treatment for unexpected sickness, including the COVID-19. Unforeseen illnesses, including when you’re placed under quarantine, are also covered reasons for other parts of World Nomads’ policies. You may be eligible for Trip Interruption benefits if your travel arrangements have changed mid-trip because you’ve contracted the COVID-19. Or you may qualify for Trip Cancellation coverage if your doctor advises you not to travel after diagnosing you with COVID-19.

Fear of travel is never a covered reason for any type of coverage. In no instances can you get reimbursed for canceling your trip because you’re worried about how the COVID-19 outbreak may impact your travels.

World Nomads plans also don’t provide coverage for events surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak for which you aren’t directly affected by the sickness. Examples: a conference you were planning to attend was canceled; flights out of your destination were shut down; you changed your mind about having your honeymoon in Italy.

-------------

 

[Sunset]

Well, you could still go as a tourist , perhaps drive to Quebec City as it's close (2.5hrs) to tour there as well, or drive to Ottawa (2hrs) as it's also close but in opposite direction.

 

[sengsational]

Don't Buy it Early!

I learned a lesson just now about travel insurance.

Just because it was something my tour operator wanted me to do, I bought travel insurance and gave them the policy info. I did this WAY earlier than I needed, but somehow I thought that if I didn't need the policy after all, I could cancel and get my money back. WRONG!

If you don't get your money back within 10 days of purchase with World Nomads, you're out of luck!

So the moral of the story is if you're not expecting them to cover any pre-travel eventualities, and really are buying for the during-travel eventualities, I'd recommend buying the insurance right before you go. Certainly the flight you booked months in advance wouldn't be covered, but your during-trip stuff would be covered, and that's really the only insurance I wanted anyway.

I'd rather have a two-part policy...one price that would cover pre-trip eventualities (i.e. got sick and couldn't go on the trip) and another price to cover once the clock started on the trip. That way, you could cancel before the trip and get back money paid for the second part, which you can't possibly use.

 

[sengsational]

Don't Buy it Early for during trip problems!

I learned a lesson just now about travel insurance.

Just because it was something my tour operator wanted me to do, I bought travel insurance and gave them the policy info. I did this WAY earlier than I needed, but somehow I thought that if I didn't need the policy after all, I could cancel and get my money back. WRONG!

If you don't get your money back within 10 days of purchase with World Nomads, you're out of luck!

So the moral of the story is if you're not expecting them to cover any pre-travel eventualities, and really are buying for the during-travel eventualities, I'd recommend buying the insurance right before you go. Certainly the flight you booked months in advance wouldn't be covered, but your during-trip stuff would be covered, and that's really the only insurance I wanted anyway.

I'd rather have a two-part policy...one price that would cover pre-trip eventualities (i.e. got sick and couldn't go on the trip) and another price to cover once the clock started on the trip. That way, you could cancel before the trip and get back money paid for the second part, which you can't possibly use.

 

[explanade]

But unfortunately, if you want a CFAR policy, you have to purchase it early, like no later than when you make your first "deposit" or payment.

 

[sengsational]

But unfortunately, if you want a CFAR policy, you have to purchase it early, like no later than when you make your first "deposit" or payment.

True enough, but I really didn't need/want CFAR or even a CIIGS (cancel if I got sick) coverage. I just "wanted" (actually tour operator required) in-destination health and, ehem, repatriation of remains coverage. I always figured that insurance companies, being who they are, would find a way to deny payment to me (I've had very poor results on insurance payouts over my life, so always expect the worst).



But yes, buy early (as required to get cancellation coverage), but too bad they don't offer (or at least I didn't see) in-country only coverage that should be cheaper and that you can (or should) buy just before leaving.

 

[user5027]

But yes, buy early (as required to get cancellation coverage), but too bad they don't offer (or at least I didn't see) in-country only coverage that should be cheaper and that you can (or should) buy just before leaving.

It has been a few years since I looked at CFAR Travel Insurance, but when I did I recall having to enter the travel details; countries and dates, before getting the quote. I did not try changing countries to see if that impacted the premium. It would be easy to try at Square Mouth. I just did. I am in the US and they do offer in US only coverage. The country has no impact on premium.

The reason they require buying the CFAR Travel Insurance within a short time period of paying the first travel cost is similar to why they have health insurance enrollment periods. To stem off people from first electing to not buy health insurance and then buying health insurance after getting sick. It does not fit the underwriting models.

