Insurance

We recommend that every tour participant has at least $250,000 of medical insurance and $500,000 of emergency evacuation insurance valid in the tour destination.

We also encourage the purchase of general travel insurance. Comprehensive travel insurance may protect against trip cancellation and interruption, travel delay, loss of baggage and travel documents, and baggage delay. The amount of general travel insurance coverage you purchase is a personal decision that you can make after comparing the insurance types available and the costs of the different plans.

Timing your Travel Insurance Purchase—Consider Buying at the Time of Initial Reservation. If you purchase coverage at the time of your initial reservation and deposit payment, your insurance company may waive the ‘Pre-existing Conditions Exclusion’ (certain exclusions apply), and you may be able to buy “cancel for any reason” travel insurance.

We encourage you to consider “cancel for any reason” travel insurance. This type of travel insurance needs to be purchased soon after you make an initial payment for the tour. Buy the insurance at the time of the initial deposit. You may be able to purchase the insurance to cover the deposit and then add on to the amount of the insurance coverage as you make further payments for airline reservations and the remaining trip payments. There have been numerous recent travel insurance-related articles that you may find helpful. A quick Google search will bring up the most recent articles.

Customwalks is not a licensed travel insurance provider, and we cannot make specific company recommendations. We encourage each tour participant to research and educate themselves about their travel options and costs, and to contact a licensed travel insurance provider with your questions. We advise you to consult a travel insurance broker. Not all general insurance brokers have expertise in travel insurance. You want to find a licensed broker specially trained in travel insurance. You can buy travel insurance from travel agents, but they are only allowed to sell it and not give advice. Basically, you're buying it off the shelf without considering your particular circumstances. Purchasing the right Travel Insurance for you means it has to be tailored to your needs, so we recommend that you consult a broker who has expertise in Travel Insurance.

To help you compare and choose the insurance you prefer, here are links to a few programs previously used by our travelers:

• If you're resident in the USA, try  TravelInsurance.com. They are an insurance broker that represents many companies. You can buy online and there is also a number to call if you have questions.
• If you live in Canada, try  Medi-Quote. They are a specialist travel insurance broker. You can speak to a human being an online quote.
• World Nomads
• TripAssure
• Travel Guard
• DAN (Divers Alert Network)
• SquareMouth
• John Hancock
• Chubb Insurance (must be booked through a travel agent, I think).