First, it’s important to  understand what travel health insurance is and why it’s so important. There are two basic types of travel insurance—trip insurance and travel medical insurance.

Trip Insurance

Only U.S. residents are eligible to purchase trip insurance. Coverage provided under these plans are for outbound travel from the United States internationally and domestic travel within the U.S.  These plans may reimburse travelers for non-refundable expenses if they are unable to take or complete their trips. Trip insurance helps to protect travelers from suffering complete financial loss of certain prepaid expenses including flight bookings, hotel costs, missed flight connections, lost baggage or passport and rental car booking costs. Although the specifics of each claim and what insurance companies will cover varies, the following are usually covered by trip cancellation plans:

• Illness and death of travelers or their loved ones
• Quarantine, hijacking, strike, natural disaster, terrorist incident, etc.
• Inclement weather causing delay or missed flight connections
• Emergency medical evacuation as determined by a physician
• Check your policy for other conditions/situations that may be covered

Travel Medical Insurance

Travel Medical Insurance falls into two categories: limited and comprehensive. Limited plans are less expensive and offer less benefits for travelers whereas comprehensive provides more extensive coverage for medical emergencies and baggage loss. Also known as temporary medical insurance, these plans usually cover new illnesses, conditions and injuries that a traveler might encounter while away from their home country. Travel medical plans will not cover an individual like his or her normal medical insurance would, but instead is designed to cover policyholders in the event of catastrophic or unexpected events that require immediate medical attention.

Benefits of Travel Medical Insurance

Traveling and experiencing new cultures is one of the most fulfilling and exciting things that people can do, but it can be very stressful as well. By removing barriers like cost and worry, travelers can have a better time and truly enjoy their visit abroad rather than worry about what could go wrong.

Like any insurance, travel insurance is a service that is designed to protect the insured from the worst-case scenario. Emergency medical care can be prohibitively expensive, especially in countries with high health-care costs like the United States and Japan. Similarly, canceling travel plans can mean losing a substantial amount of money. With a comprehensive travel insurance plan, your clients may be protected from excessive financial burdens if something happens to disrupt their travel plans.

Travel insurance helps ensure their trip is covered should something unexpected occur. Both limited and comprehensive plans will cover unforeseen medical situations, however, a limited plan does not cover baggage loss, terrorist attacks, missed flights, or other travel related issues or situations. It is also important to note that a limited plan has less coverage in the case of medical emergencies and evacuations than a comprehensive plan. For cancellations, the policyholder can cancel before the effective date, usually with a full refund. After the effective date, if no claims are on file, the policyholder will be reimbursed on a prorated basis.

Take the Confusion out of Travel Insurance

We know the nuances of travel medical and trip insurance policies can be confusing. This is where we help by working together. We have a customer service team that can answer questions and help customers with information and claims should they have to file. You can also contact us at any time with questions or information. We want you to succeed.

Learn More About the Advantages of Selling Travel Insurance

If you’re ready to learn more about selling trip and travel insurance using Treppy™, please contact our team and we’ll help you get started selling travel insurance today.