Frequently Asked Questions...
This is a living, evolving document that gets updated often to be up-to-date.
If you are having a medical emergency and/or you are a victim of a crime, first contact the local authorities/emergency services.
If you have active coverage purchased through Wanderwell and are currently abroad and seeking emergency travel assistance, please contact the 24/7 Emergency Travel Assistance Services provider - On Call International - at one of the following numbers.
- TOLL-FREE (within the USA & Canada): 855-464-8974
- COLLECT (outside of the USA & Canada): 603-328-1361
This info can also be found on your plan ID card, which is linked in your plan purchase confirmation email. See below for an example.
This is a sample document.
One thing that's certain is the unpredictability of travel for you or even a non-traveling family member. Travel can have inherent risks. From sickness to hurricane evacuations, or injury while traveling, our travel insurance protects you - and your trip investment - even before you leave.
Cancellation/Interruption: Travel insurance can provide peace of mind and protect you from certain financial losses that can occur while traveling. For example, if you have to cancel your entire trip for a covered reason, or interrupt your trip and cancel portions of it due to a covered reason, trip cancellation/interruption benefits can reimburse you for your prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs (up to the limits on your plan's schedule of benefits).
Trip Delay: Travel insurance also can reimburse you for losses caused by a covered travel delay.
Medical Expenses: Travel insurance also can reimburse or even pay directly for eligible medical expenses in the case of a covered medical or dental emergency.
Baggage & Personal Effects: If your baggage and personal effects are lost, stolen, or damaged during covered trip, plan benefits can reimburse you for the loss. Reimburse you for losses caused by a covered baggage delay.
Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation: Travel insurance can provide coverage for Emergency Evacuation expenses, and even assistance with arranging the evacuation, if an Accidental Injury or Sickness commencing during the course of the Trip results in Your necessary Emergency Evacuation.
Other Benefits: Travel insurance can provide reimbursement for missed connection fees, Airline Ticket Exchange Fee, Repatriation of Remains, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, protect you from paying for rental car damage or loss, and much more.
The travel retailer/planner who is organizing your experience may require you to purchase and maintain a qualified travel insurance policy for the duration of your trip.
Americans are beginning to travel abroad again for leisure, business, study abroad and missionary work. Given recent epidemics, natural disasters, and security threats in countries all around the globe - coupled with common medical issues - travelers have plenty of reasons to make sure their health and safety are fully insured prior to trip departure.
Trip Cost per person is a determining factor in the price of the insurance coverage, as well as the amount of trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage. Calculating the accurate insurable trip cost can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be.
Nonrefundable costs include prepaid trip payments/deposits that would be made prior to trip departure, and would be lost if you had to cancel the trip for a covered reason.
Some examples can include:
- airline ticket costs
- nonrefundable hotel costs
- vacation rental costs
- campground fees
- rental car fees
- tickets for tours or events
- more
You can include payments that have already been made, as well as payments yet to be made.
*Be sure to consult your travel suppliers to determine which costs are non-refundable for your particular trip, as cancellation policies vary.
Read more about this in our Help Center article - How do I calculate my total nonrefundable trip costs for the travel insurance quote?
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Home Country is the U.S.
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Is traveling outside the U.S. or is traveling away from his/her home and is scheduled to spend at least 24 hours away from his/her home
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For children under age 6, must be enrolled with a parent
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Initial purchase must be made in the USA prior to departing on trip.
Post-Departure only (travel medical) style plans have super comprehensive travel medical coverage and much more, but without Trip Cancellation benefits.
We will be implementing the Post-Departure only (travel medical) style plans into our website's purchasing pathway later this year. For now, you can quote and purchase the Safe Travels Outbound plan through our agency site with our plan administrator by clicking here.
Safe Travels Outbound plan has:
- comprehensive Travel Medical coverage ($250,000 max per traveler | $0 deductible)
- Emergency Medical Evacuation benefits
- limited coverage for Trip interruption and Baggage & Personal Effects
- Trip Delay benefit of $2,000 for accommodations and lodging due to quarantine (upgrades available)
Your travel protection plan and post-departure only style plan covers only people who are named insured in your plan documents - plan purchase confirmation, certificates, ID cards, Visa letters (named in the plan). Family members and/or travel companions are not covered unless they are named in your plan documents.
