The holidays are nearly here and as my grandchildren make their lists for Santa, it got me thinking of a wish list of my own for travel insurance. Here it is:
It’s no mystery that travel policies have limitations and exclusions. A good policy is one that covers a lot of ground. While there are several really good plans out there, it would be nice if insurance companies would changed a few things to make them even better, the following is a small list of things I’d love to see changed.
- Not having to insure for the full non-refundable trip cost to qualify for the preexisting medical conditions waiver. As you might know, there are usually a few qualifications that you must meet to get the preexisting waiver with those plans that offer it. One requirement is to insure to value – insuring for the full pre-paid nonrefundable cost of your trip. In the past, some plans that didn’t require it but that is no longer the case.
- Anchor the preexisting medical conditions period to the date of last treatment/symptom, not the purchase date. All plans have a preexisting medical conditions period that looks back into someone’s medical history prior to the date of purchase. This look back period can range from 60 to 180 days and maybe waived if the plan has a “waiver” and if you qualify. However, if for some reason the pre-existing conditions exclusion applies, then we’re in favor of anchoring the preexisting conditions period to the date of last treatment/symptoms and going forward with the specified time period rather than the current practice of using the departure date as the anchor and going backwards from that date.
- Make baggage coverage primary. Off the top of my head there is one company that has the option to make baggage coverage primary and there is one company whose standard practice is to provide primary coverage, however, that’s about it. The rest are secondary. With secondary, you’d first have to submit the claim to your home owner’s or renter’s insurance first which might cause those premiums to go up, but that’s another story.
Who knows maybe we’ll find those changes under the tree but I doubt it.