InsureMyTrip Blog

One of the reasons we’re so adamant about trying to stay in touch with our customers is that it’s often the experience of one traveler that helps us better serve the needs of all travelers.  One person’s experience can sometimes help us to uncover unique questions and concerns about travel insurance that might help somebody else in choosing the right policy for their trip.  That’s why, for many of our Customer Care Representatives, the most memorable Hurricane Season stories are the ones that involved slightly less common questions from travelers.

“I had clients call who were in Mexico at the time of a storm, and their hotel mandated that everyone had to evacuate.  Luckily they made it to the airport before it was shut down, so they were able to get home.  They used their trip interruption coverage to help recover their costs.” Lynne, Customer Care Training and Communications Specialist

Why it was unusual: Although Lynne’s clients were told by their hotel manager that they had to leave the property, there was actually no mandatory evacuation from the city in which they were staying.  While some travel insurance plans state that a mandatory evacuation is a covered event, many travelers could be confused by what a “mandatory evacuation” really means.  In this case, while the term didn’t apply, the travelers were still able to recoup the expenses involved in cutting their trip short, because uninhabitable accommodations — i.e., a hotel that’s closed and evacuated due to the storm — are often covered as reasons for trip interruption.

Confused?  Here’s what to ask: What happens if  a hurricane hits while I’m on vacation, and I can’t stay in my hotel any longer?  What kind of coverage would I have if I left early?

“This is kind of an unusual one, but it’s something I think people should really be aware of.  I spoke to some travelers who were supposed to be spending the night on a sailboat while the hurricane was coming through.  They were covered, fortunately, because it was a charter boat – but I want to make sure people know that they have to ask questions about getting coverage for something unique like a stay on a sailing vessel, because it’s not the type of thing that is covered by every standard policy.” –Darryl, Customer Care Representative

Why it was unusual: Cruising might be a popular travel choice, but spending just one or two nights on a private boat isn’t for everyone.

Confused?  Here’s what to ask: If there is anything about your travel plans that you think may be somewhat unconventional — unusual accommodations, adventure sports, wilderness experiences, whatever it may be — please share that with a Customer Care Representative.  You may want to say something like, “I’m not sure if this is significant, but I’m planning to spend the night on a raft going down the Nile…what happens if the river floods unexpectedly and I can’t fulfill my plans?”  As Darryl’s experience with the charter-boat passengers illustrates, there may be specific coverage readily available for certain things, while others may require a bit more research, or may not be covered at all.  It’s best to know well in advance of your trip whether or not your exotic plans can be protected by travel insurance, so there are no surprises in the midst of your adventure.

“I do remember speaking with an insured that had purchased (one of the policies offered on InsureMyTrip.com).  There was a hurricane warning and she was able to cancel her trip and receive the cost of the trip back.  She wanted us to know how extremely happy she was that she had spoken to a knowledgeable customer care specialist who had suggested purchasing one of the policies that offered cancellation due to a hurricane warning. “ –Nancie, Customer Care Representative

Why it was unusual: As Nancie points out, not every package policy will cover you if you decide to cancel your trip based on a hurricane warning alone.  Many of them stipulate that a hurricane must actually occur, and cause certain complications for travelers, for coverage to kick in.  However, we do have some plans that extend the cancellation coverage to travelers who want to change their plans based on a warning, so this particular customer was fortunate to have made an informed choice.

Confused?  Here’s  what to ask: If you really feel that you’d be among the people who would want to cancel due to the threat of a hurricane, then it’s absolutely worth asking one of our Customer Care Representatives to explain to you about not only policies that will cover cancellation due to a hurricane warning, but also Cancel For Any Reason coverage, which provides a broader spectrum of protection and may be the most comfortable choice for some travelers.

The bottom line: We can never know too much about your travel plans.  The more information you provide to us as we’re helping you research your options, the better able we’ll be to provide you with a policy that truly meets all of your unique needs as a traveler.  Call one of our Customer Care Representatives at 800-487-4722 to receive personalized service and answers to all of your travel insurance questions.

Bri, Marketing

In my life, there are various people who travel.  One of my oldest friends from my junior high school days racks up serious frequent flier miles globetrotting for business.  My sister, a professor of antiquities, is always flying off to some envious locale for a conference or a “research” trip (note, dear, sister, that all those photos of you posing with a glass of wine in front of a gorgeous seascape don’t quite match up to your talk of dusty library carrels and hours spent poring over engravings).  And a dear friend from graduate school invariably spends her summers, unfettered by work responsibilities, exploring various corners of the world with the kind of adventurous yen that I can’t quite muster.  I admire it, but I can’t muster it.

Aside from the business-travel guy, whose needs are covered entirely by his company, most of the travelers in my life find themselves in frequent need of travel insurance.  For my sister, it’s a need usually heightened by the requirements of embassies, host organizations, and other entities; for my adventure-traveling friend, it’s a need identified, somewhat regretfully, by a rather embarrassing incident on a backpacking trip in the Highlands.  (More on that in a moment.)  And while both of these women are quite educated, savvy creatures more than capable of researching and purchasing their own travel insurance, guess who they usually call to help them?

Luckily for both of them, they not only have me — they have my husband, who happens to be the Product Underwriting Manager here at IMT.  He’s the one who got on the phone with my sister last summer and convinced her that she was about to be penny-wise and pound-foolish in purchasing a lesser (and therefore less expensive) policy for her upcoming sabbatical.  It’s a good thing he did, too, because between flight delays and unexpected problems with accommodations, she certainly ended up needing the coverage he recommended.  As for my adventurous friend, she received the tag-team approach on a recent visit to our home.