- Call the claims administrator, CBP/Nationwide Claims, directly at 727-725-7522. Their wait times have been long recently due to the global situations impacting travel. It is best to call right at 8:30am Eastern Time on weekdays.
- You can send them an email to NWTravClaims@cbpinsure.com and CC us at Support@goWanderwell.com
To help the claims administrator audit and process your claim most effectively and efficiently, please take time to gather all the requested claims forms and supporting documentation and information prior to submitting your claim. Please click here to access our Claims Support Center page for helpful instructions and resources.
The generic definition in most of the filed plans that we represent is...
Pre-Existing Condition means an illness, disease, or other condition during the ninety (90) day period immediately prior to the Effective Date of Your Policy for which You, Your Traveling Companion, or a Family Member booked to travel with You:
- exhibited symptoms that would have caused a typical person to seek care or treatment; or
- received or received a recommendation for a test, examination, or medical treatment; or
- took or received a prescription for drugs or medicine.
*Item (3) of this definition does not apply to a condition that is treated or controlled solely through the taking of prescription drugs or medicine and remains treated or controlled without any adjustment or change in the required prescription throughout the ninety (90) day period before the Effective Date of Your Policy.
*Refer to the policy certificate linked in your purchase email confirmation or in the sample certificate linked in the quote results page.
Yes. Depending on the plan you purchase, the date you made your initial trip payment of any kind for this trip, and the date you made/make the final major pre-departure payment for this trip, you may or may not have missed some of the time-sensitive benefits - one of which is the Pre-Existing Conditions exclusion waiver.
If your plan includes the Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver, you may be covered for losses due to a pre-existing medical condition if you meet all the following requirements.
The Pre-Existing Conditions Exclusion Waiver is included in the Wanderwell Voyage and Safe Travels Voyager trip protection style plans when the policy is purchased within 21 days of the Initial Trip Deposit Date and prior to Final Pre-Departure Trip Payment.
The Safe Travels Outbound plan and Safe Travels International plan have limited or no coverage for Pre-Existing Conditions, as defined in the Definitions section.
These travel protection plans do not cover losses resulting from normal pregnancy or childbirth. See the policy certificate for specific coverages, limitations, and exclusions.
Although normal pregnancy and childbirth are not listed as covered reasons for Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption, unforeseen Complications of Pregnancy may be a covered reason for trip cancellation or trip interruption. See the policy certificate or sample policy certificate for lists of conditions considered Complications of Pregnancy.
*Refer to the policy certificate linked in your purchase email confirmation or in the sample certificate linked in the quote results page. Search for the definition for Complications of Pregnancy.
Before traveling outside of the USA, we encourage you to inquire with your health insurance provider about whether or not your coverage travels with you. Medicare generally does not offer coverage abroad unless you have the appropriate Medicare supplement (see our blog post about this), and hospitals in other countries may require cash payments up front, for which you can file a claim for reimbursement.
Additionally, your health insurance company might not cover a medical evacuation deemed as medically necessary. Refer to this U.S. Department of State travel resources page for an explanation.
Having a comprehensive travel insurance plan with coverage for medical expenses and emergency medical transportation benefits can be extremely helpful and provide an added sense of peace and security for your trip.
These plans treat COVID-19 the same as any other sickness for any sickness related losses while you are covered. *Please review your specific plan for the details and limits of such coverage. *Timing of your purchase is a big factor in impacting your coverage.
When you purchase and maintain a Trip Protection style plan...- If you become ill with COVID-19 prior to your departure and after the effective date of your plan, you may be eligible for Trip Cancellation coverage. These claims will usually require a confirmed diagnosis from a physician with proof of illness that states you are medically unable to travel at the time of departure or evidence that you are subject to Quarantine.
- If you become ill with COVID-19 while on your trip you may be covered for Medical Expense, Emergency Evacuation, Trip Interruption, and/or Trip Delay benefits with a confirmed diagnosis, including proof of illness and inability to travel from a doctor, or evidence that you are subject to Quarantine.
