V ACATIONERS C ONCERNED A BOUT
E XTREM E W EATHER U RGED T O
C ONSIDER T RAVEL I NSURANCE
Six keys to help you decide when to purchase
travel insurance
From: www.iii.org
NEW YORK, February 10, 2014
— Polar Vortexes and historic
snowfalls as far south as
Houston, TX have resulted in
cancelled flights, frayed nerves
and delayed vacations. But with
severe winter weather also comes consumers’ renewed
interest in travel insurance, according to the Insurance
Information Institute (I.I.I.).
“Consumers are confused by travel insurance,” says
Jeanne M. Salvatore, I.I.I.’s chief communications
officer.“ They’re not sure what it covers and when it
make sense to purchase it.”
To decide if you need travel insurance, the I.I.I.
recommends asking these key questions:
ü If I cancelled my travel plans, would I lose the
financial value of the trip?
ü Could weather delays or related events result in
missing out on all or part of my vacation package?
ü Would I lose the money I paid in advance for the
vacation if the tour operator goes bankrupt?
ü Am I taking a vacation that includes activities that
may cause me to be injured?
ü Do I have any special vacation needs – e.g.
traveling with small children or an older relative?
ü Am I traveling to a location where I may need
special assistance?
If the answer to any of these questions is “yes” then
travel insurance may be the way to go.
Most travel insurance policies include three basic
types of coverage:
1. Trip Cancellation, Interruption or Delay:
Provides coverage should you need to cancel a trip due
to sickness, a death in the family, bad weather, delayed
shipment of luggage or another disaster listed in the
policy. In addition, if you become seriously ill or are
injured during the trip, some travel insurance policies
will provide reimbursement for the unused portion of
the vacation. (There may be exclusions for pre-existing
conditions, so check your policy carefully.) Lastly,
some – but not all – travel insurance policies may
provide coverage if the cruise line or tour operator goes
out of business. If you are paying by credit card, check
with the card issuer to see if the company provides
financial protection for this type of event.
For an additional fee, some insurance companies also
offer a “Cancel for Any Reason” provision, which
provides coverage if you cancel a trip due to “the fear
of something that may happen,” such as civil unrest or
the possibility of a natural disaster.
2. Medical Insurance and Medical Evacuation:
Provides coverage if you become sick or injured while
traveling—for example, being airlifted off a mountain
due to a skiing or hiking accident, or in the event you
get seriously ill or are injured and need to be flown
home. Some commercial airlines require very sick
passengers to travel on a stretcher with a medical
escort; your travel insurance company will usually
make arrangements for this.
3. 24-hour Assistance:
This service is provided by most travel insurance
companies and can help travelers find doctors, arrange
accommodations, contact families or provide other
forms of assistance in case of an emergency. Other
travel related coverages may include: Accidental Death,
should you or a member of your group die during the
course of a trip; and Luggage Insurance or Personal
Effects Coverage, which provides protection if your
luggage and/or personal belongings are lost, stolen or
damaged during the trip.
The cost of a travel insurance policy is based upon
the age of the traveler, the specific coverages selected
and the cost of the trip. On average, standard trip
insurance policies will cost about 5 to 7 percent of the
cost of the trip.
Travel insurance is different from the cancellation
-2-
waivers that many cruise and tour operators offer.