They say timing is everything — when swinging a baseball bat, taking a souffle out of the oven, meeting someone special. Buying travel insurance is no different.
When travel insurance should be bought, when it starts, and how long it lasts are all important when you want to protect yourself and your trip. Here are the answers to some of your biggest questions.
Why Different Types of Travel Insurance Start at Different Times
Let’s start with the fact that when coverage begins depends on the type of plan you have and the benefits that plan includes. It’s not as complex as it might sound.
On one hand, you have trip protection plans, which are designed primarily to protect the money you spent for your trip and your belongings. A trip protection plan also has medical benefits.
Trip protection plans include trip cancellation benefits, something you want before you travel. Therefore, the plan has to start before you travel. Keep in mind, though, that only the trip cancellation benefits start before your trip; other benefits in your trip protection plan will go into effect after your trip starts.
On the other hand, you have travel medical plans, which are designed to cover medical expenses you incur if you get sick or hurt during your trip. Travel medical plans might have some trip protection benefits, too, but they likely won’t be as robust.
Because travel medical plans are primarily intended to cover incidents during your trip, medical benefits aren’t needed until after you depart. This impacts the effective date of your plan.
Check out the details and some examples below.
When Does Travel Insurance Coverage Start?
Trip protection
Coverage for our trip protection plans starts at different times depending on specific benefits.
1. Trip cancellation and Cancellation for Any Reason (CFAR)
Your trip cancellation coverage begins the day after you pay for your plan.
Let’s say I'm taking an August vacation, and I buy trip protection on May 1. Trip cancellation benefits begin May 2. This is so that I'll be covered if an incident makes it impossible for me to travel and I have to cancel my trip any time between May 2 and when I travel in August.
2. Trip delay
Coverage for delays begins after you’ve traveled a specified distance (stated in miles) from your primary residence en route to join your trip. Some start from your house and others require you to travel a distance of 50 miles or more.
Imagine that I get to take that August vacation. After leaving home on August 3, I fly from my hometown in Indiana to Denver, where I have a layover, and then on to Oregon.
If something happens in Denver, which is more than 50 miles from my residence, I could be covered for trip delay. (Other terms apply, so be sure to understand your plan document before traveling.)
3. Accident and sickness coverage
This benefit, which protects you if you incur medical expenses due to an injury or illness during your trip, is effective when you depart on your first travel arrangement for your trip. Your plan document will define what qualifies as a “travel arrangement.”
Let’s continue on our hypothetical Oregon vacation. What if I get the flu and need to see a doctor in Portland on August 5? My travel insurance could cover my medical visit because I’ve already begun my trip.
Coverage began after my first travel arrangement; I’m already in Portland. If, however, I’d gotten sick on July 20 — before my first travel arrangement — the medical benefits would not have been in effect yet, so my travel insurance would not have covered my care.
Annual trip protection
Coverage for an annual trip protection plan works much the same way as a single-trip plan in that trip cancellation benefits are effective before you travel, while other benefits begin after your departure.
Trip cancellation benefits start on whatever day you select when you purchase the plan. Some people choose to start their plan on the day after they buy it, while others might choose a date farther in the future.
The trip cancellation benefit then remains effective for the remainder of the plan term — 364 days — regardless of actual future travel dates.
Here’s an example. Let’s say I purchase Seven Corners Trip Protection Annual Multi-Trip on January 16 and choose for it to begin on January 17. Trip cancellation benefits are effective as of January 17, and they remain in effect for the rest of the year regardless of when or how many times I travel, provided the benefit dollar amount has not been exhausted.
Other benefits in an annual trip protection plan are effective when you begin each covered trip during the plan term.
Let’s continue our example from above. Imagine I schedule trips for February 11-20, April 1-8, July 9-15, and December 20-30. Even though my plan starts on January 17, benefits like trip interruption, luggage protection, and medical coverage begin on the first day of each trip and end on the last day of that same trip.
