Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with travelinsurance

Help a Canadian travel with peace of mind!

exquisite_deluxe — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:29:19 -0800

I'm a Canadian abroad with expired health insurance. What options do I have for a new policy? I need private health insurance for a 6 week trip to India, departing from New Zealand. I've been out of Quebec, Canada since October 2008, and I'm returning in December 2009. My private health insurance (bought through Travel Cuts) has expired, and they will not sell me a new plan without being in Canada.

I was then going to book through World Nomads, which does allow policy purchases after leaving Canada. However, they require Canadians to confirm that they are still covered under provincial health insurance. Since I have been out of Quebec for more than 183 days this year, and did not obtain a letter of extension before departure from Canada, apparantly I am no longer covered. So I can't get the World Nomads insurance.

All the policies I have looked at require booking before the trip, or being out of Canada for less than six months. I have seen this question asking about good travel insurance in Quebec, but it doesn't seem to address what to do without having a valid extension from Quebec health.

Help!! Do I have any options?? My main concern is having coverage for major medical emergencies.

Thanks in advance!

Travel insurance reccomendations for an unusual trip!

mateuslee — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:01:18 -0800

Any travel insurance recommendation for an unusual trip to Peru? I am an dual-citizen American/European living in the Netherlands and so I have Dutch health insurance, however, if I am abroad for more than 3 months my insurance plan is void.

In a couple of weeks I will fly to rural Peru to conduct fieldwork in some rather unpleasant conditions: high in the Andes, and also in the jungle.

I know a few people have asked about travel insurance before, but I'm looking for something more heavy-duty (mainly wrt health) should I need serious treatment.

Does anyone have any recommendation?

Thanks a lot!

Should I get travel insurance as a UK citizen in Holland?

Kirn — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:22:01 -0800

Do I need travel insurance if I live in the UK and am travelling to Holland? I'm about to spend 4 days in Holland (flying the day after tomorrow). I completely forgot to look into travel insurance.

I'm a UK citizen (since always) and have a European Health Insurance Card (which is not about to expire). Does this basically cover me for medical issues and emergencies in Holland?

Should I still get travel insurance?

If so, can I still book it at this late stage?

And if the answer to the last two questions is yes: who would the hive mind recommend? I've never heard of any of the companies the comparison sites bring up.

Details: I'm in my mid-20s. I have mild asthma but no other medical conditions. I'm not planning on driving or taking part in any dangerous activities, and I'm not taking anything particularly valuable (passport and wallet are probably the only things I really wouldn't want to lose). I don't have any other kind of insurance other than home insurance.

Other details: I'm an idiot who doesn't know anything about insurance.

Thanks in advance Internet.

Travel insurance help needed, please!

Planet F — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:10:39 -0800

I'd like some recommendations for travel insurance (online or otherwise easy to get) for an exchange student travelling from Germany to China. I'm covered under many different health insurance plans, but none will cover me travelling from Germany to China, since I'm leaving not leaving directly from my original country of residence (Canada). I'd normally purchase insurance from Travel Cuts (list of Plans available), but again there's the rule and stipulation that I must be leaving from canada in order to have that coverage.

I'd like to find a similar type of easily-purchased insurance that would cover both my health and belongings while in China. I'd also like it to come with a studenty-price tag, if possible :)

Thanks very much!

Proving I was out of the UK...

RufusW — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:45:51 -0800

How can I prove my location when I purchased something online? While in Azerbaijan in December 2007 I bought travel insurance from a UK internet-only company. However, I've since checked and you should only buy insurance from them while you're in the UK - they won't cover you otherwise. So I have emailed them for a refund. The insurance was for three months - 60GBP.

I expect they will ask me to prove I was actually in Azerbaijan (out of the UK) when I bought it. How can I do this?

I don't think scanning and emailing visa pages from my passport will work, and I definitely can't see them in person.

Any ideas? Would / Did they record the IP address of the computer I used?

Travel health insurance for US Expats

syzygy — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:53:13 -0800

Where can I, an expatriate US citizen, get travel health insurance that will cover me while I'm traveling in the States? I asked my insurance agent here in Austria if he could set me up with travel health insurance for my annual trip to the US. He sent me a policy which looked great, until I read the fine print. The policy will cover me worldwide, outside of Austria and any country of which I am a citizen. I'm still a US citizen, but Austria has been my place of primary residence for 7 years.

Is there any way for me to get travel insurance that will cover me while I'm in the US?

Can I get business travel (only) life insurance?

