BEFORE YOUR TRIP
TRAVEL INSURANCE COVERAGE: 16 THINGS YOUR POLICY GENERALLY WON’ T COVER 10
When you purchase travel insurance, it’ s not unreasonable to assume that you are, well, insured for all aspects of your trip. Travelers are frequently frustrated to find that travel insurance coverage has quite a few exclusions that are typically stated in the fine print but nonetheless confusing and sometimes counterintuitive.
For example, whether there’ s a pandemic or a natural disaster out of your control, trip cancellation insurance doesn’ t cover cancellation under every possible circumstance: To qualify for those, you must purchase a“ cancel for any reason” add-on.
Below are 18 things travel insurance coverage generally does not include. In some cases you can purchase special add-ons to cover these exclusions. Ask us about them when we discuss your travel insurance policy. Please note that this information is NOT to be used for the purpose of filing or appealing a claim but for general education ONLY.
1. HEALTH CRISES( LIKE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC) THAT BEGAN BEFORE YOU PURCHASE
As with natural disasters, trip insurance may generally cover losses due to global health emergencies, but you must make the purchase before the crisis is a“ known event.” The date from which the event is“ known” varies depending on the insurance company; for COVID-19 it’ s largely been January 21 through 27, 2020. Most travel insurance policies won’ t cover cancellation due to fear of a pandemic, so if you want to use insurance to protect your payments— particularly nonrefundable airfares— we can review the coverage with“ cancel for any reason” policies.
2. LOSSES DUE TO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
Travel insurance coverage does not extend to most preexisting medical conditions, and the definition of“ preexisting” often depends on the timing of when you are diagnosed and when you purchase your travel insurance— with a so-called“ look-back period” that is usually 60, 90, or 180 days prior to the day you purchase your insurance.
Say you’ ve had arthritis for several years, with no major flareups or medication changes in the past six months. In this case you would likely be covered if you had an intense, debilitating flare-up during your trip. But if you had been having trouble with the condition in the months leading up to your vacation, your trip insurance would be unlikely to cover any losses related to your arthritis unless you purchased a specific add-on.
3. NATURAL DISASTERS THAT BEGIN BEFORE YOU PURCHASE INSURANCE
Trip insurance generally covers losses due to hurricanes or tropical storms, but you must make the purchase before the storm is named. Similar conditions typically apply to other natural disasters; if you buy a policy after a volcano starts erupting, for example, you won’ t be covered for any losses related to that volcano’ s activity.
4. DENTAL CARE
Routine dental care is not included in travel insurance coverage, although dental trauma may be under some circumstances.
10 https:// www. smartertravel. com / travel-insurance-coverage-things-policy-wont-cover /
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