Travel Insurance
 

I travel frequently, but have never purchased travel insurance.

I've booked airline tickets for my brother, who will be traveling from the US to Australia to visit us. This is his first international trip and he's a bit anxious about the amount of money he's laid out for non-refundable tickets (about $2,200). He'd like to purchase trip cancellation insurance, just in case, so I've offered to help with the research.

I've obtained an online quote from Travel Insured International, which seems to offer a decent comprehensive package for about $125 and has been given a superior rating from a third party website.

Is anyone familiar with this company? Any good/bad experiences you'd share? Any recommendations for other companies to look into?

Any and all help appreciated, as I'm a newbie at this.

Hi Melnq8,
I use Covermore. I haven't had to claim, but my cousin & her husband have had two - one for illness and another for lost baggage and the claims settlement was excellent both times.

We are using AAA, they did some of our booking. Our 4 week trip includes a guided tour of Australia and the airfares. It seemed pricey to us, but the alternative is so much more. We didn't think we needed much for NZ as we are on our own self drive trip. Although we have booked B&B's, Hotels, etc. most of them have very practical cancellation policies!

I also use Covermore, just used it for South America. It's very reasonably priced and seemed to cover everything. I took out the policy for closer scrutiny when we had problems with a flight and it had generous amounts for a 6 hour delay, as well as flight cancellations etc.

Did you check out the various companies at www.insuremytrip.com? I have used that website a couple of times to find travel insurance and they give you a lot of information about the many, many policies on offer. I really like the amount of information that they give you and you also have the option of live online help or calling to talk to a customer service representative. I have done both when trying to choose a policy and they were both very helpful.
I have booked 2 policies through InsureMyTrip, but fortunately, I have never had to make a claim.

Thanks everyone, I'll take a look at those suggestions. The site I was using is called Travel Insurance Review 101 or some such thing - US based I think. It's pretty handy, allowing you to compare the policies of several companies.

can't help with a suitable company from US for insurance but am amazed Melnq8 that you don't insure yourself? We never travel OS without insurance.

Hi Mel,

I've used Covermore and have had a couple of claims - no problems at all.(Dental work in Rome and a theft in Singapore)

However, I'm flying to the USA in March on V Australia and their quote came in $78 cheaper than Covermore. Their cover seemed just as extensive.

I'm not sure if you have to fly them to insure with them?

northie -

I've never felt the need to purchase travel insurance. My US medical and dental insurance covers me no matter where I am, my Visa card covers collision and theft on rental cars and my personal property insurance covers theft on personal items (all subject to a deductible and limits, of course, but hey, it works). As for the rest (airline tickets, hotel rooms) I read the fine print and take my chances.

That's a good deal with your US medical & dental insurance, Melnq8. Is that to do with your job, may I ask? Wish ours covered us everywhere. I'd have to sell the shack if I broke my toe in the US!

I take an annual travel policy (about $500, I think) and it covers me worldwide, locally and also covers rental car CDW, so just "set & forget" it. Of course, it helps that I can write it off to the business.

Hi Bokhara -

As you've probably gathered from all the US healthcare crisis threads, US health insurance is convoluted and complicated.

We purchase our health and dental insurance through my husband's employer. The company contributes to both plans and we pay a substantial monthly fee. Our coverage works everywhere, but we're not covered at 100%. For instance, we pay considerably less if we see a doctor in the US who participates with our PPO (Participating Provider Organization). If we see a doctor in say, Australia, we're covered at about 80% less a yearly deductible.

It's not ideal, but it's worked well for us on our international assignments and it's saved us having to purchase medical insurance when we travel.

I've used Insure My Trip (insuremytrip.com) many times and have found them to be helpful, knowledgable as well as polite. Great company.

Thanks for that. I ended up going with the Trip Insurance Store, a US based company.

Mel, I'm not trying to start up a which system is right bun fight here but am curious.

It would seem to me that most if not all American's who have private health insurance are covered whilst overseas. It therefore logically follows that the premiums for everyone have a built in factor for possible o/s treatment and expensive repatriation costs.

It of course means the component of the premium for o/s travel is no doubt much reduced because it is spread over so many people. However considering that the number of American's who actually travel overseas is not a huge percentage of the population, is there a perception that for those who never travel o/s or do so rarely that they are forking out for something they are never going to use.

As I said, just curious about how it works.

Hi shandy -

Not all US healthcare policies cover overseas treatment, although I'd be suprised if most don't cover at least a portion of emergency treatment, subject to deductibles, policy limits, etc.

I'm not aware of any US healthcare policy that covers repatriation or emergency evacuation, although this coverage can certainly be purchased separately (such as travel insurance).

Having lived in some areas where healthcare was dubious at best, our company provides this type of insurance for its overseas workers, but we're the exception, not the rule.

In the case of a true emergency in a hardship area, our company would step in and evacuate the employee/family member regardless of insurance coverage.

Our healthcare coverage is different than that of the average American, as it's set up specifically for expatriates. It's essentially two policies, co-administered by an international insurance company - one for use within the US and subject to the guidelines set forth by our particular PPO organization and one for use outside of the US.

For the sake of continuity and convenience, we generally take care of our routine medical when we're in the US on home leave, and seek local treatment only when necessary.

I had knee surgery here in Australia last week and I'm currently muddling through the whole socialized system. I'm not eligible for medicare, which seems to confuse everyone. Although I had a pre-authoriziation for treatment and a guarantee of payment from my insurance carrier to the providers in question, they seem very distrusting of private insurance. They required me to pay for all services up front ($$$$), for which I'll seek reimbursement from my healthcare company when the dust settles.

I'm the first to admit that the American healthcare system is far from perfect, but I'm not impressed of what I've seen of socialized medicine thus far. A 2-3 month wait time to see a specialist is unreasonable IMO. In the end I was able to speed things up considerably, and I have to wonder if the words 'private insurance' did the trick.

So true Melnq8....I've only been to the doctor a couple of times since we've been here and it really confuses the heck out of them when they ask for my Medicare card and I explain that I have private insurance and present my Medibank card. I too have to pre-pay and then get reimbursed.

Give me my good old PPO with a $10 co-pay :)

$10? Lucky you - ours is up to $25!

Thanks Mel for explaining a bit more. I was obviously wrong in my assumption about the number of Americans covered for treatment o/s. It was just that I often see mentioned on travel threads that one of the main reasons American's haven't bothered to take out travel insurance is because they know they are covered for medical expenses anyway.

Sorry to hear that you are now having to stumble through our own health system as well. I suppose it always easier doing things in your own country. My son had a knee reconstruction done last week but at least in our case no one is sending us any bills, although we did have to pay upfront for the MRI the day after the accident because that was before Workcover had accepted the claim. Everything else will be covered. Hope the recovery time is not too long.

I purchase travel insurance from Access America along with my airline ticket -- a few weeks later my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. I sent the company a letter from my father's oncologist -- clearly stated when he was diagnosed well AFTER the tickets had been purchased.

Ironically, all other family members --- who DID NOT purchase insurance have been able to refund their airline tickets. I would have been better off not buying insurance. When I googled "Access America" and scam or fraud... several stories popped up. I was wondering what other people's experience has been with Access America or any other travel insurance company, for that matter.

I can't help with your question Sterling_traveler, but I'm sorry to hear about what happened. I worked in the insurance industry for years and I often think insurance is more about peace of mind for the buyer than anything else. I scoured the fine print in the policies, but it's still a leap of faith until the coverage is tested with a claim. I sincerely hope we won't have to test the coverage.