Business Travel Insurance - Travel Insurance Review

Business travelers don’t get sick, right?

January 13, 2012 By Virginia Leave a Comment

Many road warriors have excellent immune systems because, after all, they reach a higher level of exposure than people who stay within their communities. While getting exercise, eating well, and getting plenty of sleep can help the frequent business traveler stay well, the high cost of rescheduling travel is a strong deterrent to canceling a trip when they do get sick. Many airlines charge as high as $150 or more simply to change a domestic ticket in addition to the additional cost of the new ticket, and hotels may require you to forfeit a night’s stay.

Doctors recommend that if you have a fever and are regular coughing or sneezing, you are probably contagious and shouldn’t fly. The CDC recommends only traveling when you feel well because staying away from others when you’re sick can help protect everyone’s health, but let’s face it: staying home is not always good for business and canceling a trip because you’re sick is not always a good career move. Therefore, business travelers may very well be in the position where they must travel when they are sick.

What can you do about it?

If you are sick and can change your trip, call the airline and politely ask for their help. If you can get a doctor’s note, that may help. If the first representative refuses to accommodate, politely thank them and call back to get a different representative.
Sick or not, consider carrying anti-bacterial wipes and swiping them across the tray tables, door and sink knobs in airplane lavatories, remote controls (in the hotels too!), and wash your hands every chance you get.
Always do your best to get plenty of good quality sleep, stay hydrated, get enough exercise and eat well. These are standard operating procedures at home and have to be carried through to your travels as well.
If you must be on the road a lot, familiarize yourself with the change fees of the various airlines on your routes. For example, Southwest Airlines doesn’t charge cancellation or change fees, but they may not handle the routes you need to travel.

Invest in an Annual Travel Insurance plan

Frequent travelers should invest in an annual travel insurance plan. If you find yourself ill in a hotel room in a foreign country, a call to your travel assistance services line can help you find a local doctor that accepts your travel medical insurance.

If you have to return home on an emergency, you’ll have help scheduling alternative transportation and with trip interruption coverage, you won’t have to pay for those unexpected charges.

Accidents and injuries can occur on a business trip just as easily as on vacation. A serious accident or illness abroad could bankrupt you, as these stories make clear:

So, be sure your annual plan has medical evacuation coverage to get you back home if you are seriously ill or injured.

See our recommendations for business travel insurance for complete details.

Does the company you work for have a travel security program in place?

September 28, 2011 By Virginia Leave a Comment

A recent Travel Guard survey indicates that less than one quarter of security and risk managers feel the companies they work for are well prepared to handle an emergency involving employees traveling abroad. As an example, many respondents indicated their employers rely on dedicated phone lines and e-mail to stay connected with traveling employees.

While many people are concerned about terrorism, the survey found that general street crime is the highest concern, followed by kidnapping, identity theft, and illness or hospitalization. We recently reviewed the top hazards for business travelers that indicates that petty street crime is a far more likely threat than terrorism.

Over 30% of companies currently indicate that their employees are traveling more this year than they did in 2010. Travel Guard’s survey, however, found a great deal of uncertainty around company travel safety and security programs with nearly 25% of respondents unsure of what systems and programs their employer had in place.

Of course, even if your company won’t spring for travel insurance protections, many business travelers who travel frequently find that purchasing an annual travel insurance plan is the best way to ensure that they’ll return home safely. Many travel insurance plans provide a number of business traveler assistance services and ensure that you’ll have someone at your side if you are hospitalized. In addition, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing you left your family in the best shape possible if something truly dreadful happens.

Companies themselves can look into corporate kidnap, ransom, and extortion plans that will help protect them from critical losses as well.

A humorous look at the top hazards for business travelers

September 12, 2011 By Virginia Leave a Comment

Recently, Andrew Bender, a Forbes’ business travel blogger, published a humorous look at the top hazards for business travelers. While terrorism is often on the minds of American travelers, he makes the point that it’s not the most likely hazard you’ll face.

In fact, according to Mr. Bender, travelers are far more likely to encounter these travel risks:

Pickpockets
Hotel fires
Slips and falls
Water-born illnesses
Location-specific crime

Travel insurance coverage can provide protection for at least some of these risks – specifically the illnesses and injuries you may encounter while traveling (see medical coverage) and the theft of passports or credit cards. Of course, there’s always the risk that your luggage will be delayed or lost as well.

One of the corporate travel risks he doesn’t list is the potential for kidnapping, and businesses and individuals who are interested in kidnap and ransom insurance for corporate employees have a number of options.

Those who frequently travel for business can review our recent post on all-round employee travel protection for information and plans designed to keep business travelers safe.

Kidnap, extortion, and ransom protection for corporate employees

August 26, 2011 By Virginia Leave a Comment

The most important asset many business have these days is their employees. Those employees are carefully selected for their skills, experience, attitude, and ability to ensure business growth, but if a business gains attention, and we certainly hope it does, then those employees may be at greater risk for kidnapping when they travel.

Recently the head of a private security and insurance firm, Peter Stenning in Australia, confirmed U.S. intelligence that indicates Colombian terrorists are working to expand extortion activities. The presence of high-profile executives of large, wealthy corporations around the globe can attract the attention of criminals.

Kidnap and ransom insurance, known in the insurance world as K&R, can provide corporations (and individuals) with the ransom money needed to recover key employees or other corporate assets. This coverage may also cover the fees for hostage negotiation advisers and security consultants.

