The essential resource for hurricane season travel

June 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hurricane Season 2011You’ve probably noticed that hurricane season coincides with the summer travel season when school is out of session. Travel during hurricane season – just like travel during the winter season – comes with a unique set of risks and cautions. Air flights far from the hurricane zone can be significantly delayed – affecting air travelers across the country and even around the globe. Cruise ships may be diverted from scheduled ports, ruining your personal travel agenda.

To help consumers of travel insurance understand the risks of hurricane season travel and know what type of travel coverage they need, we put together the Hurricane Resource Center 2011, a comprehensive Traveler’s Guide to Hurricane Season.

It includes new information and timely topics, such as

  • Top islands and U.S. cities for hurricane strikes – do you know where the ‘hurricane capital of the world’ is?
  • Worst 3 months for hurricanes – and the slightly safer months as well!
  • Cruise safety and cruise line hurricane protocols – are cruise ships safe during a hurricane?
  • 5 Caribbean islands most likely to miss a hurricane – are one of these islands on your travel plans?

We’ve provided an entire section detailing the compensation you can expect from travel suppliers and what you need in the way of hurricane travel insurance coverage for all the rest.

In addition, we’ve also provided information and reviews on useful hurricane season travel tools, including websites, iPhone apps, and a new twitter feed from the National Hurricane Center. Plus, we provided some essential hurricane maps detailing where hurricanes originate, their typical travel paths, and major hits through history.

If you’re planning to travel this hurricane season – even if you will be far from hurricane alley – take a look at this hurricane resource to understand the residual risks of a hurricane event.

In case you’re curious, you can also read the Hurricane Resource Center press release.

Is Travel Insurance for Babymooners Out of the Question?

June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Beach at sunsetMany people encourage couples to take a vacation before their baby arrives because traveling after the baby is born is far more complicated than when it’s just the two of you. Of course, should you decide to take a babymoon (a honeymoon before the baby), it’s important to understand what your travel insurance can and can’t do for you before your trip and while you are on your trip.

Standard travel insurance policies do not provide protection against emergencies related to pregnancy. They are simply unwilling to take on the risk of insuring pregnant travelers because, as you might imagine, there is a greater possibility they will need medical attention.

So while travel insurance plans automatically exclude pregnancy and childbirth from their coverage, but complications of pregnancy are medically covered by many travel insurance providers. For example, according to Travel Guard’s Description of Coverage for their Platinum travel insurance plan:

‘ “Complications of Pregnancy” means conditions whose diagnoses are distinct from pregnancy but are adversely affected by pregnancy or are caused by pregnancy.’

In layman’s terms, this means that common medical conditions that are caused by or affected by a pregnancy are covered by the plan’s standard medical coverage.

The same Description of Coverage from Travel Guard continues with:

‘Complications of Pregnancy do not include false labor, occasional spotting, Physician-prescribed rest during the period of pregnancy, morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidarum, preeclampsia and similar conditions associated with the management of a difficult pregnancy not constituting a nosologically distinct complication of pregnancy.’

This is just one example of a travel insurance plan’s language. So what does this paragraph mean in layman’s terms? It means that a diagnosed medical condition that is solely related to pregnancy will not be covered by your travel insurance policy.

For additional information, see these posts:
Pregnancy is not a Covered Reason to Cancel
Does Travel Medical Insurance Cover Premature Delivery?

So, can you safely travel with travel insurance while you’re pregnant? It depends. If your pregnancy is proceeding smoothly along, your doctor says it’s safe to travel, and you are early in your pregnancy, you could be just fine. Every travel insurance plan is different, so it’s crucial that you review the plan details (which are available on the travel insurance’s website before you buy) so you understand what’s covered.

Also, use your free review period to call the assistance services representatives and ask some specific questions that will help you understand what’s covered and what’s not.

How to make sure you’re covered while skiing

January 29, 2007 By 1 Comment

Most package plans will cover recreational skiing

If your winter vacation includes some skiing, you probably want some insurance to cover potential injuries. Luckily, most general package plans include coverage for recreational activities such as skiing. These comprehensive plans, also called package plans, generally include coverage for trip cancellation, lost baggage, medical emergencies, and medical evacuation.

screenshot_3.pngMedical expense and emergency evacuation coverage is important

Even though the other benefits are important while taking a trip, the really important coverage is the medical expense and evacuation. These are the costs that can get very high, and paying out-of-pocket could be catastrophic. Medical expenses can run in the 10′s of thousands, and e required evacuation could easily cost over $100,000. Without the right insurance coverage, you could be required to pay this yourself.

Check the policy certificate for any exclusions

The important thing os to check your coverage carefully. Read the certificate and check the “exclusions” section to see if they have ruled out skiing accidents. In general, as long you are not taking part in professional skiing or racing, winter activities are covered.

