Travel insurance might not be the best option for customers looking to secure their trip against the risks of the ongoing Zika virus.
Standard travel insurance policies typically do not include coverage for calling off a trip, recent events reveal, even if the policyholder-traveler is at great risk from a disease epidemic.
According to a New York Times report, expectant mother and Indianapolis resident Jennifer Durst Lussier recently had her
Allianz travel insurance claim denied after canceling her Antigua trip over fears over the virus, which may cause microcephaly in infants.
“When you start reading the fine print,” Lussier said, “it doesn’t cover hardly anything unless you died.”
Many travel policies are obtained alongside the tickets through an airline’s website or from sites like Expedia, though few who purchase them understand their limitations. After all, although fast and convenient for buyers, there is less to pour over the details of the policies they purchased.
“If you are going to buy a policy, take a look at it,” urged InsureMyTrip chief executive Jim Grace. Grace then pointed out that if a travel insurance policy suspiciously does not cost too much, it most likely does not cover for cancelled flights due to increased risks of infection.
Based on InsureMyTrip’s data, Grace noted that about 20 to 25% of travelers obtain trip refund insurance. He also said that in the wake of the Zika virus epidemic, inquiries to InsureMyTrip have surged by 20%.
Consumer advocate Clark Howard similarly warned about the purchase of travel insurance policies.
“If those kind of things worry you, if you are the kind of person who would say there’s terrorist activities going on right now and travel is supposed to be fun and I don’t want to go, you have to be prepared if you bought a traditional policy,” Howard said. “They are not paying.”
Instead of travel insurance, the article instead recommends that tourists should purchase a more comprehensive insurance package, for “cancellations for any reason”.
Although comprehensive travel insurance coverage could cover for cancellation claims, they have their specifics.
Tripinsurance.com president Dan Skilken said that while “cancellation for any reason” policies will honor claims of cancelling flights due to epidemic diseases, they usually cost 20% more than other policies and will only cover 75% of a traveler’s cancellation penalties.
