Trip Insurance -- upcoming safari in East Africa

Are you ready to tempt fate during a global calamity with so many unknowns? There are already a very small number of cases in both countries you mentioned (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). No public health expert has made any definitive statements about the virus subsiding within a set timeframe or with warmer weather. I would be more realistic with yourself and your ability to accept risk in a part of the world that will be even more stretched in terms of resources - that's my advice. I also can't imagine an insurer insuring this based on what is already known right now - insurers pool predictable, standardized risks among a population (for everything else, there are riders)...this is not one of them.

I suggest that you page through the last two or three pages of "All boards" i.e. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/all-topics and read the recent threads with "Travel Insurance" in their Subject lines. Travel Insurance is a very complex subject that takes considerable study and research.

A big issue is whether your insurance companies exclude "Known Perils" or "Epidemics". But there are more subtle ways that Coronavirus coverage could disappear, like the US State Department not advising against travel to Kenya and Tanzania. (Any other countries ... ?)

Even without your ages, the issue of per-existing conditions not being covered greatly reduces the "value" of the other parts of the insurance that don't depend on COVID-19. For example, I've been taking blood pressure pills for over five years, and my pressure is well-controlled. But that's a pre-existing condition. If I were to have heart trouble or blood vessel trouble of any kind, I'm sure some insurance companies would say that's a manifestation of a pre-existing condition! The problem is that you DID NOT BUY the insurance within 12/15/20? days of your first payment.

I though evacuation coverage was pretty important when we went to East Africa. A very elderly lady in our (not private) group who had (my opinion) ordered her doctor give her a travel-approval letter stumbled on the rest room door sill in a real airport near Masai Mara and fell on her face, breaking some ribs. It was not pretty.

Most of the predictions are that the virus is likely to subside with the near lockdown in the USA and UK and the up coming Summer weather.

I don’t think there are such predictions. The current public health measures are designed to “flatten the curve”. (You can see the graphic on the Internet). This, if successful (a big if) slows the spread specifically to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system, particularly ICU services. We all hope this virus will subside with warmer weather but we don’t know that. I would not consider a trip to a third world country in the midst of this pandemic.

post directly above (NOT by Allen) reported to webmaster

You think the Coronavirus crisis will not reach Kenya and Tanzania?
Would your safari company allow you to apply your deposit to a similar trip, maybe a couple of years in the future?

As Brian Norcross of the Hurricane center noted in an article, it is like we turned off our weather satellites - the hurricane is coming but we can't see it.... Without widespread community testing we can't know the penetration of the virus into the general population in any country. The experts suggest that it is far more prevalent than our current caseload illustrates where we know it to be present. The lockdown mostly gives us time to expand testing and to have current cases of infection become obvious before people spread it further. It will slow further infection but it isn't going to stop it, or cure anything. Europe has a highly effective set of health systems and they are suffering deeply. African countries in general do not have European quality health systems. Reschedule now, or walk away.

Thanks for all the thoughtful advice.

I found this information on a travel insurance website:
Travel Delay - An insured traveler must be delayed for the time sensitive period while en route to, from, or during a trip due to a covered reason.
Missed Connection - If a delay causes you to miss a cruise or tour departure due to a covered reason, you may have coverage under Missed Connection. The delay must meet the time sensitive criteria listed in your plan.
The delay of a common carrier can be included as one of the covered reasons for Missed Connection. Thus, if a common carrier delay causes an insured to miss more than 50% of his or her trip, Trip Cancellation or Interruption coverage could apply.

It would appear that if my flights are cancelled (or for that matter one of my flights) that causes us to miss the tour that the insurance would cover the tour.

However, I have read that a travel ban is not a valid reason for cancellation.

I will plan to contact the safari tour company to see if they will voluntarily delay our full payment.

We don't want to reschedule, but clearly that may be our best bet, depending on events.
I have read a lot about the virus. With the USA and Europe pretty much shut down, the virus will likely reach a peak (in the USA probably in 45 days) and then subside. The Summer weather may help.

Our travel is 4 months and one week from now.

I urge you to read the full text of whatever policy you think you might buy. Check the (included) glossary of key terms. There are lots of loopholes. Think about it: Coronavirus is a known risk. Why would an insurance company be willing to sell you a well-priced policy that covers the many thousands of dollars you could potentially lose if you make all the final payments you have coming due?

With the USA and Europe pretty much shut down, the virus will likely reach a peak (in the USA probably in 45 days) and then subside. The Summer weather may help.

With respect, I'd say that's wishful thinking. That could happen, it might not. There's no way to know right now. Not a bet I'd make.

Most of the predictions are that the virus is likely to subside with the near lockdown in the USA and UK and the up coming Summer weather.

Even the government leader who started that rumor has given up on it.

Now they are saying it will be 18 months or more before any type of vaccine might be available. The peak infection is also months away due to how many people have already been exposed and the exponential spread cause when people who do not know they are infected pass it along. Like maybe August before we see any downturn, at least that was the last estimate from CDC I saw.

You are in the prime age for getting the more serious impact of the virus if you do get it (as am I, and hope none of us gets it). And I know this trip is something you have probably looked forward to for a long time. But if I was you, I would not go anywhere too far from home for the rest of this year. Even if the virus does magically clear up soon, it will take the tourist industry many months to recover.