What You Don't Know About Travel Insurance - Squaremouth Answers Some Nagging Questions

St. Pete Beach, FL (PRWEB) November 6, 2007 -- Squaremouth, a leading online travel insurance (http://www.squaremouth.com) comparison site answers some of the questions customers commonly ask about travel insurance.

When should I buy insurance?

You can purchase insurance right up to the day before you travel. Some insurers offer full cover for any pre-existing medical condition yourself or a family member may have if you buy your policy within 10 to 21 days from the date you made the first payment towards your trip. Some policies require purchase during this period for Financial Default and Terorrism cover while others include these benefits no matter when you buy.

Don't worry if it's already more than 21 days since your deposit as medical cover is provided for any new emergency that's not connected to an existing condition. Most insurers only look back 2-6 months to determine pre-existing conditions.

How much should I pay?

Every identical policy is sold at the same price regardless of who sells it! Look for added value and insist there are no extra administration charges added by anyone other than the insurance company.

Average family of four, expect to pay around 4 to 7% of your total trip cost. A single traveler under 50 will expect to pay around 5% of total trip cost. If you are over 60 but under 70, expect to pay 6 to 10% while the over 70's should expect insurance to cost up to 12% but may find as low as 9% of your total trip cost.

We explain to our customers that they usually do not lose benefits by buying a policy at the least expensive range on squaremouth.com and in many cases get more cover than a more expensive package on offer. One reason for this is insurance companies aim their products at certain types of travelers. Travelex and AIG Travel Guard are usually very cost effective for families with kids under 16 while Travel Insured International have one of the best price to benefit ratios for travelers over 70. A good, easy to use comparison site is a must have for this type of research.

Should I buy travel insurance if my trip is within the USA?

If you do not need cancellation cover or if you are not flying, travel insurance is generally not needed. For travelers requiring cancellation benefits for a costly trip or those looking for peace of mind, travel insurance is worthwhile.

I have Medicare, do I need to buy medical cover for foreign trips?

Medicare does not provide cover while you are outside of the United States. In addition, Medicare Supplements may provide limited or no foreign medical cover. Travelers who have only Medicare Supplement A or B, and those with no supplement at all, should always make sure they have travel medical insurance before they leave the USA.

How does travel insurance handle pregnancy?

Most travel insurance policies only cover complications of pregnancy. This typically means a condition whose diagnosis is distinct from normal pregnancy but is adversely affected or caused by the pregnancy. Claims resulting from normal pregnancy, normal childbirth or elective abortion are generally always excluded.

How do I know if an insurer will look after my family in an emergency?

The short answer is in most cases you don't unless you have successfully claimed from them before. Squaremouth offers a zero complaint policy which means an insurer selling products on it's site does so only while it maintains a flawless record with its customers. "If even one of our clients has a complaint that we cannot resolve to our satisfaction, we will remove that insurer from our site". Explains Chris Harvey, "it's the most important thing we do; it's way too late when you are in the middle of an emergency in a foreign country to find out you made a bad choice with your insurance company. We choose the insurers on our site very carefully and stand behind their quality."

Where should I buy travel insurance?

Beware of the hard sell - Insist on choice!

This is very important as most travel websites and tour/cruise operators either automatically include or will hard sell you their own policy. This is usually inferior to 3rd party products and can be much more expensive as it could include large administration charges.

Your cruise operator may insist that customers take out it's insurance as a condition of the booking. If you are in this position and still want to make the booking, print out your policy EOB (evidence of benefits) page and compare it to the market leading policies using comparison tools such as www.squaremouth.com. At least you will know if you are missing out on any vital cover.

If you are making your own arrangements or are using a travel website or agent that will allow you to buy travel insurance separately, save time by using a comparison site. This saves you jumping from site to site and typing the same details over and over again.

About Squaremouth

Founded in 2001, Squaremouth helps travelers easily and instantly compare all the major travel insurance plans. To ensure customer satisfaction, all carriers are handpicked based on an internal rating system and also ratings from insurance industry watchdog AM Best. Only companies that meet Squaremouth's strict requirements make it into the system. Along with its unique research capabilities and zero complaint guarantee, the site provides instant quotes, immediate purchase and instant confirmation. Squaremouth is headquartered in St Pete Beach, FL and has offices in Fort Wayne, IN and Peachtree City, GA. Squaremouth has websites dedicated to both US travel insurance (http://www.squaremouth.com) and UK travel insurance (http://www.squaremouth.co.uk) as well as international medical insurance for any nationality traveling outside their home country. Visit squaremouth.com for more information.

Available Topic Expert:

Chris Harvey

charvey @ squaremouth.com

Toll Free (800) 240-0369

Direct Line (727) 490-5802

US Travel Insurance - http://www.squaremouth.com

UK Travel Insurance - http://www.squaremouth.co.uk

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