Travel Insured policy doesn't cover Egypt crisis

[Wineart]

I found out that my trip insurance policy through Travel Insured does not cover the crisis in Egypt because it only covers terrorism, not "civil unrest". Would be interested in feedback from others as to whether their trip insurance policies also have this clause, or if Travel Insured is in the minority. I will definitely not book with Travel Insured in the future, so would be interested in other companies I should consider.

[patseacruiser]

I posted this yesterday from Travelex

 

Currently, there is no coverage for Trip Cancellation due to a Terrorist Incident (no recent Terrorist Incidents have been documented, only protesting), but there are benefits listed below if flights are delayed/cancelled due to the rioting. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Thanks,

xx

 

For travelers who purchased a protection plan on or before January 24, 2011,

please review the below for an overview of applicable benefits. Coverage is subject to the terms and conditions of the policy and applies in the following areas:

Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Coverage

• Delayed arrival due to a covered reason such as delay due to civil commotion or riot causing 50% or more of the covered trip to be missed.

• If the Travel Supplier cancels the trip due to these conditions, the traveler may be reimbursed for the reissue fee charged by the airline, up to the maximum benefit amount as stated in the Certificate of Insurance.

• If purchased, Cancel for Any Reason can provide a portion of their trip cost back provided they meet the individual requirements of this benefit. (Applies to Travel Select, Travel Select Advantage and Travel Max)

Trip Delay Coverage

• Delay while en route to or from final destination for at least 5 hours or more due to a covered reason, such as civil commotion or riot.

Emergency Medical Coverage

• For travelers affected by the rioting while traveling in these areas, coverage is provided for expenses incurred as a result of emergency medical treatment and/or emergency medical evacuation, if necessary.

24 Hour Travel Assistance Services

• Travelers may receive assistance ranging from emergency travel arrangements and money transfers to message relay services. Simply call the travel assistance phone number listed on your Confirmation of Coverage.

[cruiseco]

I found out that my trip insurance policy through Travel Insured does not cover the crisis in Egypt because it only covers terrorism, not "civil unrest". Would be interested in feedback from others as to whether their trip insurance policies also have this clause, or if Travel Insured is in the minority. I will definitely not book with Travel Insured in the future, so would be interested in other companies I should consider.

 

Do you mean Travel Insured will not cover you for trip cancellation because of what's going on or is there some other coverage you're thinking about?

 

Other than the obvious Cancel For Any Reason plans I can't think of any insurers that will let you cancel for civil protests/unrest. Overall, Travel Insured offers some pretty good plans so if you're going to switch insurers over this make sure you're not giving something else up while still not getting the civil unrest coverage you're looking for.

[sirwired]

Just flipped through the TravelGuard Gold plan, and it technically would not cover this for cancellation/interruption, but I'm not sure it's necessary either. (You would be covered under the normal delay coverage if you were stuck in Egypt right now.)

 

For an (uncovered by insurance) cancellation:

Since the airline flights are canceled, you get a full refund from the airline, no questions asked. And I don't know of any cruise provider that is even running the Nile right now, meaning you should get a credit or refund from them too, unless they go bankrupt, in which case you would get to file under default protection.

[6rugrats]

This is typical for most policies, not just Travel Insured.

[Wineart]

Squaremouth.com just did a summary on one of their blogs of all the major trip insurance carriers and their coverage specific to the Egypt situation. It's an excellent resource tool.

[patseacruiser]

I heard them interview some people yesterday on the news that were at Cairo airport that couldn't get to their cruise. They were very upset because some of them didn't have a cell phone with them to make flight arrangements and some didn't have a credit card to pay for flights home. Some said they wished they had travel insurance which in that case would have been honored because they were stuck there but you have to pay and then submit a claim for it. Some said the US government was letting them sign IOU's to get out but they also said if they weren't evacuated right to the US then they would be responsible for their own flights from whatever country they were able to be flown to on evacuation. I used to go to the caribbean without insurance until I saw that on every cruise I have been on there has been at least 1 person medically evacuated (last cruise 5 people taken off at different ports). But to go to leave the country for Europe/Asia/Middle East, etc. without insurance is crazy.

[cruiseco]

For someone worried about being trapped in a country going through this kind of disruption, TravelSafe has included in its plans "non-medical emergency evacuation" coverage. These are a few other plans with similar coverage.

 

TravelSafe uses On Call as their emergency services provider and On Call. here's an update:

 

 

"This is an update as of 2:00 PM EST on Tuesday February 1, 2011 regarding the current security situation in Egypt. This information is from On Call International the 24 Hour Assistance Company that provides assistance and concierge services to all TravelSafe insureds.

 

On Call continues to have access to ground transportation and private air charters in an effort to evacuate travelers out of Egypt to a safe haven and home. At this time, On Call International is arranging an emergency evacuation for U.S travelers out of Luxor, Egypt to take place on Thursday February 3, 2011. If you have any students, passengers, employees or other interested parties who need transportation out of Egypt, please let us know as soon as possible.

 

On Call continues to have access to ground transportation and private air charters in an effort to evacuate travelers out of Egypt to a safe haven and home. If you have any students, passengers, employees or other interested parties who need transportation out of Egypt, please let us know as soon as possible."

 

Here's the plan wording:

 

"NON-MEDICAL EMERGENCY EVACUATION BENEFITS

All reasonable expenses incurred for Your transportation to the nearest place of safety, or to Your Home, are covered, up to a maximum of $25,000, if You must leave Your Trip for a Covered Reason. Evacuation must occur within 10 days of any covered event. Arrangements will be by the most appropriate and economical means available and consistent with Your health and safety. Benefits are only payable for arrangements made by One Call Worldwide Travel Services Network, Inc.

