Travel Insurance Review

Travel insurance providers are in business to make a profit. Gullible customers who purchase travel insurance without investing the time to understand every nuance of the policy are usually the source of the many complaints that one hears about the industry. “I bought insurance that was supposed to protect me if a hurricane destroyed the lodging at my destination and when it happened, the provider denied my claim.” Actually, if the complainer had spent the time to carefully read the policy, it would have been clear that the tropical storm that had already received a name (even though it was a week from landfall) when the customer purchased the insurance was no longer an “unforeseen event” by the time it devastated the destination lodging. Likewise, complaints about denied medical coverage usually stem from the subscriber’s lack of attention to the pre-existing condition clauses.

At the opposite extreme of the gullible customer is the pessimist who believes that the cards are stacked against the insurance subscriber so unfairly that travel insurance is for the gullible. The prudent approach runs through the middle of the two extremes. The underwriter intends to make a profit. The subscriber intends to calm travel anxieties by purchasing a policy that might provide a shield from the chaos that can unfold during a journey. What is the point of intersection between these competing agendas?

Buyer’s Guide to Travel Insurance

The first step that we took as we approached our review of travel insurance vendors was to research the level of legitimate complaints. We recommend that you do likewise as you compare travel insurance plans. None of the vendors that we reviewed have alarming levels of valid complaints. It is surprising, however, how different the policies are from each other. Each vendor emphasizes a slightly different aspect of protection. Therefore, the goal of our review is to orient you to the policy that emphasizes the benefit that most interests you. The three main categories to understand are travel benefits, medical benefits, and help and support features.

Travel Benefits
The first detail to understand is what happens if anything intervenes to prevent you from even beginning the trip that you insured. What is the trip cancellation policy? What exactly has to happen to allow you to abandon travel plans and receive compensation for the prepaid and nonrefundable expenses incurred? Is there an option to cancel the trip for any reason whatsoever?

Once underway, what benefits are provided if the trip is interrupted? What if the trip is delayed or you miss a connection? Who pays for the resulting expenses? If your carrier loses or delays your baggage, will the insurance policy compensate you if you wind up having to purchase something that was lost? Know the answers to these questions before you sign on the dotted line.

Medical Benefits
Some travel insurance policies lump together a benefit that covers any sort of medical or dental emergency caused by accident or sickness. Some policies subdivide the medical categories to provide one benefit for, say, emergency medical and dental, and another benefit for emergency accident and sickness. Most, but not all budget travel insurance vendors cover costs of emergency medical evacuation. Among those that do, the range of compensation varies dramatically. Some providers include a benefit for common carrier accidental death and dismemberment and some do not. Let the buyer beware.

Help & Support
Help and support is the one category where there is a great deal of commonality among travel insurance policies. Every policy that we reviewed seems to offer similar features: 24/7 toll-free or collect telephone access to travel, business and concierge services.

When we apply the guidelines to the product lineup and compare travel insurance plans side by side, we find that the travel insurance policy from TravelSafe Insurance, TravelSafe Vacation Plan offers the best overall coverage and benefits. But if you zoom in on any specific category, there are areas where it is not best. For example if you want to emphasize trip delay benefits, CSA Travel Protection, Custom, is slightly better. And if your main concern is to secure a travel insurance benefit for common carrier accidental death and dismemberment, Global Travel Shield’s Comprehensive Class Plan is far better: four times better, to be exact. For more information while you compare travel insurance offerings, please read our articles about travel insurance.

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