Questions and Answers about Travel Insurance

Factors such as your age, the length of your trip and the plan you choose will affect the cost of your coverage. We offer several travel insurance plans to meet your travel needs.

To see how much your coverage would cost, get a quick online quote .

To Top

To ensure you have coverage for future unforeseen events, we urge you to purchase your insurance when you make your initial trip deposit. However, you can purchase your insurance at any time prior to departure. Please note that certain coverages only apply if you have purchased within 15 days of your initial trip deposit.

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center.

To Top

Your satisfaction is important to us. If you are not satisfied for any reason, you may cancel your coverage within 10 days of your application date or receipt of your Description of Coverage , whichever is later. If you haven’t already left on your trip, and/or provided there has been no incurred covered expense, you will receive a full refund of your plan cost. You will need to send a letter indicating your desire to cancel to:

Program Administrator
P.O. Box 19093
Greenville, SC 29602-9093

After the 10 day free look period, the premium payment is non refundable. An exception applies to travel protection plans in the following circumstances:

• The supplier (tour operator, airline, etc.) cancels your trip and all penalties are waived.
• The supplier (tour operator, airline, etc.) changes the travel dates and you are unable to travel on these dates and all penalties are waived.
• You cancel your trip before any cancellation penalties are in effect.

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Your Satisfaction is Important to us.

To Top

In our experience our Preferred plan is well suited for families and provides the travel insurance benefits that are likely to be needed most when travelling with children. That’s why we offer special family rates on our Preferred plan. To receive a quote with our family rates you must have at least one paying adult traveling, with any number of children 17 years of age or under (on the date the insurance is purchased). To get a quote with our special family rate, complete all required fields in the online application and click on “Get my quote”. Family rates will automatically be applied to the Preferred plan quote provided.

If the coverage and benefits provided by any of our other insurance plans are more suited to your needs, we recommend that you purchase one policy for all adult travelers, and a separate policy for travelers 17 and under, in order to receive the best value for your dollar. The reason we make this recommendation is because children typically have lower trip costs than adults (ie. Hotel, airplane fares) and the trip cost affects the price you pay for your insurance.

To Top

Pre Departure trip cancellation coverage takes effect on the date your premium payment is received. All other coverages take effect on the scheduled departure date of your trip.

All coverages automatically end on the earlier of:

• The date your trip is completed
• The scheduled return date of your trip
• Your arrival at the return destination on a round-trip, or the destination on a one-way trip Cancellation of your trip

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Effective Dates of Insurance Coverage.

To Top

Coverage is extended automatically in the following circumstances:

• You will receive a 72-hour extension beyond your scheduled return date due to the delay of a common carrier in which you are scheduled to travel.
• You will receive a 5-day extension if you or your traveling companion are hospitalized on the day you are scheduled to return from your trip. Coverage will automatically extend for the period of hospitalization and up to 5 days after discharge (not available under Pre Departure Trip Cancellation and Post Departure Trip Interruption insurance).
• You will receive a 5-day extension if you or your traveling companion become sick or injured on the day you are scheduled to return from your trip, and you are medically unable to travel, but are not hospitalized. Coverage will automatically extend up to a maximum of 5 days after your scheduled return date (not available under Pre Departure Trip Cancellation and Post Departure Trip Interruption insurance).

For all other requests to extend coverage, you will need to Contact Us.

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Extension of Coverage.

To Top

For a list of exclusions, please see the Description of Coverage , found in the Education Center, for the plan you want to purchase. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: General Plan Exclusions.

To Top

Our travel insurance plans include emergency medical/dental and emergency medical transportation and assistance coverage. These coverages and services would help you to find appropriate medical care and protect you financially if you required expensive care such as a medical evacuation by helicopter, a major surgery or a hospital stay.

Even more important, you would have the 24/7 support of our worldwide emergency travel assistance provider, Assured Assistance Inc. (AAI). AAI supports millions of travelers and manages almost 400,000 calls every year. If you have a medical emergency while traveling, AAI will be there 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help you find proper care; maintain contact with your medical providers, family or employers; act as your advocate; facilitate language translation if you are in a foreign country; provide claims assistance; and so much more—all to help you get well and home safely.

Medicare and group health insurance programs may not provide the coverage you need in an emergency when you are traveling outside of the U.S. If you were to have a medical emergency in a foreign country—and need to be hospitalized—the cost of emergency treatment could be financially damaging to you and your family. Not only that, but how would you find the nearest facility that can provide the appropriate care—especially if you can't speak the language?

