I’ll Bet You Never Thought Travel Insurance Might Cover This

I recommend travel insurance to every client that books with me and I'm always shocked when people decline coverage.  It's such a huge mistake.

Let me tell you a true story.

My mom and her boyfriend flew to St. Lucia on Sunday. By Monday, he had a raging UTI and was losing a significant amount of blood. They went to the resort doctor, who ran tests and gave them two options:  Go to the hospital in St. Lucia or stabilize him and return to the United States immediately for treatment.

They chose to come home.

The bill for the doctor visit, tests, and treatment was $1200 and US medical insurance is not accepted outside the use.  Thankfully, they have travel insurance which covers medical expenses.However, it also offers so much more coverage than just the medical bills.

Most travel insurance may also help with the additional airfare required to return home early and may reimburse you for the unused portion of your resort stay. My mom and Bob were supposed to be in St. Lucia for a full week. They missed five days of their vacation due to his illness so we'll be filing for reimbursement.

Here is another situation people rarely think about.

Let's say that a major snowstorm is forecast for Saturday. You are scheduled to fly out Saturday morning to your tropical resort. Based on experience and common sense, you suspect that flight will be cancelled. You decide to fly out Friday to avoid disaster but...

The new flight costs more. You now need an extra hotel night near the airport. You made the practical decision to save your vacation, but it cost you extra money.

Travel insurance may help with those additional expenses if the weather event actually occurs. This is often referred to as loss mitigation. You took reasonable steps to avoid a bigger loss to the (missing your entire vacation) and the insurance policy may cover that effort.

Here is one more example, and this one is very current for me.

I am writing this post aboard the Disney Dream. We were scheduled to stop at Castaway Cay today. High winds made that stop impossible, so it was skipped and we are spending the day at sea.

We are all still on the cruise, but the experience changed. We paid for a specific itinerary and did not receive part of it.

In certain situations, travel insurance may provide reimbursement for a missed port day. That surprises people, because many assume insurance only applies if the entire trip is canceled.

The common thread in all of these examples is simple.

Travel insurance does not only cover major emergencies or complete trip cancellation. It is often about protecting the money you have already spent when plans change in ways you cannot control.

This is exactly why I recommend travel insurance for every trip I plan.

You hope you never need it. But when something unexpected happens, it can make a stressful situation much easier to manage.

If you want to talk through travel insurance options for an upcoming trip, I am always happy to explain what to look for and why it matters.

***One very important reminder before I wrap this up. (The lawyers make me say this part).

I am not an insurance underwriter, and I do not make coverage determinations. Coverage varies by policy, provider, and circumstance. Benefits may apply, may partially apply, or may not apply at all depending on the situation. All claims are reviewed and decided by the insurance company on a case by case basis.

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