Demystifying Travel Insurance: Part 4

In this final part of our four-part series, I’ll both explore some remaining clauses as well as other types of coverage and policies.

The first topic is something we don’t want to think about. What happens if I don’t make it back or if some of my parts are missing? The words I’m avoiding here are “death” and “dismemberment.” Insurance companies look at both similarly. While the chance of this happening is rare, you may want to check and see how policies cover this.

Accidental death coverage comes in several parts, based on the cause, and may be included as part of a package plan. Check for limitations or exclusions that may apply.

• Accident coverage typically extends for a pre-determined period (may be up to one year), if it occurred while on your covered trip. This provides no coverage for illness.
• Common carrier includes public transportation, other than commercial flights, and is sometimes a part of the accident coverage above.
• Commercial flight may be part of accident coverage or a separate coverage entirely. It sometimes covers charter flights, and while enroute to or from, or while within airports. You may have an option to increase the amount of coverage, typically up to $500,000, for an additional fee.

Policy Fulfillment.

This is how your policy gets delivered. Policies bought online typically only offer the option of emailing you the policy.

Other Types of Coverage.

There are many other types of trip insurance options, some of which may be available options as part of a trip package. Here are some of them:

• Umbrella. For an additional payment, this coverage can raise the limits of a number of other parts of the insurance package.
• Roadside assistance. This can include flat tire replacement, towing, fuel and oil delivery, locksmithing, etc.
• Itinerary changes. Protects you in the event a provider schedule change impacts your ability to take part in other separately booked activites.

Other policy types.

Also remember that there are different types of insurance other than trip packages. These can be for specific purposes, instead of or in addition to a trip package, and can extend the coverage options available to you. Some of these include:

• Flight accident policies.
• Medical evacuation policies.
• Multi-trip policies.
• Travel medical-only policies.
• Business travel policies.

I plan to write yet another post on travel insurance, not as part of this series. In that I’ll share what my personal experiences have been with travel insurance, what’s worked and what hasn’t.

I hope this series on travel insurance will prove useful to you, now or over time. Here’s wishing you safe and healthy travels!