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Brexit & Travel Insurance

How Will Brexit Affect Travel Insurance for U.S. Travelers?

If you’re an American citizen traveling to the UK and then onto the EU post-Brexit, you do not have to buy two separate travel insurance policies. Travel insurance will cover multiple destinations visited over the course of one trip. Brexit won’t matter for your trip.

When Will Brexit Be Finalized?

In late January 2020, Britain and Northern Ireland exited the European Union and entered a transition period that will likely take about eleven months to complete.

During this transitional time, new arrangements will be negotiated with the EU. For travelers, we anticipate little change until January 1, 2021.

How Will Travel Insurance Be Affected After Brexit?

When the transition period ends, there may possibly be some travel disruptions. Right now, we are recommending that those with upcoming travel plans to the UK or any other country in the EU consider a comprehensive travel insurance plan that offers travel delay coverage for any delay of a common carrier. This may help, in case of any flight delays. But, it could be business as usual. The overall travel impact of Brexit will become clearer once the transition is finalized and passengers should check with their airlines regarding any reimbursement options for travel delays and cancellations related to Brexit.

Those who may have concerns over the potential travel implications can also request a travel insurance plan that includes Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR). This is an optional travel insurance benefit available on some of the plans available from InsureMyTrip.

Bottom line: The industry is still waiting to see how Brexit will play out and how travel insurance coverage will be affected.

What Should UK Citizens Consider When Buying Travel Insurance?

British citizens may want to look at a travel medical plan in case their medical coverage will no longer cover treatment outside of their respective region.

UK-based travel insurance companies that are closely watching Brexit developments are regularly updating their websites with the latest information for travelers.

Some travel insurance companies in the UK have already responded. For example, AXA offers an optional “Brexit Travel Disruption” coverage, which aims to protect UK travelers if Brexit causes delays or cancellations to trains, flights, or other public transportation.

Will UK Citizens Need a Visa to Travel to the EU After Brexit?

Recently, the European Parliament confirmed that UK travelers will not require a visa for travel to the EU post-Brexit. However, this applies only to short-term business trips or leisure trips lasting up to 90 days and taking place within a 180-day period.

How Will UK Passports Change After Brexit?

Although the design of British passports will change as a result of Brexit, the rules for UK passports will also change. The changing passport rules are arguably more important to travelers.

According to gov.uk, those with a British passport may need to renew if you’re traveling after January 1, 2021. It can take about 3 weeks to renew a passport. However, there is a premium service in the event a traveler needs it expedited.

On the day of travel, a passport must:

  • have at least 6 months left before expiration
  • be less than 10 years old (even if it has 6 months or more left)

If you do not renew it, you may not be able to travel to most EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. These rules do not apply to Ireland.

The UK government recently created a tool to check passport validity under these rules.

There are also specific rules in regards to traveling with pets, for more visit the “Pet Travel to Europe from 1 January 2021” page on gov.uk.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article serves as a general overview of benefits and should only be used for informational purposes. Refer to your individual certificate of insurance for specific coverages, exclusions and benefits. When in doubt, please contact one of our licensed agents for additional assistance.

How Do I Get Travel Insurance?

How To Get Travel Insurance

Through Your Credit Card

Some credit card companies provide trip cancellation, travel medical, or rental car insurance as a “built-in” benefit. The coverage typically only applies if you use the same credit card to book your vacation or rental car and coverage may be limited. While this can seem like an economical way to secure travel insurance, travelers should be aware that coverage is often minimal, cannot be customized, and may not cover everything you need. Learn more about the difference between credit card travel insurance and comprehensive travel insurance.

Through Your Online Travel Agent or Reservation Website

Oftentimes when you work with a travel agent or book your trip through a reservation website online, you’ll see an option to add travel insurance during checkout. Although this may seem like a seamless way to add coverage to your trip, travelers should know exactly what they are paying for. In many cases, those booking travel are pleasantly surprised by the low cost of coverage and think they’re getting a great deal. Unfortunately, the one-size fits all coverage you receive when clicking the box for travel insurance cannot be customized and leaves you unprotected.