If you have further questions, ask a professional

If you are not sure about a certain policy, the best thing to do is ask a professional. The easiest way to do this is using a comparison site, because they can answer questions about several companies’ policies at the same time, instead of making you call around and deal with each company.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Go to a comparison site (see How to Compare Quotes with a Travel Insurance Comparison Site)
  2. Enter your trip details and get instant policy quotes
  3. Read a little about each policy to find out if skiing is covered
  4. Call the comparison site’s toll-free number, they can answer questions about all products

Here’s a quick way to see if you’re covered on the slopes (for skiers)

November 3, 2006 By Leave a Comment

screenshot_7.pngAs winter approaches, many of you will head to the slopes to do some skiing, snowboarding, or cross-country. Here in New England, Vermonters are getting ready for a great season and everyone is hoping for some early snow.

Does travel insurance cover skiing accidents?

It depends. I know you hate hearing that because it means searching the small print of a dozen insurance policies.

You can use a comparison site that lists policies side-by-side, and can see the coverage provided by each. Look for something called “hazardous sports coverage”.
The problem with this, however, is the different wording of each policy. A general term like “hazardous sports” is not specific enough. Does that mean jumping out of a helicopter on top of a mountain to ski down, or just hitting the green bunny slopes for some casual skiing.

What is the best way to find out what’s covered…quickly?

Here is how you look through all the policies and find out what skiing coverage they offer, without going crazy:

  1. Go to the product page You can do this through a comparison site (see How to Compare Quotes with a Travel Insurance Comparison Site)
  2. View the certificate You should see a button to click and read the certificate, or actual policy wording
  3. Do a search for “ski” Whether you are viewing the policy online, or need to download the PDF, you can search the document for and word. On a Mac, hold Command+F, type in “ski”, and it will search the page for that word and highlight it.

This should take you to the “exclusions” portion of the insurance policy. You should see a section about professional sports, motorsports, sky-diving, etc.

Read within this section to see if skiing is excluded. Some some policies state that all skiing is excluded. Others state that recreational skiing is fine, as long as you are skiing within official boundaries.

The specifics are important here, so check out a few policies. If you are buying the policy specifically for a skiing trip, take the time to read several policies.

If something is not totally clear, call the company and ask specific questions.

Pre-existing conditions can be covered, but check with the travel insurance company before you buy

October 28, 2006 By 3 Comments

Reading a travel forum recently, I came across someone asking about travel insurance. Specifically, where to find a policy and more importantly, one that will cover pre-existing medical conditions.

This is a very common question. Even travel insurance novices have heard that pre-existing conditions are one of the most common reasons for a claim being denied.

Imagine you’re enjoying your trip aboard a cruise ship, enjoying the ports of call, sightseeing, and relaxation. Out of nowhere, an old condition acts up and puts you in the hospital. You need to cut the trip short, receive medical treatment in a foreign country, and eventually be flown home on a special medical evacuation flight.

Sounds expensive right? It is, and if the expenses are not covered by your travel insurance policy, there is a serious bill to pay. You have travel insurance, but will it cover the expense, even though it was from a pre-existing condition?

Some policies will cover pre-existing conditions

The key is to do some research and ask some questions first. Check out one of the comparison sites (listed at end of post) and see how the different products stack up against each other.

To cover pre-existing conditions, a travel insurance policy must be purchased at the right time

You will see some that have pre-ex coverage, but only if the policy was purchased within a certain time frame. Usually, this time frame is within a couple weeks of the initial trip deposit date.

In other words, once you started planning and paying for the trip, buy your travel insurance and get covered

Once you have compared some policies online, call the company and ask specific questions. Have them go over the actual policy wording with you so you understand what is covered, and what is not.

Be honest about pre-existing conditions. If a claim is made, the insurance company will research your medical history. The best policy is to be honest upfront, and avoid a bad situation later

Some insurers have increased cancellation coverage to include hurricane warnings

October 11, 2006 By Leave a Comment

As travelers plan their trips this fall, many will have concerns aboutscreenshot_9.png hurricanes causing problems with their plans

As the travel date approaches, you watch the Weather Channel, hoping to see clear sky forcasts in your vacation town. You’ve been waiting all year and the last thing you want is a rainy vacation.
You can’t always be so lucky, however. Many travelers like to take advantage of travel deals, but oftentimes the trip takes place during “hurricane season”. No hurricane, no problem. You have a great time, relax, get some sun, and get a good deal too.

But if a hurricane is in the forcast, things aren’t as good

With no coverage at all, you are at the mercy of the weather. If your trip is cancelled, you could be out a lot of money. Any non-refundable deposits or payments would be lost. With a bad hurricane, you could spend a few thousand dollars watching the storm from your couch at home. Not a great vacation.

If you do purchase travel insurance, many plans will provide coverage for trips cancelled for named hurricanes

This means that a storm must be upgraded to an actual hurricane by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration National Hurricane Center.

Some companies have expanded the coverage to even include hurricane warnings

Again, the warnings must be issued by the NOAA, but this additional coverage can be a big moneysaver. If the threat of hurricane makes you worry about a cancelled vacation, consider a plan from these companies. Their added coverage for hurricane warnings could make your vacation much, much more enjoyable.