Friday, June 21, 2019
If you're flying in the upcoming months for work or pleasure, you likely nabbed travel insurance to cover any hitches. According to Squaremouth, travel insurance claims for travel delays increased by a staggering 92 percent over last year, stranding travelers at the airport for hours or more. Squaremouth notes that most travel insurance policies automatically include Travel Delay coverage, and can reimburse travelers anywhere from $250 - $1,500 depending on the policy.Make sure to fully understand your delay policy, and should you need to make a delay claim, Squaremouth recommends the following steps to make sure it's approved.
Contact Emergency Assistance. All travel insurance providers have a 24-hour Emergency Assistance department, which can offer immediate help and advice if you experience an emergency or delay while traveling.
Before making any changes to your itinerary or spending money on a hotel room, travelers experiencing a flight delay or flight cancellation should first call their provider's Emergency Assistance to confirm their coverage details and options.
Get a Statement From Your Airline. Travel insurance providers typically require a statement confirming you were actually delayed, and why. Most policies require a traveler to be delayed for a minimum of three hours in order to be reimbursed; however, some policies don't provide coverage until a delay exceeds 12 hours.
Most paid Travel Delay claims are for severe weather or a mechanical breakdown that impacts a flight. However, missing your flight because you got caught up at a security checkpoint, especially as airports increase security measures, is not covered.
Keep Your Receipts. The Travel Delay benefit can reimburse you for meals, hotels and transportation while your trip is delayed, but you must remember to keep your receipts from purchases made during the delay. If you forget, or if receipts are not available, your bank or credit card statement will usually be enough.
Gather Your Trip Documentation. Providers may ask travelers to send in documents confirming the impact of an airline delay on their travel plans, such as an original and updated trip itinerary. For example, if your airline carrier delay causes you to miss a cruise ship departure, you may also be covered by the Travel Delay benefit to catch up to your cruise.
Source: Squaremouth
RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com