I'm looking at travel insurance for an upcoming trip. I've read that you should never purchase such insurance from the same company that you book your trip through. I'm looking at possibly purchasing a Travel Guard policy. Anyone had any experience with this company? Other suggestions?

Why not get it from the same company? The few times we have booked tours we have had their included insurance.

You might want to do a search on insurance on Europe and/or Africa/Middle East boards. Since these trips usually involve more non-refundable money, much discussion there from people who have actually had to collect on travel insurance - and that is really the only measure of how good insurance is - when you have to collect.

Gretchen - the reason peole recommend not buying it from same company is twofold. First, it often costs more. And second, if there is a problem with the tour company, there is likely to be a problem with the insurance (one of the reasons one might need to collect). That said, we have purchased insurance only twice, and once was from a tour company.

I agree with the suggestion to look at the baord for the area in which you will be traveling - that will give you much better info on insurance specifics. (You're not asking about insurance for a trip in the US are you?)

alvira -- purchase travel insurance independently & NEVER from the "common carrier". I use insuremytrip.com (Travelguard is on there).

It plainly states in all boilerplate policies you purchase from common carriers that if THEY default, the coverage is void.

An example. Friend purchased insurance from the tour company itself for an extended tour of the Western US. On the last day of the tour one of them got very ill and ended up in the hospital in Wyoming for nearly two weeks. The "fine print" on the insurance only covered them for the period of the tour itself, so only the first day of the hospital stay was covered. What's more they wouldn't pay for the expenses of the partner staying there, or for the new return trip. Checking with other companies they find out they were "screwed" by the tour company's insurance policy. Most others would have covered related expenses from what happened while on the tour and certainly would have paid for their return home. All they got was reimbursement for one night's hotel lodging.

I purchase trip cancellation/interruption insurance when a large portion of my trip is nonrefundable or has a large penalty for cancellation. I do read all the fine print and look for a policy that covers what I need.

Checking www.insuremytrip.com is a good place to start.

When I researched many years ago, travelers were happy with their experiences with Travelguard and CSA. I have used both, depending on what I needed, but have not had a claim.

The recommendations for Travelguard and CSA came from travelers who had their claims handled satisfactorily.

Had good experiences w/Travel Guard. My BF and I were fully reimbursed for a 9-day hiking tour when he got a leg infection. My friend was also reimbursed for clothing she bought when her bags arrived in Greece a few days late.