Why You Should Purchase Your Travel Insurance Early

You’ve booked your trip, but you’re still not sure whether or not you need to purchase travel insurance, so you want to take a few days to decide. That’s understandable – you want to make sure you get the right kind of coverage. But don’t delay too long, there are several valuable benefits that come with your plan if you purchase early!

To have access to these additional benefits, you need to buy your RoamRight travel insurance policy within 21 days of making the first payment for your trip, whether it’s your airfare, hotel, rental car, etc.

Pre-Existing Conditions Waiver

Do you have a pre-existing condition and are worried you’ll be denied coverage in the event of a medical claim? When you buy your insurance within the 21-day timeframe, insure the full, non-refundable cost of your trip, and are fit to travel at the time of purchase, the pre-existing conditions exclusion will be waived. This includes any injury, sickness or condition that you may have for which medical advice, diagnosis, care or treatment was recommended or of received within 180 days from the effective date of coverage. It also means that similar medical conditions are waived for your traveling companion and your (or your traveling companion’s) family members.

The pre-existing medical conditions waiver is available on RoamRight’s Elite, Preferred, Essential, Adventure, and Active plans. Please read your plan carefully, as coverage may vary depending on your state of residence. (The following states currently have state specific language for pre-existing conditions: Indiana, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia.)

Cancel For Any Reason Coverage

If you purchase a RoamRight Elite, Preferred, Adventure, or Active plan during the 21-day window, you’ll have the option to upgrade to Cancel for Any Reason coverage. While standard travel insurance policies allow for trip cancellation coverage in only specific instances, Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) provides coverage for any event – even if you simply change your mind about traveling. If you decide to use this benefit, please note that coverage is only for a specified percentage of the trip cost, not the full trip cost, and the proof of cancellation must indicate that the trip was cancelled prior to 48 hours before the scheduled departure.

Bankruptcy and Default of Travel Supplier

The world of travel suppliers is constantly changing, and an unfortunate consequence is that some businesses must close their doors. When you purchase any of RoamRight's Elite, Preferred, Essential, Adventure, or Active plans within 21 days of making your initial trip deposit, your travel investment will be protected against bankruptcy or default, provided that the occurrence happens more than 14 days following your effective date of coverage and the travel supplier is not the one who sold you the RoamRight insurance policy. If it is an airline that declares bankruptcy or default, full benefits will only be paid if alternate transportation is not available. If alternate transportation is available, benefits will be limited to fees incurred.

Cancel For Work Reasons Coverage

Cancel For Work Reasons provides coverage for the times when your job gets in the way of your travels. If you purchase within the 21-day window, Cancel for Work Reasons is automatically included in the RoamRight Elite plan, or it can be purchased as an upgrade for the Preferred, Adventure, and Active plans. With Cancel for Work Reasons coverage, you'll be protected for the following scenarios:

• A transfer of you or your traveling companion by the employer by whom you or your traveling companion are employed on your effective date which requires your principal residence to be relocated.
• You are (or your traveling companion is) required to work during the scheduled trip. You or your traveling companion must demonstrate proof of requirement to work, such as a notarized statement signed by an officer of your or your traveling companion’s employer.
• Your (or your traveling companion’s) company is directly involved in a merger or acquisition. You or your traveling companion must be an active employee of the company that is subject to a merger or acquisition, and you or your traveling companion must be directly impacted by such an event.
• Your (or your traveling companion’s) company operations are interrupted by fire, flood, burglary, vandalism, product recall, bankruptcy or financial default.

Nothing Has Happened…Yet

The final and most obvious reason to purchase your RoamRight travel insurance policy as early as possible is that nothing has happened that currently keeps you from traveling. You never know when an accident or illness may happen that will prevent you from traveling, and if you purchase your insurance after the event, your claim will likely be denied. We often equate that to buying homeowner’s insurance when your house is on fire.

Are you ready to buy your RoamRight travel insurance policy? Complete the form at the top of the page on the right to get a quote for your next trip. Safe Travels!

Note: Available plans and coverages may have changed since this blog was published.