Head About to Burst (Trying to Understand Travel insurance)

Also, if you feel this would be better under the France section on the forum, let me know and I'll move it.

No, please leave it where it is. This topic is of interest to many of us, regardless of our destination.

Thanks for posting this. I'm definitely bookmarking and following.

Aimee --Have you tried calling and talking to someone?--

I probably will end up calling someone on Monday (for anyone popping inhere later, it's Friday afternoon now).

The reason I emailed, it because I would have strongly preferred the rep to answer the question in an email so I would have written back up if I needed to file a claim, especially given how vague they are being about this particular aspect of the coverage.

Jane

Glad you approve : ) It would be so much nicer if these clauses and definitions were clearer and I was hoping I wasn't the only one unclear on this point.

I do wonder if there's a special class underwriters take to make the language as convoluted as possible while still remaining vague...I mean, that's talent!!

I hadn't interrupted the "be mandated by the country" as an official telling me specifically to quarantine, but the mandates/rules of the country requiring quarantine. When you receive a positive test from a pharmacists, then the country mandates that you start quarantine.

But, then I am not an expert on insurance and can be incorrect on my understanding.

It really doesn’t matter that France doesn’t have a strict isolation. You would not be allowed to return home on an airplane with a positive result. Therefore you are stuck there not of your choosing. I would think that would be covered under quarantine language.

You are very wise, attempting to get the answer in writing, as I have been given erroneous info over the phone. Thankfully, it caused no harm [regarding parasailing vs hand gliding ].

These policies are SO darn hard to read- usually 45 pages plus 10 pages of appendix, and only available on your computer . I'm actually going to call ours soon and demand a policy in print; our home office printer is old, and wouldn't be able to handle it.

For our Sept, 2021 trip to Switzerland, I did call our USAA travel insurance regarding covid, and was told that covid is considered an illness, so the same terms apply. So IF you were too sick with covid to travel, you would be covered. [That, of course, is different than testing positive but being symptom free.] I was also told that being sick with covid would be covered under "Trip Interruption", "Itinerary Change" AND "Trip Delay", and could collect under all three at the same time.

Folks here have suggested that travel insurance is invalid if one travels to a CDC level 4 country, but I couldn't find that in ours. And is there is a difference between a high alert terrorist country and a CDC level 4 covid country????

These companies are out to make money first, and then protect us, and it is very difficult being an informed consumer.

Good luck and safe travels!

Pat, which company underwrites USAA travel insurance? I looked at Trawick today which is underwritten by Nationwide. They do not have a stated epidemic/pandemic rider on their AZ policy docs.
It seems most policies now cover Covid as an illness but make a lot of exceptions to quarantine. Much has changed since I started researching in June and will continue to change. My trip begins in Late August and I’m looking at annual policies.
Like Tammie’s topic title, my head is about to burst. I feel like no matter how I cover my trip it is going to be wrong.

USAA sells travel insurance thru C&F Travel Insured International. C&F seems to be Crum & Forster and are trademarks of United States Fire Insurance Company.
I have NEVER filed a claim, which is the true test of any insurance company.
Good luck to us all navigating this messy business.

Pat--We also have travel insurance through USAA. I always print out the full policy. We are due to leave in a few days, and that is already in my travel folder with other papers. Yes, I am old school and like things printed out just in case.

Careful with the terms. You are looking for coverage for trip interruption for illness or for isolation, but not for quarantine. Coverage for quarantine would be unexpected and probably unwanted. Unless the policy is defining these terms in a nonstandard way,

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/COVID-19-Quarantine-vs-Isolation.pdf

--Gail "But, then I am not an expert on insurance and can be incorrect on my understanding."

Yes, logically, for those of us who don't have Insurance Brains, you would think the positive test from a pharmacist would be enough. But then insurance throws in their tricky/unclear wording. I just want to make sure and it seems like I'm going to have to call or just keep pestering them by email until they provide a concrete answer to my question.

--Anne "It really doesn’t matter that France doesn’t have a strict isolation. You would not be allowed to return home on an airplane with a positive result. Therefore you are stuck there not of your choosing. I would think that would be covered under quarantine language."

Well, that's the big question: What do I really need to qualify for the quarantine coverage? It doesn't seem to matter whether I'm allowed to return home or not because the rep keeps sending the vague answer of: "You must be mandated by the country or a physician to quarantine." Unfortunately, there's no "being stuck" clause in the policy...that would be so much nicer : )

To me Trawick's wording sounds like, to file a claim, I would need an actual document from the French government or a French doctor saying I had to strictly isolate for X days. Since I don't feel like running around to a government official or bothering a French doctor, i would like to indeed know if the pharmacist's positive test is enough documentation to file a claim.

