InsureMyTrip Blog

This morning, news broke of a major identity theft crisis affecting many prominent celebrities and politicians.  With the spattering of their social security numbers, credit scores, account information, and other sensitive data across a hacker’s website, the privacy and security of the affected individuals was essentially rendered null and void.

Identity theft is a frightening thing; it’s a crime that crosses barriers and can impact literally anyone, anywhere.  It’s also a crime that can be among the top concerns of some travelers, who worry that when they’re away from home, carrying important identifying documents like passports and visas, a single incident of petty theft could turn into an identity theft nightmare.  Luckily, the travel insurance industry is evolving to keep up with the times.

Travel insurance can’t, obviously, prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft.  However, there are some plans now on the market that offer a specialized coverage to help mitigate any damage that could be done by identity thieves.  The benefits are unique, because they don’t involve any kind of financial reimbursement like other types of travel insurance.  Instead, identity theft coverage purchased through your travel insurance provider would give you access to expert services to help you monitor and resolve any issues arising from possible identity theft while you’re traveling.

How does it work?

Your travel insurance company, upon being alerted of the possibility that your identity had been stolen, would assist you in registering the incident with all appropriate authorities.  Through a series of detailed questions, they would help determine conclusively, to the best of their ability, whether or not there was in fact any breach of your personal security, and provide you with information about resolving the issue and preventing further damage.

If it’s determined that you have been the victim of identity theft while traveling, your insurance company would then provide you with the appropriate forms for documentation and reporting so you can file records with all the pertinent parties — including the authorities, credit bureaus, and financial institutions.  Depending on the terms of your coverage, they would also assist you in submitting the forms and contacting the appropriate people at each agency, or they would take care of those tasks for you.

Once all the paperwork is taken care of, your insurance company would then help you undertake preventive measures, like enrolling you in a credit monitoring service, freezing or cancelling your credit cards, and issuing new ones.  You may also receive status reports from the travel insurance company for a predetermined length of time, to help keep you informed about the progress of the resolution measures.

Lastly, if your particular case of identity theft involved the loss of any personal documents, like passports or driver’s licenses, your travel insurance provider may help you with the process of replacing those documents.  They may also, depending on the terms of your policy, continue to follow up with creditors and financial institutions for a period of time after the filing of your claim in order to make sure that everything is fully resolved and there’s no further damage done.

As the world evolves, travel evolves; as travel evolves, travel insurance benefits must keep pace.  The development of new products to help travelers maintain as much security and peace of mind as possible is good news for everyone.  If you’re concerned about the possibility of identity theft on your next trip, make sure to ask a licensed travel insurance provider about the types of coverage we’ve discussed, so you can be fully protected against the latest threat to travel safety.

Yesterday marked the beginning of NOAA’s National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, during which the government agency hopes to highlight key pieces of information and steps people can take to stay safe throughout potentially catastrophic weather events.  Today’s theme is “Know Your Risk,” which couldn’t be more applicable to travel and the travel insurance industry.  Our entire business, and our education of travelers, is centered around assessing and understanding what risks might be inherent in different travel decisions, then helping people to make a plan that will hopefully address those risks.

Severe weather is the kind of unforeseen event that travel insurance is truly intended for.  Obviously, there are many risks that come with venturing away from home, ranging from mild scheduling disruptions at the airport to the kind of major tragedies none of us like to envision too vividly.  But if you’re thinking about the likelihood of any one particular type of travel disruption occurring, catastrophic accidents are pretty far down on the list; weather events, on the other hand, have got to be in the top five.

There’s no way to stop severe weather from derailing your plans, but there is travel insurance coverage available to help with many of its effects.  For example, if your flights are delayed or cancelled because of the weather, you might be able to file a claim to be reimbursed for incidental expenses such as food and lodgings, as well as for possible additional costs incurred by having to make different arrangements to reach your destination.  If your accommodations are destroyed and made entirely uninhabitable by a weather event, you may be able to receive assistance from your travel insurance provider in making other suitable arrangements, recovering nonrefundable expenses, or both.  And if the severe weather strikes your home, rather than your intended vacation spot, you might be able to cancel your travels in order to stay home and take care of necessary repairs, depending on what kind of travel insurance policy you’ve purchased.