- You WILL NOT have benefits for Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption if you are prevented from traveling due to travel restrictions related to COVID-19 as a pandemic, or fear of travel due to COVID-19. COVID-19, as a pandemic, is considered a "known event". Any trip cancellation or trip interruption claims related to travel restrictions or fear of travel due to COVID-19 will not be payable.
- A travel supplier canceling an event on your trip is not listed as a covered reason for Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption.
- The CDC or State Department upgrading a travel advisory to Level 4 is not listed as a covered reason for canceling your trip.
- Any Loss caused by or resulting from war or any act of war whether declared or not, is excluded in these plans.
Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) upgrade option can be added to the Wanderwell Voyage plan if you meet all of the requirements. Click here to learn more in our Help Center article dedicated to this topic.
When you purchase this added benefit, you can cancel your trip for any reason not otherwise covered. For instance, if you change your mind and decide you no longer want to travel, you are scared to travel, etc.
When adding the Cancellation for Any Reason (CFAR) upgrade option to the Wanderwell Voyage travel insurance plan, If You cancel Your Trip for any reason not otherwise covered by this Policy, the Company will reimburse you for the percentage (up to 75%) of the pre-paid, forfeited, non-refundable Payments or Deposits You paid for Your Trip shown on the Schedule of Benefits provided:
- You purchase with the initial policy and within 21 days of the date of the initial trip payment/deposit of any kind for the insured trip (*Day 1 of 21 is the day you make your initial trip payment/deposit of any kind for the insured trip),
- You insure all prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions,
- You insure within fifteen (15) days of the payment for those arrangements, the cost of any subsequent arrangements (or any other arrangements not made through your travel agent) added before your trip.
- Cancel Your entire Trip two (2) days or more before your scheduled departure date.
*The Cancellation for Any Reason upgrade option is not available to residents of NY or WA.
*We do not offer the Cancellation for Any Reason upgrade if you are within seven (7) days or less from your departure date.
Our Support Team can help to you change your change your plan coverage to reflect your updated trip details as long as you have not already departed on your trip or filed a claim.
Please email our Support Team at Support@goWanderwell.com and include “Date Change Request” and your Certificate number in the subject line of the email. Please include your plan number on all documents.
This info can be found in your plan purchase confirmation and on your plan ID card, which is linked in your plan purchase confirmation email. See below for an example.
*Note that if your insured trip cost or travel dates change, you may be required to pay additional plan cost to your travel protection plan - which you can authorize with our Support Team.
*If your trip is extended due to a covered travel delay, trip interruption, medical emergency or another covered reason, you will not be required to request a change to your coverage dates. The plan will extend your coverage effective period until either the date you are able to return home, to your point of origin, or until you arrive at a medical facility for further treatment or care following a medical repatriation or trip interruption.
This is a sample document.
For a full refund of your plan cost for a Trip Protection style plan, you must cancel within 10 days of your plan purchase (depending on your state of residence) - day 1 of 10 being the date you made your plan purchase - and must not have filed a claim or departed on your trip. Plan costs are non-refundable after this period. *Plan costs for Post-Departure only style plans do not have a review period.
Please email our Support Team at Support@goWanderwell.com and include “Cancel My Plan” and your Certificate number in the subject line of the email. Please include your plan number on all documents.
In the coverage, there are MANY covered reasons/perils for Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption. However, if the travel retailer/supplier has canceled the event and your package, it is not listed as a covered reason/peril for a Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption claim.
If the travel retailer is refunding the payments you made for your package, you would not be able to claim those funds anyway, as they are not forfeited funds.
Please refer to your plan certificate for specific details. The lists of covered reasons for the Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption can be found in those relevant sections on your plan certificate, which is linked in your plan purchase confirmation.
Many airlines are being very with issuing credits for future travel, and in some cases, refunds. We encourage you to check with your airline.
You can absolutely select the date you depart for your trip from a state other than your Home state (the state I reside in), but make sure you list your Home state accurately in the "Your Home State" field in our quoting pathway.