Posted by I still feel sad each time I remember I broke my ankle a week before a two-week European tour and lost $5,000 in non-refundable prepaid arrangements. If only I had travel insurance.
Travel insurance provides vital financial protection in case life throws a wrong one before or during your travels. While no one likes thinking about worst-case scenarios, hope is not a strategy when hundreds or thousands of dollars are on the line.
But with dozens of insurance providers on the market, how do you choose the right travel insurance company for your needs? In this post, we’ll be taking a look at Direct Travel Insurance.
Direct Travel Insurance and Their Offerings
Direct Travel Insurance provides various travel insurance products for vacationers, business travelers, adventure seekers and cruise-goers looking to insure their journeys. Now under the Brown & Brown company umbrella, Direct Travel Insurance offers different tiers of coverage at premium costs aimed to suit individual travel budgets.
Their selection of available insurance options includes:
- Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance
- Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance
- Travel Delay Insurance
- Baggage Loss/Damage/Delay Insurance
- Rental Car Damage Insurance
- Adventure Sports Coverage
One notable gap in Direct Travel Insurance’s portfolio is Cancel for Any Reason insurance, which provides maximum flexibility to call off trips while still recouping 60-75% of costs.
Travel Insurance Policy Offerings
Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance
Direct Travel Insurance’s Trip Cancellation plan reimburse travelers for 100% of any non-refundable payments – up to the total trip cost limit – if an unexpected injury, illness or death in the family forces you to call off travel plans before departure.
Additionally, their Trip Interruption plan covers unused, forfeited portions of your travel arrangements if you need to unexpectedly cut a trip short mid-journey. You’ll also receive reimbursement for the added transportation costs to return home early.
Covered reasons triggering cancellation or interruption coverage include:
- Death, injury or illness affecting you, a traveling companion or close family member
- Terrorist event or hijacking at your destination within 30 days of arrival
- Named hurricane making your destination unsafe
- Jury duty or military redeployment of you or a traveling companion
- Loss of accommodation due to fire, vandalism or natural disaster
For truly unexpected events and mishaps during travel like flight delays or lost luggage, Direct Travel Insurance has you covered there as well.
Emergency Medical/Evacuation Insurance
In the event a sudden injury or illness strikes while traveling internationally, emergency medical and evacuation insurance by Direct Travel provides vital coverage both in terms of freeing access to health care abroad as wells as coordinating transport back home for continued treatment if necessary.
Direct Travel’s base plan includes $50,000 of coverage for medical treatment and evacuation with higher limits up to $2 million available at added cost. Importantly, their emergency medical insurance also covers expenses resulting from the sudden or unexpected recurrence of pre-existing medical conditions.
So whether it’s a broken leg on the ski slopes of Austria or the sudden onset of asthma symptoms in Fiji, emergency evacuation insurance helps avoid being slammed with crippling hospital bills abroad or needing to cover the full cost of medical air transport on your own.
Rounding out support in medical emergencies, Direct Travel Insurance plans also include up to $100,000 for medical transport back to your province of residence in Canada if hospitalization leaves you unable to use the return ticket home.
Travel Delay Insurance
Between weather events, mechanical issues or IT troubles, flight delays and cancellations feel almost inevitable these days. Direct Travel’s trip delay insurance kicks in covering costs like meals and hotel stays for multi-day holdups as well as any additional transportation expenses to arrive at your destination on a revised itinerary.
You receive up to $250 in benefits at no additional cost with the basic Direct Travel Insurance package as long as the delay reaches 6+ hours. For longer policies and higher tiers of coverage, that amount can climb up to $3,000 for delays starting as early as 3 hours from departure.
Baggage Insurance: Lost, Damaged and Delay Coverage
Nothing takes the wind out of your sails faster than arriving at baggage claim only to discover the airline lost your luggage somewhere between Kansas City and Cozumel. Or catching up to your suitcase to find it bashed beyond repair.
Direct Travel Insurance’s lost luggage benefit reimburses up to $1,000 for possessions and personal items lost or damaged by the airline or cruise line during transport. An additional delayed baggage provision covers costs for necessities like clothing and toiletries if bags don’t arrive within 24 hours of landing.
For adventurers taking high end photography gear or sports equipment on active outings, the stated value coverage option from Direct Travel lets you insure items above the standard policy limits for the full replacement cost.
What Does Direct Travel Insurance Cost?
As with most insurance offerings, Direct Travel Insurance premium costs scale based on:
- Age – Higher rates for travelers over 70 years old
- Trip Duration – Longer journeys mean higher premiums
- Destination – High risk areas boost prices
- Trip Cost – Prices based on total non-refundable pre-payments
- Plan Level – More coverage means higher premiums
To give an idea of sample pricing, here is what Direct Travel Insurance quotes for the following typical trip scenarios:
- 31-year-old traveling to Europe (excluding UK) for 12 days, $5,000 total trip prepaid cost
- Quote: $237 for full policy package
- 60-year old couple vacationing in U.K for 7 days, $7,500 total risk exposure
- Quote: $383 for enhanced policy
- Family of 4 cruising Caribbean for 5 days out of Florida, $9,000 total trip expenditures
- Quote: $345 for standard coverage plan
Use the pricing factors above as a guideline for what to expect from Direct Travel Insurance based on your own travel scenario. Customized quotes based on your exact details are quick and easy to generate through their website as well.
Now let’s examine some of the key advantages and potential drawbacks revealed in Direct Travel Insurance reviews.
The Direct Travel Insurance Claim Process
To tap into reimbursements from an approved claim, Direct Travel Insurance requires documentation supporting any cancellation, medical bills or baggage related losses tied to your interrupted trip:
- For trip cancellation
Provide relevant medical records, death certificates, proof of residence damage or other evidence allowing the reason for calling off travel plans.
- For medical claims
Submit all itemized bills and invoices for hospital visits, doctor consultations, prescription medications and any diagnostic lab work or imaging scans conducted abroad.
- For baggage claims
Supply baggage claim tickets or checkout folios showing any airline liability payments provided for damaged luggage. Or file a police report in cases of theft losses.
Policyholders can submit completed claims forms and backup paperwork either by mail or through the 24/7 online portal. Direct Travel aims to process straightforward reimbursement requests within 10-15 business days once all required claim documentation is gathered.
Medical evacuation coordination and emergency travel assistance occurs on much faster timeframes given the urgency involved.
Is Direct Travel Insurance Worth Purchasing?
Direct Travel Insurance customer feedback found across independent review sites and major travel forums reveals:
Pros
- Smooth online purchase experience
- Quick approval decisions on claims
- Excellent customer service team
Cons
- Slow claims processing times at about 3 weeks
- Denied coverage for pre-approved medical procedures
- Lower trip delay limits than expected
Positive reviews highlight friendly and effective customer support guiding new clients to the right plan as well as assisting existing policy holders through travel mishaps abroad. Multiple travelers recount positive experiences getting approvals for large 5-figure medical and evacuation claims without hassle.
However, several negative complaints report denied coverage after the fact for pre-planned medical treatments falling outside scope of unforeseen injury coverage. Others felt let down by maximum payouts below expected limits for travel itinerary changes and lost luggage reimbursement.
Conclusion
While not always the cheapest rates, their specialized plans fill an important niche. We hope this post on Direct Travel Insurance, from coverage details to sample rates to customer experiences, equips readers to make smart choices securing the protection needed for travel dreams big and small.
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