And since the policy wording says "strictly isolate", I would hate for them to say, "well, you were allowed to go out during the day, so that's not strictly isolating and we're not going to cover you." Yes, I am a very "glass is half-empty" kind of person.

--Pat "Folks here have suggested that travel insurance is invalid if one travels to a CDC level 4 country, but I couldn't find that in ours."

This was something I specifically asked Trawick (it might be different for other companies), but the rep did actually answer this question directly (miracles never cease!!). She said they don't follow the CDC threat levels and that France (currently level 4) would be covered.

--horsewoofie "Like Tammie’s topic title, my head is about to burst. I feel like no matter how I cover my trip it is going to be wrong."

This is EXACTLY how I'm feeling. I feel like I'm going to buy a policy, thinking I'm doing the right thing only to find out I missed one word that invalidates the whole claim. Honestly, I know some people balk against it, but I do wish the US would drop the return testing requirement for vaccinated and boosted citizens. Even with the testing Omicron still made its way here. I know, I just opened up a whole new can of worms, but when I have no qualms about traveling EXCEPT for a positive test that won't allow me to come home, it's a little frustrating and disheartening.

--Pat "I have NEVER files a claim, which is the true test of any insurance company."

We had to file a claim with Allianz after some rain during a 2019 trip to France flooded out every rail line we seemed to need. They were great to work with, the refund came through without question and quite quickly. Unfortunately, when I wanted to purchase through them for this trip they stated they would cover nothing COVID related.

--mikliz97 "Yes, I am old school and like things printed out just in case."

Same, I print EVERYTHING - room confirmations, plane info, train tickets. I feel like a diplomat traveling with a top secret dossier, but there's something comforting about not relying on a finicky electronic device.

--Tom_MN "You are looking for coverage for trip interruption for illness or for isolation, but not for quarantine"

When I asked about the specific situation of test positive before the return trip to the US, Trawick stated this was Trip Delay (and I did ask about Trip Interruption, but got no response about what that meant exactly).

You’re lucky with Allianz, I am fighting with them now over a $500 refund for tickets to an event that was postponed and they have been AWFUL.

Tammie, I bought a Trawick medical policy before travel to Israel. I chose them because they provided a cover letter which clearly stated they covered Covid. Also, it was important for me to have some reimbursement for costs involved with mandatory quarantine. (which in Israel at that time could have been an entry or exit) The woman I talked to when I called was very open, and she answered all my questions clearly. The other real advantage was that I could cancel and get a full refund for the policy I purchased at any time before the trip actually began. Given the uncertain nature of current travel I thought that was a real benefit. We are thinking of buying an annual medical policy from them which appears to be affordable with good evacuation coverage as well as ample medical cost coverage.

The caveat: I did not have to file a claim so I have no idea if this company follows through or not. I can tell you we had very bad service with Travel Guard.

I don't know of any travel insurance that pays for the increased cost of airfare for a last minute change due to needing to isolate/quarantine before you can return to the US. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. I think the most you can hope for is to have lodging/meals covered and your original airfare reimbursed under trip interruption provisions.
Quite honestly, I wonder if you wouldn't be ahead just "self-insuring" on this. Only you know your acceptance of risk and your finances. However, if you still feel anxious and at risk with insurance what have you gained?

I assume you have reviewed articles like this one from Forbes. I don't see any that have a blanket coverage for quarantine. From my experience in the insurance industry, if you can't find a dollar limit to the end of tour isolation payment or quarantine, then the policy doesn't cover it. I can't imagine any carrier would sell a full blanket coverage until you are allowed to fly home, and if they did the price would be exorbitant. I suggest you seriously consider self-insuring this aspect based on the probability or improbability this would happen to you. Sometimes the attempt to insure all risks is too prohibited to warrant it. And, frankly, (and I know this sounds harsh but) if one can't afford an extra $3K out of one's emergency fund for this possibility, perhaps one can't afford to travel at this time.

Insurance should be used for big risks and losses, not losses that will just annoy you, but losses that affect your future. Insure for getting covid and evacuation home...that is what will ultimately affect your finances the greatest. It will also stop your anxiety about this, too. IMO YMMV

I have researched an additional policy to cover costs if I have to quarantine in Italy.
As others had said, wording is important.
For example, my excellent travel medical are covered by Travel Assistance Plus. I keep this policy up to date, it also covers domestic travel in US.
But this policy will not cover any lodging, airfare, or other expenses associated with a quarantine. Talking to various companies the policy offered by Safe Travels Outbound Insurance - International Travel Medical Insurance for U.S. Residents and Citizens Travels outside the United States seems to be the best.

cchapin100 -- Sorry to hear that. The limit of what we could claim for our situation with Allianz was only about $200, so maybe that sped things up.