If I have Seven Corner’s annual trip protection plan, I don’t have to tell the insurance provider before my trips what my travel dates are, but if I file a claim, I will have to provide an itinerary and proof of those trip dates. Be aware, though, that how annual trip protection plans work — including the types of information you have to provide before each trip — can vary by company and plan.
Travel medical insurance
Travel medical benefits begin the moment you depart your home country, regardless of whether you purchase the plan one day or several months before departure.
Let’s take a different trip now. Imagine that I’m traveling from my hometown in Indiana to Portugal. I have a layover in Philadelphia before continuing to Lisbon.
If I get sick in the Philadelphia airport, travel medical insurance will not cover my medical expenses because I have not left my home country yet. However, if I get sick and need to see a doctor in Lisbon, my coverage will be in effect because I am no longer in the United States.
When Should I Buy Travel Insurance?
Trip protection
Like we said earlier, trip protection covers many events that happen during your trip, but it can also offer trip cancellation protection for unexpected events before you leave, sometimes days, weeks, even months prior to departure. For that reason, we say it’s best to purchase protection as soon as possible after you pay for your first travel arrangements.
You could wait to purchase protection, but procrastinating may mean you miss being able to take advantage of certain benefits. Also, certain benefit options may be available only if you buy coverage within a specified number of days of when you made your first trip payment.
In addition to standard trip cancellation benefits included in Seven Corners’ plans, you may also be able to purchase optional Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage. This is helpful in case you need to cancel for other reasons not covered in your trip protection plan. Examples include a change in financial status or simply no longer wanting to travel.
For CFAR coverage and to qualify for a pre-existing conditions waiver, if that applies, you typically have to buy your travel insurance within a specific time period. This time limit varies by plan. Seven Corners Trip Protection plans require you to buy your plan within 20 days of your initial trip deposit. (Additional terms apply.)
For example, if you paid your first trip deposit on February 1, you need to purchase your plan with CFAR by February 21 to be reimbursed for a trip cancellation.
The above is related to benefits that you would use before your trip begins. Equally important is the coverage travel insurance can provide during your trip.
Trip protection can cover unforeseen events such as lost or stolen baggage, and illness or injury. Of course, you’ll need this coverage once your travels begin.
So, can you buy trip protection at any time? Insurance must be purchased before you travel, and we always recommend buying it sooner rather than later to be able to take full advantage of what the plan offers.
It’s also a great idea to give yourself time to review your plan document, ask questions, and make sure you’re choosing the best plan. This isn’t a time to feel rushed, especially if you’re new to travel insurance.
Annual trip protection
Annual trip protection should be bought before your first trip. And because the trip cancellation benefits work similarly to what you find in a single-trip plan, the sooner you purchase an annual plan after making your first travel arrangements, the better.
Simply put, you don’t want to miss out on being able to recoup your money for a covered cancellation because you procrastinated.
Also like single-trip trip protection, annual plans will have specified timeframes for which you are eligible for certain benefits.
This includes the pre-existing conditions waiver. Seven Corners’ annual trip protection plan also has a 60-day waiting period for pre-existing conditions coverage. So if you have a pre-existing condition, you’ll want to purchase your plan at least 60 days prior to your first trip.
Travel medical insurance
It might be tempting to wait until the last minute to purchase your insurance, especially if you’re trying to decide if travel medical insurance is worth the cost. Just like with trip protection, though, buying sooner rather than later really is better.
A travel medical plan cannot start until at least one day after you purchase it. While you could buy it fairly last minute, there’s also no harm in buying it earlier. It won’t cost you more to do so.
And also like when buying trip protection, you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you give yourself time to review the plan document and talk with an agent if you have questions.
Is It Time to Buy Travel Insurance?
Understanding when travel insurance coverage starts is just part of getting the most from that coverage. Learn more at our ultimate guide to travel insurance or talk to a licensed agent, who knows the ins and outs of Seven Corners’ plans and can help sort through any complexity.
If you’re ready to buy today, get started with our quick quote tool at SevenCorners.com.
