Travel Insurance For The USA

But what are among the best deals? We carried out some research and have listed our findings below. You can find out more about how we scored the policies in the Methodology section.

The USA isn’t covered by standard worldwide travel insurance; to be protected you’ll need a policy that specifically includes the US, Canada, and the Caribbean.

However, like other types of travel insurance, cover for trips to the USA comes in several different forms.

The main options include:

• Single trip insurance that covers one trip to the USA
• Annual insurance that covers you for multiple trips to destinations around the world, including the USA
• Backpackers insurance that covers longer, multi-destination holidays that involve spending time in the USA

If you’re travelling with your partner and/or your children, you can also find couples and family travel insurance policies for trips to the USA.

It’s not compulsory to have travel insurance to visit the USA; you can travel without it if you want. However, doing so means risking a potentially life-changing medical bill should something go wrong during your trip.

It also leaves you unprotected if you are targeted by thieves, for example, or have to cancel your holiday due to illness or injury.

An insurance policy that covers you for travel in the USA should offer all the same protection as a European or Worldwide (excluding USA, Canada, and the Caribbean) contract.

However, due to the potentially higher costs involved should you require medical treatment or need to cancel your trip, it’s sensible to look for a policy that offers generous coverage in these areas.

The main forms of protection to look out for include:

• Cancellation and curtailment, which covers you if you have to cancel your holiday or come home early due to illness or injury
• Medical treatment, which covers the cost of emergency medical care while you’re away, as well as repatriation to the UK where necessary
• Disruption and delays, which covers you if you experience problems such as cancelled flights
• Lost, stolen or damaged luggage, which covers the cost of replacing your baggage and belongings (although you may require extra cover for expensive gadgets)
• Legal/personal liability cover, which covers you if you face legal costs due to an incident that occurs while you’re in the USA.

It’s also important to check you will be covered for any activities you plan to do, such as hiking, skiing or scuba diving.

As with almost all kinds of travel insurance, policies taken out to cover trips to the USA will not pay out if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against travelling to the country at the time of your trip.

You’re also unlikely to be able to make a claim if it’s due to civil unrest, terrorism, or being drunk.

And as most insurance policies exclude claims linked to instances in which you broke the law in your destination, it’s worth familiarising yourself with the different areas of the USA you plan to visit.

Laws vary widely from one state to another, so make sure you know what you can and can’t do in the ones on your itinerary.

If you’re heading off on a road trip, remember too that you’re likely to need separate insurance to cover any road accidents or damage to the vehicle.

The USA is among the most expensive destinations when it comes to travel insurance. But that doesn’t mean you can’t save money by shopping around and comparing different policy types and levels of cover.

As with other types of travel insurance, the cost of your cover for the USA will depend on factors such as:

• Your age: the older you get, the more expensive travel insurance becomes
• Your medical history: a pre-existing medical condition is likely to bump up the cost of cover – especially for trips to the USA
• What activities you plan to do: you’ll need to pay extra for cover for sports such as snowboarding
• The duration of your trip: If you choose a single trip policy (trips of up to 31 days are generally covered as standard by annual policies)

Once you’ve got your travel insurance in place, you’ll also need to pay $14 to get an ESTA, a form of electronic visa, which you can apply for online and should usually receive within the next 72 hours.

As mentioned above, when choosing travel insurance for the USA, ensuring you have enough medical cover in place is essential.

Other things to check include:

• Is the cancellation cover provided sufficient to reimburse you in full if you need to cancel?
• How much is the excess you have to pay towards any claim?
• Would the lost luggage protection cover the cost of replacing all your belongings?

To avoid paying over the odds, it’s also worth comparing the cost of single trip and annual policies.

If, for example, all the other trips you have planned in the next 12 months are within Europe, you might find you can save money by taking out a single trip policy for your US holiday and an annual European policy for your other travel.

Either way, it’s sensible to buy a policy as soon as you book your trip to the USA.

That way, you can claim if you have to cancel it, for example because you’re involved in an accident.

Unlike in the UK, where tipping is discretionary and reserved for good service, it is expected in the US. Hourly wages in the States can legally be as low as $2.04 (less than £2) for service workers, which means tips are essential to prop up their income.

You’re not obliged to tip, but you should expect a very awkward moment if you tip the equivalent of anything less than between 15% and 20% of the total bill.

Table service is also standard in the US, which means you shouldn’t expect to be able to stand at the bar, order a drink and pay the bartender for it. Instead, you’ll be served at your table and brought the bill – or ‘check’ – before you leave.

Between tipping and table service, you may find it more convenient to carry cash in small bills while travelling in the US. While this carries some risk, most good travel insurance policies cover you for loss or theft of cash up to a specified amount.

Coverage varies between insurers but it’s generally a good idea to limit the amount of cash you carry at any one time, and make use of a safety deposit box in your accommodation for the rest.

If you need or prefer to use a credit or debit card, opt to pay in dollars. Paying in sterling can cost more if the merchant adds its own fees as part of the dynamic currency conversion.

We used data from our quotation journey to review travel insurance policies for the US. Our research is based on a trip for a family of four (two adults, both aged in their forties and two teenagers) travelling to the US for seven days.

We’ve assumed no members of the family have any pre-existing medical conditions.

All policies include at least £2 million in medical and repatriation cover and £2,000 in cancellation cover, which both extend to Covid-related risks. They also offer a minimum of £1,500 in baggage and belongings cover. We scored each policy on the following factors:

• Price: we awarded points on a scale of one to five. Those offering more competitive prices scored more points
• Excess: we awarded points on a scale of one to five. Those levying a lower excess on claims earned more points. (An excess is the amount deducted from any claims payment you receive. Some policies charge an excess for each person named on the policy while others charge it only once)
• Excess waiver: we awarded five points if a policy offered the option for policyholders to waive the excess levied on claims by paying an additional premium.

The scores for each policy were totalled, and converted into a Forbes Advisor star rating out of a potential five stars.

Policies with matching scores were ranked based on price.