Travel Insurance With Best Trip Cancellation Coverage
Regardless of whether you're embarking on a family adventure, a romantic escape, or a solitary expedition to your desired location, one essential element of your journey demands attention: travel insurance.
When acquiring travel insurance, numerous factors warrant consideration, with a key one being comprehending the breadth of coverage for your trip. It's beneficial to grasp the extent of coverage at each phase of your journey, encompassing trip cancellation, postponement, and flight delays.
In this guide, we’ll dive deeper into important aspects of trip cancellation coverage benefits, the exclusions to note and what is available out there.
What Are Usually Included In Trip Cancellation Coverage?
Although trip cancellation claim benefits vary among insurers, there are several commonly recognised reasons that most travel insurance companies will cover. Death or severe illness/injury affecting you, your spouse, child, or traveling companion ranks among the most universally accepted reasons for trip cancellation claims, covered by all insurers.
Other commonly accepted reasons which you or your travel companion can claim for include:
- Medical emergencies such as you and/or your travel companion experiences a “flare-up” of a pre-existing medical condition, are deemed unfit to travel due to injury or illness, or if a family member encounters a life-threatening medical situation, right before your trip or during your trip.
- Residential home damaged by a fire, storm, flood or other natural disasters.
- Flight cancellation by the airline due to adverse weather conditions, closure of airways, airports or runways.
- Legal obligations whereby you're called to be a witness in court during your travel dates.
How Does 'Cancel For Any Reason' Work?
Certain travel insurance plans provide a "cancel for any reason" (CFAR) benefit which can be an add-on feature that comes with additional pricetag on top of the price of your base plan, but enabling you to cancel your trip for any cause, regardless of whether it's specified in the policy.
At the moment, only a few travel insurance providers in Singapore include this benefit of CFAR in their trip cancellation coverage and they include FWD and Singlife.
Wider extent of coverage for trip cancellation
Thus, you gain the flexibility to cancel, delay, or abbreviate your journey for nearly any reason, including those typically excluded under standard cancellation coverage. Below are examples of reasons that this comprehensive add-on will usually accept:
- Missing your flight due to a traffic jam
- Cancellation of a concert at your destination
- Overlapping reservist training with your trip
- Attending to a sick pet requiring close supervision
- Unexpected work obligations
- Delay in visa processing
- Any other reasons not covered in the basic plan
Important terms and conditions to note
- Opting for the CFAR coverage usually entails extra expenses and may result in a smaller reimbursement percentage for your trip expenses compared to claims made for covered reasons.
- For most travel insurance claims, whatever the reason is for cancelling your trip, the reason must occur within a certain period of time for most policies. For example, some require it to take place within 30 days before your departure date, while others might offer coverage for events occurring even further in advance.
- Some plans with CFAR coverage like those provided by Singlife have a maximum amount payable per insured per trip, and are limited to only higher tier plans such as the Singlife Plus and Singlife Prestige.
- The request for the trip cancellation must be submitted/the trip must be cancelled more than a certain number of hours or days prior to the scheduled departure.
- The full cost of all non-refundable, prepaid trip arrangements may be insured at the time of purchase.
Common Exclusions Of Trip Cancellation Coverage In Travel Insurance
Although most travel insurance with CFAR provides coverage for a wider range of unexpected situations that extends beyond the usual list of covered events, most of them still share common exclusions. Below are some examples which are often excluded in travel insurance policies with CFAR coverage.
- Cancellations due to a change of mind or travel plans: The reason for cancellation must be unforeseen and meet the criteria outlined in the policy.
- High-risk activities: Engaging in high-risk activities such as extreme sports or adventure activities especially those with involvement at a professional or competitive level may not be covered under CFAR policies. Each policy may have its list of excluded activities, so it's essential to review the terms carefully.
- Cancellation due to financial default of a travel supplier: CFAR coverage may not reimburse you if your trip is canceled due to the financial default of a travel supplier, such as an airline or tour operator, unless specifically included in the policy.
- Travel warnings or advisories: If the cancellation is due to travel warnings or advisories issued by government authorities or public agencies, it may not be covered under CFAR policies.
- Pre-existing conditions: Many CFAR policies exclude coverage for pre-existing medical conditions unless specified otherwise. This means that if you have a medical condition that existed before purchasing the insurance, any related cancellations may not be covered.
Planning a trip?
Explore our Travel Insurance options for coverage that protects you on your next adventure!
Best Travel Insurance With “Cancel For Any Reason” Coverage
FWD First
- Med. Coverage (Overseas)
- S$1,000,000
- Trip Cancellation
- S$15,000
- Loss/Damage of Baggage
- S$7,500
- Total PremiumTotal Premium
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Singlife Travel Plus
- Med. Coverage (Overseas)
- S$2,000,000
- Trip Cancellation
- S$15,000
- Loss/Damage of Baggage
- S$5,000
- Total PremiumTotal Premium
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Frequently Asked Questions
Should I get travel insurance with ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage?
- Yes and no, this depends on your risk tolerance level when you travel. If you're seeking greater coverage for a wider range of unexpected situations, travel insurance with a ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage will benefit you as it extends beyond the usual list of covered events.
What are usually covered in travel insurance with ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage?
- The usual exclusions include:
- Travel warnings or advisories issued by government authorities or public agencies.
- Engaging in high-risk activities such as extreme sports or adventure activities may not be covered under CFAR policies.
- Pre-existing medical conditions which refer to medical conditions that existed before purchasing the insurance. Any related cancellations may not be covered, depending on the terms and conditions of the policy purchased.
- Unforeseen circumstances which may not be covered if they are not explicitly mentioned in the policy.
- Cancellations due to a change of mind or travel plans. The reason for cancellation must be unforeseen and meet the criteria outlined in the policy.