What Is Covered Under Trip Cancellation Insurance?

Consider a very common scenario for a second – you have the college WhatsApp group going wild with the planned trip's excitement. You have not met since the last reunion and are all planning to visit Bali. Everyone is expecting a great vacation ahead. Flights, hotels, and other activities have been booked. A few days before your departure, your wife falls sick. You get to know that the medicines she has been prescribed will induce sleep, and she will need your help. As a great husband, you cancel your trip. What happens to the booking charges now? That is where a travel insurance plan can come to your rescue.

What is Travel Insurance

Travel insurance plans help you protect from the potential expenses that arise with risks such as theft & accidents, loss or damage of luggage, medical emergencies, or even trip cancellation. Most standard travel insurance plans tend to have a trip cancellation insurance clause.  

What is Covered Under Trip Cancellation Insurance?

Trip cancellation insurance can work if:

1. You have recently faced a personal injury or have a medical emergency.
2. You are stuck in bad-weather that will hinder your departure plans.
3. The destination you were planning to visit is facing civil unrest or a terrorist attack.
4. You have a familial commitment to attend to.
5. You are witnessing a severe mismatch between your schedule at the workplace and your travel plan.
6. You or your travelling partner have recently witnessed an assault or an emergency of similar nature.

Instead of focusing just on what is covered under trip cancellation insurance, you should focus on its benefits. Trip cancellation insurance usually tends to cover a large portion of the pre-paid expenses that you have already incurred. Here is how it can help you:

1. You can confidently pre-book the flights, accommodation, and other arrangements. Bookings will help you ensure availability and might also result in discounts. Alongside this, get a travel insurance plan that can help you get a refund for the pre-paid expenses if you have to cancel the trip.

 

1. If you have a tentative date in place but are not sure whether you will commit to the plan or not, travel insurance can help you make the booking now and alter the plan later, without paying additional charges for cancellation.

 

1. If an emergency comes across and you have to cancel your trip. Generally, it can be challenging to manage the cancellations when an emergency comes across. Travel insurance covering trip cancellation will help you focus on the matter at hand while you have the assurance that a large degree of the pre-paid expenses will be recovered.

 

What Should You Know About Trip Cancellation Insurance?

Before you get a travel insurance package, here are some things you should know about the trip cancellation insurance plans:

1. Trip cancellation insurance is generally available as a part of the travel insurance plan. This helps you get coverage for a comprehensive set of emergencies for the price of one travel insurance plan. Trip cancellation insurance plans are generally not available as standalone insurance products.

 

1. While trip cancellation insurance can be of great help and provide you recovery of most of the pre-paid expenses, you should be clear about the conditions applicable to such refunds. For instance, family emergencies or workplace schedule mismatches should be a part of the trip cancellation insurance policies. Otherwise, even if you have a very genuine reason to cancel the trip and have trip cancellation insurance coverage, you might not get the compensation.

 

1. Trip cancellation insurance does not cover any medical expenses whatsoever. If you are getting a travel insurance plan, some medical expense coverage is available as far it arises from a non-pre-existing condition. That coverage would usually begin only after you have started your itinerary or have reached your destination. And by that time, trip cancellation insurance might have become null & void since you have already boarded the flights or checked into the hotels. To get coverage for the medical expenses, you should consider a medical insurance plan.

 

FAQs

1. Should I buy a trip cancellation insurance policy?

Usually, you might not need to buy a separate trip cancellation insurance policy. It is already covered under a travel insurance plan and might not be available as a standalone offering.  

1. What are the causes commonly covered for trip cancellation in a travel insurance plan?

This is dependent on the policy you have. Most travel insurance plans tend to have medical, family, work, natural calamity, and other similar reasons for cancelling trips. You can know more about the valid causes in the insurance documents.  

1. What is covered in a trip cancellation insurance plan?

Generally, only the pre-paid expenses are covered to a large extent in the trip cancellation insurance plan.