I bought our trip insurance when I bought the flights. I just booked our apartment. Should I change the value of our insurance to reflect the total cost of the apartment? I have only just made the deposit for the apartment and would only be charged for one night if we cancelled inside of 21 days.

I asked our trip insurance provider the exact same question. She said to call and add additional insurance when we made any additional deposits that were non refundable. I recommend that you call your provider to be sure that you have the optimum coverage. You sure don't want to make a mistake and find out the hard way.

Trip insurance is really only a minor part of the total travel expense. (I know, I sound like I'm selling the stuff, but I am not). I usually buy insurance that covers all non-reimbursable expenses plus gives me sufficient medical coverage beyond what my current insurance will pay, outside of the US. The medical part was well worth it when I had an accident in Berlin last May that required ER treatment.

I get a little confused about this stuff. I've purchased it online a couple times and once through AAA but never really knew if we were adequately covered as I didn't really see any of the lengthy fine print until after it was purchased. The most important part to me is the medical coverage (in case of accident or illness on the trip) and also the need to cancel if there is a death in the family or very very serious illness. Any recommendations for companies? Any tips out there? We've never had to file a claim, thank goodness...

Yes, I would recommend adding the amount of the one-night deposit to your policy and pay the additional premium.

The most important aspects of travel insurance are the exlusions. So you must read each policy, because they can vary substantially, to see what is covered and what is not and under what circumstances.

I would certainly add it, although your timing doesn't appear very optimal as it looks like you will not have any pre-existing conditions waiver the way you did it. I might be wrong, but you are changing the entire value of the policy, so I suspect you can't do that and get the pre-existing cond. waiver on the additional amount you want covered. You may not care, of course, if that isn't your fear as to why you wouldn't go.

This all depends on your insurance carrier. I use Travelex almost exclusively. If you purchase within 21 days of initial deposit, pre-existing conditions are covered - but if you're fit to travel on the day you buy your coverage and you're outside the 21 days, the look-back is only 60 days.

Additionally, if you're forced to cancel your trip because of the illness of a family member, pre-existing conditions don't come into play at all. As long as the family member's health was good enough for you to travel on the day you bought your policy, you're covered. Here's a link to Travelex: http://tinyurl.com/26nrckf