Some Insurance Coverage Not Adequate For Your Vacation

Sales of travel insurance are on the rise, due to worldwide outbreaks of disease, threats of terrorism, and natural disasters. But, there's something else . . . There are restrictions on the reasons you are allowed to cancel a trip.

If you are stressed out about terror attacks or hidden explosives, these things are probably not covered in your policy. The hurricane that just happened 1000 miles from where you are going is probably not going to be an allowed reason either. Purchasing traveler's insurance might not be effective for any of the above occurences.

Travel insurance is there to help pay for the parts of the trip that are usually un-reimbursable. For example airline tickets or deposits for your hotel. This only happens when you have to cancel your trip, or put it off, or it will pay for the cost of food and rooms if you become stuck somewhere.

Travelers insurance will cover, however, your medical expenses should it occur overseas. This is great because you never know if your medical insurance would be taken at a facility overseas. But of course, there are exceptions.

Many calamities that spur the purchase of travel insurance are not covered at all. In today's market, terrorism has become an exclusion. It is for this reason you must know exactly what you are purchasing.

If a policy does include terrorist acts, there are very specific situations it must fall under, like if the city you were planning on visiting is attacked within 30 days of your expected departure date. So if there is a terrorist act in Paris, and your trip was planned for London, your insurance will not cover the costs if you cancel. The concepts of fear or trepidation are not provided for in an insurance policy.

However, people buy travel policies because they are concerned and afraid. Most travel insurance will not cover those circumstances even though they were the prompting factor for their purchase. Some policies even contain a provision that you purchase the insurance within 15 days of booking the trip, or else they will not cover the terrorism clause.

On the positive side of the coin most travel insurance policies have paid for motels and food for the persons stranded away from home when a terroristic plot in the year 2006 grounded all aircraft in London England. On the other hand, because in this instance, there was no actual attack, policies did not pay if someone wanted to cancel their plans.

The cost of travel insurance coverage, like any form of insurance, will depend on which areas you want to cover and the price of your trip. There are policies you can get that can take care of costs incurred while you are stranded, cancellations of the trip, any medical coverage, flight accidents, or lost luggage that are called comprehensive policies. If you shop around, almost any type of coverage is available.

Some of the insurance companies have started offering policies called "cancel for any reason." If you cancel your trip up to three fourths of the cost can be covered by the policy if there is a "cancel for any reason" clause. The clincher is that these policies cost close to 40 percent more than others.

Travel insurance brokers sell roughly seventeen million policies every year in the U.S. The World Trade Center attacks of 2001 pushed sales up almost 100 percent. With the recent events that affect the travel industry, like environmental disasters and outbreaks of disease, sales of policies are going to keep on increasing.

Of course, in the event of a major disaster, most airlines, cruise lines and hotels will eliminate any fees or restrictions placed on re-scheduling. In other words, you are protected without buying an insurance policy.

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