Travel insurance?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1
Travel insurance?
I am interested in buying travel insurance. We are taking a trip a year from now for which we have to pay a substantial portion up front. There are hundred of sites on the internet, but not company names I recognize. We are not arranging the trip thorough our travel agent, so I don't want to buy it there. Any ideas?
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,106
Most people mention insuremytrip.com. You put in your details and a screen comes up with a lot of different choices - companies and plans. I used them for the first time recently. You just have to read all the small print of course.....to see that you are getting what you need. My issue is more of trip interruption since I am not prepaying anything but I have an elderly mother....
#3
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,510
Be very careful when buying trip insurance on the pre-existing clause.
If you get one that does not allow pre-existing conditions, you may find your claim rejected if there is any way the insurance company can connect your cancelation to an earlier illness (you had breathing troubles? Well, you show a visit to the ER 2 years ago for a breathing trouble, so no payment...)
The insurance co will actually have you sign a release and contact your doctor, so be aware!! this happened to me once. Luckily it was not an expensive trip.
Some policies (I like TravelGuard) allow pre-exisitng conditions if
1) you buy the policy within a specified time from purchase of your trip, and
2) you were able to travel at the time you purchased it.
If it is quite far in advance and you have a chronic problem that might cause you to cancel, you should have your doctor write a note AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE stating that you are fully able to travel. A year later, the doctor may be reluctant to write something like this if they've not got it in your file.
insuremytrip.com is a good way to compare policies and prices.
If you get one that does not allow pre-existing conditions, you may find your claim rejected if there is any way the insurance company can connect your cancelation to an earlier illness (you had breathing troubles? Well, you show a visit to the ER 2 years ago for a breathing trouble, so no payment...)
The insurance co will actually have you sign a release and contact your doctor, so be aware!! this happened to me once. Luckily it was not an expensive trip.
Some policies (I like TravelGuard) allow pre-exisitng conditions if
1) you buy the policy within a specified time from purchase of your trip, and
2) you were able to travel at the time you purchased it.
If it is quite far in advance and you have a chronic problem that might cause you to cancel, you should have your doctor write a note AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE stating that you are fully able to travel. A year later, the doctor may be reluctant to write something like this if they've not got it in your file.
insuremytrip.com is a good way to compare policies and prices.
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 271
I have used Travel Guard Basic and will continue to do so. You can buy it anytime before your trip. I had to file a claim the first time I used it and they paid all of it. They were very easy to work with and I had all the information they requested.
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,457
insuremytrip carries travelgard and other companies. I couldn`t decide which policy I needed so I called their 1 800 number, after checking the site. They were very helpful. I had to change the date of my trip, and they did that too, without a fee.
