What May or May Not Be Covered By Your Travel Insurance Policy

A travel insurance policy can be a great protection for vacation plans. There are many coverage options available out there. The important thing is to know what will not be covered in the fine print. As they say “the devil’s in the details”. Of course, policies vary and it’s best to check with your individual carrier to verify what is and isn’t covered under their offered policy.

Many travel exclusions involve medical treatment or conditions. For example, no trip is covered when it is being taken expressively to obtain medical treatment for a known medical condition. Most travel insurance also does not cover pre-existing conditions. If the traveler has Crohn’s disease and the disease flares up and prevents the trip from taking place, it would not be covered in most cases. It usually does not cover inability to travel due to alcohol or drug abuse. If the traveler is too drunk to take the flight, that occurrence would not be covered. Usually anxiety, depression and other psychiatric conditions are not a valid reason to not travel and would not be covered. Self inflicted injuries or suicides are also not covered. Pregnancy and childbirth complications are usually not covered unless the lives of the mother and/or unborn child are at an immediate risk.

Travel insurance usually does not cover personal hardships or feelings. Personal hardships would be something in the traveler’s life that may be beyond their control but is not a covered event. Personal feelings would be things like not “feeling” like traveling or wanting to return home early. Personal hardships would be things such as legal problems, suddenly not being able to afford to go or work commitments. If suddenly the local school board cancels the student trip to Europe, that is not a covered event.

Natural disasters are covered in the event the traveler is a military member who is called to active duty to aide in a natural disaster. If the area the traveler is going to is affected by hurricanes, tornadoes or flood it is typically covered if the policy covers cancellation due to inclement weather or hurricanes. Also, acts of war declared or not, are typically not covered but terrorist attacks are frequently covered by trip insurance policies.

A travel insurance policy is something to be carefully considered by the traveler when taking a major vacation. As noted above, there are many situations that are not covered but there are many coverage options. The traveler should look at many different plans and decide which is the most appropriate for their needs. Most plans have specific covered reasons – make sure to read the covered reasons for each plan before buying.