Schengen Visa Insurance

June 16, 2009 7:49 AM

What online company should I use to purchase travel insurance that meets the Schengen visa requirements?

We are traveling from Philadelphia to Germany for a week starting in early July. I just had a moment of panic when I remembered my wife doesn't have a US passport. Turns out she needs a Schengen visa so we are heading to NY tomorrow to apply at the German consulate. How about this insurance requirement for the Schengen visa? Can anyone suggest a reputable company to quickly provide this insurance and a letter providing proof? Is this generally covered by health insurance provided by employers? Finally, anyone know how long it takes to get one of these visas?

posted by wigner3j to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total)

You can get travel health insurance from most banks. Walk into your branch and fill out a form, and you're covered a few minutes later.

(I found this out by accident once when getting some foreign currency. Saved me a trip.)
posted by rokusan at 8:21 AM on June 16, 2009

I've used AXA for travel insurance to Germany. They are very fast.
posted by dhruva at 8:22 AM on June 16, 2009

We used CMI to get insurance to cover the requirements for my husband's upcoming year of study in Sweden. I can't speak to how good a company they are when it comes to coverage because he hasn't used it yet, but we had an instant letter of coverage after submitting the credit card payment.
posted by LeiaS at 9:26 AM on June 16, 2009

I always use MNU. I got my confirmation and Visa letter about 15 minutes after signing up, and they have good customer support (at least, regarding signing up; I haven't needed to file a claim yet).
posted by helios at 9:29 AM on June 16, 2009