The Free Look Period

When you purchase a travel insurance policy, generally you’ll have between 10 - 15 days to review it and decide if you want to keep it. This period of time is called the “free-look period”.

Why Have A Free-Look Period?

There are several reasons a traveler may decide to cancel their travel insurance policy within a few days of purchasing it. Their trip may be unexpectedly cancelled, after reviewing the plan it may not meet their needs, or they may find something lower priced.

Typically, if the decision to cancel the policy is reached, the insured must contact the travel insurance company or their agent and request cancellation during the free-look period to receive a full refund of the policy premium. Waiting to cancel after the free-look period has expired can result in the premium not being refunded, though many companies will allow the policy to be used for a different trip.

Various policies can have different time frames for free-look periods, and some policies do not offer a free-look at all in certain states. Most companies start the free-look clock on the effective date of the policy (usually one minute after midnight from the day the policy was purchased). But some start the free-look clock as soon as the policy is purchased so be sure that you know exactly when your free-look period starts and ends.

Policy Considerations and Concerns

For travel that is scheduled to start prior to the end of the free-look period, this free-look period will automatically end when the trip begins, or a claim is filed. Even if you are only two days into the free-look period, if either happens, your free-look is over.

During the free-look period, be sure to review the policy documentation, especially for what is and isn’t covered. Check that your primary concerns are covered and what are the circumstances for filing a claim. Many frustrations with claim denials occur because the insured didn’t understand what the policy covered and how much the policy could pay.

Also double-check the trip details such as trip dates and the overall trip cost. For multiple travelers, be sure the listed trip cost is the total for everyone combined. Often travelers state the trip cost per traveler but forget to multiply that by the number of travelers going and are underinsured.

Reviewing these details during the free-look period can help determine if this policy will meet your concerns. A policy that doesn’t cover the primary concerns you need won’t be overly useful. If you determine that you need a different policy or require significant modifications to be made that would cause the premium to be much higher than expected, the free-look period is the ideal time to realize this and get a return of the premium paid.

Safe travels!