I’m a rookie at international travel and would appreciate answers to a few questions regarding insurance.
Looking to book a couple weeks in Tuscany, hotels in Florence, villa for a week elsewhere. So I’ll make reservations for the plane, hotels, a villa, and a car.
I’m thinking I’d like insurance to cover us if I have to cancel due to health issues, which I have my share of, airline cancellation for whatever reason, as well as delay expenses, is that reasonable?
I’ve read I need to get insurance within a certain time period of making reservations, does that mean I have to make all my reservations at once so they are covered?
Lastly, can someone recommend an insurance company that they had to make a claim with and were satisfied with the outcome?
Thanks
We strongly suggest that you contact
www.TripInsuranceStore.com
They are a broker, dealing with several vetted insurers, so they have a variety of policies/coverages to offer.
There is *no* additional cost to using them (they are paid by the insurers, and the policies cost the same with/without them).
CALL them, so they can discuss with you just which types of coverage would be suitable for your specific situations. There is a lot more than meets the eye, especially for newbies.
We have used them for over 10 years now, and have had several claims, including some large ones. They recommended a particular policy from Travel Insured (same as used by snic (above). We've always had our refund checks within 2-3 weeks after submitting the documentation.
Note: That documentation, including RECEIPTS, is critical.
TIS can help with the claims process if you need/want help, which is another advantage of using them.
YES! Starting the coverage within about 10-20 days of the FIRST trip payment (e.g., the first deposit, refundable or not) usually give you access to all of the coverage choices. The range is due to state of residence, as insurance is regulated by the states, so there are slight variations.
Fortunately, in most cases (all that we are familar with), one starts the coverage with the first payment, for the amount of that payment, and then add more coverage as more payments are made (those likely have that same 10-20 day deadline for coverage, so do not forget that).
Ask whether ALL payments need to be covered or only non-refundable payments; that can make a big difference.
That deadline is critical if one wants to have coverage that does not exclude any pre-existing conditions, and that is really important to us. (Note that "pre-existing condition" has a specific meaning per insurance policy coverage and that can vary with policy. It's usually very different than what we think of in every day life.)
TIS are *very* patient and will explain things without trying to upsell.
The owner, Steve, once actually talked us out of buying a policy. He understood enough about our situation from a previous claim, and as he started to process our policy application, he stopped, paused, and asked a question... and then needed to explain to a somewhat disbelieving me just why we did *not* need to buy a policy from them!
Another time, he remembered something from that same claim (we had asked for his help with it, so he knew all the details) and he pointed out how we would NOT be covered even if we purchased the policy. (Others would have been happy to take our money, and if TIS/Steve hadn't known the details, they probably would have also. That would have been "on us". However, because he did know, he stopped us and declined to sell us a policy. He explained that we had to wait and why. Later, we called back, and started the coverage when we actually planned that trip.)
We aren''t affiliated with them at all. They are just a great small company, and they don't do business with some insurers that we hear a lot of complaints about.
Another place to ask about all of this is on
www.CruiseCritic.com
in the sections about "Travel Insurance'. Most of the issues are not at all restricted to cruising.
We've never relied upon charge card coverage. They usually have restrictions on pre-existing conditions that would rule us out or their limits are too low for our purposes.
Also ask them about MedJetAssist.
It's a specialized service (not really "insurance") that doesn't require medical need to medevac one home if one is hospitalized overseas (or 150 miles from home even if in USA).
RM
Statistics: Posted by ResearchMed — Sun Jul 28, 2024 2:26 pm — Replies 2 — Views 153