It pays to be insured until it doesn't
welcome to MojoTravels and today we're
discussing what travel insurance does
and does not cover are you a fan of our
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we're taking a closer look at what's
typically included and excluded from a
travel insurance policy for the record
every provider has their own inclusions
and exclusions which also includes
different levels of coverage available
within the same company so none of the
following should be considered a
guarantee
travelers should always review the
specifics of a given policy not covered
pre-existing conditions if your
seemingly in perfect health
then you thankfully needn't worry about
this exclusion but if like many middle
aged or senior travellers you have
medical conditions that you managed via
regular treatment medication or simply
through lifestyle choices you might be
at risk you'll still be covered for most
medical issues or accidents that could
befall you while traveling but if the
insurance company can tie it to your
pre-existing conditions you're
unfortunately out of luck and depending
on where you're traveling and the local
cost of health care treatment could cost
you a small fortune unfortunately many
companies consider pregnancy to be a
pre-existing condition
in fact reproductive health in general
is often excluded at least in terms of
reasons for cancelling venereal disease
pregnancy abortion or an HIV diagnosis
are all typically not covered the same
goes with issues of mental health be it
before your departure or during your
trip covered injury or illness barring
the after mentioned pre-existing
conditions your travel insurance should
have you covered for any and all typical
medical emergencies that could arise and
impact your travel this applies both the
time period between looking and
departure as well as during the trip
itself should you get into an accident
or suddenly fall ill you should be
eligible for reimbursement of all
prepaid expenses the nice thing is the
policy doesn't limit such medical
emergencies to yourself if a medical
emergency should befall a family member
spouse traveling companion or business
partner and it forces you to stay home
as a result most policies will have you
covered this equally applies should you
have to interrupt your trip and return
home early if you're staying with family
or friends abroad and they should fall
ill or be incapacitated you might also
be able to qualify for a refundable
cancellation not covered unlawful
activities this should really go without
saying but don't participate in criminal
activity of course regardless of whether
or not you've got a trip planned it's a
bad idea if you get yourself arrested in
the lead-up to your trip and it's
stipulated that you can't travel or you
have conflicting court dates your policy
will not reimburse your travel expenses
this equally applies during your trip
should you get injured or fall ill while
doing something illegal your insurance
company can deny your claim not only
will your medical expenses be your own
but you'll forfeit reimbursement for the
losses incurred throughout the remainder
of your trip it's worth noting that you
needn't commit a major offense for this
exclusion to take effect
drunk and disorderly can be enough
furthermore injuries incurred while
intoxicated are typically excluded from
emergency medical coverage covered job
loss or work-related cancellations if
you lose your job chances are that
you've got bigger concerns than missing
out on your trip that being said the
money that you allocated to travel may
suddenly be needed elsewhere in your
personal financial planning thankfully
almost all insurance providers cover
sudden job loss meaning that you should
be able to recoup almost all of the
expenses you've paid for to date
relating to the trip by the same token
if things suddenly get crazy busy with
work and your boss informs you that you
cannot under any circumstances leave on
holiday you will again be covered same
goes if you're suddenly transferred by
your company in a way that interferes
with travel on a different but related
note should you be a business owner and
your property be vandalized or robbed
most insurers will recognize this as a
justifiable cancellation not covered
medical tourism this could seem like a
bit of a niche subset of the travel
industry but you might be surprised
it's estimated that travelers
collectively spend anywhere between 45
to 72 billion dollars annually on
medically motivated travel the medical
tourism industry as a whole is valued at
approximately four hundred and thirty
nine billion dollars so yeah it's big
money but if you're traveling with the
intention of seeking medical treatment
abroad conventional travel insurance
will not cover you in fact even your
personal health insurance is unlikely to
help in these situations electing to
undergo medical treatment in a foreign
country simply brings with a too high of
a risk of affecting your travel plans
for any insurance company to justify
covering all the bookings you may need
to change then there are the potential
expensive medical emergencies that could
stem from the treatment itself covered
bankruptcy of travel supplier for all
the infrastructure involved travel is a
volatile industry and with so many
budget airlines and travel related
startups operating these days the
likelihood of bankruptcy feels higher
than ever the sad truth of the matter is
if an airline suddenly folds they are of
course very unlikely to give you your
money back
thankfully in such a case your travel
insurance has got your back this applies
both before your travel dates under trip
cancellation and then trip interruption
should the airline collapse during your
trip and leave you stranded abroad that
being said it's important to make sure
that your policy covers not just
bankruptcy of suppliers but also
financial default which means that the
company has stopped operations
regardless of their bankruptcy status
not covered anything on the exclusion
list
this might sound redundant but it cannot
be stressed enough everything we're
discussing today inclusions and
exclusions are considered pretty
standard for travel insurance companies
but before settling on a policy it's
absolutely imperative that you carefully
read over their specific list of
exclusions because theoretically they
could put literally anything in there
and have a legal leg to stand on so long
as you sign on the dotted line items
appearing on exclusion lists can range
from bad weather to say nuclear
contamination so it's worth reviewing
this section of the policy
extreme sports are typically excluded as
our flights that you've won in a contest
or paid for with points and that's a big
one
insurers will often employ catch-all
terms that you need to watch out for
for example theft coverage might exclude
unattended items which could refer to
anything you leave in a rental car
covered unrest and upheaval this is just
about the last thing that you want to
have to think about when planning a trip
but acts of terrorism are unfortunately
a very real concern in the travel
industry thankfully should a terrorist
attack be carried out in or around one
of the destinations you plan to visit
during your travels you're typically
covered by insurance
terrorism is a complicated subject in
many ways and unfortunately this holds
true as it applies to travel insurance
the attack in question needs to be
officially deemed an act of terror by
the government insurance companies also
establish their own respective windows
in which the trip and attack must
coincide you might not feel safe
visiting a destination for months after
an attack but insurers usually limit
coverage to 30 days some only offer a 7
day window if a terrorist attack
occurred in the destination before you
booked this may void coverage for
cancellation should another one be
carried out not covered epidemics and
pandemics this is another tricky one
because viral outbreaks of disease can
occur so suddenly and the measures
surrounding them are so subjective when
one does occur it can be very hard to
make an insurance claim if you want to
cancel for fear of contracting the
disease via visiting an affected area
most insurers won't reimburse you
deeming this to be your personal choice
rather than an actual impediment and
this is a double-edged sword because
those who planned a trip after an
epidemic first broke out might find
themselves being denied emergency
medical coverage because the epidemic is
deemed to have been a known event at the
time of booking same goes with
cancellation after the fact some
insurers are more accommodating than
others in times of a national or global
health crisis but across the board the
likelihood of coverage is low covered
natural disasters while your travel
insurance provider might leave you high
and dry in the event of an epidemic they
tend to be quite helpful when a natural
disaster
strikes earthquakes fires floods
volcanic eruptions hurricanes tsunamis
you're pretty much covered across the
board
the only real caveat is that the natural
disaster needs to be devastating enough
to pose a serious risk to personal
safety damaged property and cause
utilities and transportations to be
affected in short it needs to be bad
enough to ruin your trip if a natural
disaster destroys your home or appends
your local life this is typically also
considered grounds for cancelling that
being said it's worth noting that you're
not usually covered for cancellation
until the event has happened a hurricane
forecast likely won't get you reimbursed
until it has actually hit
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