St. Petersburg, FL (PRWEB) April 12, 2012
As travelers finalize summer travel plans, they should examine their travel insurance needs to avoid purchasing the wrong policy. The main reason most travelers purchase travel insurance is to have the ability to cancel an upcoming trip. However, it is important that they understand which scenarios may not be protected by travel insurance warns travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth.com.
While Squaremouth has listed scenarios where travelers cannot use trip cancellation coverage, those travelers who need specific reasons to cancel their trips should purchase Cancel for Any Reason coverage. Cancel for Any Reason allows travelers to cancel their trip up to two days before their departure without the need to provide a reason. A handful of travel insurance policies provide this benefit, which reimburses up to 75% of the trip cost. However, it can be expensive, raising premiums as high as 50 percent.
Top 5 Trip Cancellation Pitfalls:
1. Running Late
Travel insurance will not cover a missed flight because travelers have overslept or were running late. However, travel insurance can protect travelers if they were delayed by a car accident while traveling to the airport or if the airline caused the delay.
2. Civil Unrest
Travelers headed to countries with civil unrest, such as Libya or Syria, should understand the limitations of their travel insurance policies.
Travelers should be particularly cautious when visiting countries known for these types of issues, warns Squaremouth CEO Chris Harvey. Most policies do not offer trip cancellation coverage for war or civil unrest.
While trip cancellation coverage may not apply when it comes to civil unrest, travelers with this concern should look for policies that include Non-Medical Evacuation, which provides a benefit to allow them to transition from a dangerous area to a safe place. In addition, terrorism coverage is provided on most policies.
3. Cruise or Tour Operator Cancellation
When a cruise or tour operator cancels a trip due to lack of participation, cancellation coverage will not pay a claim. Even if travelers are provided with vouchers or new travel dates, they will still be responsible for any change or cancellation fee for their transportation costs.
Travelers can seek reimbursement from their travel insurance company if the cancellation is due to the financial default of the cruise or tour operator.
Financial Default coverage must be purchased prior to the company entering bankruptcy, explains Squaremouth Marketing Manager Anna Coats. In some cases this coverage may not go into effect until 14 days after the policy is purchased.
4. Sickness or Death of a Pet
While most travelers take into account the health of family members when purchasing travel insurance, they dont always consider the family pet. Travel insurance does not typically cover cancellation of a trip due to the death of a pet. This is a scenario when Cancel for Any Reason would be useful to travelers.
5. Change of Mind
Travel insurance does not provide coverage for those who cancel trips due to fear of potential problems or undesirable conditions, such as a virus outbreak on a cruise ship or bad weather during a beach vacation.
Cancel for Any Reason is the perfect coverage to allow a traveler to claim for simply changing their mind, adds Harvey.
About Squaremouth
Squaremouth is America’s fastest growing travel insurance comparison site, helping customers instantly quote, compare and buy policies from every major carrier. Squaremouth has web sites in the US and UK, and an extensive network of partner sites worldwide. The company is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL., with offices in Fort Wayne, IN. Visit Squaremouth.com or Squaremouth.co.uk.
About our Zero Complaint Guarantee
The cornerstone of our commitment to customers is Squaremouth’s guarantee to remove any company from our website if there is a customer complaint that cannot be resolved to our satisfaction. Squaremouth offers the broadest selection of insurance with an emphasis on quality and follow-up care in companies featured. We also factor in independent evaluation from the insurance industry watchdog AM Best.
Squaremouth offers products from the following travel insurance carriers:
Air Ambulance Card, CSA Travel Protection, Global Alert Admin, Global Rescue, Global Underwriters, HCC, HTH Worldwide, IMG, ITravelInsured, Medex, Medjet Assist, MH Ross, On Call International, Seven Corners, Travel Guard, Travel Insurance Services, Travel Insured, Travelers Liberty, Travelex, TravelSafe, Trawick International and USA Assist.
AVAILABLE TOPIC EXPERT:
Anna Coats
acoats(at)squaremouth(dot)com
Toll-free (800) 240-0369
Direct (727) 214-1623
Chris Harvey
charvey(at)squaremouth(dot)com
Toll-free (800) 240-0369
Direct (727) 490-5802
U.S. travel insurance – http://www.squaremouth.com
U.K. travel insurance – http://www.squaremouth.co.uk
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