FAQ: Can travel insurance cover trip cancellation due to a death in my family?
Yes. All of our travel protection plans include Trip Cancellation coverage that reimburses your trip costs if you cancel for a covered reason. One of those reasons is a traveling or non-traveling family member being hospitalized or passing away due to an illness or injury and you are unable to take your trip. The hospitalization or death must occur while your travel insurance coverage is in effect.
It’s very important that you understand who is considered a “family member” when you buy travel insurance with this in mind. See our definition of Family Member for more details.
Pro tip: The death of a family member is also a covered reason for our Trip Interruption benefit, in case trouble strikes back home during your trip.
Travel Insurance Coverage for Deaths in the Family: What to Know
The passing of a family member is a terrible experience, but the stress can increase when you also need to cancel a trip you previously booked. Generali Global Assistance offers travel protection that can cover prepaid trip costs that would otherwise be nonrefundable.
It may seem unlikely that you’ll need travel insurance to cover the cost of a trip in case you experience a death in the family, but you never know what might happen. Travel insurance is designed to help cover these types of just-in-case scenarios, helping you get your money back for a trip you can no longer take.
Who Is Considered a Family Member?
Before you purchase trip cancellation travel insurance, it’s essential to know who's covered and who's considered a family member. Covered family members include:
- Traveling companions (a person traveling with you and staying in the same accommodations)
- Insured’s or Traveling Companion’s Spouse
- Insured’s, Traveling Companion’s or Spouse’s:
- Child
- Parent
- Sibling
- Grandparent, great-grandparent, grandchild or great-grandchild
- Stepparent, stepchild or stepsibling
- Son-in-law or daughter-in-law
- Brother-in-law or sister-in-law
- Aunt or uncle
- Niece or nephew
- Legal guardian
Foster child or legal wardTrip Cancellation travel insurance coverage reimburses nonrefundable, prepaid costs for canceled trips resulting from the death of a family member on the above list, whether or not you were supposed to travel with them.
Trip interruptions — which happen during your trip — are also covered in each of our three plan options. This insurance coverage covers trip costs that you can't use in case you have to end your vacation and return home due to a death of a family member.
This coverage may provide up to 100% reimbursement of trip costs for Trip Cancellation and up to 150% of trip cost reimbursement for Trip Interruption coverage (depending on plan selection), so extra costs can be accounted for.
Is There a Specific Timeline for Eligibility?
Trip Cancellation insurance coverage starts at 12:01 a.m., the day after you buy the plan. This means you’re covered until your scheduled departure time should a family member pass away between the day after you buy the coverage and your departure day. Trip Interruption coverage takes over once you leave for your trip and ends on your scheduled return date.
Pre-existing Conditions
The rules concerning coverage for pre-existing medical conditions only apply to the travelers, and do not apply for non-traveling family members.
What if I Die During My Trip?
If you die during your trip, Accidental Death and Dismemberment coverage is part of our plans and can provide compensation to your beneficiaries.
