The famous, John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” Children, or parents, get sick…people have accidents…fires, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes can happen. Any of which could cause you to have to cancel or delay your planned vacation.
Travel Insurance is an inexpensive investment which offers the peace of mind of knowing if one of life’s little stumbling blocks occurs before, or even during a trip, your Non-refundable trip deposits and payments will be reimbursed.
You can, and should, purchase Travel Insurance when you make your first trip payment or deposit. This enables you to take advantage of important “Bonus Benefits” which may be offered by your chosen Travel Insurance Company (The waiver of Pre-existing Medical Conditions and/or the Bankruptcy or Financial Default of your travel supplier or vendor ie, cruise line or tour operator.). If the Travel insurance is purchased within 14 to 21 days of the initial trip deposit or payment, depending upon the insurance plan, the underwriter may include one, or both, of these valuable bonus benefits.
The main benefit of purchasing your plan as early as possible is to “lock out” pre-existing conditions. Any trip to the doctor prior to the purchase of the insurance is considered a pre-existing condition and would not be a covered reason to cancel your trip. So the sooner the insurance is purchased the more valuable the protection becomes.
Just remember this comparison. You can’t purchase car insurance after you have had the accident. The same applies to Travel Insurance…trip cancellation will not cover a person who is already sick, or injured…that’s a pre-existing condition.
Travel Insurance is MUCH MORE than CANCELLATION INSURANCE.
Although more than 85% of all claims dollars are paid out because of trip cancellation or interruption, the actual majority of claims are submitted for lost, stolen, or broken personal belongings…Baggage claims. (Lost or stolen passports, visas, and travel documents are also covered under Baggage.)
Another major area for claims is Medical Expenses… This benefit pays all covered “out of pocket” payments related to a sickness or injury, which first occurs on your covered trip, and coverage continues for up to one year of the sickness or injury.
Next comes Travel Delay which reimburses expenses for accommodations and meals for travel related delays such as: a mechanical or weather related delay…loosing your passport, travel documents, money…someone in your traveling party becomes ill or is injured…just to mention a few reasons.
Baggage Delay comes next in volume of claims: If your bags are delayed by your common carrier for more than 24 hours you are reimbursed a daily sum of money to spend on personal essentials. This amount is “over and above” what the airline will give you for the delay.
The last benefit we want to consider, but the most important when needed, is Emergency Evacuation: This benefit comes into play when the worst of things happen…a catastrophic injury or illness occurs. A heart attack, stroke, appendicitis…or an injury which causes us to need a care flight…a doctor or nurse trauma team to fly with us…“Life Saving” at its highest level. It’s the unthinkable coverage which has saved many peoples lives and the pocket books of many insured in a very big way.
We have only scratched the surface of travel insurance and already I’m sure you have learned more about Travel Insurance than you probably ever wanted to know. As you can see by these examples, travel insurance is a very important and very practical feature, and should be included, just like your camera, in the planning phases of every trip you take. I hope you take from this the importance of including your travel insurance purchase when you make your initial trip deposit. And Through this you must have realized that there is a lot more to travel insurance than cancellation and interruption. That a single claim like, “My passport was stolen.” could generate multiple claims to benefits like travel delay…baggage…and trip interruption.
The only other peace of wisdom I can impart at this time is the importance of using an independent Travel Insurance Broker. Easily found on the internet, an independent agent should give you multiple underwriters to choose from, but without so many plans as to make it impossible to make a selection. Most plans are basically the same in their general exclusions and inclusions…but there are plans which are more individually suited to your specific travel needs. So it is important to deal with someone who knows what they are talking about…someone with experience, knowledge, and integrity and a product line which is comprised of plans which have unique variations making them appeal to the broadest spectrum of travelers.
By: Rashmi Saxena
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