The group has released a statement that the protection does not always make sense.
According to the National Consumers League, a group that has been in existence for 114 years, the way that the industry functions has designed travel insurance in a way that it is typically not a good deal for travelers.
They have pointed out that there are far too many exceptions to make the coverage worthwhile for most people.
The consumer group has pointed out that travel insurance policies are filled with different kinds of exceptions that make it possible for the majority of insurers to be able to reject claims so that they don’t need to make payouts. Furthermore, the group pointed out that as most insurers won’t reveal their claim payment track record, it is not possible for most consumers to be able to determine whether or not a specific company’s policies will be worth the money should something actually happen.
The National Consumers League feels that travel insurance brings in big money but has small value for policyholders.
According to the executive director of the National Consumers League, Sally Greenberg, “The unfortunate reality is that these protection policies bring in big bucks for the airlines each year but offer very little real value for customers.”
Though there are a long list of different exceptions worked into these policies, there are some that are more common than others. For example, many of them will allow an insurer to reject a claim to pay for an illness if it is related to a preexisting medical condition, having lost a job, having a meeting or other event cancelled, in addition to pregnancy or childbirth, said the League. There are also a range of policies that have exceptions for trips that have to be cancelled as a result of terrorist attacks or nuclear contamination, so claims of that nature will also not be paid.
The U.S. Travel Insurance Association, however, has responded to the conclusions of the League. It has explained that the types of policies that include a large number of exceptions are usually the cheaper ones and that there are a broad range of more comprehensive policies that provide coverage to travelers with a far lower number of exceptions.