So where should I buy my travel insurance?

by Christopher Elliott

Want insurance, but probably — and I stress the “probably” — not from your travel agent.

Agents are often heavily incentivized to sell a particular kind of travel insurance that benefits them (read: high commissions) but not necessarily you (read: lots of fine print). What’s more, they rarely take the time to review the limits of the policy and when it comes time to making a claim, only the very best agents will ensure every appeal is exhausted if you’re denied.

Read this if you don’t believe me.

(How do you know if your agent isn’t one of them? Chances are, if you’re handed two or more brochures, or are encouraged to “shop around” before buying a policy, then your agent’s one of the good guys.)

So where do you buy insurance, then? I would start by visiting the US Travel Insurance Association Web site. It’s a national association of insurance carriers, third-party administrators, insurance agencies and related businesses involved in the development, administration and marketing of travel insurance. A policy from one of these companies is a pretty safe bet, but again, I would

Good article, albeit a little harsh towards we travel agents (although I wish I didn’t always have to defend my industry, it’s or own fault – Professional Travel Agents have not done enough to regulate our end of the business, and the travel suppliers of this world don’t all require some sort of license or certification to represent their products – but that’s a different conversation…) At http://www.shipsandripstravel.com we are very thorough when it comes to travel insurance, and we always price and compare multiple sources, in addition to checking the coverage against sites like insuremytrip.com. The travel insurance companies do pay us a healthy commission to sell thei products – sometimes 25% – but at our company, where we don’t charge any booking fees or administration charges, that extra bit of commission pays for the time we put into helping our clients choose the best plan to suit them – their type of trip, their age, their needs. And although I always love and extra $50 in my commission check, I’m more concerned with keeping our clients happy so they come back to us and refer their friends. The implication that an unscrupulous travel agent might “pimp” a bad but profitable travel coverage plan just doesn’t fit us at all. Our business plan relies on happy customers referring more happy customers, and we don’t do that by selling overpriced and useless “extras”.

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