Why You Need To Offer Your Clients Travel Insurance ASAP

In an unofficial survey, the RoamRight customer service team said that if they could get people to understand one thing about their travel insurance, it would be to buy early. Ideally, travel insurance should be purchased at the same time as the first deposit is made on a trip. Waiting could mean missing out on valuable benefits.

Many times, travelers don’t buy insurance until their last deposit is made, thinking they need to pay everything in full before they can get insurance coverage. However, at RoamRight, travelers can always call us and add on trip payments as they occur. So if your traveler is making three trip installments of $1,000 each, they can insure the first $1,000 and then let us know when they make the other payments. This enables them to get the early purchase benefits listed below, all while avoiding being overinsured for payments they haven’t yet made.

What are early purchase benefits? They are extra travel insurance benefits and coverage from RoamRight that are only available when insurance is purchased within 21-days of the first trip deposit. That’s why the sooner your clients buy their insurance, the better!

Waiver For Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

Travelers who have medical conditions should buy early to make sure they get coverage for their pre-existing condition. For most RoamRight policies, when insurance is bought within 21 days of the first trip deposit and the full nonrefundable cost of the trip is insured, the pre-existing conditions clause of the policy is waived. So if a medical situation arises while they are on their trip, or they have to cancel their trip because of that condition, they’ll still be covered by RoamRight.

If a traveler with a medical condition purchases insurance outside of that initial 21-day timeframe, any situation arising from that condition may not have coverage. In this case, a chronic condition such as a heart problem or even a recurrence of cancer may not be covered.

The pre-existing conditions waiver applies not only to the traveler who purchased insurance but to their traveling companion and non-traveling family members. So if there’s a possibility that something such as caring for an ailing parent may interfere with travel plans, it’s important to make sure your travelers get this waiver in place.

This waiver is only available on select plans and coverage may vary by state of residence. Contact us to make sure your clients are covered.

Upgrade to Cancel For Any Reason Coverage

Depending on the plan purchased, travelers who buy within that same 21-day window may be able to upgrade their plan to include Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage. With this upgrade, your travelers don’t have to worry about triggers and stipulations that are found in traditional travel insurance policies. They can simply change their mind about traveling, and as long as they cancel their trip prior to 48 hours before departure, they’ll get up to 75% of their declared trip costs back. This is a much better option than losing out on all of their investment because their reason for cancelling wasn’t covered without CFAR.

Here are some common reasons for wanting to upgrade to CFAR coverage:

• Any concerns having to do with a disease outbreak like Zika. Fear of contracting a disease is not a covered reason for trip cancellation.
• Honeymoon insurance in the unlikely event that the wedding does not take place.
• Concerns about security in places that such events may not be considered “unforeseen.”
• Worries about whether or not there will actually be snow on the mountain for your ski vacation.

CFAR coverage certainly provides hesitant travelers the ultimate peace of mind about their trip cancellation coverage.

Talk About Travel Insurance When You Start Talking About Trip Planning

The best time to start the conversation on travel insurance is as you are planning the trip – even before any deposits have been made. That way, you can talk about it as being an integral part of the trip, which can prepare travelers for paying this extra cost. And when you tell them about the benefits of purchasing early, it simply makes sense. If they’re going to buy insurance, they’ll want to do it as soon as possible after the first trip payment.

If you want to offer your travelers insurance from RoamRight, contact us to get started.