 

Covered Reasons: We will pay for the Non-Medical Emergency Evacuation Benefits listed above if, while on Your Trip, a formal recommendation from the appropriate local authorities, or the U.S. State Department, is issued for You to leave a country You are visiting on Your Trip due to: 1) a natural disaster; 2) civil, military or political unrest; or 3) Your being expelled or declared a persona non-grata by a country You are visiting on Your Trip. "

[cherylandtk]

I found out that my trip insurance policy through Travel Insured does not cover the crisis in Egypt because it only covers terrorism, not "civil unrest". Would be interested in feedback from others as to whether their trip insurance policies also have this clause, or if Travel Insured is in the minority. I will definitely not book with Travel Insured in the future, so would be interested in other companies I should consider.

Since you posted about the link on Squaremouth, I presume you have already read it and found that this is a common exclusion. But for others not aware:

 

CSA, HTH, Travel Guard and iTravelInsured do not cover cancellation for civil unrest.

 

Travel Insured and Travelex policies provide varying amounts of cancellation coverage based on policy type and date purchased. Much of this seems to be under the Travel Delay provisions, and full cancellation does not kick in until 50% of the trip is missed. (Meaning Coverage is more for those already ON a trip, not someone wanting to cancel now.) But there are a lot of policies types and coverage depends on what an individual's policy says.

 

As cruiseco already noted in excellent detail, TravelSafe covers cancellationand emergency evacuation for those already in the region, but there are no advance cancellation provisions.

 

Most of the above policies can be purchased with a Cancel For Any Reason clause, which provides varying percentages of trip costs as a refund, but none cover at 100%. The cost of such a clause is typically 50% of the policy cost.

[patseacruiser]

Travelex just sent this:

 

Travelex Coverage Notice

Protests in Egypt continue to be a concern for travelers and agents around the world. Travelers who purchased Travelex Insurance plans on or before January 24, 2011 may be eligible for benefits according to the terms of their policy. Specific coverage details

surrounding the civil unrest in Egypt can be found in the links below.

Travelex will also work with you to modify existing travel insurance policies for clients who wish to reschedule their trip or change their destination. In addition, all Travelex insured customers have immediate access to our Travel Assistance Services to help with emergency travel arrangements, money transfers, message relays and more!

[iamtrustworthy]

It's not just civil unrest or riots that aren't covered, but there aren't any travel insurance plans that will cover fear once you are already on your trip.

 

If you think you might be fearful, worried or uneasy about going, you could get a plan with "Cancel For Any Reason", but the "Cancel For Any Reason" is just that - canceling your entire trip. It's not "Delay For Any Reason" nor "Interrupt For Any Reason". And you have to cancel your trip at least 2 days or even 48 hours before you leave, depending on the plan.

 

And, as cruiseco & cheryl said, "TravelSafe covers cancellation and emergency evacuation for those already in the region, but there are no advance cancellation provisions".

 

Another other pre-trip option is that many plans will let you change the dates on your policy if your travel supplier changes its travel dates before you take the trip.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Steve Dasseos

[Chairsin]

Having just escaped from Egpyt I spent some time earlier today with my travel agent. After a significant amount of time on the phone she found out that indeed civil unrest is one of the exclusions with regard to trip interruption and cancelation and that a premium priced "cancel for any reason policy " would have allowed us to to make a trip interruption claim in this instance.But she generally does not suggest people purchase these policies because they are just too expensive.We will be stuck with our additional costs to return home.

[iamtrustworthy]

Having just escaped from Egpyt I spent some time earlier today with my travel agent. After a significant amount of time on the phone she found out that indeed civil unrest is one of the exclusions with regard to trip interruption and cancelation and that a premium priced "cancel for any reason policy " would have allowed us to to make a trip interruption claim in this instance.But she generally does not suggest people purchase these policies because they are just too expensive.We will be stuck with our additional costs to return home.

 

Hi Chairsin,

 

Who told your travel agent that a "cancel for any reason policy" would have paid your claim for a trip interruption?

 

Steve Dasseos

[cherylandtk]

To perhaps explain why Steve is asking the above question: In Travel Insurance Speak, cancellation can only occur PRIOR to the start of a trip. After that, the trip can be Delayed or Interrupted, but not actually Cancelled. That is how these words are defined in the the contracts. So Any Reason CANCELLATION coverage usually ends the moment you close the front door and jump in the car to the airport. And I am pretty sure there is no such thing as Any Reason Interruption or Delay coverage.

[Chairsin]

Steve,

My travel agent called the insurer while I was sitting there with her and I listened in on the conversation. While it is called "Cancel for any reason" it might also be called interrup for any reason -- the main thing being that most of the exclusions that apply with regulare policies ( such as the one we are discussing here, civil unrest) do not apply with the more expensive policy.

[iamtrustworthy]

Steve,

My travel agent called the insurer while I was sitting there with her and I listened in on the conversation. While it is called "Cancel for any reason" it might also be called interrup for any reason -- the main thing being that most of the exclusions that apply with regulare policies ( such as the one we are discussing here, civil unrest) do not apply with the more expensive policy.

 

Hi Chairsin,

 

Wow! This is a complete departure from how travel insurance plans define the simple word "cancellation".

 

What company and plan are you referring to?

 

Steve Dasseos