Traveling With Kids: Travel Insurance?

 Traveling With Kids: Travel Insurance?

Nobody ever plans on needing travel insurance.  In fact, travel insurance is there for those “unforeseen” events that -really if we could have predicted, wouldn’t have happened!

It is like most insurance, seen as a waste when you don’t use it, but when there is an event that you need it, it is as those commercials say “priceless”.

 On my trip to Italy 2 years ago, I witnessed two accidents in one day.  

 A pedestrian and car in one and a motorcycle and car in the other (as you can see here- they were both ok, but it happened fast and could have been worse).

  Nobody considers seeing the inside of an Italian ambulance as a possibility until it is reality.

 In foreign countries especially, where rules of the road are different than home, it is very easy to be distracted and not notice cars turning a corner or the light turning red.  When we were in Australia, my husband and I were constantly having to remind each other to “look the opposite way” before stepping out into the street as the cars were driving on the opposite side of the road.

In London last year, due to an unexpected medical emergency of a traveling companion, we spent the first days of our vacation getting an up and close tour of St. Mary’s hospital and clinic.  Definitely unforeseen, this was reality and the travel insurance considered this to be a valid “trip interruption”. 

However, my actual point of this is that while we were in the emergency room (for hours) there were MANY well dressed people (out for dinner in the evening) coming in scraped up, shaken up, and blood stained.  Yes, I found out that those taxis and double decker buses really do hit people! We couldn’t believe how many! But the nurses were not surprised. 

From personal experience with our traveling companion, I can tell you that life in a foreign hospital is not something you want to experience.  But if it does happen, how great that all your expenses and even the fact that your trip was interrupted – will be covered!

So, yes travel insurance can be one of the last things that parents think of when flying with a young child. Yet when your trip consists of more than just a flight, the cost of unforeseen events can be devastating.

 For our upcoming Italian cruise, we were quoted $600 per person when purchasing the insurance through the cruise line.  I have always used Insure My Trip and have been very happy with their customer service.  They are very helpful and answer as many questions as you have. For the same insurance and the same dates, times, and people, we were able to get trip insurance for $50/person.  They also recommended Travelex (one of the companies they represent) as their policy does not charge for children.

When I called to talk to the representative about further questions I had, my newly potty trained son decided to head to the bathroom.  As I usually do not make calls when my son is around, I had bribed him to be quiet for a few minutes while I talked to the rep.

Sure enough, from the bathroom, I hear, “Momma – I’m done and I went poopy!”  I chose to cover the phone and tell him I would be there in a minute.  Well, toddlers do not understand time and so this was unacceptable to him as he was sick of sitting there. The yelling went up to another decibel and it became singsongy and yet demanding. 

The Insure My Trip representative was very kind and understood when I stated I would have to call back.  He laughed and said he understood since his son was 4 1/2 and he had just been through all of that. 

I have found this to be very typical for these representatives.  They are patient with any questions, happy to explain policies and if you explain your trip, they will guide you to the best policies.

The free quotes are very easy to do and in a couple minutes you can have a rate anonymously without any pressure or sales.  The comparison chart compares the policies selected. The first couple times I did call in after I got the quote and reviewed the chart.  I then called in and said told the representative which three policies I was considering, and asked for their expertise on selecting the right policy.

OK – enough about Insure My Trip – I think it is so rare to get good customer service that I cannot help but rave about them! And if you actually need to use your policy, you will be glad to be with a company who has good customer service to help you file a claim!

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