Covid-19 Information Center

If your travel supplier cancels your trip completely and provides a full refund of trip cost, you may request a voucher for your travel protection plan cost to be used for a future trip. (If you have a plan underwritten by Starr: Explorer, Trip Care Complete, or Voyager plans – see the Starr FAQs in the Insurance Carrier Positions section above. The Starr position on refunds differs from the information in this response.)

If you voluntarily choose not to go on your trip, but the travel supplier will still be running the trip, you are not eligible for a voucher for your travel protection plan cost.

To request a voucher, you must submit:

1. A letter from the travel supplier stating that they canceled the trip and gave you a full refund of your trip cost. The letter must be addressed to the insured traveler.
2. An invoice showing your trip refund.
3. A statement in writing—email or letter—to USI Travel Insurance Services (contact info below) stating that you have not and will not make a claim on the current plan. This statement can be in the body of the email to USI Travel Insurance Services with your travel supplier letter and refund invoice.

We will then start the process for the voucher to be issued. (Note: USI Travel Insurance Services is not involved in any trip refunds for cancelled trips; that is handled by the travel supplier.)

The voucher can be used for a different tour/tour operator than originally booked. The voucher will be valid for 24 months from the current plan effective date.

In the event that your trip was cancelled and you were issued a voucher for a future trip instead of a refund, you may have your travel protection plan for the cancelled trip transferred to protect your new trip. You can do so by calling Travel Insurance Services customer service (1-800-937-1387). If you don’t yet know your new trip dates, select some placeholder dates in the future and transfer your plan to these dates, then when you confirm your new trip dates, again transfer your plan to these new dates. Keep in mind that you must transfer your trip dates BEFORE your originally scheduled trip departure date, and trip dates can only be changed if you have not filed any claim.

Note: Each of our carriers has certain time frames in which you need to schedule new trip dates:

• Crum & Forster/United States Fire (Travel Insurance Select plan) – New trip dates must be departing by 12/31/2022
• Starr (Trip Care Complete and Explorer plans) – New trip dates can be for travel up to two years from original departure date.
• Nationwide (OSU Travel Secure plan) – New trip dates are no more than 18 months from your original trip dates
• Generali (National Geographic Travel Protection plan) – New trip dates must be within 24 months from the plan purchase date

If you were offered a voucher for a future trip but decide to forego this option and not take your trip, your travel protection plan will not cover a trip cancellation claim in this scenario, and we are unable to offer a refund of plan cost since you weren’t given a full trip refund by your travel supplier. (However, if you purchased Cancel For Any Reason coverage, you may file a claim under that provision.) Thank you for your understanding.

Most standard travel protection plans do not provide coverage because someone has a fear of traveling to their destination. If you want coverage for that possibility, you would have to buy a specific plan upgrade called Cancel For Any Reason, or CFAR. The CFAR coverage available with many plans allows you to cancel for any reason at all, and recoup up to 75% of your pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs, provided you cancel 48 hours or more prior to your scheduled departure. For our plans, CFAR must be purchased within 14 days (for Trip Care Complete) or 21 days (for Travel Insurance Select Plus & Elite Plans) of the date your initial trip deposit or payment is received. If you miss that window, you are ineligible for the CFAR upgrade, which is standard practice. CFAR coverage typically costs 40-55% more than the base plan cost and other restrictions may apply.

If you plan a trip that involves an airline, cruise line, or tour operator, talk to those companies about the cancellation and refund policy. For many travelers, their first recourse should be to get a refund from these travel providers if their trip is canceled. In general, these providers will refund your money if they cancel the service you bought from them.

For example, if an airline cancels all flights to France, they may refund the ticket prices for anyone booked on a flight. The same goes for hotels and other travel services – please read their cancellation and refund policies carefully, or call the provider. Many airlines and hotels are waiving or reducing cancellation or change fees given the concern from their patrons. We encourage you to read the fine print or contact your travel provider.