The U.S. Department of State's website, travel.state.gov, provides the following compelling reasons to have emergency medical insurance when you travel abroad1:

• The Social Security Medicare Program does not provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United States of America.
• Many health insurance plans do not provide coverage overseas. Those that provide "customary and reasonable" hospital costs abroad may not pay for your medical evacuation back to the United States, which can easily cost $10,000 and up depending on your location and medical condition.
• Many foreign doctors and hospitals require payment in cash prior to providing service.
• Uninsured patients may be refused service.
• Countries with socialized medicine may not provide full services to non-residents.
• Payment of hospital and other expenses abroad is the responsibility of the traveler.
• Some countries require tourists to carry accident or travel insurance. For detailed information on country-specific information, visit the Country Information Sheet on travel.state.gov 

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Emergency Medical Transportation and Assistance Benefits.

To Top

It might, and it might not. Some credit cards may provide very limited coverage for emergency medical-related expenses when you are traveling outside the U.S. We recommend that you carefully review the travel insurance coverage that your credit card provides, as well as any conditions or stipulations. You may also wish to speak with your travel agent.

To Top

With our travel insurance plans, you have the security of knowing you will receive the assistance you need during an emergency—one phone call does it all. Assured Assistance Inc. (AAI), the travel assistance provider, is a multilingual worldwide emergency medical assistance company that provides our world-class emergency travel assistance. AAI supports millions of travelers and manages almost 400,000 calls every year.

• No matter where you are in the world your toll-free call is answered by a live person, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Registered nurses and consulting physicians are available around the clock to determine your needs and arrange for your appropriate care.
• AAI will arrange medical referrals and emergency medical transportation monitor your care, act as your advocate, and more.
• AAI employees are multilingual, which means you will always have assistance in your own language. For example, if you are in a foreign country and don’t speak the language, AAI will provide an interpreter to communicate with the professionals providing your care.
• AAI has access to a worldwide network of health care providers. If your condition requires specialized treatment not available at a particular facility, AAI will arrange transportation to the closest facility that can provide the treatment.
• AAI provides assistance with replacing lost or stolen medication, help with lost tickets or luggage, assistance with canceling lost credit cards, legal referrals, consulate and embassy contacts, and more.
• Since the assistance company is fully integrated with the Program Administrator, your claim can be quickly settled.

For assistance details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Description of Worldwide 24-Hour Emergency Assistance Services.

To Top

The Deluxe and Preferred plans provide coverage if your cruise is canceled prior to your departure from your departure point. You are also covered for cruise cancellation after your departure from your departure point, but prior to departure of the cruise ship. Coverage is provided for cruise cancellations resulting from mechanical failure, grounding or quarantine of the cruise ship, or the repositioning of the cruise ship due to weather conditions.

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Covered Reasons for Cancellation and Interruption.

To Top

Available under the Deluxe and Preferred plans, Financial Insolvency of Supplier Coverage provides trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage due to unforeseen financial insolvency or bankruptcy of a tour operator, cruise line or airline carrier whose services or products form all or part of your trip, provided your insurance was purchased within 15 calendar days of the time of your initial trip deposit.

For any benefit to be payable under Financial Insolvency Coverage, at the time of your application, the travel supplier must not appear on the list of travel suppliers for which coverage is not provided, and the financial insolvency must not have occurred within 7 calendar days from the date your insurance policy was purchased.

Note: This coverage is not included with the Basic plan and is not available for purchase as stand-alone coverage.

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Covered Reasons for Cancellation and Interruption.

To Top

All of our travel insurance plans cover an act of terrorism under trip cancellation and interruption coverage if the terrorist act occurs in your departure city or in a city that is a scheduled destination for your trip—and if the terrorist act occurs within 30 days of your scheduled trip departure date. Under these circumstances, you will be reimbursed for any prepaid, forfeited, non-refundable payments or deposits that you have made for your trip.

Please note that Terrorist act means an act of violence, other than civil disorder or riot, (that is not an act of war, declared or undeclared) that results in loss of life or major damage to property, by any person acting alone or on behalf of or in connection with any organization which is generally recognized as having the intent to overthrow or influence the control of any government.

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Covered Reasons for Cancellation and Interruption.

To Top

Yes, if you purchased the Deluxe plan. If a car you rented from a licensed commercial rental agency is damaged during your trip due to collision, theft, vandalism, windstorm, fire, hail, flood or any cause not in your control while in your possession, or the car is stolen and not recovered, we will pay the lesser of the following:

• Cost of repairs and rental charges imposed by the rental company while the car is being repaired

OR

• Actual cash value of the car, up to the amount specified in your plan.

Note: There is no coverage provided for third-party liability claims.

For coverage details including terms and conditions, please see the Description of Coverage  for your plan which can be found in the Education Center. The specific reference for this question can be found in section titled: Rental Car Damage Coverage and Benefit.

To Top

We strongly recommend that you do. Your Description of Coverage is a valuable source of information and contains provisions that limit or exclude coverage. Please read it before you go, keep it in a safe place and carry it (or your wallet card) with you at all times when you travel.

To Top