Quenching Fears With Insurance PDF Print E-mail
Written by Isabella Coleman   
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 18:43
Travel insurance is being bought like pancakes thanks to threats of hurricane and terrorism but there is a glitch in this picture. Much of these insurance policies are with certain catches, and it won't have something you can stand on in the event that you cancel your flight since you're afraid of something. You cannot hope to have coverage for your worries on possible bomb threats in subways and other places using liquid explosives. Worried that the beach you like heading to might get hit by a hurricane a thousand miles away? Well, that has a slim chance of getting covered. Fearing that you might not be able to take your daughter to college thanks to some airline strikes? Well, feel free to worry a lot more for your insurance won't help.
by MichaelFord


There's a catch you don't readily see under the fact that hurricane and terrorism threats have upped travel insurance sales. Much of these insurance policies are with certain catches, and it won't have something you can stand on in the event that you cancel your flight since you're afraid of something. You won't be able to depend on your insurance policy to help alleviate your worries toward bomb threats in subways and other places. There is also no coverage on your worries if a hurricane might hit your favorite beach. You can keep worrying as your insurance plan won't be able to help you alleviate your fears over not being able to see your daughter to college due to airline strikes.

People are lured into these travel insurance deals for these promise money back on even the non reimbursable parts of most trips like airline tickets and costs of hotel booking, and on top of these, policy holders can also avail some financial help when stranded so they can cover the cost of food or hotel rooms. Policies such as these often give assistance on a traveler who is abroad when he needs medical care and evacuation. That is good to know because medical insurance is almost always not valid in other hospitals especially when you're abroad. But exclusions abound in this plan.

However, there is no coverage on disasters that boost policy sales. Since many insurance programs do not have any protection on terrorism, many people are forced to be meticulous in buying. A good example would be that terrorism insurance is found only in six plans listed by one insurance agency. Around 80 percent of the earnings came from the insurance bundles that do not have it.

But the huge catch is that the terrorism threat must really happen before the travel insurance policy holders can get their scheduled reimbursement, in the place that they're supposed to go to before their scheduled days of departure. If you back out of a trip to Paris, or even Manchester, England, due to a London bomb scare, you can't find help from your travel insurance at all. Fear won't get you any coverage. What makes the sales skyrocket are the trepidation of people toward such tragedies and it is simply ironic that the majority of them don't give coverages on these incidents.

One other catch is that you may be out of luck, too, on issues like terrorism if you didn't buy the insurance within 15 days of when you booked the trip. It is simply great knowing that many insurance companies were true to their word as they shouldered the costs on hotels and meals after travelers got stuck in London earlier this month due to failed attempt to blow up planes there with wet explosives. But since there wasn't an actual attack, policies didn't pay if you wanted to cancel.

Similar to most insurance policies, the cost of it will rely on how expensive the trip will be and what you would want to be insured. You can purchase a comprehensive policy protection for flight cancellations, stranded occurrences, lost belongings, flight accident, emergency medical and health evacuations, or you can simply buy the specific insurance that fits your needs.

A couple of insurance providers cancel for any reason the policies which reimburse around 75 percent of the costs incurred in a trip that was suddenly did not push through. These packages have a rate of 40 percent more than the regular ones. Compared to Sept 11, 2001, the sales of travel insurance has already grown twice due to the aggressive sales people that drove 17 million policies to be sold each year, as stated by the data released by the U.S.Travel Insurance Association. It is good to know that in plenty of chief disruptions, the airlines, cruise lines and hotels no longer charge a rebooking fee. You often get relief without insurance.

DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice.