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| Agents should push for coverage so clients can protect their travel investments against emergencies, big and small. |
Political unrest, terrorism threats, severe weather, supplier defaults, airport delays causing missed flights and unexpected medical issues are among the “unknowns” that could impact a client’s vacation abroad. Given world events, agents—whether home-based or working in an office—need to put insurance, medical evacuation and travel assistance top of mind when dealing with travel plans for 2015.
“Current world events that are uncontrollable could cause possible travel disruptions and travel challenges for 2015,” notes Isaac Cymrot, vice president, industry relations, Travel Insured International. “This provides an opportunity to push for coverage such as ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ and ‘Interruption for Any Reason’ so clients can protect their travel investments from unexpected changes such as cancelled or delayed flights, trip disruption and trip cancellations.” Travel Insured has also recently enhanced its Travel Insured Agent Portal (TAP), which is seeing user sales go up by 34 percent.
Good News: North Americans who watch the news apparently would like to be more prepared. A 2014 Vacation Confidence Index survey by Allianz Global Assistance USA revealed that travel insurance is on the mind of many travelers. Half of those surveyed or 49 percent said recent global events have caused them to consider purchasing travel insurance for future foreign travel. One in three or 34 percent of those surveyed said they’ve already purchased travel insurance for a trip abroad.
Suppliers also continue to be increasingly creative in what they cover. Sheri Machat, senior vice president, M.H. Ross Travel Insurance Services, says her firm now offers children’s rates for its asset plans and protection in case the school year has been extended—conflicting with a planned vacation—due to unforeseen events such as snow days or a tornado.
Still, clients have excuses for not buying. Agents have heard them all—such as “I’m in great health,” “I’m too young to have issues” and the ever-popular “I can’t shell out money for insurance.” But heart attacks, appendicitis, a fall or a stroke often occur without warning. Carlos Cividanes, executive vice president of industry relations, TravelSafe Insurance, emphasizes that his firm has announced yet another year without a price hike, good news for consumers. It also hasn’t changed its Vacation program or Protect-A-Group plans.
One tactic is to ask the client if paying a few hundred dollars for insurance or a medical evacuation policy wouldn’t be worth it to protect their retirement nest egg? Consumers often don’t “get” that the cost of being flown home in a private medical jet could cost $100,000 to $250,000, plus a guarantee or upfront money is required.
“The biggest claims I’ve experienced with my clients [besides cancellations] are for medical issues that came up while on their cruise,” says Debby Hughes, a CruiseOne agent from Big Bear City, CA, who works in a store-based office and has home-based associates. “The first client experienced chest pain while sailing to the Mexican Riviera, and was seen by a doctor in Cabo San Lucas,” she recalls. She says the insurance company, along with the doctors on the ship and in port, decided it would be prudent to fly the client back home to Washington rather than continuing on with the vacation.
“The client flew home and [subsequently] had a mild heart attack while in the Seattle airport,” she stresses, showing the unusual path medical emergencies can take. “He was immediately taken to the hospital, and his wife stayed in a nearby hotel, all with the assistance and protection of the insurance, as they were still traveling.”
Not all insurance plans are created equal, either. Coverage for pre-existing conditions is critical, say many agents. An insurer might decide that an illness that hits suddenly overseas is indeed a part of a pre-existing problem, and without the pre-existing protection, the hospital stay might not be covered. Check the policy the client has purchased carefully for pre-existing conditions coverage and know the rules to get that for them. Typically it must be purchased within so many days of deposit or a specific time in advance of the trip.
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| The cost of an emergency medical evacuation for uninsured travelers could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. |
Clients may not believe that something that happens overseas is part of their pre-existing condition. That’s commonly the case, though. Hughes had a client who suffered a small stroke while in Sitka, Alaska. She was taken off the ship and admitted to the local hospital for several days. “The stroke was a side effect of her brain tumor, which was a pre-existing condition and completely covered by our partner policy,” Hughes says. “She was finally flown home with a medical team at her side.”
A point of differentiation? Travel insurance and travel assistance can be two different things. Yes, some insurers, consortia and franchise groups “bundle” their services and include both types of services. For example, Hughes’ coverage for her clients under CruiseOne’s preferred insurance policy has both insurance and travel assistance.
That said, many leisure or business travelers buy only travel assistance service. For example, On Call International provides customized corporate care such as risk mitigation, employee education, assistance in a medical crisis or evacuation during a political threat abroad, ensuring employees are safe and protected no matter their location.
Medical evacuation is also another service that can be bought on its own; Medjet Assist’s members pay an annual fee and receive private jet evacuation with onboard medical personnel. MedJet recently launched a new sales video for travel agents and John Berry has joined Medjet as a new regional sales director-west.
Here’s how med-evac protection can help. In October, Hughes had a male client who had a stroke while sailing on a cruise ship near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “Doctors onboard handled the situation until they could get him to the local hospital, where he was admitted for several days,” she says. “The insurance company was involved from the beginning and assisted the clients throughout the entire process, including finally flying him to California by private Lear jet with a medical team providing care the entire way.”
People also don’t tend to think about extraneous issues they may have even if they’re evacuated. “The insurance company is also shipping the clients’ luggage home,” notes Hughes. “[In addition], they can logically expect to receive a reimbursement for the lost days of their cruise, as well as any unreimbursed medical expenses and other unforeseen costs due to this illness.”
Travel Insurance and Travel Assistance Updates
* The US Travel Insurance Association has established a new “Distributor” membership category for travel agencies; e-mail [email protected].
* New on-demand medical care is now available from CSA Travel Protection. Clients will be connected quickly with a network of physicians for information, advice and treatment, including prescriptions. The service will get a traveling client who is sick or injured to a trusted provider and pay for up to $1,000 in acute treatments.
* Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has a new specialized fixed benefit product called AirCare to cover domestic flight issues; it’s commissionable to agents. Purchasable an hour or more prior to departure, it costs $25 per trip. Payouts are $50 for a flight delay of more than two hours, $500 if a delay causes clients to miss a connecting flight and $1,000 for either a tarmac delay of more than two hours or lost/stolen luggage.