When a Client's Traveling Companion Is Concerned About Cancelling

Say you have a client who, with his best friend (not a relative), has  planned and paid for a trip and purchased a travel insurance plan that includes trip cancellation benefits. The client’s friend tells him that a close family member who is ill could pass away right before the trip, possibly forcing him to cancel the trip. Your client told his friend that he’d also cancel if that happens.

Your client asks you: will travel insurance cover  cancelling because of the death or serious illness of my traveling companion’s family member?

Many people assume that their travel insurance would cover this type of event, but in many policies this event would not be covered. Your client’s friend would have cancellation coverage, but your client would not. You’re probably thinking, “well, that doesn’t sound very fair.”

It’s all in the policy language. (To find it, look under a policy’s “Covered Reasons for Trip Cancellation.”) 

Many travel protection plans simply state they will only cover for an “Accidental Injury, Sickness or death of You, Your Traveling Companion, Your Family Member, or Your Business Partner.” And those plans would not provide coverage for the scenario described earlier. Their claim would be denied.

We recommend you and your clients always check the policy language. Better yet, call us at 1-866-979-6753 and tell us your clients’ concerns, and we’ll find a travel protection plan that does what they need it to do for the best price.

When we have customers traveling with friends and looking for travel protection, we tend to gravitate to one of three companies — Travelex Insurance Services, RoamRight and Travel Insured International — to make sure they get a plan that will cover cancellation for a nontraveling family members’ serious illness, injury or death.

Here is the specific policy language for each company:

Travelex Insurance Services
1. Sickness, Injury or death of you or your Traveling Companion and/or you or your Traveling Companion’s Family Member or Business Partner.

RoamRight
1. Your, a Family Member’s, or a Traveling Companion’s, or a Business Partner’s death or a Traveling Companion’s Family Member’s, that occurs before departure on Your Trip;

2. Your, a Family Member’s, or a Traveling Companion’s or a Business Partner’s or a Traveling Companion’s Family Member’s covered Sickness or Injury, that: a) occurs before departure on Your Trip: b) requires Medical Treatment at the time of cancellation;

Travel Insured International
1. Your, Your Family Member’s, Your Traveling Companion’s, Your Traveling Companion’s Family Member, Your Business Partner’s or Your Business Partners Family Member’s death, which occurs before departure on Your Trip;

2. Your, Your Family Member’s, Your Traveling Companion’s, Your Traveling Companion’s Family Member, Your Business Partner’s or Your Business Partners Family Member’s covered Sickness or Injury.