|
TRAVEL INSURANCE INFO
article and image by Carole Terwilliger Meyers
If you have questions about trip insurance, here are some good resources that I have personally collected. If you read them, you’ll probably learn something. I find the subject very confusing and so continue to keep my eyes open for good reports on the topic.
Be aware that trip insurance might duplicate coverage already provided by your car insurance policy, homeowners insurance policy, personal liability insurance policy, health insurance policy, or other coverage. Here is a story about how your homeowners insurance might protect you against loss or damage to valuables.
Before a trip, remember to check with your
●credit card company, to see what kind of travel insurance benefits they might cover. I used to have one that just covered lost luggage. Last year I heard about the Chase Sapphire card, which has great travel benefits, and signed up for it. I just paid for a package trip with it for my husband and me and it will cover both of us. Check it out.
●your health insurance, to see whether it covers you when you travel and to find out what you need to do to file a claim. Once I was very sick in Quebec City, Canada, with a hideous flu that I picked up during my prior stop in NYC. My hotel there, the Hilton Quebec, had a wonderful doctor on their desk list and he actually came to the room! He prescribed antibiotics and ordered them from a pharmacy that delivered! I was truly amazed. I did keep receipts, and my insurance wound up paying for almost everything.
I have made a one-page file in my computer where I keep all this information. I update it once a year, print it out, and carry it with me when I travel. It helps me understand what additional insurance I need to purchase. Also, I decided a while ago to self-insure, meaning I don’t usually insure my trips unless they are too costly for me to take a loss on. So far, I’m ahead of the game.
Do I really need travel insurance?
This might help you decide.
Everything you ever wanted to know about travel insurance
FAQ about travel insurance
10 questions to ask your travel insurance provider
9 steps to avoid getting scammed on travel insurance
Here are the best travel insurance companies
websites that let you compare travel insurance policies
(This is the best way to shop for “per trip” insurance.)
insuremytrip.com
QuoteWright.com
squaremouth.com
How to file a claim
5 things you should never do when you file a claim
foreign doctors
International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT)
No fee; donation appreciated. This organization will send you a booklet of doctors who speak English and who agree to a specific price for an office call and for a house call. You pay, then send the receipt to insurance company when you return.
medical evacuation
When I checked a few years back, the average cost of an evacuation was $25,000-
$50,000, and insurance coverage of $100,000 was recommended. Not needed in western Europe.
●International SOS
●MedjetAssist
an article documenting how this company worked for someone who used it
If you are on Medicare
●Denis C. Gagnon at BonVoyageurs says: “I travel the world and I am on Medicare. Medicare coverage is limited to some specific exceptional situations well detailed on the Medicare website. The main thing to know is that you need to get your medical insurance elsewhere while overseas (mainly either Medicare Supplemental insurance or travel insurance or better yet both).”
●Or maybe you should just go to Panama City. Linda Bibb at As We Saw It says: “The two main hospitals in Panama City, Panama both accept Medicare. That said, Panama offers free medical care to all tourists for their first 30 days in the country.”
AARP travel insurance advice
general trip insurance
In 2015 Consumer Reports magazine revealed that the “going rate for insurance is 4 to 10 percent of your prepaid, nonrefundable expenses for the travel itself.” They suggest shopping at the Insure My trip website.
●Allianz
●Travel Guard
For both (I think), purchase within 7 days of initial deposit for extra trip coverage for pre-existing medical conditions at no additional charge.
When weather interrupts your trip: 6 things to do
Do double-check all these items. The scene in trip insurance changes regularly.
Not about trip insurance, but
important information to check before a trip abroad
International Travel Checklist
Carole Terwilliger Meyers blogs at Travels With Carole.
Ms. Meyers is also the author of “Miles of Smiles: 101 Great Car Games & Activities”
copyright 2019 Carole Terwilliger Meyers
|