 

[Karl]

We have collected on travel Insurance once - when my niece died. We have had it for about 10 years - mainly because my fIL was in poor health and 85+. Now we are old enough to think we need it for ourselves. We travel almost 6 months each year and have opted for a year round policy the last 5 years. Always with Allianz.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

We got a pleasant surprise yesterday.. got a total refund of round trip for two to japan on united airlines by the travel insurance company.
The airline had offered a credit only which we did not accept.
This was going to be our first international jet flight although have done numerous cruises.
If we ever use the offered credit we need to repay the travel insurance company which is fair and expected.
I've done at least five full faced smiles with a joyous woo hoo since the check showed up.

 

[explanade]

Which insurer and what kind of coverage was it, Cancel For Any Reason?

 

[brett]

We always travel outside the country with medical and evac insurance. My company pension provides this for trips of 60 day duration. If we go past this, we buy extra. Fortunately we have only ever had one small claim.

For cancellation we use our cc insurance or don’t borther. Most of our travel is booked in the 30-60 day window, often just 10-21 days in advance.

In fifty plus years of frequent international travel we have only walked away from one, one night hotel stay. We have been very fortunate in this regard. Last year we cancelled a trip to China for medical reasons. Our credit card insurance covered the loss...and paid out in 10 business days of claim submission.

 

[explanade]

Lot of insurers started excluding covid months ago.

Now there seems to be a few offering specific coverage.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/21/tra...eas-covid-19-domestic-road-trip-coverage.html

 

[USGrant1962]

I spent the morning researching insurance for some dive trips later this year. COVID-19 is still quite fuzzy, with most not mentioning it and sites like insuremytrip.com posting warnings/disclaimers. Nothing on insuremytrip for my state specifically included Covid coverage and I would fear the pandemic exceptions. They have a filter for "includes Covid" but it came up not available in MD.

I'm leaning toward DiveAssure.com as they explicitly include Covid illness and quarantine cost (though not fear of Covid). It is not a Cancel for Any Reason policy, but we wanted travel and medical (we already have dive accident through DAN so this is a bit of duplication). I think we are going to go with the annual plan, and perhaps lower our DAN coverage.

Oh, and for member Scuba - they allow pet in critical condition or death as a legit cancellation reason.

 

[Sunset]

I spent the morning researching insurance for some dive trips later this year. COVID-19 is still quite fuzzy, with most not mentioning it and sites like insuremytrip.com posting warnings/disclaimers. Nothing on insuremytrip for my state specifically included Covid coverage and I would fear the pandemic exceptions. They have a filter for "includes Covid" but it came up not available in MD.

I'm leaning toward DiveAssure.com as they explicitly include Covid illness and quarantine cost (though not fear of Covid). It is not a Cancel for Any Reason policy, but we wanted travel and medical (we already have dive accident through DAN so this is a bit of duplication). I think we are going to go with the annual plan, and perhaps lower our DAN coverage.

Oh, and for member Scuba - they allow pet in critical condition or death as a legit cancellation reason.

That seems pretty fuzzy, do they limit the pet types, or would a dead mouse qualify

 

[USGrant1962]

That seems pretty fuzzy, do they limit the pet types, or would a dead mouse qualify

Looks like a mouse would work if you get a note from your vet:

The Insured’s or Traveling Companion’s Pet is in critical condition or dies within seven days prior to the Departure Date. The Insured must provide veterinary records documenting the condition or death of the Pet.

You are also covered if you are "donor or recipient for an organ transplant" so that's good.

 

[iloveyoga]

I have been buying trip insurance because my Dad was is such poor health. It paid off for our May 2020 Las Vegas trip. So I have continued to buy it.

 

[CardsFan]

Over the past few weeks we have had a neighbor/friend in a hospital in Mexico. With out going into the details, he is now back in the US and in a local hospital.

With eyes now wide open, we will always have an insurance plan/rider/whatever if/when we leave the country for a trip.

 

[Sunset]

We normally get a yearly plan, covers any travel of less than 70 days out of the country.
It's pretty reasonable ~$250 in total.

That way we get to watch the helicopter pick up passengers from the cruise ship, without worrying

 

[travelover]

We normally get a yearly plan, covers any travel of less than 70 days out of the country.
It's pretty reasonable ~$250 in total.

That way we get to watch the helicopter pick up passengers from the cruise ship, without worrying

Seems like a good deal. Does it cover trip cancellation for family illness as well as medical evacuation?

 

[Momcpa]

We normally get a yearly plan, covers any travel of less than 70 days out of the country.
It's pretty reasonable ~$250 in total.

That way we get to watch the helicopter pick up passengers from the cruise ship, without worrying

Would you be willing to share which insurance company you have this policy through?

I'd appreciate the info as a way to start my research. Thank you.