Travel insurance recommendations
 

My husband and I are planning a three week trip to Europe in September 2007, going to London, Barcelona and Paris. We will rent flats in all three places. So far, we/ve decided on one in Barcelona and still checking out possibilites for the other cities.
I went to some comparison sites, and the plans offered by MH Ross look the best for the money. Any experience with this company, or suggestions? We have to pay hefty deposits, and I estimate the total cost of flights plus rentals should be around $8,000.
When I went to Paris in April of this year, I missed my connection in Chicago, had to find a hotel when there was a huge number of conventions in town, and missed my first day/night in Paris. I had no insurance, alas.

Check out the various companies and plans offered at www.insuremytrip.com.

I would recommend shopping like the dickens for the coverage you will most likely require. Then, it is essential to ensure that you are purchasing coverage for your specific contingencies.

In case you don't know already, most companies require you to purchase coverage within a specific time of paying your first payment, airfare, apartment deposit etc. in order to be covered for pre-exhisting conditions. With some companies it is seven days and others are fourteen.

They define pre-exhisting conditions as anything that you have been treated for six months before you initial payment, or if a prescription has been changed.

Sorry that I can't help with the Ross company, but I am not familiar with them. We use CSA, and fortunately have never had to collect.

We have two credit cards that have vacation trip protection. I would recommend checking the card you will be using for your trip.

Be careful to check the conditions that allow you to cancel plans and claim under the policy. In most cases I found that illness of a child or parent is covered, but not a sibling or close friend.

It might be worth it for you to find a policy that allows you to cancel for any reason. This is usually more expensive and cancellation for reasons not listed on the primary coverage typically will cover only 75% of your losses, but it offers peace of mind, at least for me. I can always think of an emergency other than the usual ones!

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I found MH Ross on the Insuremytrip site, and then found the company's own website, which had a more basic policy than the ones on the Insuremytrip site.

While some credit cards offer "vacation protection" they do not compare or cover anywhere what is covered in policies found on a site such as "insuremytrip"

HI: I general use insure my trip which I did for a upcoming trip. However my friends found this place lots cheaper better coverage and while it states younger group had no problem getting coverage.
www.statravel.com/travelinsurance

Regarding purchasing coverage close to your departure time or well after you bought your air tix or cruise tix, check out Access America.

We self-insure as many of the costly things on our trips can be cancelled right up to the last day. Pretty much airfare is the only thing that isn't covered on our trips (yes, I realize that there are trips where this isn't so). Not worth buying the insurance just basically for the airfare and a few one-in-a-million possibility events.

But I do know people who do buy it because they would worry themselves into a frenzy otherwise--and so it's sure worth it to them for sanity retention.

It's also a good idea to buy trip insurance for the medical coverage. I had never been seriously ill or hospitalized a day in my life when I came down with pneumonia while abroad and required extensive medical treatment, including hospitalization, plus needing to take unplanned flights, etc. when I was too sick to take trains.

Travel insurance also covers your trip costs if a member of your family who depends on you for care becomes so ill you can't leave them alone. So now I pay travel insurance to not only insure unexpected medical costs for me, but in case my in-laws or parents have medical emergencies that would prevent my leaving the country.

Since I rent apartments and rent cars when I travel, all of which involve contracts and pre-payments, I take out enough travel insurance to cover those costs plus my airfare if I suddenly had to cancel for medical reasons, my own or a relatives.

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I really appreciate it, and will be sensible and pay for decent coverage, including medical.