| Insurance has a language of its own. We at Travel Insurance Services want you to be confident that the coverage you purchase is really what you want and expect. So, if you’re new to buying travel insurance, or just unsure of what you’re buying, use this glossary we created to help you understand some common industry terms. This is meant as a general guide only; you should refer to the Description or Outline of Coverage(s), or the Certificate of Insurance, for complete details about coverage for the plan you are considering buying. Accidental Death & Dismemberment This benefit provides coverage for your death or your loss of an arm, leg, hand, foot, or eyesight during your trip. In the case of death, the benefit is paid to your beneficiary. Usually, people that want to supplement their life insurance (or who have no life insurance) look for this coverage. Either Travel Insurance or International Medical Insurance that is bought on an annual basis to cover multiple trips taken within that year. You can renew or re-purchase this coverage each year. Our Voyager Insurance is Annual Travel Insurance. This benefit reimburses you for incidental purchase of personal items if your baggage is delayed more than 24 hours during your trip. This benefit reimburses you for the loss, theft, damage or destruction of your baggage and the items within your baggage. It’s important to know this is typically a 24-hour-a-day coverage for the dates of your trip, so it covers your items throughout the trip, not only when checked with an airline or cruise line. Beneficiary The Beneficiary is the person or persons who would receive the Accidental Death benefit if you die in an accident during your trip. With some insurance plans, you designate a beneficiary by naming a person or persons, or an account (such as “The Living Trust of John Smith” or “The Estate of Mary Smith”). With other plans that don’t ask you to name a beneficiary, it is assumed to be your Estate. Cancel for Any Reason Insurance Beyond the named list of reasons for your cancelling a trip that are covered under a traditional Trip Cancellation Insurance benefit—most commonly your or a family member's unexpected illness or injury—this popular, relatively new benefit expands the list of reasons to an infinite list. This means that if you buy a plan that includes Cancel for Any Reason coverage, you can cancel your trip because you changed your mind, or because of an unexpected happening at work, or because your daughter qualified for the state gymnastics finals—the list of reasons is endless. So if you change your mind and cancel after your trip money is non-refundable from your tour operator (or airline or cruise line), the insurance can pay you instead. There are restrictions about when you need to buy Cancel for Any Reason coverage (early in your trip planning process, for example by 15 or 21 days after making your initial trip payment), and about the percentage of your trip costs the benefit will reimburse you. So read the Description of Coverage for all the details. Our Travel Insurance Select offers Cancel for Any Reason Insurance. Certificate of Insurance Sometimes called the Travel Insurance Certificate, this is the document you typically receive with your receipt, that details the benefits, and coverage provided under those benefits, and the exclusions, of your travel insurance or international medical insurance plan. Co-Insurance Some travel insurance coverage’s are structured so that the insurance company pays a certain percentage of the covered expenses, and you are responsible for the remaining percentage. For example, with 80/20 coverage, the insurance pays 80% of the covered expenses and you pay 20%. Co-Insurance is the name for your portion—in this case 20%. This is common with health plans for Visitors to the U.S., and the co-insurance is often payable in addition to the Deductible. To top of page Similar to many U.S. domestic health care plans, this is the amount you would pay out of pocket first for covered expenses, prior to insurance benefits paying. In a simple example without co-insurance, if your plan has a $100 deductible, and your Medical Expense for the covered injury is $700, you would pay $100 and the insurance would pay $600. Some travel insurance plans have no deductible. Definitions A section of wording within the Description or Outline of Coverage, and of your Travel Insurance Certificate, that defines important terms that are used throughout the document to describe your coverage. Very similar in wording to the Certificate of Insurance, this document details the benefits, and coverage provided under those benefits, limits, and the exclusions, of your travel insurance or international medical insurance plan. Unlike some travel insurance companies, we choose to give you as much information as possible up front for you to make an informed purchase, so we include the Description of Coverage as a Web page within each product section of our site. Emergency Assistance Included with many travel insurance and international medical insurance plans, and reachable by a collect call 24-hours a day, Emergency Assistance can help you with numerous emergency services that can be invaluable when you are suddenly sick or hurt far from home. Services can include the following list and more.
Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance This benefit covers your emergency medical transportation. It may include more than one event such as local transport and later international transport and related expenses. For example, let’s say you were hurt in a car accident in Russia. You might have to be transported first by an ambulance to the local hospital. Later, when you are stable enough and if your condition warrants transport back home for further treatment, you could be evacuated to the U.S.—perhaps with a medical attendant—often this requires a block of first class seats on a commercial jet. Exclusions A section of wording within the Description of Coverage, and of your Travel Insurance Certificate, that details items that are specifically excluded from coverage. In other words, the Exclusions section spells out specific things that are NOT covered under your plan. To top of page Frequent Traveler Insurance See International Medical Insurance. Certain sports or activities that have a higher-risk component than other activities may be excluded from your coverage. These are specifically listed out in the Exclusions section of your Travel Insurance Certificate and Description of Coverage. The list varies by plan (so read the Description of Coverage) but may include such activities as skiing, mountain climbing, motorcycle driving, scuba diving, professional or amateur racing, etc. Adventure travelers take note: Some plans offer an optional coverage, called Hazardous Activities Coverage, which you can choose to buy for a bit more premium that would include coverage for a list of these hazardous activities. Hazardous Sports Coverage See Hazardous Activities Coverage. Initial Trip Deposit See Initial Trip Payment. This is the date you made your first deposit or payment toward the cost of your trip. With some travel insurance packages you are eligible for additional benefits if you purchase your plan within a specified time frame after your initial trip payment. For example the Pre-Existing Condition Waiver or Cancel For Any Reason benefit. Insured The person who is covered under the travel insurance, usually the traveler or travelers. International Medical Insurance Insurance for travel outside your home country that covers you in case you get sick or hurt during your trip. Typical benefits are Medical Expenses, Medical Evacuation, Accidental Death, Repatriation of Remains, and Emergency Assistance. Our WorldMed Insurance and InterMedical Insurance are some of the International Medical Insurance plans that we offer. International Student Medical Insurance A specialty type of international medical insurance for students traveling or studying outside their home country. This type of plan can have special benefits required by schools or universities that may not be available in regular international medical insurance plans. Our Study USA-HealthCare Insurance is International Student Medical Insurance. The maximum payable for a particular benefit. Typically, the Limits are listed with each benefit within the Description of Coverage, and also sometimes in a chart called the Schedule of Benefits. Luggage Loss See Baggage Loss. Luggage Delay See Baggage Delay. Medical Expense(s) Insurance This benefit covers doctor and hospital expenses if you get sick or hurt while on your trip. It also includes coverage for medications related to covered illnesses and injuries. This is especially important if your health care plan doesn’t travel with you, or if it only covers what your plan defines as “an emergency.” For example U.S. Medicare recipients, who have no health coverage outside the U.S.; need a plan with this benefit. To top of page Medical Evacuation Insurance See Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance. Multi-Trip Travel Insurance See Description of Coverage(s). Pre-Existing Condition A Pre-Existing Condition (aka "Pre-Ex") usually means an injury or illness that you contracted, that manifested itself or for which treatment or medication was prescribed, within a certain period of time prior to your purchase of the insurance. The time period the Pre-Ex goes back will be listed in the Description of Coverage. For example, if you broke your leg last month or had a heart attack last year. Insurance companies must prevent someone from buying the insurance after the need for making the claim already exists, that's why Pre-Existing Conditions are excluded from coverage. So if you've just been admitted to the hospital, you can't go and buy your travel insurance now—that's akin to buying homeowners insurance while your house is on fire. Pre-Existing Condition Waiver When you are first planning and paying your initial trip payment for your trip, you are feeling pretty confident that you will indeed take that trip. That’s why package, trip cancellation-travel insurance plans like our Travel Insurance Select will "waive the Pre-Existing Conditions exclusion" (translation they will cover Pre-Existing Conditions) if you meet certain requirements like:
Premium The price of your insurance coverage. Sometimes this is figured as a percentage of your trip cost, sometimes as a daily, monthly, or annual rate. This means the benefit is paid without regard to any other insurance that may cover the expense. In other words, the insurance will pay this benefit without first checking for any other group, blanket health, accident insurance or other personal insurance plans you may have, that may also cover or partially cover the expense. Primary Medical See Primary Coverage. In the event of your death during the trip, this benefit covers the preparation and transportation of your remains back to your country of residence. It also covers necessary permits and arrangements with the country you were visiting and with your home country to allow transport of remains. This means the benefit is paid after any other insurance that may cover the expense. In other words, the insurance will pay this benefit after verifying any other group, blanket health, accident insurance or other personal insurance plans you may have, that may also cover or partially cover the expense, and after those plans contribute their portion of the expense. Secondary Medical See Secondary Coverage. Schedule of Benefits A chart or table that lists the names of the benefits and limits that come with your travel insurance or international medical insurance plan. To top of page Student Travel Insurance See International Student Medical Insurance. The category term used to refer to any travel-related insurance. Also used to refer to an insurance plan that includes a package of benefits and services. Benefits can include Trip Cancellation, Cancel for Any Reason, Trip Interruption, Travel Delay, Medical Expenses, Medical Evacuation, Baggage Loss, Baggage Delay, Accidental Death. Services can include Emergency Assistance, Emergency Travel Agent and Concierge Services. Our Travel Insurance Select is Travel Insurance that offers your choice of a package of benefits. Travel Delay Insurance Sometimes your trip gets delayed and you get stuck somewhere. For situations like this (usually a delay of 12 hours or more) this benefit will reimburse you for unexpected expenses in that city such as hotel accommodations, meals or local transportation. The delay needs to be for a reason covered by your plan like carrier caused delays, bad weather, sickness or injury. Travel Health Insurance See International Medical Insurance. You pay a lot for a travel. This benefit covers your travel investment, to protect you from losing the money you pre-pay to your travel suppliers if you have to cancel your trip. So for example, if you cancel your trip after the money is non-refundable from your tour operator (or airline or cruise line), the insurance can pay you instead. Your cancellation has to be for a named list of reasons, like you or your family member (even someone not traveling with you) getting injured or sick. Reasons are spelled out in your Certificate of Insurance and the Description of Coverage. If you are interested in even more comprehensive Trip Cancellation Insurance, you can look for a plan that offers Cancel for Any Reason coverage. Our Travel Insurance Select is Trip Cancellation Insurance that also offers Cancel for Any Reason coverage. Trip Insurance See Trip Cancellation Insurance. Trip Interruption Insurance Travel can be costly. This benefit covers your travel investment, to protect you from losing non-refundable trip costs you’ve prepaid to your travel suppliers, if you need to interrupt your trip. So let’s say you are only one day into your trip and you have a bad fall. Your trip interruption insurance could cover the remaining, unused value of your trip and extra transportation expenses to rejoin the trip, or to return home. Covered reasons are similar to trip cancellation insurance. To top of page
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