Top tips for buying travel insurance
Beware of Restrictions on Blanket Policies
The newest trend in trip insurance is the “cancel for any reason” policy, which allows you to cancel for (as the name suggests) any reason. “If you’re going to a country with an outbreak of H1N1 and you want to cancel, it would not be covered in a traditional plan,” says Evans of InsureMyTrip. “But a ‘cancel for any reason’ plan covers you for anything, even ‘I just don’t want to go,’ or ‘I got a better offer.’ ”
But there are possible catches. These plans, no surprise, cost more—up to 50 percent more than a traditional trip-insurance plan (and the traditional is about 4 to 8 percent of your total trip cost, according to the USTIA). Timing is also key here: you have to buy it within 15 to 21 days of your trip, and you can’t renege on your trip within 2 days of departure. “It’s a time-sensitive benefit,” says Evans.
