A client recently asked us this question and so we did a little digging. Unfortunately, if cash is stolen from your baggage, it’s not going to be replaced by any plan we could find.

For example, CSA’s Custom Luxe plan lists these items as not covered:

“money, stamps, stocks and bonds, postal or money orders, securities, accounts, bills, deeds, food stamps or credit cards”

And another example, Seven Corners’ Roundtrip Choice plan lists these items as not covered:

“Keys, money, stamps, securities and documents;”

And a last example, Travel Guard’s Platinum plan lists these items as not covered:

“money, stamps, stocks and bonds, postal or money orders;”

As you can see from the examples, there are a number of items that will not be replaced if they are stolen from your luggage or stolen with your luggage. Many plans list these items as excluded from baggage coverage and baggage delay coverage:

• artificial limbs or other prosthetic devices
• artificial teeth, dental bridge, retainers, orthodontic devices
• hearing aids, eyeglasses, sunglasses and contact lenses
• money, stamps, stocks and bonds
• postal or money orders, securities
• accounts, bills, deeds, food stamps or credit cards

So, keep these things in your carry on bag and guard it like you do your wallet.

In general, pregnancy is specifically excluded from all travel insurance coverage – see the exclusion language (from Travel Guard’s Gold plan description) below:

“pregnancy, childbirth, or elective abortion, other than Complications of Pregnancy;”

And this exclusion language (from Travelex’s Travel Select plan description):

“normal pregnancy or resulting childbirth or elective abortion;”

So, if normal pregnancy is specifically excluded from coverage, what coverage does travel insurance provide for pregnancy?

Is medical care covered?

First, let’s look at the timing. Just as an existing pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition by health insurance providers, and therefore not covered, an existing pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition by travel insurance companies if the insured is pregnant before the travel insurance plan’s effective date. Makes sense, right?

If you have to make a claim, the travel insurance company – just like any health insurance company – will ask for doctor’s records to determine whether there was a pre-existing medical condition. Therefore, if you’re already pregnant when you purchase your travel insurance plan, you’ll need to purchase a plan with coverage for pre-existing conditions or add that as an upgrade to your plan.

Even then your travel insurance medical coverage will only provide coverage for medical conditions that are defined as complications of pregnancy, a term that’s defined differently by each travel insurance provider, but in essence is defined as:

“Complication of Pregnancy means a condition whose diagnosis is distinct from pregnancy but is adversely affected or caused by pregnancy.”

That means while the pregnancy itself isn’t covered, you will have coverage (up to the plan limit) for medical expenses that result due to complications as long as the plan you choose has medical coverage and complications of pregnancy are covered events. (Review the details of medical coverage.)

See Does Travel Insurance Cover Premature Delivery? for more details.

Is trip cancellation covered?

Not all travel insurance plans allow you to cancel if you become pregnant. In fact, most consider pregnancy not to be a covered reason to cancel. After all, many women travel during their early pregnancies just fine. There are, however, some plans that do allow cancellations due to unexpected pregnancies.

Travel Insured International’s Worldwide Trip Protector Gold plan includes pregnancy as an unforeseen event that qualifies as a covered reason for trip cancellation benefits. See the following covered reason for cancellation language:

“Your or Your Traveling Companion’s normal pregnancy as long as the pregnancy occurs after Your or Your Traveling Companion’s Effective Date of coverage and can be verified by medical records.”

Of course, note the language indicates that the pregnancy must occur after the policy’s effective date of coverage and it must be verifiable. Again, any health insurance provider would expect the same level of verification. (Review the details of trip cancellation coverage.)

What about trip interruptions?

Covered reasons for trip interruptions are inclusive of the covered reasons for trip cancellation, so whatever coverage you have for trip cancellations is likely to determine your coverage for interruptions.

If you experience a medical condition due to a complication of pregnancy, for example, and are hospitalized, that trip interruption will be covered up to the plan limits. For some plans, that means return air only and for others that means you’ll be refunded your unused pre-paid trip costs as well. (Review the details of trip interruption coverage.)

