Just Buy the Damn Insurance

Just buy the damn insurance. Full stop. That’s it. That’s the message.

When I first began working as a Travel Advisor in 2018, I would plan a vacation and then after closing the sale, I would sheepishly say something like, “And would you like to add the travel insurance?” Of course, most of the time, the client would decline and tell me they did not see the point because they were not going to cancel anyway. I would hear, “I’m going no matter what.” And then I would say, “Okay” and move on.

The truth is that I did not have faith in it as a product, did not fully understand it, and just wanted to close sales. Insurance seemed like it was just extra money spent on something most people would hopefully never use. And I certainly didn’t understand enough to make an argument for it. I could see the coverage summary but did what did it really mean? What was the fine print? What were the loopholes that might keep the insurance company from paying anything?

Like most people, I was familiar with insurance as a consumer. Unlike most people, I spent a career working for a large insurance company selling a variety of insurance products. But I worked in the IT department and did not have to dig into the guts of insurance products and policies. Still, it seemed like I should know what I was dealing with.

So, what changed? Why did I go from being unfamiliar with travel insurance and distrustful of it? It just took some time, a few client claims, a few scary stories in the media and a global pandemic. Now, I never leave home without travel insurance. For me, it is a required part of the vacation no matter what. And now it is a part of my clients’ vacation quotes too. I never quote anything without travel insurance included. I do not think I would be doing my job otherwise. How can I claim to be a Travel Advisor and not provide my best advice and guidance to my clients?

Of course, clients can always choose to exclude travel insurance from their vacations. When they do, I require a written declaration that they were offered the opportunity to purchase it and declined it, either in a letter or email from the client or when completing an authorization form that I provide for collecting payment card information.

Let us talk about why it is needed. First, let us talk about COVID since we all lived through it and continue to be affected by it as new variants emerge and infection rates rise and fall. We all remember the lockdowns that occurred all around the world. Officials in several countries began to consider requirements that all future visitors have travel insurance with medical coverage before they would be allowed entry. Finance Expert Sarah Stasik recently wrote in the Los Angeles Times there are forty-two destinations requiring some form of travel insurance and/or health insurance. Many times, travelers will be denied entry unless they can prove they have the necessary coverage. Or, if there is a medical incident and the traveler cannot provide proof of insurance, they may be required to surrender their passports until they pay off their medical debts in the country. There have been numerous stories about injured travelers in Mexico needing financially rescued by family, friends, and even celebrities to pay their medical debts and get their passports returned.

For our clients, we have also seen examples first-hand of the need for travel insurance. Sometimes clients need to cancel their vacations for reasons they could not predict when they booked their trips months ahead of time. Some people use their insurance when their flights are delayed, or their luggage is lost. Some people use it when they suffer an illness or injury. It is important to understand that most of these insurance policies offer coverage for a wide variety of situations. Travel insurance is not just to reimburse travel expenses when someone needs to cancel.

• In 2023, one of our clients booked her vacation in January, learned of her cancer diagnosis in March, and had surgery in May on the same day she was supposed to start her vacation in Vancouver.
• A family on a guided tour through Europe included a teenager who left a bag at her hotel and then moved on to the next country on the tour. The bag included some important items, including required medication. We were able to use the travel insurance to arrange for a telemedicine appointment and connect her with an international pharmacy to get her the medication she required.
• One of our clients planned to travel to a Caribbean island. Her mother was fighting cancer at the time and the client needed to reschedule the vacation multiple times due to her mother’s health. Ultimately, our client wasn’t able to go at all. Thankfully, her insurance coverage included provisions for cancelling due to the illness or death of a family member.
• During COVID, we had a number of clients’ vacations impacted. Because of the unusual global nature of the situation, a lot of companies provided refunds in cash or credit. But, for those that did not, we used travel insurance to make claims.
• One of our clients was on a Caribbean cruise. She is certain she placed her diamond earrings in the room safe. Nevertheless, they went missing. Perhaps they were stolen. Perhaps they were misplaced. Thankfully, her insurance included lost and stolen articles coverage.
• Clients planning a 30^th anniversary in London and the Cotswolds were excited for their custom-planned itinerary, but their son experienced an emergency two weeks before their vacation and they needed to cancel. Again, this was unpredictable, so it was a good thing their insurance included coverage for family members’ medical emergencies.

We still have people who decline the insurance. Currently, we have a client traveling to Mexico in July 2024. He has declined the insurance. He is planning to take his 12-year-old son with him and wants to do some exciting excursions. Of course, there is the potential for injury when ziplining, riding wave runners, and swimming with dolphins. For just $126 per person, they could have coverage to protect them should something go wrong.

We have clients in Hawaii as I write this, and they also declined the insurance. They purchased their vacation in April, and they did not know their flights would be cancelled due to a Boeing MAX airliner door plug problem resulting in grounded planes. Not only were their flights cancelled. To get them on new flights cost an additional $600. Also, their luggage was lost for two days requiring them to make unplanned purchases of clothing and toiletries. If they had insurance, they could make a claim to be reimbursed for those expenses.

Now, let me just say, I have a love/hate relationship with insurance. I hate the thousands of dollars I spend each month on insurance: health, life, dental, vision, disability, long-term care, auto, property, liability, business, errors & omissions, and travel. But I love knowing that I am protected from financial harm and ruin should terrible things happen. I understand why so many of my clients question the value of it. But I KNOW its value. I KNOW it will help my clients if they should need it. And I KNOW that it will help protect their vacation investments and make their entire trip more secure so they can just focus on enjoying themselves.

I will continue to include travel insurance on every quote because part of my job is to advocate for my clients and look out for their best interests. So, let’s recap:

Just buy the damn insurance.