In Italy Online - Travel Insurance

Most experienced travelers have three Travel Insurance concerns when going away:

Travel Protection for covering a loss of Prepaid Trip Costs
Travel Health Insurance, including Medevac Insurance, for Medical Emergencies
Baggage Protection for Protecting their Baggage from loss

Travel Protection covers against disruptive events that could force you to cancel or interrupt a trip. Travel Health Insurance, including Medevac Insurance, is vital when your U.S. health plan may not cover you, such as in some overseas hospitals. Baggage Protection includes coverage for loss or delay of bags or personal effects.

Is travel insurance always necessary? – The following is quoted from the U.S. State Department Web site (http://travel.state.gov) section on “Health Issues.”

“Obtaining medical treatment and hospital care abroad can be expensive, and medical evacuation to the U.S. can cost more than $50,000. Note that U.S. medical insurance is generally not accepted outside the United States, nor do the Social Security Medicare and Medicaid programs provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United States.”

The main categories of coverage are Travel Protection, Baggage Protection, Travel Health Insurance, and Travel Accident Protection.

This category of coverage includes Trip Cancellation Insurance, Trip Interruption Insurance, Missed Connection and Trip Delay.

Trip Cancellation Insurance protects you after you book and insure your trip, but before your trip departure.

It can protect your pre-payment costs up to the full cost of your trip against potential disruptions between the date your policy coverage starts and your scheduled departure date. These disruptions may force you to cancel your trip.

Between your time of travel booking and your trip departure date unforeseen disruptions can happen:

You, your traveling companion or a family member gets sick or dies.
Weather or a strike halts your Travel Supplier’s operation.
You must serve on a jury or testify in court when you are due to travel.
Your Travel Supplier goes bankrupt or defaults and stops operating.
A terrorist attack occurs in a city on your trip within 30 days of departure.
You or your travel companion is in a car accident enroute to your departure.
Your destination host dies or is hospitalized.
A natural disaster makes your destination hotel or your home uninhabitable.

Depending on the date you cancel, your supplier may impose a Cancellation Penalty against you, based on the terms & conditions of your trip. This can be part or all of your trip prepayment that is held back when you seek a refund.

Trip Cancellation can protect you by reimbursing such penalties up to the full pre-paid cost of your trip. It can also pay the difference in higher per-person trip costs you might pay if your travel companion must cancel while you continue the trip.

Trip Interruption Insurance is Protection that starts on your scheduled Departure Date and can provide coverage throughout your trip.

It protects up to 150% of your prepaid trip costs against disruptions that can occur during your trip. You can be reimbursed for unused land or sea expenses that your supplier will not refund under the terms & conditions of your trip.

The same reasons described for needing Trip Cancellation Insurance before your departure apply for Trip Interruption Insurance during your trip.

There can be sickness or death to you or a family member or travel companion. Or there might be disruptive bad weather, an order to appear as a court witness, a supplier strike or bankruptcy that halts travel, a terror attack in a city you are visiting, a car accident, or a natural disaster that makes either your destination hotel or your home uninhabitable.

Missed Connection is travel insurance that starts on your scheduled Trip Departure Date.

Missed Connection helps cover expenses when a weather- or airline-caused flight delay causes all scheduled flights to your departure city to be cancelled or delayed three or more hours and you miss your cruise or tour departure as a result.

Missed Connection helps pay for accommodations, meals, and transportation to rejoin your cruise or tour. It may also cover non-refundable payments you made for the part of your cruise or tour you missed due to the delay.

Missed Connection pays up to the dollar amount limit, per person, stated on your policy. You are not covered if transportation is available to meet your scheduled cruise or tour, but you choose to cancel the trip anyway due to bad weather.

Trip Delay is travel insurance that starts on your scheduled Trip Departure Date and covers you against expenses due to travel delays of six hours or more during your trip. It reimburses expenses for covered reasons to or from your destination.

Expenses can include accommodations, meals, and transportation to rejoin your cruise or tour. Trip Delay may also cover non-refundable prepayments for the part of your cruise or tour you missed due to the delay

Covered Trip Delays include: weather or carrier-caused cancellations or delays of scheduled flights; a car accident enroute to your departure; a strike, a hijacking or natural disaster; or if you lose money, a passport or valuables while traveling.

How does Baggage Protection cover your bags or personal possessions when they are lost or delayed?

Your bags and personal possessions can be delayed, lost or damaged when you travel. This can occur whether you check them or carry them on an airline, cruise ship, bus tour or public transportation, or have them with you in an airport.

Baggage Delay coverage applies only to your checked baggage delayed 24 or more hours after your arrival on a common carrier. It applies to your outbound travel to your destination, but not to your return trip.

Your travel provider will have you fill out a baggage claim form wherever you baggage is missing and use this to track your bag. You normally will not get your bag back immediately, or be given money to cover expenses for delayed necessities.

Baggage and Personal Effects provides some reimbursement of your costs to replace bags and personal possessions that are lost, stolen or damaged when you travel. You normally need purchase receipts to claim covered reimbursement of valuables.

There are policy limits of total dollar reimbursement per item and per bag, and a combined maximum for luxury items such as jewelry, furs and cameras. Some items may not be covered. Read your policy terms to learn if your valuables are covered.

Medical Protection coverage includes Emergency Travel Medical Insurance and Emergency Medevac Insurance and Repatriation of Remains.

Emergency Travel Medical Insurance is coverage of Emergency Medical Treatment expenses you incur after an accident or an illness that starts during your trip.

Emergency Medical Treatment means medical treatment, including services and supplies, that must be given immediately to the traveler during the trip because of the serious nature of his or her accident or illness.

These are necessary treatments recommended by an attending doctor. They may include the reasonable prices for these items up to the limits of your policy.

The services of a doctor or doctors.
A hospital stay and use of operating rooms.
Ambulance service, medical lab tests, X-rays, and anesthesia.
Drugs and prosthetic or therapeutic devices.
Advanced payment to a hospital if it is needed to get you admitted.

What Services and Supplies can Emergency Medevac Insurance and Repatriation of Remains cover?

These are costs reasonably charged up to the limits of your policy when you must be transported to medical care due to an emergency accident or sickness during a trip.

If you suffer an injury from an accident on your trip, this will cover you for loss of life, complete severance of limbs or irrecoverable loss of eyesight, hearing or speech.

Full benefits are paid for loss of life and complete loss of specified limbs and / or specified senses (eyes, ears, speech) as stated in your policy. Partial benefits are paid for lesser loss of limbs and/ or senses as specified in the policy.