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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