Editor’s Note: MH Ross is now TripAssure. Their policy coverage is the same, and the review below has been adjusted to reflect this change.
TripAssure is part of Trip Mate, an association of travel insurance companies. It is similar to another Trip Mate company we reviewed, TravelSafe, but there are some differences in the plans, making it worth looking into in its own right. Of special note is the advanced plan, which offers reimbursement of expenses of up to 200 percent of your trip cost if your travel plans are interrupted by an emergency. Most companies cap at 150 percent. Trip interruptions are caused by the same issues as trip cancellations but result in delays rather than termination of your travels.
We did not evaluate this insurance's highest plan, but we evaluated plans that compared most closely to its competitors. In all, the prices for the sample trips – a Mississippi cruise, a tour of France, and an Antarctic adventure – ran higher than average, sometimes by hundreds of dollars. Age of travelers influenced price the most, which was the case in nearly all the trip insurances we examined.
The payouts are comparable to those of the other travel insurances, although the delay compensation is lower than some of the less expensive plans on our lineup. Generali Global Assistance has less expensive plans and pays out up to $2,000 in delay compensation. Luggage delay, however, is quite a bit higher. If you're concerned about your luggage getting lost, such as if you have a flight with multiple connections, then this trip insurance could be to your advantage.
TripAssure offers extras not found with some insurance plans. For example, it has an option to reimburse you 75 percent of your expenses if you cancel for any reason. The standard cancellations are limited to specific cases, such as canceled flights, medical emergencies or death in the immediate family, so this clause provides extra protection against less drastic events. It also covers cancellation by financial default of the carrier or travel company as a standard, and reimburses you for ticket changes.
Its medical coverage runs about average of the insurance plans we reviewed, but it also offers consultation with U.S.-based doctors, a useful feature if you are experiencing a medical issue that you want a second opinion on. It also offers reimbursement for emergency evacuation for non-medical reasons, such as political upheaval.
If you are a senior, you may find that some of the lower-tier plans are not available for you. You need to purchase more expensive plans with higher coverage. This is the only trip insurance agency that we reviewed that does this.
The paperwork and process involved in filing a claim is basic: In addition to receipts, you need proof of incident. This company has an advantage over some companies in that it offers checklists of the documents you need for claims and online claim filing, making it more convenient for you.
TripAssure's trip insurance is more expensive than that of other travel insurance agencies we evaluated, at least for the cases we tested. However, it offers comprehensive coverage, often of situations not covered by other, less expensive insurances. Its higher-tier plans offer a delay compensation provision that's worth looking into if you are traveling in severe weather seasons or cases where your trip might be interrupted.
