Travel Insurance

Compare policies and coverage at www.squaremouth.com or www.insuremytrip.com.

Insurance is based on everybody's individual risk tolerance. Some people insure everything under the sun, cancel for any reason, damage to luggage, inconvenience, delayed flights, medical bills, evacuation. The more you insure, the more it costs.

My philosophy, insure what you really can't afford, like having to be evacuated home in the case of really serious accident or illness. That can be hugely expensive, but because it happens very rarely, doesn't cost much to insure.

By not insuring the kitchen sink, I figure I've saved enough for about 3 trips to Europe. Even when I have had to seek medical treatment, I've found the full uninsured cost in Europe was less than the co-pay for my great American insurance.

Whenever this question comes up, I am always happy to recommend CSA travel insurance. Why? Because in 2008, I had to file a claim. It took me 3 months to get the information for the claim and 2 weeks for CSA to pay me in full. I always add this caveat: Our claim was paid in full with no problems because we pulled our policy and followed the instructions to the letter. These included contacting CSA immediately to open the claim and getting the required documentation. We were actually unable to get a police report, but I had all 4 people that were in our car (including myself) write a witness report that included the police offer refusing to write a police report. (It was a minor car accident with no injuries but damage to the car). I will be honest, I have been tempted to use American Express insurance (it charges you a fee every time you rent a car using the card that provides full coverage, zero deductible. The charge used to be $25, have not checked recently) Because of my positive outcome with CSA, I have stuck with them. I have heard so many stories of insurance companies finding a loop hole to not pay. CSA had that opportunity when we could not get a police report, but they paid anyway. if you don't need rental car insurance, they have a less expensive plan that it is not included. I buy travel insurance with rental coverage because it is much cheaper than buying rental car insurance from the agency we rent from. CSA coverage is zero deductible. For less money that the car rental agency would charge for just car insurance, we get all the other coverage as well.

Connie, thanks for the tip. My skigroup tour operator is using CSA now, and I did note that they are a division of Generali, largest insurance company in Italy and 3rd largest in the world.

I've used Travel Guard, a division of AIG, but never had to file a claim, which is always where you find out how good your insurance is.

My wife and I use Allianz. We’ve never had to file a claim.

Using a site such as insuremytrip.com allows you to compare all the features you want in an insurance policy: 1) A.M. Best rating. This is vital as it signifies financial stability. Only look at companies with an A or greater. 2) what coverage you want. No sense paying for auto coverage if you're not driving as an example. Decide what coverage is important for you. For some trip cancellation is, others take a chance and do without. But medical coverage, evacuation coverage should be something you have IMHO. Read the coverages carefully, they vary from company to company and within companies by policy.3) how are they when you need to file a claim? There are real life stories for each company on the site. One bad review does not knock out an otherwise good carrier for me, but a pattern of claims issues is a non-starter. 4) Price. This can vary tremendously and a careful shopper can save. Brand loyalty has it's place in things like toothpaste, but insurance is a commodity. It's a package of coverages at a price backed up by customer service. If you find the coverages you want by a highly rated A.M. Best company, at a fair price, and the reviews for claim service are good, buy it.

A big travel insurance thank you for the advice and recommendations. Now onto our decision.