A travel insurance policy can be a useful tool for severe weather preparedness, no doubt; but how do you know if you really need one?  Here are some questions you should ask yourself when booking any trip, to help assess the risk that severe weather may impact your plans:

1. Am I traveling during a time of year when there is a known risk of severe weather?  The Atlantic Hurricane season, which runs from June through November each year, is an excellent example of a season during which any traveler may want to seriously consider insuring him or herself against the possible effects of a weather event.  However, hurricanes aren’t the only thing worth thinking about.  Consider whether or not you’re traveling at a time when snow and winter weather may cause travel backlogs.  Research rainy seasons in more remote countries.  And truly, it’s important to factor in where you live, not just where you’re going.  If you’re a Midwesterner planning to travel during the height of tornado season, travel insurance may not be a bad idea.

2. Did my trip cost enough to be a financial burden to me should I lose that money?  If you wouldn’t be comfortable losing your pre-paid, non-refundable expenses, travel insurance is a smart investment.  Many of us wouldn’t be able to take a financial loss on a significant trip, and still be able to rebook without some degree of financial difficulty.  Ask yourself whether or not that hurricane or blizzard would be as disappointing to your wallet as it would be to you.

3.  Where am I going?  This probably seems obvious, but it’s worth just taking a minute to confirm for yourself whether your destination is a place where the likelihood of severe weather taking a toll on your plans is at all heightened.  If you’re going to, say, London in May, your severe weather risk is probably a bit lower than the risk you might take in traveling to Costa Rica in September.  But it’s not just about seasons; thinking about how remote your destination is may also be a factor.  The chances that a romantic little beach hut far from the touristy crowds might be badly damaged by a severe weather event — even one that happens quite some time before your scheduled trip — are probably somewhat greater than the likelihood of the same thing happening to a suite in a large, established five-star resort in a metropolitan area.

Of course, there are many other factors that should go into making a decision about whether or not to insure your next trip.  Severe weather is far from the only event that could cause major travel headaches.  However, this week of severe weather preparedness gives us a great opportunity to remind all travelers to take a close look at their plans whenever they may be hoping to travel, and think about the way Mother Nature could impact their trip.

Image Credit: FEMA (public domain)

Travelers have no doubt heard about the possible effects the forthcoming sequester, set to take effect in just four days, may have on their plans.  News outlets across the country have been covering Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s statements that the sequester’s budget-cutting measures will eat into the funds used to keep the FAA and TSA functioning at an optimal level.  LaHood noted that  the requirement to place nearly 50,000 travel-related government employees on furloughs would cause a ripple effect, leading to potential delays of up to 90 minutes at peak air travel times, and leaving many travelers stressed or stranded.

With such a dire impact on travel looming, we can only cross our fingers and hope that LaHood’s predictions don’t come true.  However, if they do, it’s worth reminding everyone of the benefits travel insurance can provide in situations of travel delay.

Reimbursement for expenses.  Travel delay coverage on most package policies allows you to file a claim to be reimbursed for necessary expenses, such as food and lodgings, that may result from a prolonged delay.  Note the word “prolonged,” however; while terms will vary by policy and provider, in general, your flight would have to be delayed for 5 hours or more before you’d be eligible for the benefit.  Secretary LaHood estimates delays of 90 minutes, which likely wouldn’t fall under the coverage on many policies, but then again, what begins as a delay of 90 minutes in one airport can end up as a much longer delay somewhere else down the line.

Baggage Loss and Delay coverage. Given the picture of understaffed, overworked, harried airport employees that follows on any talk of furloughs and budget cuts, it’s always possible that there may be a slight uptick in the number of bags that don’t quite end up where they should, when they should.  Likely, no; but possible, yes.  Just in case, it may be wise to review your travel insurance policy’s conditions surrounding baggage loss and delay.  In most cases, your bag will need to be missing for 24 hours or more before coverage kicks in; but once it does, you could potentially get reimbursed for incidental necessities and, in the worst-case scenario, for the replacement of the items lost with your luggage.

While it’s unlikely that the type of delays and inconveniences Secretary LaHood has forecast will cause most travelers to have to reach for their insurance policies, it’s never a bad idea to be prepared.  Situations like this one can, at the very least, remind us to educate ourselves on the benefits of having  travel insurance for unexpected events.  So while we all wait to see if the sequester becomes a reality, take a few moments to review your policy, make note of any benefits it could provide to help you in the case of a lengthy delay, and if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call.