PRODUCT: Several products with customized Travel Guard® travel insurance options
COMPANY: AIG Travel, underwritten by National Union Fire Insurance Company, a subsidiary of AIG Property Casualty U.S. Inc.
BEST RATING: A (Excellent)
AVAILABILITY: Coverage is available through licensed and approved agents.
FOCUS: Domestic and international travelers spent $683.1 billion on leisure travel in 2016, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Leisure trips account for nearly four out of five domestic trips, with top activities including visiting relatives and friends, shopping, fine dining and rural sightseeing.
To satisfy increasing demands for flexibility among travelers, AIG Travel is taking a new approach that gives travel agents and other distribution partners the ability to offer truly customized travel insurance packages.
AIG Travel has moved beyond the traditional one-size-fits-all product approach to offer partners the ability to request packages from an array of separate individual product components, alongside its Travel Guard® Silver, Gold and Platinum plans.
“Today, an ever-increasing number of consumers want a more personalized travel experience. So, we now offer our agents a variety of innovative product options and in turn, travel insurance solutions suited to meet specific needs of their travelers,” explains Robert Gallagher, head of travel, U.S. and Canada, at AIG.
UNDERWRITING: According to AIG Travel’s approach, benefits, such as trip cancellation and security evacuation, are available on an individual basis. AIG Travel now offers many new features, including:
NAME YOUR FAMILY℠: In the past, specific policies defined who was a family member and whose death or illness could qualify individuals for a trip cancellation. Under this new feature, travelers have the option to name the individuals who they consider to be family members.
Insufficient/excessive water levels: For travelers interested in river or ocean cruises, this product provides more robust coverage by reimbursing trip costs for a flood or drought that affects the area where the insured was planning to take a cruise.
Canceled wedding: This new product covers the insured guest if a trip is canceled due to a bride or the groom calling off a wedding.
Trip curtailment due to the mechanical breakdown of an owned or rented vehicle: If the traveler’s vehicle breaks down, this provides coverage for the costs of lost vacation time while the vehicle is being repaired or replaced.
Trip inconvenience coverage: This includes a variety of new benefits, which are activated in a different manner than AIG Travel's other travel insurance offerings: It provides a fixed benefit amount payable upon the stated inconvenient event occurring, as opposed to an expense reimbursement. Examples include payments for closed or shut-down theme parks or other attractions, cruise or flight diversions, hotel infestations, beach closures, and runway delays.
AIG Travel has also expanded coverage benefits for the following products:
Pet named perils: now provides coverage if the insured's pet is injured while traveling and needs to be taken to a veterinarian. It also offers coverage if the pet dies after the insurance is purchased, but before the trip is taken.
Security evacuation coverage: provides for the costs of transportation out of unsafe or unstable situations, such as political unrest or a natural disaster, up to a specified benefit level.
MINIMUM PREMIUM: None.
TARGET: Leisure travelers.
COVERAGE TERRITORY: Coverage is currently approved in 34 states: AL, AR, AZ, CT, DC, DE, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, KY, LA, MD, ME, MI, MS, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NV, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WI, WV and WY.
CONTACT: Scott Adamski, head of field sales, AIG Travel Guard; 3300 Business Park Drive, Stevens Point, WI 54482; 866-442-5703.
Ronimarie Acord is an IA contributor.
