Can This Trip Be Saved: Five Questions You Must Ask About Travel Insurance
by John Hawks

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2. What does the policy say about age, chronic illness, and "dangerous activities?"

If your clients are 50 years of age or older, if they've had a serious medical condition for some time, and/or if they plan to engage in what insurers call "dangerous activities" on their trip (e.g., bungee jumping, skiing, white-water rafting), you should check the terms of the policy very carefully. Another nasty surprise at times is the insurer's definition of a "child," as some companies cover children only until the age of 12 or 14, not 18.

3. Does the policy provide coverage for emergency medical repatriation?

By and large, travel insurance policies offer medical transportation coverage only to the "nearest appropriate medical facility" -- literally, the closest hospital to the place where the accident or serious illness occurred on your trip. Don't let your clients assume that they'll be flown to their hometown hospitals in the event of an accident or major illness. (If they want that level of protection, they can buy additional coverage.)

4. Does the policy "subrogate" its coverage?

Travel insurers may require your clients to exhaust their other insurance policies (e.g., health, homeowners, workers comp, credit card policies) before the travel coverage kicks in. This practice is fairly common -- and, again, it's better for clients to know that upfront.

5. Does the policy offer "fear coverage" as a standard feature?

Not many policies will cover a refund of your clients' prepaid trip expenses if they fear traveling because of a terrorism incident, a new travel advisory, etc. One big exception is the "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage offered by TravelSafe, OSSN's recommended travel insurance vendor. In fact, TravelSafe works very well on the above issues for many OSSN members and their clients. Check www.ossn.com/secure/resources/travelagent_info.asp for more information on the OSSN-TravelSafe program. (You must be signed into OSSN.com as a member to access this information, and you may need to "cut and paste" this address into your Web browser if the link does not work on your computer.)