TravelingMom - Yes, I'll probably end up having to call and squeeze the answers out of someone : ) Good to know about the cancellation policy for your policy. I'm not terribly concerned about medical coverage, since it seems most any policy has some basic medical coverage that would see us through. And thanks for the heads up about Travel Guard.

Carol now retired -- Actually one of the few questions I got a direct answer to was when I asked whether Trawick's Trip Delay would cover the cost of (or a portion of) the new, one-way return ticket home in addition to a certain amount each day for food and lodging during quarantine.

She said yes, and you can increase the policy limit to $2000, $4000, or $7000 (can't remember if that's the coverage for both of us or each).

I'm looking Safe Travels Outbound policy that has a $4000 Trip Delay coverage. According the rep if we used up $1500 on lodging/food during the quarantine we would have $2500 left to cover the return ticket). The premium for this would be about $65 for each of us ($130 total).

This seems like a great policy which is why I'm not throwing in the towel just yet despite the runaround. If I can just get them to nail down their definition of quarantine and what documentation I would need for a claim, I'd be a happy camper.

I'm not sure what you mean by "self-insuring". Do you mean just biting the bullet and accepting the possibility of the extra expense? I'm not sure why I would do that if there is a relatively inexpensive policy that would help offset some of that burden and that's why i started doing this research.

I certainly don't expect the insurance would cover EVERY extra expense (I mean, I'm not living in a dream world here), but even a portion would be a big help since short notice, one-way tickets home could cost up to $3000.

Wray -- I did read that article (and so many other articles, ughhh), but thanks for sharing it!! I certainly don't expect to insure all risks, and with my luck, I'll end up fully covered for the quarantine only to have some other crazy thing happen that isn't covered (believe me, I can manage to have the weirdest problems while traveling : ) )

I feel I am trying to be realistic about the potential costs, but I also feel that there is a policy out there that can help.

cafetista.bruja -- Coverage in the US too, that's pretty good!!! Too bad about the lack of quarantine coverage. Yes, it's the
Safe Travels Outbound Insurance I'm looking at, just want to get that pesky language sorted.

I also think that self-insurance is the way to go for possible quarantine before returning to the US. I am more concerned about medical evacuation (possible devastating cost) as well as the possibility of not being able to go on a RS tour due to a positive test upon arrival in Europe.

Ammie in Spokane, please tell us what the insurer is and what specific policy and level you purchased are.
Thank you
Susanne in Oakland

--Aimee

Good to know, and I have already confirmed that Trawick's Trip Delay covers the lodging/food/return ticket IF I meet the requirements for their definition of quarantine.

What I'm trying to get them to nail down is a clearer definition of what constitutes a quarantine and what documentation I would need should I have to file a claim...because believe me, their policy (which I have read over) is super vague about this, as has been the rep.

---Bob
I'm still unclear on what "Self-insurance" means. If you mean I should budget to cover the extra few thousand it would take to pay for a fun-filled extension to my holiday, obviously we do have to budget for this since we will have to pay out of pocket at the time.

Still, it would be nice to get some of that money back.

I mean, why wouldn't you be willing to pay $50-60 for an insurance policy that would refund you a small portion of that expense. Even if they only reimbursed $1000, it would be worth it.

My concern is not waning to pay that $50-60 thinking I'm getting the policy I need, only to find out I failed to understand something or failed to get the correct paperwork to file the claim.

Oops, Aimee, I just saw my typo, please forgive me for misspelling your name. Thanks for the info!
Susanne

Tammie - I posted in the Italy forum as I have similar questions. I, too, have called Trawick on two separate occasions and asked identical questions but received vague responses just as you have. I don't know if this is relevant to your situation but one rep specifically told me that if either my wife or I were cleared for return travel to the US that person would not have any benefits if they decided to remain with the ill person. This probably should be confirmed if you are interested but I am certain that was what I was told.

Also I learned in a call to USAA that coverage and limitations can be very state specific. I am from Oregon as you are and was told by the USAA rep that Oregon does not allow overage to any Level 4 country and they may have different limits on what might be constituted Trip Delay versus Trip Interruption which is important as insurers have difference coverage benefits for each category.

Anyway, more food for thought....