BEFORE YOUR TRIP healthcare provider, who may require one before treatment occurs. Talk to your insurance provider about the process upon purchasing the policy.
Before purchasing a travel insurance policy with medical coverage, be sure to check what your regular medical insurance does or doesn’ t cover, particularly when traveling overseas.
Generally speaking any medical problem that arises within 60 days prior to purchasing the policy is not covered; however, there are some exceptions to this.
Confused by all the terms in your medical insurance policy? Consult this guide 8
BAGGAGE LOSS / DELAY
Baggage loss and delay coverage protects you in the event that your luggage is lost, delayed, or stolen. This often includes a cash payment if your bags are delayed for more than 12 hours after you arrive at your destination.
FLIGHT DELAY / CANCELLATION
Flight delay or cancellation insurance( sometimes called“ travel delay”) typically pays for accommodations, meals, and new travel arrangements once you’ ve been delayed a certain amount of time( often six to 12 hours but it varies from policy to policy).
TRAVEL DOCUMENT PROTECTION
Travel document protection kicks in to help you replace a passport or other travel documents when they’ re lost or stolen.
ANNUAL TRAVEL INSURANCE
If you travel many times a year( particularly internationally), it may be more economical to purchase annual insurance instead of individual policies for each trip. Annual insurance may also be a good idea if you regularly travel to developing countries, even if it’ s only a few times a year.
Most annual policies provide medical evacuation coverage, benefits in the event of loss of life or limb, as well as minimums for lost luggage and treatment costs for illness or injury. These policies typically do not include trip cancellation coverage, but in some cases you may add this for an additional fee.
CANCEL FOR ANY REASON POLICIES 9
The Cancel for Any Reason( CFAR) option is available as an upgrade on some insurance carriers’ comprehensive travel insurance plans and is a great option that allows travelers to cancel their trip for any reason that is not otherwise covered in their base plan, provided they cancel their trip more than 48 hours before their departure date. Most policies have provisions along the following lines:
1. The purchase of CFAR coverage is time sensitive. You need to buy insurance at the time of or within 14 days of the date when you made any first payment towards your trip.
2. You need to insure 100 % of your non-refundable trip cost.
3. Cancellation needs to be at least 48 hours before departure.
4. You can cancel for any reason and get reimbursed for 50 % to 75 %( amounts vary by policy) of the deposited or non-refundable trip cost.
After the virus started spreading, travel insurance companies had a huge influx of customers looking to buy this coverage. It even got to the point where several companies had to stop selling CFAR policies because it didn’ t make sense economically.
However, there are still travel insurance companies we work with that are selling travel insurance with CFAR coverage.
8 https:// www. iamat. org / travel-insurance / 9 https:// www. forbes. com / advisor / travel-insurance / cancel-for-any-reason /
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