Trip Insurance question

[lynnfitz]

Hi, I haven't purchased trip insurance for our past trips. With some family health issues I was thinking about it for this summer-my specific question is, if you rent a timeshare through an owner (where if you cancel you loose your $), would trip insurance cover that do you think? There are some good deals for Orlando for their timeshares such as Hilton, Marriot etc,. but I'm hesitant due to the fact we have to cancel we loose the money.
Thank you!

 

[Dacky619]

I don't see why they wouldn't cover it if it was an official rental and not here's 500 bucks to my friend to cover his dues while I get to use his timeshare for the week. We have rented out our dvc points before and know a few renters have had trip insurance, but I'd be looking very carefully over the terms of the coverage just to make sure.

 

[OddDisneyFan]

We have had the same concern as OP, even though we have never had to cancel a trip (though we have traveled sick). We did some research into trip insurance before our last trip, as we were going to rent an AirBnB, but chickened out and stuck with a hotel.

As Dacky619 mentioned, the only way to know for sure on the coverage is to read the terms and conditions of the trip insurance policy. Most policies seem to cover you if you can't go, but their definition of "can't go" may be different than yours (i.e. if you're sick but not immobile or documented as bed-ridden, you're expected to go). I would always assume that coverage applies only to invoiced expenses and not any unofficial side agreements for which you may be or feel obligated to pay.

If you're using a credit card, many rewards cards offer travel insurance as a perk, and will cover trip expenses charged to the card. These policies are usually underwritten by outside companies, so they are just as legit as standalone trip insurance, but again the T&Cs matter. Those T&Cs are usually found in the credit card agreement, or in a rider to it. It's worth checking before you pay for a standalone policy.

 

[Gman76]

Trip insurance is almost legal gambling. Both sides are betting something may or not happen.

In the end, the insurance companies ALWAYS make money on the deal.

Yes, read and know what you are buying. Travel agents are very loose in telling you what may be covered.

Insure my trip.com is a great place to review coverages.

 

[jerseygal]

I always get trip insurance wherever we travel. When we use points and use our DVC reservations, we are owners, I use our DVC insurance through Travelex. When we travel outside DVC, have used Travelguard Gold policy for years. Be careful though, I thought I remember reading in the Description of Coverage that this particular Travelguard policy does NOT cover points. If I had to make an educated case, I think that most travel insurance carriers do not cover trips made with points. The description of coverage is very specific and detailed, before I purchased the insurance I would ask the customer service rep specific questions then have them email the coverage details before purchasing,

 

[OddDisneyFan]

In fact, insurance companies do not ALWAYS make money. If there is a legitimate claim which is covered under the policy, the underwriter most likely loses money on that policy. Of course, on the whole the companies do make money or they'd become insolvent.

However, it's not exactly a "gamble" where only one side wins. Consumers buy insurance policies to mitigate what they feel is a sizable risk (in this case, the cost of a vacation). Insurance companies use data to asses their risk and willingness to "gamble" on issuing the policies. Similar to consumer rebates (or casinos), they more-or-less know what percentage of issued policies are going to generate claims. I've had insurance companies decline to offer me property coverage in certain amounts one year, and give me a good rate on the same coverage the next, even though nothing about my side of the situation changed.

Another consideration is the cost of the policy versus the cost of the trip. No matter your financial situation, losing a $10k vacation will hurt a lot more than losing a $2k vacation, so the cost of mitigating the risk of loss may be more justifiable as the cost of the trip increases.

With trip insurance, I'd check credit card perks and associated terms and conditions before I purchased a standalone policy. I have never purchased a standalone policy because I've been comfortable with the coverage provided with the credit cards I've used to purchase the trips.

 

[lynnfitz]

thank you all so much! I think the first thing I would do is check with my credit card company to see what's covered. If we do go ahead and look into it, I'll call the company directly with questions and read all the fine print!

 

[mikehn]

If you cancel a trip for health reasons, the insurance company will ask that your doctor submit to them some form of certification to that before they pay anything, so just be prepared for that. Just passing along some lessons learned.

 

[omniscientmommy]

We purchased trip insurance through travel gaurd and I asked the lady about what can be done if you use 'points' for the airfare and she said they cannot place an exact monetary value on points so they won't cover that. Also they did have a cancel for any reason option. But yes check with your credit card first