Each year my family packs up and heads to Cape May New Jersey for a week of fun with my in-laws, my wife’s brother and sister as well as their families. Now this is something we have been doing for years and have not really given any thought to insuring. See your homeowners policy has some coverage for you as does your umbrella policy if you have one. Also, realistically you cannot insure everything in your life sometimes you just have to live and deal with what may come up.
This year we used a new Realtor who suggested travel insurance. Now this is something I am slightly familiar with and had purchased several years ago when going on a cruise, more on that in a few words, but did not know much about it. So since I am the person “in” insurance it became my job to look into the options. Is it a good idea? Of course that is up to you, but based on what I read it sure covers a lot of potential things that could happen. Well what does it cost? In most cases it is a small percentage of the total cost of your trip. So;
a lot of coverage + reasonable price + keeping my mother in law happy = our week is now insured
BUT I did not just by the coverage I did some research on the Realtor’s suggestion then called on a friend with a lot of knowledge *when in doubt call on a friend with some knowledge you don’t have*. Tracy from Tracy’s Cruises who is my go to expert for all things travel, especially cruises, to see who she uses. Now this gave me two options to compare and really helped with my decision. So since I wanted to share some more I asked Tracy(my travel expert who you can also hire) three questions about travel insurance, as expected I received some great knowledge to share:
1. Do you always recommend it?
YES!! I have many discussions with them along the way about WHY it is so necessary and I compare the Cruiseline insurance to another company we offer called Allianz Global. In nearly ALL cases, AG is MUCH less money and MUCH better coverage. For example, Cruise Planners special policies with AG include coverage for pre-existing conditions not only of yourself, but of immediate family members as well, AND it covers in case you need to cancel for work-related reasons.
2. Seems like a good “investment” do you buy it when you set up your personal cruises?
ABSOLUTELY!!!
3. Any small story to share of it “working”?
I have hundreds! Here is a quick one: clients had planned their $6000 Alaska cruisetour for over a year. At final payment time, they were going to decline the insurance. I was able to convince them that it is a good idea to get the insurance because I have seen so many things happen. 1 week before their trip, the woman’s mother was on a senior bus trip; fell getting off the bus, had bleeding on the brain and was in ICU in VA. They had to cancel their cruise, and they were able to get a FULL refund. If they had not gotten the insurance, they would have lost the entire $6000.
Now I am not saying go insure every vacation you go on. What I am saying is when offered a policy to insure a vacation or anything else;
1. Do some research on your own and compare at least 2 options
2. Find a smart friend and ask them some questions
3. Make a decision and feel good about it either way
Like I said earlier, although you could buy insurance to cover just about everything in life that may not be realistic. Sometimes you just need to deal with what comes up. Either way thanks for reading. Just some suggestions I wanted to share.