As she was detailing the plans for her upcoming trip to Africa, I managed to gently prod her several times into proclaiming “Oh!  While I’m here, I should ask you guys about insurance.”  My husband then took over with the details, as I helpfully chimed in from time to time.  For example: “You know, he’s right about getting medical evacuation and hospital of choice.  You may not want to, say, fall over a waterfall in Africa, gash your leg severely — or worse — and end up stranded in the middle of nowhere, until some strange men pull up in a Jeep and offer to try to transport you to a hospital 20 miles or so away.”

Obviously I’m not usually so specific, but remember that embarrassing incident I referred to earlier?  This scenario at the waterfall was the spectacular ending to her Highlands adventure.  Had it not been for the kindness of (fortunately altruistic) strangers, she’d have been in a very dangerous predicament.  She knew it, too.  She left our house armed with plenty of information and several quotes for appropriate policies.

I’m certain that both my sister and my friend would be able to find travel insurance on their own, but they don’t have to.  That’s what friends (and relatives) are for.  When you need advice on any subject, research is great — but let’s be honest; if you’ve got a friend who knows something about it, you’ll ask them as well, and be more likely to feel comfortable that the information they’ve given you is correct.  And while not everyone has an old college buddy or close relative working in the travel insurance industry, you do have the next best thing: InsureMyTrip.

Our Customer Care representatives are licensed insurance specialists who don’t work on commission, so they not only know what they’re talking about, but they’ll only recommend the policies that are best for you.  They don’t have a certain number of calls that they have to take in a day, so they can give you the attention and time you need to make an informed decision.  Just like a good friend, they’re available to help you out when you need it, by phone, live chat, or email — and they’re here seven days a week.

You may not have an actual friend who works at IMT (and who can oh-so-kindly remind you of your most embarrassing travel moments), but we’d like to be your travel insurance companions nonetheless.  It’s often said that in life, it’s not what you know, but who you know.  Why not get to know InsureMyTrip?

Unsurprisingly, our Customer Care representatives have been fielding quite a few calls over the past few days about the escalating civil unrest in Egypt.  While we covered the basics of the State Department’s travel warning and some other related topics in yesterday’s post, we felt it was important to cover in more depth a few of the most common questions and concerns our customers are voicing at this time.

I’m planning to travel to Egypt within the next few days, but I didn’t purchase travel insurance.  Can I buy a policy now?

Probably not.  There’s a reasonable likelihood that you’d run into difficulty with your plans due to the ongoing instability there; that makes this sort of akin to trying to get flood insurance for your house when the water is already trickling into the basement.  Situations like this one are among the many reasons we always urge travelers to purchase their insurance when they are making their initial trip arrangements.

I’m supposed to be traveling to Egypt quite soon, and I do have a travel insurance policy.  Why did your Customer Care Center tell me that I can’t get reimbursed for canceling my trip?

Civil and political unrest are not included in the standard coverage under most travel insurance policies.  While there are several policies that do cover expenses incurred if you’re delayed as a result of civil unrest, most do not allow you to cancel your trip because of current instability in the region.  Any exceptions to this rule generally come into play only if there is a terrorist act in your destination city or a city on your itinerary.  However, if you happen to have purchased a Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) policy, then you should be able to cancel your trip and receive reimbursement.

I’m not actually planning to travel to Egypt, but I’m thinking about booking a trip either to another country in the Middle East or with flights that may connect through Middle Eastern cities.  What kind of travel insurance should I consider?

This is the question we hope all potential travelers are asking themselves right now.  Most of the major news outlets have been reporting for several days now that it appears that political uprisings, such as the one in Egypt, have been planned in many other countries — Syria, Jordan, and Yemen among them.  It would be wise for travelers whose plans may take them to, or through, any part of the Middle East to be proactive in the face of these reports and make sure that they purchase appropriate coverage for any upcoming trips.   We highly recommend calling our Customer Care center at 800-487-4722 to discuss the best coverage options for your specific itinerary as soon as possible.

I heard that it would probably be impossible from now on to get any kind of travel insurance for trips to Egypt.  Is that true?

Happily not!  Travel insurance is intended to provide protection for all different kinds of scenarios; civil unrest is only one small piece of the whole travel insurance puzzle.  In fact, the major take-away lesson from these events is that in general, civil or political unrest is the kind of “wild card” occurrence that most likely wouldn’t be covered anyway, unless you have a Cancel for Any Reason policy.  That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get travel insurance for a future trip to the pyramids, though — far from it.  The more likely causes of travel woes — illness, injury, delays, and other relatively routine but still unforeseen events — can still befall you in Egypt, or anywhere in the world.  Travel insurance is still available to cover you for those concerns, and will continue to be available, despite the current political situation.  Although it’s hard to think about the more mundane things that can happen when something major grabs the headlines, it’s just as important now as it ever has been to think about the big picture and protect yourself against every eventuality, even the things that seem small when compared to the cataclysmic events of the past few days.

As always, we urge all travelers to carefully review their needs and call us to discuss the best options for insuring any upcoming trips, regardless of where in the world they may be traveling.  While events like the civil unrest in Egypt certainly put travel insurance in the spotlight, our goal today remains unchanged from what it always has been: to provide every possible protection for your trip, so you can continue to explore the world with confidence.