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Travel Insurance: Roam Right anyone?

Posted by on

Anyone ever use Roam Right? (actual claim... not just purchase)? We decided to purchase Trip Insurance for an upcoming EU vacation. Our upfront trip costs are minimal, but we mainly want to be covered if we need to come home in an emergency --- ours or relatives. SO, we researched both through Squaremouth and through InsureMyTrip.com Narrowed the choice to two for a very specific reason (dual state residency).

Squaremouth and InsureMyTrip warned me that starting from or returning to a secondary place of residence may be a problem, so I called and narrowed our choice to two:

Travelex actually outlines the ability to insure from either a primary and secondary home. However, their coverage seems much more limited, and I've read a lot more complaints (admittedly they are also larger, and probably have more customers). Roam Right seems to be a much smaller company, easier to deal with (so far), and is much more reasonable in cost. However, they do not specifically define "home" anywhere in their policy. I called, and they assured me - over the phone - that I should register from my 'second home' since that is where the trip starts/ stops.

I'd love to give Roam Right a try, but don't want to do that based on cost alone. Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has used them.

Posted by
16261 posts

I think you need to be very careful about this. You may have two homes, but you can only have one legal residence in the US. That is for purposes of taxation, driver's license, and for determining what laws apply to you, including insurance laws.

The insuremytrip website starts off by asking your state of residence. That is important because it determines what policies can be offered to you---not all policies are valid in every state. As a resident of Washington State, for example, I find that certain companies do not appear in the selection offered. This is because these companies, or certain policies, do not meet the requirements set by the insurance commissioner. Also, when I have clicked on the trip insurance button for flights, the option offered by Allianz disappears as soon as I say I reside in Washington.

If you want the option of returning to your second home instead of your primary residence in the event of an emergency, you can check with the company about that. But do not try to cover that possibility by listing the "second home" state as your legal residence, unless the company is fully aware you are doing that. Otherwise you could have trouble with a claim.

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks for the heads up. . Called about 7 companies. The only 2 I felt comfortable with, for the reasons you listed, were those mentioned. However, I had not previously heard of Roam Right. Both offer policies in each of our states. Both are highly rated on the insurance broker sites, but highly criticized on review sites (as usual, review sites tend to lean toward complainers rather than happy consumers who rarely write).

Posted by
16261 posts

I believe the most recent article I read on travel insurance---within the last few weeks---did mention Roam Right in a positive way. Unfortunately I cannot remember where Insaw the article to confirm that. It could have been The NY Times travel section, or the Rick Steves travel news, or simply something that appeared when Inwas researching our upcoming travel. But I cannot find it again, so no help here.

Posted by
2 posts

As a representative of RoamRight, I’d like to address your concerns about having a secondary place of residence. While not a representative of RoamRight, @Lola is correct in her response - your home is what is considered your permanent place of residence, regardless of where you start or end your trip.

However, I spoke with our customer service department and they recall speaking with you a few days ago. Based on your phone call, you had some extenuating circumstances that are not specifically outlined in this forum post. For the sake of your privacy, I will not divulge those circumstances, but trust that the information you were given over the phone is the most accurate information. In short, we try to work with travelers in unique situations such as yours, and we appreciate you bringing it to our attention ahead of time.

If you have any further questions, please call us directly at 800-699-3845, Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 9:00 pm ET.

May you have a wonderful European vacation!

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