InsureMyTrip Blog

Some important travel insurance terms you should be familiar with:

1. A.M. Best Ratings — Industry watchdog A.M. Best rates and assesses insurance companies’ financial strength and ability to meet their obligations to policyholders. InsureMyTrip.com features a user-friendly monitoring tool for consumers to check the A.M. Best Ratings of all the leading U.S. travel insurance companies before you purchase coverage.

2. Unforeseen — means not anticipated or expected and occurring after the effective date of the policy.

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Alexia and Becky, Insurance Analysts

At this point travelers have found that their basic travel insurance plans will not cover canceling a trip due to fear of contracting swine flu.  The only way that someone can cancel their trip because they simply don’t want to travel right now is if they have a plan with Cancel For Any Reason coverage.

Cancel For Any Reason comes included in some plans, and is offered as an optional add on with other plans.  It costs more to get a plan with Cancel For Any Reason coverage, so you should decide if the higher cost will be worth it for you.  Travelers who have plans with Cancel For Any Reason coverage can decide not to travel and receive a percentage of their non-refundable trip cost back.  Make sure you check out all plans with Cancel For Any Reason, because the percentage of your trip cost that you will get back varies from 50% up to 100%.

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Becky, Insurance Analyst

Many travelers are concerned about Swine Flu and its impact on scheduled trips. You can find much information about what your travel insurance policy will and will not cover in the previous blog post.

We are getting a lot of calls today from people who are concerned that the airlines might cancel their flights because of the Swine Flu outbreak.

Unfortunately, the consensus so far among the travel insurance providers is that they will not provide trip cancellation coverage if the airline refuses to fly into a Swine Flu area.

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Becky, Insurance Analyst

Mexican drug cartels are engaged in a violent conflict with Mexican Security services, and the situation has lead to some unpredictable conditions in the country.  The situation has prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a travel advisory warning Americans with plans to travel in Mexico to be extra careful. Knowing how the situation will be handled under your travel insurance policy is a must for ensuring a smooth, worry-free trip.

Many of the package plans on our site offer some protection for political and civil unrest. You should read your policy carefully to find out which benefits you will have in the event of political and civil unrest. Political and civil unrest is generally not a covered reason to cancel a trip. There are many plans on our site that offer the Cancel For Any Reason benefit, either as part of the plan, or as an optional add-on. You should expect to pay a little more for this benefit, but it can be well worth it if you think you may want to cancel your trip due to possibly unsafe conditions in Mexico.

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Bill, Customer Care

I was watching a national news network the other day and started thinking about what would happen if I had put money down on a trip and then was laid off – like so many thousands are in these trying times.

As most people know, when you make a down payment on your trip it’s a good idea to get travel insurance in case you can’t travel due to sickness or injury. But what about your work place and employment? What if you are laid off or have an involuntary termination?

I’m glad to be working in an industry where I can help people cover their losses concerning their non-refundable trip costs.

Many people may not realize this, but package policies will cover these work related scenarios. Depending on the policy, you must have been employed from 1-5 years with the same employer (usually full employment). The termination must be unforeseen, so you must have purchased the policy before anything happened.

In addition, you are covered with many of the policies if there is a permanent transfer of employment of 250 miles or more. Almost all have cancellation coverage due to “direct involvement in an acquisition or merger by Your/Their employer, provided You/They are an active full-time employee of Your/Their employer at the time of such acquisition or merger”.

Some policies also allow an option to purchase cancel for work reasons coverage.  (Basically, you’re covered if you’re directly involved in the merger or acquisition and you didn’t know you’d be required to work when you purchased your plan. )

In these uncertain times, it’s good to know that your travel coverage does more than just cover you for the flu! Also, never forget the all-inclusive “cancel for any reason” benefit!

Melissa, Operations Analyst

Would you cancel your trip if one of the following situations happened?

• one of your friends passed away
• a family member passed away
• one of your children were ill
• a close family member was ill
• your pet passed away or was injured
• you lost your job
• you had to change jobs and could not get the same vacation time
• you got sick or injured and the doctor says you can’t travel
• you were in an accident on the way to a cruise departure
• you became pregnant before the trip and now can’t travel
• a close family member is expected to give birth while you are away
• there was a terrorist incident in the city you are traveling to and you no longer feel safe traveling there
• bad weather prevents your plane from taking off and you miss the trip
• a hurricane destroys your destination or your home
• the weather forecast is not ideal for your trip type (no snow is in the forecast for a ski trip, rain during the week you rented a beach house, etc)

Some circumstances on the list above would be covered for trip cancellation with every policy on our website. Unfortunately, several others are not normally covered unless additional coverage is purchased.

Some insurance companies now offer that additional coverage: called “Cancel For Any Reason”.

The Cancel For Any Reason benefit is only available with certain policies for an additional fee but, it will really allow you to cancel for any reason.  There are some guidelines to follow and each policy is different, so be sure to read the benefit thoroughly.

Before you buy travel insurance, make sure that the policy you choose will cover your main concerns.  If you have questions, call Customer Care for help at 800-487-4722.

Peter, EVP

The recent terrorist events in Mumbai remind all of us of the risks that are spread around the world. Indeed the world has become a smaller place and such incidents highlight the dangers within the global community. As we plan our travels for the upcoming year, it is important to know that travel insurance provides meaningful coverage which can help mitigate some of the traveling risks and fears.

A few items to remember: Most trip cancellation package policies provide terrorism coverage allowing you to cancel your trip if a terrorist incident occurs in any of your itinerary cities within a specified period (7 to 30 days depending on the Insurance Company) before your departure. In addition, some policies provide a “Cancel for any Reason” benefit thus allowing you to cancel your trip for whatever reason that you wish to exercise. Finally, should you be in a city that is experiencing terrorists activities, most trip cancellation package polices provide a trip interruption benefit which pays the additional cost to return home on short notice and also extends to cover the unused portion of your trip cost.

Be sure to check plan certificates for details, or contact Customer Care at 800-487-4722.

Safe Travels Always