You’ve planned your perfect trip and are packed-up and on your way to your dream destination. You even remembered to purchase a travel insurance policy in case you have an unexpected cancellation or interruption to your vacation.
Hopefully, you won’t need to make a trip interruption or trip cancellation claim; but just in case you do, here are 5 tips to help make the claims process easier!
1. Make sure you understand your coverage
If you’ve purchased Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption coverage, or Trip Interruption Only coverage, ensure that you spend time reading and understanding what the policy covers. This is the best way to ensure that your claim goes smoothly and meets your expectations. As you review your policy, please take note of any questions you might have and don’t hesitate to bring them up with your trusted insurance professional.
2. Remember that travel paid for with points isn’t covered
Booking travel with points accumulated from your credit card or other rewards program is a great way to save money.
However, it’s important to remember that travel arrangements, like flights, accommodations or more, paid for with points, are not covered by Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption or Trip Interruption Only insurance. When possible, these policies will usually cover fees for the points to be reinstated, but the actual cash value of points is not covered.
3. See a doctor before cancelling or interrupting your trip
If you run into trouble and need to cancel or interrupt your trip due to sickness or injury, make sure to see a doctor before you do. To ensure that your insurance covers your claim, you’ll need to provide written documentation from a doctor confirming that your cancellation or interruption was medically necessary, and that it was recommended before you cancelled or interrupted your vacation. So, before you leave the doctor’s office, make sure that this document also includes the date when the doctor advised you to cancel.
Tip! Keep in mind that a doctor’s note will not be covered under your existing provincial health coverage, so you’ll have to pay out of pocket for it.
4. Claim non-refundable travel costs
TuGo’s Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance covers non-refundable pre-paid travel costs. The Henderson family experienced the value of this coverage firsthand when the night before their flight to a one-week all-inclusive vacation at a resort on the Mayan Riviera.
Jamie, the daughter, unfortunately suffered a severe head injury that landed her in the hospital overnight. The doctors treated her and advised the family against flying long distances soon afterward, in case of a possible concussion.
A week before their trip, Jamie’s dad, Peter, purchased Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption Insurance. This decision saved them more than $17,000.
5. Provide documentation for expenses and refunds
For all claims, including those made for trip cancellations or trip interruptions, ensure that you keep all your original receipts and itemized bills. It’s also worth writing a memo outlining why an expense was incurred for each bill or receipt. For example, if you had to book an additional night at a hotel because of a flight cancellation, you’d note that on your itemized receipt. These notes will help you clearly outline the costs spent due to your trip interruption or cancellation.
Tip! To further speed up the travel insurance claim process, consider drafting a short timeline of what took place, when, and the expenses associated with each event. Giving context will help your travel insurance provider better understand what happened so they don’t have to ask for additional information later.
Refunds are just as important to keep track of as expenses. If you’ve already received refunds from your travel agent, airline, hotel or tour company, make sure you keep a record of these as well. When you submit your claim, you’ll need to provide these as proof.
Keeping clear, organized records makes it easier for you to receive the correct reimbursement amount from your claim and avoid a denied claim.
We hope that these tips help you make the most of your trip interruption or cancellation claim. For additional information about smoothing out the claims process, check out our blog post: How to Make Your Travel Insurance Claim Go Smoother.
Safe travels,
Angie