We hope this clears up the questions you have about pregnancy and travel insurance. If you have questions about your travel insurance plan’s coverage for pregnancy, it’s a good idea to spend a little time reviewing the policy description, which is available online at the travel insurance company’s website or in your e-mail with your policy purchase details.

A recent article titled “7 Insurance Policies You Can Live Without” caught our attention because the content significantly misrepresented trip cancellation insurance as not worth the cost.

The author writes: â€œIf you can’t make it to a flight because something came up at work or a pre-existing medical condition, you won’t get your money back if you bought a trip cancellation policy. On most of the trip cancellation policies, the reasons that will get you a refund are pretty extreme — you or a family member has to suffer from an illness, injury, death, natural disaster. Unless you invested a lot of money in the trip, you might want to skip this policy.”

We beg to differ – and not just for really expensive trips.

Travel insurance policies cover trip cancellation for a number of covered reasons and you will get your money back if the reason is covered. See our article on the covered reasons for trip cancellation.

Of course, not every single travel insurance plan has the same covered reasons. It’s important for you to review the policy so you understand what is covered and what is not.

Here’s a policy example. Let’s say two 40+ year-olds from Colorado are traveling to New Orleans for a weekend. They paid a combined total of $1,200 for their airline tickets and hotel. When we run these facts through our travel insurance comparison tool, several inexpensive – that is, less than $90 – travel insurance policies with generous covered reasons for trip cancellation popped up. Those policies include trip cancellation, interruption, medical expenses, and evacuations too, so you get an awful lot of coverage with your trip cancellation.

Now, the author is correct if you are counting on your credit card protection for trip cancellation coverage. There’s where the covered reasons are rather extreme.

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.

Everywhere you go, people wear different clothes, eat different food, and speak different languages and when you are the visitor it’s important to think carefully about how to keep yourself as safe as possible so you can enjoy your trip.To that end, we’ve put together a list of travel tips for staying safe:

1. Be aware that you are a target. Your repeated map-checking, your out-of-state license plates, your funny clothes are all dead giveaways that you are not from here and probably an easy target. Try hard to fit in and look like a local.
2. Know and obey the current travel warnings. If there’s a current terror threat or danger of Dengue Fever, you’ll be better prepared. Check the current U.S. travel warnings and CDC travel warnings before you make your plans.
3. Protect your identity. Block view of your ATM transactions and keep your credit cards and passport safe when you travel. See our tips on protecting your identity while you travel.
4. Make copies of your travel documents. Specifically, your passport and credit card. Leave one at home with a responsible adult and carry the second with you (think of scanning it and sending it to yourself in e-mail so you’ll have access to it from a smartphone or computer). If these are stolen, your copies can make getting replacement documents a whole lot easier.
5. Get some travel insurance. There are so many types of plans available at really affordable prices that it’s silly not to have their assistance on hand when you run into trouble. Use our travel insurance comparison tool, enter a few quick trip details, and you can make your purchase online and have coverage in hand in minutes.

As we mentioned before, travelers are easy targets for all kinds of criminal action, so get smart and protect yourself.

A recent study presented by the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (UStiA) found that Americans spent almost $1.8 billion on all types of travel insurance and travel assistance services in 2010, a number that is up from $1.6 billion in 2008 and $1.3 billion in 2006.The survey also reported that almost 27 million people were traveling with single trip or annual coverage from UStiA member companies, and that a vast majority of those plans are package plans that include trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage.

While sales of travel medical and medevac plans are also growing, policies that incorporate trip cancellation and trip interruption benefits continue to be the most popular plans and account for over 90% of all total travel insurance plans sold in the U.S.  – and for good reason.

The covered reasons for trip cancellation have expanded to include coverage for revoked leave, having to work, and job loss – all of which are likely events in the tough economy Americans have experienced for the last decade.  Knowing that they can cancel their trip for a covered reason and be refunded their pre-paid trip costs has given travelers a great deal of security.

Trip interruption benefits typically include the covered reasons stated in trip cancellation benefits, so (depending on the plan) coverage for terrorism, financial default, and serious illnesses or injuries back home and for the traveler are all covered reasons for abandoning the trip and receiving reimbursement for their unused trip costs. Again, that’s simply comfort of mind.