NailsTheCat — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:25:39 -0800

I have to travel to Johannesburg for 3 weeks on business so I thought I'd check our corporate travel / life insurance. I'm covered for $20,000 which I consider way below par. I need business travel life insurance options. Our health insurance (Blue Anthem) dictates a minimum level of life insurance cover, which we have: $20,000. We also have business travel insurance which covers medical expenses extra -- but no life cover. Our UK staff have life insurance at 3x / 4x their annual salary (depending on number of dependents).
I don't need extra comprehensive life insurance for my every day life - at least not from my company. But I would like to be cover in the event of a plane crash (wherever I travel on business) or a carjacking in Jo-Berg say.

Does anyone have experience of specific business travel life insurance or similar plans? I'd like to approach HR with some good background knowledge.

Travel insurance for the technologically savvy?

antifuse — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:39:47 -0800

Help me insure my expensive gear while I'm travelling between residences! Ok, as my last question implies, I'm heading off on a kickass 6 week trip shortly, as my fiancee and I make our way back to Canada from Ireland. Unfortunately, things are a bit confusing when it comes to the insurance situation. Health insurance is easy - Soon-To-Be-Mrs. Antifuse is getting worldwide health insurance any way, because she won't be covered for her first three months back in Canada (and technically, I might not either, having been gone for some time... but I digress). More importantly, we want to insure our stuff!

What she's bringing that needs insuring:

- the brand spankin' new engagement ring

What I'm bringing that needs insuring:
- My laptop, worth maybe $1000 (or, say, $1500-2000 to replace with a comparable model [more because it's small than because it's fast])
- My camera gear, worth roughly $3000

I've looked at some of the previous travel insurance threads on here, and while there was some OK links in there, I couldn't find anything that would help with my particular situation. Now, here's the real kicker - does it make sense to try and find a travel insurance plan that covers all these items, and if so is there a way to do it that won't cost me $800? I understand that things like this are normally covered under home/renter's insurance, but I've got a bit of a pickle - my fiancee and I are going to basically be without a residence while we're travelling. We're giving up our apartment here when we leave, and we're moving into my mom's place temporarily when we get back to Canada. So we can't really have home insurance if we don't have a home! I've asked my mom if she can put us in a rider on her home insurance, but I'm afraid of getting caught in a "Well, you weren't technically residents of that home at the time you started your travel" loophole.

So, does anybody have any insurance advice? And no, "just don't bring your expensive stuff" isn't really an option. I'm not *overly* worried about losing any of our stuff, but I just want to make sure that we covered in a worst-case scenario. For added details, we're currently residents in Dublin, Ireland, and we plan on being residents of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada once we get home at the end of our trip.

An ingenious game of chance in which the deluded player thinks he’s beating the house.

lalochezia — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:25:28 -0800

Travel[+Insurance]Filter. I have medical (50% cost) + Emergency Repatriation coverage for a 10 week trip to Central America. Should I have anything else? If so, where can I get such a custom policy? Any last minute advice on destinations as well? I’m off to Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to learn Spanish and see mayan sites, mountains and dive off coast [wohoo!]. I may go on to Costa Rica and Panama or head back into Belize or Mexico.

My question is this: Should I get more insurance?

I have $150k repatriation insurance through my employer. My US health insurance pays 50% of out-of-network costs for any procedure, no matter where it’s conducted.

I’m traveling with <$750 of gear total (bag, camera, clothes, books etc) and will be staying fairly low rent in cities, jungles etc. I have my shots and meds ready. My travel plans are v. flexible, so I don't know dates or when I'll buy my tickets during the 10 week period.

As a bonus: any suggestions on places to go or last minute advice for that part of the world?

Insurance in Case of Travel Plan Cancellation?

fionab — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:35:03 -0800

Our family is possibly going on a trip this summer, but I would like to buy non-emergency, non-medical travel insurance. This is basically insurance if I change my mind, or if my plans have to change. My search thus far has proven fruitless. Any suggestions? [more inside] I have found many places that offer travel insurance packages, but they all seem to have a clause that says cancellations must be due to extreme situations (death, dire medical conditions, car accidents, getting called into jury duty or the armed forces, etc.). This kind of insurance is definitely useful, but I would need something that goes one step beyond that, so that it would cover my expenses -- minus a deductible of some kind -- if I change my mind or my plans change. The trip will include airfare and a cruise. Suggestions for both American and Canadian residents would be appreciated - both would be traveling on this trip. Medical and/or travel insurance companies that come highly recommended might also be useful. Thank you!

Traveling to US from UK, need to insure laptop.

i_cola — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 06:36:05 -0800

Insurance (in the UK)
Any recommendations for laptop insurance and whilst we're on the subject, a recommendation for a travel insurer for a business trip to the US?