Travel insurance
 

There are 3 of us (2 sisters and 1 niece) going to Paris for a week - we have rented an apartment and for 2 of us, it will be their first trip to France. We are from a big and close family and would like to have insurance so that if something happens to one of us or one of relatives, that we could cancel - in other words for any reason. Could you recommend a company and give me any tips on what would be the best kind of policy to buy?

Many thanks.

Sophia

You have insurances for the flights, usually when you book those.

For appartments read your contract.
Be aware that a lot of apartments are illegally rented in Paris - so if you cancel, you're just on your own : the owner is nice, you get money back, he is not...

The insurances I have cover for a good reason, not 'any reason'. Like death, serious illness, things like that.

Mvg.

I have used Travel Guard most recently to insure my European trips. I've used American Express's products, too. Travel Guard at least offers a "cancel for any reason" at an additional price, but do read the fine print for the policy as it's not quite as expansive as it sounds and there are still several exclusions. Also, if memory serves, you have to insure the trip from a certain number of days (14 perhaps) from making your initial payments, e.g., for your flight or apartment rental. You don't say when you reserved your apartment and/or whether you paid a deposit, but I suppose that could be an issue.

I have no idea whether the legality of the rental itself impacts whether an insurer would cover any losses if you had to cancel.

It may be too late.

There are many exclusions built into the kind of cancel for any reason policy. The limitations depends on the company and the type of the policy selected. This is just a general observation I have noticed while looked at this kind of policy.

Policy without cancel for any reason don't cover preexisting conditions unless you purchased the policy within 2-3 weeks after you made the INITIAL non-refundable payment. The premium rate is something around 20 to 1, that is you pay about 5% of the coverage in premium, but skyrockets as you get older.

Policy with cancel for any reason, the kind you are looking for, comes with additional restrictions. They only refund something like 75% of the cost, cannot be cancelled at very last minutes such as 48 hours before the departure, and also comes with time limit of purchase, something like within 2-3 weeks from the time you made the initial non-refundable deposit. The premium is even higher. I have seen something like 10 to 1, that is you pay about 10% of the coverage in premium. The premium also skyrockets as you get older.

I just use www.insuremytrip.com and compare coverages and buy cheapest for what I want, it gives you the Best rating, several brand names are rated pretty well, I think I have bought CSA, Roamright (that used to be something else), Travelex and some others. I never pick cancel for any reason as I would never cancel for no reason. I don't have health issues to worry about right now in terms of relatives. I don't worry about some random freak event as the odds are too low to affect my decisions.

I personally don't think the legality issues of Paris apt rentals matters at all, you will have a contract with someone, I presume, and have paid them money with documentation. And I would hope said person/company has some legal, documented presence (website, for example). I don't think some insurance company is going to go beyond that. If you are renting from an unknown with no internet website and no contract, then no, I wouldn't expect any insurance company to pay you money because you make some claims about an apartment and this person.

I agree that if you paid for this apt. a while ago, all of this may be moot in terms of pre-existing conditions exclusions, but it should still cover freak events that could make someone seriously ill (ie, a traffic accident). But I think there are limits when you want a "cancel for any reason" policy and those cost a lot more than regular ones, of course, as people who buy them are contemplating cancellation. Obviously, insurance companies aren't going to sell such policies at any date before departure because someone could have a reason to cancel, just think they'll then buy a policy to cover that, and then voila, after waiting a week from getting the policy, decide to cancel and ask the insurance to cover it (even though they knew they were going to cancel when buying the policy). Insurance companies aren't stupid.

I think you need to be very careful about picking insurance because true cancel for no reason is quite rare. And typically canceling de to ill health is limited to either a traveling person or an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) although many are limited to only those people traveling.

' the legality issues of Paris apt rentals matters at all'
'hope said person/company has some legal, documented '

You can explain this to me ? You want a legal document from an illegal rental ? That is an intersting concept.

Like Christina, I use insuremytrip.com to compare plans, and I read the details quite carefully. You can also use squaremouth.com

Medical and evacuation/repatriation insurance are more important than cancellation insurance. Never mind someone getting sick at home, worry about one of you getting sick or hurt in Paris.

Have you heard about socialized medicine, also know as universal health care? Even non-residents are covered. Having medivac insurance is fine if you think you need it.

For many years, I've gotten my insurance off of the www.insuremytrip.com website and I also get the cancel-for-any-reason add on and have had to cancel in the past, at least twice, and was refunded without problems. I don't remember which company I used as I don't always use the same ones and since I vacation a lot and have had many policies through the Insure My Trip website, I don't remember which company was connected with those specific trips.

Happy Travels!

The doctor I saw in Strasbourg on my last trip charged me. Admittedly, it wasn't enough for me to bother to file insurance, but when I broke my wrist in Switzerland the bill was certainly high enough I needed insurance, both medical and evacuation.

The most important insurance you need is medical; your own insurance probably only pays for the initial setting of a broken bone, for example.
Anyone with any medical condition of any kind should within two weeks of the first deposit on a trip try to get a policy with "preexisting conditions" covered. A friend was on a cruise, had a pain in her side which turned out to be a grown that had been in her but she didn't know it- would have cost thousands and thousands of dollars for the hospital, MD, and flying her home.
I strongly suggest you use InsureMyTrip.com. The website can be confusing but they are in U.S. and are wonderful on the phone.

For a recent thread on some of the issues to consider regarding medical insurance, see:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...not-to-buy.cfm

Travel insurance varies considerably depending on your country of origin. UK and Australia have very similar type policies which generally cover medical, cancellation , luggage and much more . Seems US has insurance for quite specific areas eg evacuation . My latest insurance does not cover any cancellation for death of a parent over 80. When my brother was told he was dying We received a full refund for our trip ($15,000 ) as I had to fly home from London . So you can see policies do vary and always read fine print .
Also companies vary on what pre existing so they cover .

Read your apartment contract carefully. Many will not reimburse you for the amount you prepaid if you have to cancel for any reason. Normally, there is a sliding scale of reimbursements if you cancel 60 or 30 days in advance - but not always. If you just don't like your apartment for any reason, it's likely you won't be reimbursed at all. Apartments are not legal, so are not inspected for sanitary and safety issues.

Some credit card companies offer travel insurance which covers basic needs. Check with your regular health insurance company to see if your policy covers accidents and treatments during your trip. Normally, trips to the ER will be reimbursed when you get home. This might be all you need. You will be charged for procedures if you go to a doctor or hospital, but the fees are minuscule compared to what you'd pay at home. If you get sick, go first to the nearest pharmacie and ask for advice.