Travel insurance with Covid coverage

[CO-guy]

Now that the country where my family lives has dropped some of the more onerous testing requirements, we're excited to be making the trip home this summer.

Among the many travel requirements to enter the country, all visitors are required to show proof of insurance that specifically covers quarantine and treatment for Covid-19. Not surprisingly, there are many companies providing this coverage and we were able to find a policy for about 4% of our travel costs that covered trip cancellation and interruption at 150% of our travel costs. The policy covers testing positive prior to departure, upon arrival and for 14 days beyond the expected return date.

Not sure if this is the right forum, but curious about other's experiences with Covid-19 specific travel insurance. With a CC that has travel benefits and AAA Platinum for issues driving to/from the airport (it's a long rough drive), I hadn't bothered to get travel insurance for quite some time. However, given the requirements for entry, the cost seemed very reasonable compared to normal travel insurance without the Covid-coverage (maybe $10 more), which was surprising given the high probability of a positive test derailing travel plans on either end.

Curious if anyone else has had to purchase this type of coverage and whether subscription type providers also offer these kinds of add-ons.

 

[Sunset]

Can you name the company, just so as more people respond we know if they are talking about the same company or a different company.

 

[bltkmt]

We are in Europe currently and bought a policy from HTH Travel Insurance that covers pretty much everything. Fingers crossed that we don’t need it.

 

[athena53]

I got one from Travelex that covers up to $2,500 in quarantine costs. I'm here in Germany for 10 days. Premium was $430 but it also covered other medical expenses. I found it with a Google search on COVID-19 travel insurance. Fingers crossed that I won't need it- I had 2 test kits so I did a dry run yesterday and it was negative. I need to wait a couple more hours to do the "real" one since it has to be within 24 hours of flight time.

 

[explanade]

I’d be wary about the fine print.

I try to press the issue and didn’t get anyone from claims.

But if you want Trip Interruption to cover the costs associated with quarantines because you test positive and can’t travel, it’s likely you will need documentation, specifically from a licensed doctor ordering the quarantine.

Just receipts alone may not get your claims approved.

 

[Marita40]

Try Allianz. I have an annual policy.

 

[CO-guy]

We went with the John Hancock Travel Insurance Silver plan. They definitely require a letter from a medical doctor that you have tested positive and must remain in quarantine, but they will also reimburse for that visit.

I had looked at Travelex and HTH. Both were quite a bit more expensive, but offered better benefits. Financially, the biggest thing I'm concerned about (cost x probability) is testing positive prior to return. Even if our return is delayed by a day, the policy will have paid for itself. While that's kind of the point of travel insurance, it seems a more likely scenario due to Covid.

 

[explanade]

We went with the John Hancock Travel Insurance Silver plan. They definitely require a letter from a medical doctor that you have tested positive and must remain in quarantine, but they will also reimburse for that visit.

I had looked at Travelex and HTH. Both were quite a bit more expensive, but offered better benefits. Financially, the biggest thing I'm concerned about (cost x probability) is testing positive prior to return. Even if our return is delayed by a day, the policy will have paid for itself. While that's kind of the point of travel insurance, it seems a more likely scenario due to Covid.

But will you have a chance to go see a doctor in a foreign country?

As soon as you test positive, you will be shunted to a quarantine place.

 

[Sunset]

I’d be wary about the fine print.

....
But if you want Trip Interruption to cover the costs associated with quarantines because you test positive and can’t travel, it’s likely you will need documentation, specifically from a licensed doctor ordering the quarantine.

Just receipts alone may not get your claims approved.

I can see that as an issue, depending upon the country a person is in. Quarantine may not be required, so a person will have to convince a doctor to write a prescription for quarantine.
Is a prescription actually enough to qualify as they are truly optional whenever I get one.

 

[Sunset]

Try Allianz. I have an annual policy.

We've used annual policies in the past due to taking multiple trips per year. Ours were prior to covid, does your policy actually cover covid issues besides hospitalization costs ?

Example: quarantined in hotel for 10 days, there is the hotel cost, the delivered food cost, cancelled flight and new more expensive flight. May not really be any health/hospitalization costs involved.

 

[explanade]

We've used annual policies in the past due to taking multiple trips per year. Ours were prior to covid, does your policy actually cover covid issues besides hospitalization costs ?

Example: quarantined in hotel for 10 days, there is the hotel cost, the delivered food cost, cancelled flight and new more expensive flight. May not really be any health/hospitalization costs involved.

Yeah and supposedly you would need Trip Interruption coverage, which is an option on most policies. Trip Cancellation would not be applicable.

The most I've seen available is about $2000 per trip.

 

[skyking1]

great thread I will be needing this for an upcoming trip to the UK.

 

[foxcreek9]

I got one from Travelex that covers up to $2,500 in quarantine costs. I'm here in Germany for 10 days. Premium was $430 but it also covered other medical expenses. I found it with a Google search on COVID-19 travel insurance. Fingers crossed that I won't need it- I had 2 test kits so I did a dry run yesterday and it was negative. I need to wait a couple more hours to do the "real" one since it has to be within 24 hours of flight time.

The test does not need to be done within 24hours of flight, just the day before. Your test can be done anytime after 12 am the day before.

 

[athena53]

The test does not need to be done within 24hours of flight, just the day before. Your test can be done anytime after 12 am the day before.

Well, I thought I'd read T-24 someplace but did notice "calendar days" in other places. Regardless, I had plenty pf time to do a long, leisurely afternoon walk into the center of town and back, with a stop for ice cream!

 

[CO-guy]

I can see that as an issue, depending upon the country a person is in. Quarantine may not be required, so a person will have to convince a doctor to write a prescription for quarantine.
Is a prescription actually enough to qualify as they are truly optional whenever I get one.

Great point and one we researched ahead of time to ensure that, should we test positive, we will receive trip interruption coverage and an additional $150/day/pp toward quarantine (hotel, food, etc.). The $300/day will cover just over half of the daily costs in our destination, so we will be out of pocket a bit each day, but that should be the only additional cost.

Several of the companies mentioned offer specific levels of coverage for covid cancellation, interruption, and quarantine that extend beyond the expected return date. Ours is 150% of the policy amount plus a per person daily rate for quarantine. Glad to see I'm not the only person trying to sort out the details of getting documentation in a foreign country and what specifically is covered.

 

[USGrant1962]

We used Generali Global (dba CSA Travel Protection) for our last two trips. It was one of the cheaper policies and specifically includes Covid cancellation, interruption, and quarantine (including for a non-infected travel partner).

We haven't claimed, but a couple that was scheduled to travel with us had to cancel. She caught Covid the Tuesday before our Saturday departure in mid-April. They had to do a lot of paperwork to prove their costs, which to me makes sense before they cut a multi-thousand dollar check. CSA did require the paperwork be mailed - couldn't use a web portal - which kind of sucked. But they were just notified that the full amount was approved and a check cut. Six weeks for the whole process.

We paid $140 to cover 2 people for $4,000 to Cayman Brac (we didn't include airfare because we would use the credits elsewhere if canceled). I would use them again.