What is the best travel insurance company?
That is a question that gets asked everyday. And it's usually an easy answer provided you are talking with an experienced travel insurance agent who is able to guide you to the right company and right plan.
Your beginning point should always be to make sure the plan that you're looking at is being offered by a legitimate company that is backed by a licensed insurance company. Most travelers take this for granted but experiences tells us that you shouldn't. A few years ago there was an unlicensed company that was offering "travel protection" through some very large travel agencies and tour companies located throughout the southeast and went bankrupt when they couldn't pay claims.
When looking for the best coverage a good rule of thumb is to visit a travel insurance comparison website like QuoteWright.com where they have already vetted travel insurance companies to ensure only the best ones are presented for comparison. It is also a good idea to concentrate on your two or three top concerns that way you'll avoid confusion due to the number of plans that you'll find. Some common concerns are:
- being covered by Medicare and traveling outside the USA - Medicare doesn't cover outside of the USA so medical coverage might be a concern.
- coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. Many policies offer a "waiver of pre-existing conditions" however certain pre-conditions have to be met in order to qualify; such as, buying the coverage within 2 weeks of first trip payment, being physically fit to travel when buying the insurance, and insuring the full value of your trip.
- protecting the value of your trip should you have to cancel or curtail your travels. That coverage is called trip cancellation/interruption coverage and is a "named peril" coverage - meaning that only the perils listed by the insurance company in the policy are covered reasons to cancel or interrupt your trip. One of the standard perils is an accident, illness, or death of you or a family member regardless of whether or not they are traveling with you.
- Primary vs secondary coverage. Most travel insurance plans provide secondary coverage for medical, medical evacuation, and baggage coverages. This means that in the event of a claim it would first have to be submitted to your personal primary coverage plan such.
- Emergency medical evacuation coverage. Make sure you have an adequate level of coverage for your destination. $50,000 of evacuation coverage might be adequate for domestic travel but it would be inadequate for international travel.
There is no one company that is best in all instances. One company might be best in one instance and not best in another. The best thing to do is to shop around and compare and the best place to do that is at http://www.quotewright.com.
