Travel insurance is a great way to protect yourself and your travel investment. Whether you’re in the planning stages of a family trip, travel frequently for business or are in the beginning phase of booking your dream vacation, travel insurance can ease your mind and offer assistance if the unexpected happens.
Pull together these five pieces of information when preparing to purchase travel insurance, and the process will go as smoothly as the gentle ocean breezes you may be dreaming about. Besides your basic contact information, here is what you’ll need:
1. Trip Dates
Have your departure and return dates in hand. Our Travel Select and Travel Basic plans provide door-to-door coverages from the time you leave to the time you get back home, so you’ll want to have these set to insure the entire trip.
2. Traveler Names and Ages
Provide a list of each traveler’s full name, date of birth, and age at the time of quote (not how old they’ll be when the trip occurs).
If purchasing travel insurance for multiple travelers who don’t reside together, make sure to get a separate policy for each household. For example, if traveling with your family who all have the same residence, you will only need to purchase one policy. If traveling with a friend who has a separate residence, you will need to purchase two separate policies.
3. Destination Country
If you’re planning to travel in multiple countries, provide the country where you will be spending the most time or your last stop before returning home.
4. Initial Trip Deposit Date
Record the date of your initial trip deposit. This is the first date you make any payment towards your trip. Purchasing travel insurance a certain number of days in advance can work to your benefit. For example, when you purchase a Travel Select plan within 21 days of your initial trip deposit (or Travel Basic within 15 days) the pre-existing medical condition exclusion can be waived.
5. Trip Cost
When selecting trip cost, be sure to insure only your pre-paid, non-refundable expenses. These can be tricky to estimate, but you will need the actual numbers, so write them down to remember. If you have questions or are unsure, our customer service team is ready to help.
How to break out trip cost by traveler:
- Identify how the trip components are invoiced. Policies should be based on how the invoice lists the individual’s trip cost value, even if only one person paid for all the travel arrangements. Do not always assume to divide equally among all travelers.
- When looking at shared accommodations (hotels, cruise cabins, villas, and more), you also need to look at where the loss would be in the event of a cancellation or interruption.
Here are some examples:
Example #1 – Cruise Accommodations:
Three family members are taking a cruise and are sharing a cabin. You are paying and invoiced for the cabin, but there is a cost next to each person’s name. It is $1000 per person. If one person could not go on the trip, you would be out $1000. In this instance, even though you are sharing an accommodation (and only one person paid for the entire accommodation), you would list the per person trip cost to match how it shows on the invoice.
Example #2 – Hotel Room Costs
If three family members are sharing one hotel room and there is not a per person cost indicated on the invoice, then the cost could be split equally among all travelers, especially if they have documentation that they actually split the payment of the accommodation.
Example #3 – When One Person Pays All
If one person has paid for all the travel arrangements and all travelers are sharing one accommodation (and the cost wouldn’t change if one person or 10 people stayed), then the entire cost of that accommodation should be insured under the payer’s trip cost. This is because there would be no loss if someone cancelled. The entire party would have to cancel in order for there to be a true published loss. An Assignment of Benefits would need to be completed at the time of a claim so the person paying for the trip receives the reimbursement.
We hope your travel plans flow smoothly, but the reality is that sometimes things go wrong. Protect yourself from the unexpected and get a quote for a travel protection plan today.
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The product descriptions provided here are only brief summaries. The full coverage terms and details, including limitations and exclusions, are contained in the insurance policy. Travelex Insurance Services, Inc CA Agency License #0D10209. All products listed are underwritten by, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company, NAIC #22276.