Follow-up Trip Insurance Question

Posted by TravelMom (VA) on 05/05/25 02:17 AM

Hi! Last month I asked about trip insurance. Now I'm at the point of actually pulling the trigger on it, except I'm wondering what most do as far as the total cost of your expenses.

Obviously, things that are 100% refundable are not included, but what do you do for expenses that are refundable up to a point (ie. 2 weeks out, 1 week out, etc.). I would be buying a one-trip policy to cover a trip of 70 days. Therefore, there is an extended time during which trip delays or interruptions could happen.

Is the consensus that you include those expenses in the trip insurance (for the quote and what you end up paying) or leave them off? Any input would be appreciated!

Posted by Lin C

Surrey, UK

05/05/25 08:53 AM

258 posts

If you are having to provide a "sum insured" figure, it is worth mentioning that in the UK, if you under insure, any claim payout will be reduced proportionately. May be the same in the US, I don't know.

Posted by CL

Salem, Oregon, USA

05/05/25 02:27 PM

3106 posts

FWIW this post is in the "COVID-19 & Travel" section of the forum so you might not get a lot of useful responses as many people skip over that topic.

What you insure is up to you and your risk tolerance for footing the bill yourself. There's simply no way to predict when an emergency situation will arise or at what point in your trip. If it were me, for such a long trip I'd probably average out the costs of the expenses that have the refundable window and pick the midpoint of total costs. On most of the insurance websites (Squaremouth, InsureMyTrip) you can get quotes for different levels of cost - do one for the entire potential cost if you missed every refundable window, one for middle ground, and another as if you made every single plan.

Posted by John

CA, USA

05/05/25 03:36 PM

1310 posts

Most policies that I've seen have a requirement that for pre-existing conditions to be covered that you must insure 100% of the cost of the trip. If this is a factor for you then I'd check with the vendor or the insurance broker selling the policy to understand their definition of 100%. If that's not a factor then you'll need to decide whether you need insurance coverage for everything or if it's to protect you against major costs only.

Since you haven't purchased the policy yet let me suggest buying your policy thru the travel insurance broker https://tripinsurancestore.com/ that you can find recommended on the forum (search for "tripinsurancestore.com"). Clumsy website but if you call them the knowledge and help is said to be outstanding. I haven't used them myself but think I will in the future.