How did the travel insurance industry respond to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and how did this affect travel insurance coverages for this period and for subsequent travel?
Shortly after September 11th, a few travel insurance company websites quickly provided detailed answers to policy holders who had questions regarding canceled, delayed or interrupted trips.
Trip-cancellation/interruption coverage
Will your trip-cancellation policy pay if you cancel a tour prior to departure because you feel uneasy due to political unrest or threats of terrorist problems?
The short answer is no.
Worldwide Assistance provides emergency medical evacuation service, but it must be purchased through Travel Assistance International (phone 800/821-2828 or 317/818-2099).
This coverage has no upper age limit, and there is no upper dollar limit on the amount of the evacuation/repatriation benefit.
Effective April 1999, TEN (Traveler’s Emergency Network; phone 800/275-4836) no longer provides emergency evacuation service for anyone over the age of 74.
Effective November 1999, one of Access America’s most popular travel insurance policies no longer waives the preexisting-medical-condition clause for the over-age-75 traveler. (Thanks to Noeline Kelly of Corpus Christi, TX, for the tip.)
Basics of evacuation coverage
Emergency medical evacuation service is very rarely needed but can be extremely expensive. It is one of the travel emergencies usually not provided for in your “at home” health insurance coverage.
For purposes of this article, the term “emergency medical evacuation” will also include “repatriation.”
Insurers define emergency medical evacuation as transportation to where the nearest appropriate medical treatment can be provided, by the most direct and economical route possible.
Elaine Chew of Sacramento, CA, found out about baggage-delay coverage in an annoying, frustrating way.
In October 1995 she transferred from a San Francisco/London flight to a connecting flight on to Frankfurt; unfortunately, her luggage did not make the connection.
She joined her tour group without the luggage and spent a good bit of her first three days on the phone to British Midlands Airlines trying to locate the missing bags.