Must-read before traveling abroad to avoid heartbreak—these situations aren’t covered by travel insurance

▲ Highway traffic jam—“inconvenience insurance” doesn’t always cover it (Photo / Reporter Chen Shichang)

Reporter Lai Wenxuan / Comprehensive report

Many people purchase travel insurance when going abroad for vacations to ensure a safe journey, but aside from that, the worst things that can happen during international trips include flight delays, lost luggage, and other mishaps. As a result, travel inconvenience insurance is gaining more attention. Although coverage varies by insurance company,there are generally five common non-compensable items under travel inconvenience insurance. To avoid disappointment and frustration when filing a claim, be sure to check and understand these details before purchasing..

The purpose of travel inconvenience insurance is to provide financial compensation from the insurer when you encounter unfortunate events during air travel, helping to soothe your troubled mind when your trip is affected. It usually includes “flight delay compensation,”which may be granted if your flight is unable to depart on time due to cancellation, overbooking, or delays. Generally speaking, the shorter the flight delay threshold, the better..

Additionally,budget airlines can also be covered by travel inconvenience insurance,as long as the “flight delay” meets the definition in the policy terms. However, note that many insurers only cover “scheduled flights,” meaning extra flights or chartered flights organized by travel agencies are not eligible for compensation.

Finally, ifyou’re already abroad, you cannot purchase inconvenience insurance.So, for example, if you’re in the middle of a trip and discover a typhoon is approaching during your return, hoping to immediately buy inconvenience insurance to avoid flight delays or other mishaps—that’s not allowed either.

But there are also some situations where travel inconvenience insurance does not provide compensation.MY83 Insurance Networklists five non-compensable scenarios—the devil is in the details, so pay close attention.

These are situations where travel inconvenience insurance will not compensate you.

1. Accidents on the way to the airport causing you to miss your flight—NOT covered.
If you encounter unexpected issues on the way to the airport, and the policy only states “flight delay compensation,” then you won’t be compensated. However, if the policy mentions “delay due to reasons beyond the insured’s control” or “itinerary delay compensation,” then you should be eligible for compensation.

2. Flight delays when departing from Taiwan—not covered.
Almost all insurers’ inconvenience insurance policies do not cover delays for flights departing from your country of residence. That means, if you’ve lugged 20 kilograms of luggage all the way from Pingtung to Taoyuan to catch a flight, only to find it’s suddenly canceled—you get zero compensation. However, some policies may offer coverage, so make sure to check whether the scope includes both departure and return flights.

3. Pre-departure expenses for the originally scheduled flight—not covered.
You finally make it to the airport, only to find your flight is delayed by over six hours. Thinking the insurance will cover it, you decide to sit down for a nice meal—but be mindful of when those expenses are incurred. Necessary costs like meals and accommodation are reimbursable with receipts, but they must be incurred after the original scheduled departure time of the flight.

▲ Airline staff strike (Photo / Reporter Zhou Chen-geng)

4. Scheduling issues, natural disasters, strikes—may all be non-compensable.
The devil is in the details. There are some things you might think: “How could they not be covered?”—but insurers might indeed refuse to pay. Some policies exclude “scheduling issues,” “natural disasters,” and “strikes,” so think carefully before purchasing.

5. Inconvenience insurance gifted through parent-paid credit card purchases—not covered.
The travel inconvenience insurance provided with credit card purchases typically only covers the cardholder, their spouse, and children under 25. Therefore, if you use your card to buy plane tickets or pay for group tour fees for your parents, friends, or relatives, they will not be covered by travel accident or inconvenience insurance.

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