Travel Insurance is a key requirement for international travel, especially to countries like the US, where healthcare is very expensive and having travel medical insurance can put a smile on your face. Traveling during the Covi19- pandemic exposes travelers to a higher risk of contracting the virus. When we talk about travel insurance we are referring to health insurance for visitors also commonly known as visitor insurance.
But then the word travel arises a question, whether the insurance covers only the travel or is it a medical insurance as well? This is medical insurance that covers the insured for any medical requirement once the insurance cover starts, whether the person is in the flight or airport, as long as the person is out of the home country, or the person arrives in the destination country where they want to use the insurance if needed. It provides coverage for cancelled flights due to coronavirus and quarantine expenses can also be covered.
On the other hand we have customers who specifically ask for insurance cover that insures the cost of the trip, trip interruption, trip cancellation, trip delay, baggage loss, theft, and cancel for any reason … These benefits are not available in a travel insurance plan although trip interruption, loss of luggage and trip delay might be a part of travel insurance coverage.
To cover the cost of trip or in specific trip related costs, there is trip insurance. This is something that customers purchase especially while they are spending a lot of money for a vacation, on a cruise or to any place and are concerned about the money in case they need to cancel the trip. Due to Covid-19 pandemic travelers are choosing to buy CFAR rider as it offers protection for canceling of a trip for any reason that may have been listed otherwise.
IMG has these trip cancellation insurance plans which have been designed keeping this group of people who need trip insurance to cover the cost of the trip. We have three trip plans namely, Travel Lite, Travel SE and Travel LX. Let us see them in detail:
Travel Lite: This plan provides a trip cancellation benefit of $25,000, trip interruption benefit of $25,000. There is a travel delay benefit of $500($125 per day) after an initial delay of 6 hours. Missed connection benefit is available for $500($125 per day) after an initial common carrier delay of 3 hours. The Change Fee benefit of $150 is available. The other benefits are the Reimbursement of miles or reward points benefit for $75, baggage delay benefit of $150 and rental car damage benefit available for $40,000.
Travel SE: This plan provides a maximum of $50,000 for the trip cancellation and pays 100% trip cost for trip interruption. Rest of the benefits specified in the Travel Lite plan are available in this plan as well. The Baggage Delay benefit in this plan is available for $250. Apart from that there are extra benefit in the Travel SE plan such as the Accident and Sickness medical expense coverage of $250,000, Emergency Medical Evacuation coverage of $100,000, Common Carrier AD&D benefit of $25,000. Additional benefits for trivial expenses such as the internet usage fees for $50, overnight stay movie rental for $15 and additional cat or dog kennel expenses for $300($100 per day) are available with this plan.
Travel LX: This plan is the more of a comprehensive option compared to the other 2 plans where this plan just provides a higher amount of coverage for each benefit. Trip cancellation benefit of $100,000 and a trip interruption benefit is 150% of trip cost. The Travel Delay benefit in this plan is available for $1000($250 per day). Change fee benefit for $300, Baggage and personal effects coverage for $2500 and baggage delay for $500 makes this plan better than the other two.
This plan provides accident and sickness expense coverage for $500,000, Common Carrier AD&D benefit for $100,000 and Emergency Medical Evacuation of $1,000,000. Some unique benefits of this plan include hospital choice, pre-existing condition waiver available if the policy is purchased within 20 days of initial trip payment.
There is a Search and Rescue benefit available for $10,000. Sports Equipment rental benefit of $2000($500 per day) is available with this plan and a waiver for excluded sports/recreation activity included. The unique benefits of this plan extends to non-emergency medical evacuation coverage of $50,000, trip interruption for any reason benefit is included where 75% of trip cost insured, trip cancel for any reason benefit is included 75%of trip cost insured if purchased within the 20 days of initial trip deposit.
Travel Sport Insurance: Travel Sport insurance is specifically designed for adventure-seekers and offers flexible sport and adventure travel protection while away from home.This plan offers coverage for accommodations due to a covered Trip Delay which is $5,000/$250 per person per day and is included in the basic coverage.This plan offers Trip Cancellation up to 100% of the non-refundable insured trip cost.This adventure sports insurance is available only for US residents and offered coverage both within the US as well as overseas.
Vacation Rental insurance: The IMG Vacation Rental insurance plan is underwritten by Sirius America is ideal for travelers who want coverage for vacation rental investment in case of trip cancellation and trip interruption. Trip cancellation coverage up to 100% of trip cost. Maximum Trip Length is 31 days. This plan is available upto 99 years. Travelers can recover non-refundable, unused payments and deposits when a trip is cancelled or interrupted due to a covered reason.
Travelers can compare trip plans from IMG, Travel lite vs Travel SE vs Travel LX and select a plan that best satisfies the needs.
