Travel Insurance

Preexisting-condition clause on the way out

Suddenly this year, a number of travel insurance companies have cho­sen to waive the onerous “preexisting medical condition” clause in their overseas health coverage and trip- cancellation policies.

The coverage must be purchased within 24 hours of making the first deposit on a trip (this is easily done through your travel agent), and for trip cancellation protection the cov­erage generally must be purchased for the entire amount of the purchase price of the trip.

Editor’s note: Continuing to up­date his information on travel medi­cal insurance (see May ’95, pg. 46), Wayne offers the following.

This article is meant to help you choose a travel-insurance policy that has a lenient “pre­existing” medical condition clause. There are major dif­ferences among the available policies.

Editor’s note: Having written sev­eral articles on travel insurance for ITN (April ’94, pg. 34; July ’94, pg. 51; Aug. ’94, pg. 37, & Oct. ’94, pg. 30), Mr. Wirtanen expressed inter­est in commenting on the issue dealt with in the letter by ITN reader Mr. Brewer, appearing on the preceding page.

Some kind of trip insurance is pur­chased by a large percentage of over­seas travelers, especially the over- age-55 set. The article “Overseas Travel In­surance — Magnifying the Fine Print” (April ’94, pg. 34) provided assistance in deciding how (or whether not) to select a policy. How­ever, what are the odds that you’ll actually need to collect on a travel-insurance policy?

Reader-recommended

A travel-insurance company recommended by Robert and Miriam Bacon of Lake Worth, FL, is Amex Assurance Co. (800/541-3522 in San Diego, CA).
They wrote of the company, “Their insurance is low cost; for example, $87 family coverage for one to eight days or $127 for up to 31 days.
“After our trip to Australia and New Zealand and after another trip to Morocco, our modest claims were processed quickly and to our complete satisfaction.”

What are the most important factors to consider when choos­ing a travel insurance policy or considering not to buy one? (The proposed Clinton health plan is reported to provide over­seas travel coverage, but don’t hold your breath.)

For medical emergencies

Well before your trip, review the variety of types of assistance to which you already have access.

My wife, Lorna, and I travel to Spain every year, often renting a car from either an international or national firm or one local to our destination.

For a trip in April-May 2014, I began the online booking process early in the year using Economy Car Rentals (www.economycar rentals.com). I chose them because I saw that their prices included unlimited mileage and all taxes and fees, with full insurance, collision damage waiver and zero deductible. 

For lost baggage, up to $2,000 can be awarded to a traveler using the service Blue Ribbon Bags (www.blueribbonbags.com).

A single service fee, paid anytime before departure, covers all checked bags. If any of that baggage is lost by the airline, Blue Ribbon Bags will provide a dedicated representative who will work with the airline to expedite the return of the bag(s). On a website, the traveler can view real-time updates of his claim.

When my wife, Patti, and I went to book a 10-day trip (April 30-May 9, 2015) to Peru and Bolivia back in February, the tour company told us they no longer sold trip insurance and now referred people to Squaremouth (St. Petersburg, FL; 800/240-0369, www.squaremouth.com).

We tried booking through the website and it was super-easy! We put in a few details, and, in minutes, 40 different travel-insurance providers were on the screen, with options to compare, filter and select.