Travel Insurance
 

Anyone have experience with insuremytrip.com and choosing quote from web only.Some firms you can call but the one hitting web only is much less expensive. I'm suspicous for just that reason. There are 5 choices and web one so much cheaper than other quotes.Your experiences...

Purchasing insurance--of any kind--is different than trying to score the lowest price on airfares or rental cars. Price comparisons are meaningless unless they are based on the same coverages, exclusions, restrictions, deductibles, yada, yada, yada. It's all about the fine print on what, how and when selected risks would be covered.

The only way to compare policies is to roll up your sleeves and do the hard, but necessary work of studying the details, word-for-word. You might choose a couple of company's policies from www.insuremytrip.com and write down the specifics on coverages important to you. Like peeling an onion layer by layer, soon you will either smell the sweet aroma of a quality specimen, or the stink of a rotten core.

Without in any way making a recommendation, CSA and Travel Guard are among big players in the travel insurance market, especially for package policies. There are differences however in their protections. Good luck.

I visit that web site for many of my trips. I believe it is a very reputable web site. I think it was written up in a prestigious publication and that was why I trust to use the site. For the most part the companies are ones I read about in all my travel guides.

But as the previous post points out you have to get down and dirty on the research. It can be pretty tedious, but very important. There are so many variables.

Here is a link to a web site that handles travel and trip cancellation insurance as well as special risk insurance the we found to be quite reasonable. We where directed to the site by a corporate lawyer who used them after check them out, but you may want to check them out yourself. The company is called Specialty Risk International. They also handle medical insurance for those traveling or living abroad.

http://www.specialtyrisk.com/

i would never travel without trip insurance anymore. i went to the web site that robert2533 posted and i think the prices sound reasonable. i had a package that was less than that a couple of years ago but they only paid 25,000 for medical evacuation, and my understanding from a couple of first hand reports, the 50,000 listed in one of the policies is more on target. i became a beliver on 09/11. was set to leave for london and paris on 09/15 and of course the trip was canceled. i got all my money back but...duh..i didn't realize it was probably because i had the trip insurance until i read some horror stories posted from people who could not take their trips and could not get refunds or only partial refunds. i got back every dime. also, my girlfriends mother-in-law had a heart attack and passed away in london several years ago and insurance made transporting her back to the states an easier process. my brother and sister-in-law elected NOT to get trip insurance year before last and he had a horrible bike accident about three weeks before they were set to leave. he broke his collar bone and something else i think. he went but was in pain all the time. if they could't have gone they would have lost all their money. so, it all depends on what level of risk you are comfortable with. like the other posters said, read the fine print and pick a policy that will give you the comfort level you need and that's NOT always the least expensive one. happy travels.

But Travel Guard's medevac. policy doesn't cover preexisting conditions unless you purchase the policy within 15 days of your initial deposit.

I was interested in a TravelGuard policy, till I read the fine print and discovered they don't cover you for default by several carriers, including United. Guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed they don't strike...

The site insurmytrip.com is good for comparison and for telling you the different coverages. You can then decide what your needs are. If the medical is something that you want/need, be sure and check out the pre-existing conditions and waivers that many have for purchasing within time limits of first outgoing expense related to the trip. Some only want medical evacuation..which is good to have..accidents or whatever can cause a BIG problem...

We usually purchase TravelGuard after using www.insuremytrip.com mainly because it has the highest rating among all the companies. The company rating is the most important factor; generous coverage means nothing if the company can't (or won't) pay it.

I ALWAYS purchase trip cancellation insurance, interruption insurance, and overseas medical insurance, including evacuation coverage. In 1990 my father (in Germany to see the Passion Play in Oberamergau) had a massive stroke in Heidelberg. He was hospitalized for more than three weeks. We tried many ways to bring him home (a sad saga in and of itself), finally calling upon Friends in High Places to get him on a US Army hospital plane.

It is worth the $100-$200 for this. Believe me!

This time around I bought a policy from Access America. When the policy arrived I called AA about the pre-existing conditions exclusion, and when I didn't get a definitive answer I sent an e-mail to insuremytrip.com. About an hour later one of their representatives called me back, and we went over the fine print very carefully. That's the best customer service I've had in some time, but it points up the need to do your research very thoroughly. Most insurers give you ten days to reject their policy after you buy it.

I don't think any ins. co. covers preexisting conditions except for that waiver if you purchase it within 14 to 21 days of paying for your trip. I checked with Access America and insuremytrip.com as well. However, I don't understand why they would choose to cover you if you bought the insurance during that two week period but not later. You have the preexisting condition existing already anyway so I see no difference.

No idea, except that the insurer gets to keep your money for a lot longer in most cases.

The reason why they provide the waiver of pre-existing conditions during that time period and not later deals with an insurance concept called "anti-selection". Basically it means that the insurance companies believe that their rates will be more statistically accurate if you buy the insurance within the 10 to 21 day time period. Once you are outside that time period they believe that there would be a much higher possibility of a claim occurring due to a pre-existing condition.

Thank you for the explanation, John. I know the insurance companies study these statistics. But it still makes no sense to me.

I use insuremytrip.com all the time. I had to make a claim once, and the company (which I have forgotten) was very prompt. Read the fine print among the cheapest companies on there. Sometimes there are slight differences in coverage, which may, or may not, concern you. It's simple to use and cheap.