Travel Insurance Review

as-seen-on-header

  • Home
  • COVID
    • “Cancel For Any Reason” for COVID19
    • Travel Medical for COVID19
    • State Restrictions for COVID19
    • Airline Change/Cancellation Policies
  • Best Travel Insurance
  • Beginner’s Guide
  • Hurricane
  • Reviews
  • Tips & Advice
  • About
  • Podcast

4 Things a Traveler Should Know About Changing their Insurance Policy

November 12, 2012 By Damian Tysdal

Things a Traveler Should Know About Changing their Insurance PolicySo, what do you do if you’ve purchased your travel insurance policy and something about your trip changes?

It happens to lots of travelers, but it’s important to remember that you can make changes to your policy as long as they are made before you start the trip.

The most common changes made to travel insurance plans are:

  • Changing the departure and return dates
  • Increasing or decreasing the trip costs
  • Adding additional members to the policy
  • Adding additional coverages to the policy

In all cases, a call to the travel insurance provider is all that’s required to make such changes – be sure to have your policy number and the necessary changes on hand to make that process easier.

1. Some trip changes require a policy update

Why would you need to change to make changes to your travel insurance policy? Well, we’ll offer a few common examples:

  • You get a call from the cruise company offering you a great incentive to pay a little more and get an upgrade on your cabin. You decide to surprise your wife and buy the upgrade. Three months later, however, you have to cancel your trip because of a family illness, and you make a claim on your travel insurance policy. Without changing your travel insurance plan, you would only have access to the original amount you insured.
  • You and your wife are taking the kids to Cozumel and shortly before leaving, you find a super-saver fare and ask your parents to come along too. When you arrive, however, your father is very ill and rushed to a local hospital. If you didn’t update your travel insurance plan to include your parents – or have them purchase a separate plan – you won’t have coverage for his international travel medical bills or an emergency evacuation to receive medical treatment back in the States.
  • You’re doing further research on your all-inclusive resort trip and realize that it’s been a long time since you’ve been SCUBA diving. You decide to add a few afternoon SCUBA dives to your list of activities. If you don’t remember to check the policy and be sure adventure activities like SCUBA diving are covered, you will have no travel medical coverage for accidents that occur on your trip.

Travel insurance companies know that your trip will often evolve up until the time you leave. It’s important to keep them informed of the changes that affect the coverage in your policy to ensure that you avoid the common ‘loopholes’ that catch some travelers off guard.

2. Your premium may change a little – up or down

It might, depending on the changes you’re making. If you are increasing the trip costs or lengthening the trip dates, you may have to pay a slightly increase in the premium, but as we noted above – that small extra amount could save you a lot more should you have to cancel.

If the changes result in a lower premium, a refund will be issued.

Additional travelers can be added to some policies, but travel insurance providers typically require that travelers covered by the same travel insurance policy be related or reside at the same address.

3. The rules are slightly different with group plans

If the travel insurance policy is a group plan, most travel insurance providers require that all members of the group be covered for the plan to be in effect. That means each person in the group taking the same trip has to be listed and covered by the plan. If someone is left off the plan, the entire group’s coverage could be invalidated.

If, before departure, one or more people in the group can’t make it, call the travel insurance provider and make the necessary changes to the group travel insurance policy to make sure that the coverage you have on everyone else is valid and in effect when you need it.

4. Make your travel insurance plan changes early

In all cases you should make your travel insurance plan changes as soon as humanly possible. Every travel insurance policy comes with a free review period in which the insured traveler can read the policy, understand the exclusions, and make changes to the policy or cancel the plan for a refund (minus a small fee).

Of course, it’s best to get the trip details right when you’re first generating a quote and making your purchase, but we’re all human and mistakes and misunderstandings happen. But, you can’t make changes after you depart for your trip.

The key thing to remember is that a travel insurance policy is a legal agreement between you and the insurance provider. You agree to pay a premium and give them accurate trip details and they agree to the terms of their coverage. If you provide them with inaccurate trip information, they have every right to deny your claim.

Filed Under: Learning

About Damian Tysdal

Damian Tysdal is the founder of TravelInsuranceReview, and he believes travel insurance should be easier to understand. See more from Damian on Google+.

Click below to find the right travel insurance, with the best coverage, at the lowest price



Get a quote nowInstant prices from all companies


Get a quote nowInstant prices from all companies

About this website

My name is Damian, and I started this website in 2006 to help travelers understand travel insurance.

The site features company reviews, guides, articles, and many blog posts to help you better understand travel insurance and pick the right plan for your trip (assuming you actually need travel insurance).

I am also a licensed travel insurance agent, and you can get a quote and purchase through this site as well.

Get the Cheat Sheet

 Travel Insurance Review, Inc. BBB Business Review


ABOUT TRUST ONLINE
ustia

Popular Companies

  • Allianz Insurance
  • CSA Travel Insurance
  • Seven Corners Insurance
  • Travel Guard Insurance
  • Travel Insured
  • Travelex Insurance
  • TravelSafe Insurance

Learn about Travel Insurance

  • Beginner’s Guide
  • Coverage Guide
  • Tips and Advice
  • Company Reviews
  • Types of Plans
  • Types of Trips

Blog Article Categories

  • Learning
  • Types of Plans
  • Types of Trips
  • Coverage
  • General
  • In The News

Copyright © 2006-2019 Travel Insurance Review Inc. | XML Site Map<a title="XML Site Map"
Information on this Web site is provided for information purposes only. Any information obtained from this Web site should be reviewed with your Policy Certificate. Travel Insurance Review Inc. is not responsible for errors or consequences arising from your use of this information.