What You Need to Know about the Thailand Coup and Travel Insurance, says Squaremouth

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May 29, 2014, 01:21 ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand's military takeover of the country has caused concern among travelers with plans to visit the destination. Squaremouth, America's fastest growing travel insurance comparison site, explains how and when travel insurance can help.

What if I Don't Want to Go to Thailand?
Fear of growing instability in Thailand may cause travelers to want the ability to cancel their trip. However, standard trip cancellation policies do not cover fear. The only benefit that would allow this is "cancel for any reason". Typically an upgrade, this provides up to 75% reimbursement of the trip cost without requiring a covered reason.

What if I'm in Thailand?
Travelers concerned about safety in Thailand should look for a travel insurance policy with non-medical evacuation coverage. This benefit provides evacuation from a place of danger to a place of safety.

"About 25% of the policies on our website include non-medical evacuation," says Squaremouth Product Manager, Josh Walker, "However, the specifics of this benefit differ dramatically between each policy. It is important to understand a policy's coverage to avoid the risk of being stranded in a potentially dangerous location."

What's the Trigger?
In order for a traveler to be non-medically evacuated, a specific event must trigger the benefit. In this situation, it is the US Government's official notification for travelers not to travel to Thailand.

According to Amber Brown, Client Relations Manager at Trip Mate, "A formal notice by the US State Department or the equivalent local authorities in the host country must be issued recommending to leave the country and against future travel to that country."

This Government notice not only triggers the non-medical evacuation benefit for policyholders, it also marks the date that travel insurance providers consider the situation a known event. Any policies purchased on or after the date the warning was issued won't cover non-medical evacuation of Thailand.

Currently, no such notification has been issued, meaning a travel insurance policy can still be purchased to cover evacuation from Thailand. Travelers can refer to the US Department of State's website for updated travel notifications for Thailand.

About Squaremouth
Squaremouth is an online company that compares travel insurance products from every major insurance provider in the US. Using Squaremouth's comparison engine and customer reviews, travelers can research and compare insurance products. More information: www.squaremouth.com.

AVAILABLE TOPIC EXPERTS:
Megan Singh
[email protected]
(800) 240-0369 x 6119

SOURCE Squaremouth