For individuals and businesses looking for this type of protection, we found a couple of plans worth reviewing:

World Risk Portfolio from Travel Insurance Services

The World Risk Portfolio plan from Travel Insurance Services is ideal for high-profile executives and corporations with employees who travel internationally frequently, this is specialized coverage combining multiple international insurance products to achieve a coverage plan that protects for these risks:

Kidnap, extortion and ransom protection
Foreign commercial liability, including employee theft, forgery and robbery
Marine cargo and war risk coverage
High repatriation costs

Corporate Kidnap, Ransom and Extortion Insurance from Global Underwriters

In this plan’s maximums are funds for death and dismemberment, ransom and extortion payments, expenses due to business interruption, consultant costs and more. The Corporate Kidnap, Ransom and Extortion Insurance plan from Global Underwriters is intended to protect corporate employers from the risks related to sending important employees out into the world to do business. With $50 million in coverage, employers are sure to have the protection they need.

Business owners looking for all-round trip protection for your employees?

August 23, 2011 By Virginia Leave a Comment

What if your sales team meets all their goals and exceeds your expectations? If you want to send them on an incentive trip as a reward, you’ve got to be sure they return home safely for a number of reasons.

On the other hand, if your key employees are frequent travelers promoting and expanding the business, you’ve got a different corporate risk. Again, you’ll want to be sure those employees return home safely.

For all the business owners out there who are concerned about their employees’ safety and well-being on business trips or on incentive trips, we’ve got a few plans for you to review. These plans can help keep your employee safe while they travel on your dime for very little extra money.

Business Traveler from Travelex

Ideal for business trips and incentive trips, the Business Traveler plan from Travelex offers a number of excellent benefits, like extra cash for trip interruptions, delays or missed connections (with no time delays). If your employee misses their connection through no fault of their own, they won’t have to come up with a lot of extra cash to continue their trip. If you are sending your employees outside their health insurance network area, consider the medical upgrade in case they become ill or are injured in an accident on the trip.

Employee Travel Protection from Travel Insurance Services

With global travel increasingly common in today’s workplaces, the Employee Travel Protection plan from Travel Insurance Services is an excellent, low-cost enhancement to an employee benefit package and covers the gaps in medical expenses in typical employee coverage while adding evacuations, repatriation, flight accident AD&D, and travel assistance services.

High Limit Accident Insurance from Travel Insurance Services

To offset the loss of key employees and executives, war correspondents, government employees, and others, consider the High Limit Accident Insurance plan from Travel Insurance Services. This is term life and disability protection to cover the sudden and unexpected loss as a result of a travel accident. You choose the payout limit. Ideal for those who need travel accident coverage on a short-term or continuous basis.

USI Assist from Travel Insurance Services

The USI Assist plan from Travel Insurance Services is a travel accident plan for the frequently traveling business person. It covers travel accidents and emergency medical evacuations and offers options for security evacuations and out-of-network medical coverage if the employee’s plan does not extend to their destination. Offered at three plan levels, it covers employees, plus their spouse and children if traveling with the employee.

GEO Group from IMG

Designed as a cost-effective employer-sponsored group medical and dental plan with daily indemnity coverage, the GEO Group plan is for employers with international employees and provides U.S.-style health benefits as worldwide coverage. This plan is available to employers with two or more internationally assigned employees, expatriate employees, or independent contractors. Coverage for spouse and children available.

Can you recover your vacation dollars if your boss revokes your leave?

August 17, 2011 By Virginia Leave a Comment

In some cases, you can recover vacation dollars when you or your traveling companion’s or a traveling family member’s vacation approval or written military leave is revoked. This type of coverage is included in the trip cancellation benefits of some travel insurance plans.

Let’s take a look at an example from the Gold plan from Travel Guard. The language looks like this:

“j) the Insured or Traveling Companion is required to work
during his/her scheduled Trip. He/she must provide proof of
requirement to work, such as a notarized statement signed
by an officer of his/her employer; In the situation of self employment,
proof of self-employment and a notarized
statement confirming that the Insured is unable to travel due
to his or her job obligations will be required;”

Notice that at least some proof is required, but then you’d expect that if you have to make a claim.

You may find help in the optional coverages

In some cases, however, you’ll find this coverage in the ‘cancel for any reason’ or ‘cancel for work reasons’ coverage, which is typically an optional rider.

In the description of coverage for Worldwide Trip Protector Gold from Travel Insured International, for example, we found coverage for this type of event under the optional ‘cancel for work reasons’ coverage. The language reads like this:

“You or Your Traveling Companion are required to work during the scheduled Trip. You or Your Traveling Companion must demonstrate proof of requirement to work, such as a notarized statement signed by an officer of Your or Your Traveling Companion’s employer;”

Almost always available for revoked military leave

In most travel insurance plans, you’ll find that coverage for trip cancellation includes being called into active military service or to provide aid in the event of a natural disaster. The language (in this case, from the Travel Insurance Services Elite plan) looks like this:

“(g) the Insured or a Traveling Companion being called into active military service to provide aid or relief in the event of a Natural Disaster;”

What’s the catch?

Make sure that you read the description of the plan to ensure that this type of coverage is available – and if it’s only available in the optional rider, make sure that rider is on your plan. The catch? Make sure that your trip costs fit within the maximum trip amount. For example, if your trip costs are $4,500, be sure that the trip cancellation maximum covers up to that amount. You don’t want to have a situation where the maximum trip cancellation amount is $2,000 because if you have to cancel, that’s the maximum you’ll receive back.