Trip interruption insurance | When the vacation suddenly ends

Two weeks in Mallorca, a three-week tour of the USA or the long-awaited cruise: once the vacation has started, very few people think about having to return home early. But a sudden illness, an accident or a family emergency can quickly disrupt travel plans. In addition to the personal burden, canceling a trip can also be financially expensive. The travel protection specialist Lifecard Travel Assistance (LTA) explains when trip interruption insurance comes into play.

Illness and accidents are typical reasons

Medical reasons play a central role in unplanned changes to travel plans. A serious gastrointestinal illness, a complicated leg fracture or another acute medical condition may mean that a trip cannot continue as planned.

However, the diagnosis is not the only decisive factor for insurance coverage. The illness or injury must actually make it unreasonable to continue the trip and fall under the insured events of the respective tariff. LTA includes, for example, an unexpected serious illness and a serious accidental injury.

Three typical cases show how different the reasons for canceling a trip can be:

The accident at the holiday destination: While hiking in Mallorca, a traveler falls and breaks his leg. Instead of the planned second week of vacation, there is an early return trip to Germany. In the event of an insured event, additional return travel costs and unused travel services can be reimbursed, among other things.

The emergency at home: During a long-distance trip, the mother of a vacationer unexpectedly falls seriously ill. He breaks off the trip and flies back. Depending on the insurance conditions, a serious illness or the death of close relatives can also result in an insured trip being interrupted.

Water damage at home: A water pipe bursts at home while on vacation. If the damage is significant or the traveler's presence is necessary for clarification, early return travel can also be insured.

“Anyone who has to cut short their vacation due to illness, an accident or an emergency at home usually has other concerns than the costs at that moment,” says Dr. Michael Dorka, Managing Director of the LTA. »This is precisely why it is important to contact the insurer or assistance as early as possible. In this way, it can be clarified what needs to be done, what evidence is required and what additional costs can be covered. On the other hand, if you only make contact after you return, you are making things unnecessarily difficult for yourself.

Anyone who has to travel back earlier than planned will quickly have a financial problem: hotel nights that have already been paid for will expire, excursions that have been booked can no longer be used and a new and often expensive flight may have to be purchased at short notice.

This is the main difference to travel cancellation insurance: It applies until the start of the trip and in particular covers the cancellation costs incurred in the event of an insured event. After the start of the trip, the trip interruption insurance is responsible. When a journey is considered to have begun depends on the type of journey: For example, if you use a Rail & Fly ticket, you begin the journey by boarding the train. If you travel by air without such travel services, the journey is only considered to have begun once you have passed through security - even if you have already checked in the evening before. With LTA, in the event of an insured trip interruption, additional return travel costs that have been proven to have been incurred as well as travel services that have been booked but no longer used will be reimbursed, among other things.

Anyone who is dissatisfied with their hotel, gets homesick or simply doesn't feel like going on vacation anymore cannot derive any claim from this. Bad weather alone is not an insured event.

If you actually have to cancel, you should contact an insurer or assistance as early as possible. In the event of illness or accident, medical documents are important. Invoices and receipts for additional transport or accommodation costs as well as evidence of unused travel services should also be retained. With early coordination and complete documentation, you can at least prevent a personal emergency from turning into avoidable financial damage. dpa/nd

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