Through a Travel Insurance Provider Directly

Travelers can also choose to buy from one of many insurers directly through their website. While these sites can provide some information and recommendations, each provider only offers their own plans. What’s more is that there’s no way to compare similar plans from other companies if you’re only shopping on one site. Buying directly does not allow travelers to compare pricing and coverage levels. In some cases, direct provider plans leave gaps in the coverage but do not offer supplemental plans to accommodate specific customer needs.

Through a Travel Insurance Comparison Site

With travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip, travelers can look for plans from the industry’s top providers all in one place. Customers can also compare plans with varying coverage levels and price points to find the best value for their specific trips. Additionally, travelers shopping on InsureMyTrip have access to thousands of reviews written by fellow customers who actually purchased and used the plans. These reviews can be filtered by provider, specific plan, destination, and even whether or not a claim was filed. The impartial feedback from fellow travelers helps you make an informed decision and find the right plan. Furthermore, InsureMyTrip differs from other comparison sites in that our SMART algorithm uses traveler and trip details to recommend the top-rated and most well-matched plans.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article serves as a general overview of benefits and should only be used for informational purposes. Refer to your individual certificate of insurance for specific coverages, exclusions and benefits. When in doubt, please contact one of our licensed agents for additional assistance.

InsureMyTrip vs Squaremouth

If you’re shopping for travel insurance online using a comparison website, you might be wondering which site is right for you. Sometimes InsureMyTrip is compared to Squaremouth, but how similar are these two sites really?

Which Comparison Site is Best for You?

While the sites offer some similar functionality, InsureMyTrip features:

  • More years in business
  • Unbiased comparison of plans from only our trusted partners
  • Highly responsive and award-winning customer service, which includes licensed travel insurance agents and a one-of-a-kind Anytime Advocates® program that can provide claims assistance

Strong 3rd Party Ratings

InsureMyTrip puts customers first, and the quality of service and responsiveness of the company sets it apart from others comparison sites. After all, how helpful are customer reviews if a company doesn’t respond and resolve customer issues?

Both InsureMyTrip and Squaremouth have over 30k reviews on the 3rd party review site, ResellerRatings. Both companies have excellent overall scores above 4.5 stars.

While Squaremouth has a higher overall rating, InsureMyTrip is proud to rate higher in the specific categories of Customer Service, Reply Back Rate, and Resolution outreach.

InsureMyTrip & Squaremouth Reseller Ratings

InsureMyTrip & Squaremouth Reply Back & Resolution Rates

(These ratings are based on data from user reviews and are accurate as of the time of publication. Be sure to check ResellerRatings.com for the current comparison between the two sites.)

While we don’t want travelers to run into any issues, we do want them to feel secure in knowing our Customer Care team is available for them six days a week. Our specialized Anytime Advocates® are in constant communication with the insurance providers and happy to help in the event you need to file a claim. This means you can rest assured that you will have our support before, during, and after your trip.

Accredited by the Better Business Bureau

InsureMyTrip is proud to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has received an A+ rating.

InsureMyTrip versus Squaremouth BBB Ratings

Squaremouth is also listed on the BBB listings but is not BBB accredited.

Their headquarters in Saint Petersburg, Florida received a rating of B+. Their Fort Wayne, Indiana based operation received an A+ rating.

We Won’t Sell You a Plan You Don’t Need

While some comparison sites return results for the plans that will make them the most money, the licensed agents at InsureMyTrip only provide recommendations that meet the customer’s needs. To put it another way, InsureMyTrip won’t sell you a plan you don’t need – even if the “best” plan for them is “no plan at all.”

Squaremouth features several of their own comprehensive plans that often appear first when customers search for a plan. On the other hand, InsureMyTrip only shows comprehensive travel plans from our trusted providers.

While it’s true that InsureMyTrip does offer its own IMT Travel Accident Plan, this plan is used as an add-on for travelers looking to supplement gaps in accidental death and dismemberment coverage. Additionally, we will not recommend this plan over other providers’ plans.

This “customer first” approach is not just some arbitrary tagline. Rather, it’s a philosophy that has been part of the InsureMyTrip mission since its founding in June 2000.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article serves as a general overview of benefits and should only be used for informational purposes. Refer to your individual certificate of insurance for specific coverages, exclusions and benefits. Please contact one of our licensed agents for additional assistance if you have questions. Please note that InsureMyTrip is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Squaremouth or their products. The information presented in this article is true and accurate as of the time of publication.

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