From massive quarantines for foreign visitors to mounting infections and also to various government alerts. There has not been any new light of hope when it comes to H1N1 or swine flu. When it comes to this kind of viral infection epidemic, travelers are left with the worries related to protecting themselves from this. Apart from a traveler taking the necessary health precautions, it is also advised that some kind of travel insurance be obtained. When you would like to get more information on travel cover check out this site.
In this case, it may not be able to cover everything. H1N1 was declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization and what this led to was the halting of coverage for H1N1 by a lot of big trip insurance providers based from the comments of the executive vice president of an online comparison site based in Warwick, RI. What several of these companies are doing today is providing coverage for H1N1. Based from his comments, there has not been any big trip insurer that he knows of that is still in the process of reinforcing this pandemic exclusion for H1N1.
Here's a Question and Answer portion on the latest general industry practices on H1N1. Normally, bundled policies are being considered here wherein coverage is provided for the costs of trip cancellation and interruption, medical care, and other situations. In terms of the first question, if a trip is cancelled before it leaves due to the person, a family member, or a traveling companion contracting H1N1 then can the nonrefundable deposits de reimbursed. By presenting a documentation of the illness, this will be enough to get you your money back.
Another question is, What if I cancel my trip because I am afraid I will get swine flu or be quarantined at my destination. In such a situation a no is what you will get. What the standard policies from insurance companies are meant to insure against are unforeseen occurrences and in no way are they meant to insure a state of mind. There are cases when a state of mind can be insured and this is if you pay extra for a cancel for any reason rider which can then be added to the coverage from your standard policy. Read this site if you want which travel insurance information.
Here is an explanation of how it works. When it comes to a standard policy, most of the time you will be covered for any losses from a cancelled trip if the reason for doing so is job loss or an illness. Considering a cancel for any reason rider, a lot of reasons other than these apply. With regard to the trade off, the rider can boost the premium in this case and this can be to about 4 percent to 8 percent of the cost of the trip while they will only pay you less than 100 percent of the losses you incur for reasons outside the standard policy. Also, there is the inquiry about traveling to a certain destination where a US government agency has already issued warnings or advises about the risks involved if you travel there. From the US State Department came about travel alerts for China because of quarantines reportedly being done in the thousands when it comes to the American visitors who are suspected to be carriers of the H1N1 infection.
Should the virus be contracted by the elderly and some other family members at high risk, a pregnant companion, or women then will you be able to have your nonrefundable deposits reimbursed according to what the Center for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned. Again, what you will get is a no. As mentioned by the executive of the company it will be difficult to present a government warning as a valid reason for a trip cancellation. |
