This week’s question of the week asks if you’ve ever had trouble while trying to buy travel insurance?
Did you find the coverage you needed?
Did you get it at a good price?
Please leave a comment to share your story below.
This week’s question of the week asks if you’ve ever had trouble while trying to buy travel insurance?
Did you find the coverage you needed?
Did you get it at a good price?
Please leave a comment to share your story below.
Damian Tysdal is the founder of TravelInsuranceReview, and he believes travel insurance should be easier to understand. See more from Damian on Google+.
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Jo says
(1) I was in remote Asia. I needed to extend my stay for 10 days in connection with an ngo project I was working on (as a volunteer and at my own expense). My travel insurance coverage included both medical and non-medical evacuation, in addition to the usual medical, luggage, etc. I asked by email how to extend my policy; the email reply was that I could extend only the medical coverage. I called the ‘collect’ number in the USA, albeit collect calls are impossible to make in the country I was calling from, so I was paying for the call. The representative who answered, however, agreed to call me back, which reduced my expense considerably. I asked for at least the medical. After declaring that I was not extending for medical reasons, I was provided the additional 10 days, including essentially everything that mattered to me in my original policy, except the non-medical evacuation. The rep was unable to tell my why the underwriters refused to extend that coverage as well. She said that refusal applied to all such policies, not just mine.
(2) In reviewing the extension confirmation and related documents that I received by email I discovered that the carrier now had me in the Philippines, a country I’ve never visited or planned to visit — my loss, I’m sure — and thousands of miles from my true location. I believe the original policy had me correctly placed, and they corrected the error when I called it to their attention, but I’m wondering whether, had I had a subsequent claim and this error had not been corrected, I would still be able to collect, the extension having been handled over the phone and not in writing from me. I also wonder whether I could have had the non-med evac coverage if the record had been correct in the first place.
No matter now. Now I’m safely (we hope) at home, no earthquakes, landslides, or kidnappings of me having taken place where I was.
Marsha Thole says
I travel domestically and internationally for pleasure. I find having to choose travel insurance to be worse than getting a root canal. Why aren’t there any companies that offer truly “a la carte” or “cafeteria” style plans? Travel is expensive enough, but when you have to get insurance, you are mostly paying for things that you do not need, as they are covered elsewhere. For example, I do not need the baggage insurance, as my credit card covers it. I am also covered, via my credit card, for flight changes and delays. Regarding medical, I am covered worldwide (I am lucky to have excellent health insurance). I find the constraints on having to get the insurance far too restrictive and unnecessary.
I had a trip where the tour operator told us to ‘hold off’ on getting our airline tickets until he told us when to do it, even though he wasn’t sure the trip was even a confirmed ‘go.’ That made some of the provisions of the insurance I bought basically null and void. I think far more people would purchase travel insurance if it were a more user-friendly process, as well as one where you got the most value for your money. Why should I pay for something I don’t need, when I only need one-tenth,for example, of the coverage these companies are offering?? And that is why I have friends who no longer order the insurance. These companies need to wake up and realize they could make a lot more money if they had plans suitable for travelers.
Further, I would like to know just how much of each premium dollar is paid out in claims? Where is that information? My guess is very little! Another case of greedy CEOs.
Ruth C says
What kind of credit card do you have that covers all you said it did?
Virginia says
Hi Ruth,
Credit card plans vary widely with agreements that are specifically tailored to corporations, banks, etc. You can get your card’s full list of benefits by calling them and asking them to be sent to you.
Thanks for responding!
Marsha says
Ruth,
Every credit card is different. (For security reasons, I do not wish to broadcast which card I have.) Everyone needs to read the small print. If you don’t have a copy of your agreement, then call your card company (phone number is on the back of your card) and ask them to send it. Even within the major card names ( e.g., Visa, MasterCard, Discovery, American Express, etc.), there are differences, depending on whether you have a corporate card (e.g., you got it through the airline or a major retailer) or just a plain old card. The higher your credit rating, the better your benefits should be, too. In general, though, I have found that the cards with better benefits also carry an annual fee. So you have to determine whether the extra expense is worth the value you receive.
Virginia says
Hi Marsha,
Gosh, we hope most people find buying travel insurance at least a little easier her on Travel Insurance Review than having a root canal, but yes it would be nice if travel insurance providers offered plans where a traveler could choose just the coverage they need – nothing more, nothing less.
At least one plan allows you to customize the coverage to some degree: Travel Guard’s My Travel Guard (http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/travel-guard-insurance/my-travel-guard/). You can’t delete coverage, but you can choose the bits you want.
Either way, it sounds as if you have most everything already covered – except perhaps trip cancellation.
Thanks for responding!
Marsha says
Virginia,
Thanks for the lead on Travel Guard. I have used them before. Yes, trip cancellation is not covered on any credit card, to my knowledge, unless I suppose you have a very unique card.
Virginia says
Some credit cards do offer trip cancellation, but the reasons for cancelling are highly limited as is the payout amount.