Travel can be stressful enough without having to worry about unexpected disasters. And let’s face it: travel is just a list of unexpected disasters waiting to happen!
What if you need to cancel a trip at the last minute? Will your health insurance work if you end up needing medical attention while traveling abroad? What happens if someone backs into your rental car?
From lost luggage to medical expenses, there are plenty of situations that can lead to your journey not going quite as smoothly as planned. Fortunately, these are the situations that products like travel insurance and visitors insurance were designed to address.
Whether you’re planning a trip to another country for vacation or extended business travel, visitor insurance and travelers insurance are definitely worth looking into. Some countries even require visitors and expats to show proof of international insurance before entering.
The good news is that there are now plenty of companies that offer comprehensive coverage for both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens alike. The hard part can be finding the right insurance plans for your unique needs. That’s where companies like VisitorsCoverage come in.
What is VisitorsCoverage?
VisitorsCoverage is a pioneer in the insurance industry. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2006, VisitorsCoverage Inc. is a member of the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (UStiA) and is a licensed insurance broker.
But what exactly is it designed to do? Well, to break it down simply, VisitorsCoverage is kind of like the Expedia of travel insurance plans.
It’s not necessarily an insurance provider in itself, much like Expedia is not actually an airline or hotel chain. Instead, VisitorsCoverage is a third-party site designed to help travelers find all the best visitor insurance and travel insurance coverage options, all in one place.
Rather than spending hours searching through individual insurance company offerings, you can use a convenient questionnaire to find the perfect insurance options for their needs. Once you find the right choice or choices for you, you’ll then be able to purchase coverage right from the VisitorsCoverage website.
Review Methodology
Using any online service for the first time can be nerve-wracking, especially when it comes to something as important as medical insurance. That’s why our goal is to give you a thorough overview of VisitorsCoverage, what it is, and how it works.
We’ll review everything from the services it offers to its ease of use. That way, you can decide for yourself whether it’s right for you.
VisitorsCoverage Features and Products
VistorsCoverage offers a huge range of insurance options for U.S. citizens and residents traveling abroad as well as non-U.S. citizens who plan to visit the United States. If you’re looking for coverage for the first time, then it’s important to understand the difference between the types of plans offered.
Product Offerings
VisitorsCoverage offers a wide range of products for every situation. Some are designed to cover medical bills, while others offer coverage for things like trip cancellations or lost luggage.
When you first log onto the VisitorsCoverage website, you’ll find several different categories to choose from. The first introduces different types of Visitors & Travel Medical Insurance.
Visitors insurance is designed for non-U.S. citizens who plan to visit the United States. Travel medical insurance is a similar product that’s designed to cover the medical expenses of U.S. citizens during their travels to other countries.
VisitorsCoverage does a nice job of explaining what each option offers and for whom. Options include:
- Visitors Insurance
- International Insurance
- Worldwide Health Insurance
- Missionary Insurance
- Business Insurance
- Group Travel Insurance
- Europe/Schengen Visa Insurance
- Multi-Trip Insurance
Further down, you’ll find a number of travel insurance options that are designed to offer protection against mishaps along your journey.
Travel insurance is designed to provide coverage for things like last-minute trip cancelations, delays, mislaid luggage, and any other interruptions. If you need to change your plans due to unforeseen circumstances, you can file a claim to get reimbursed for expenses that would otherwise have been nonrefundable. For example, many trip insurance policies also pay for things like lost passports or lost or damaged luggage.
VisitorsCoverage also offers a solid range of options for specific situations. You’ll find coverage for both non-U.S. citizens and U.S. residents traveling as students, au pairs, or on work or travel visas.
It’s also possible to select policies that come with benefits such as emergency medical evacuation or death & dismemberment claims for travelers and their families.
See Related: Roamright Insurance Review: Is it Worth it?
Understanding Various Options
While VisitorsCoverage offers a wide range of products, the site also offers a comprehensive breakdown of each. Say, for instance, that you were interested in international travel insurance.
If you want to learn more about exactly what this type of insurance entails, just click on the “Learn more” link. The site will then present you with an easy-to-understand breakdown of international travel insurance and why it’s important.
You can also scroll down to the end of the page to find a quick checklist of benefits.
If it looks like this type of insurance is right for you, then simply click on “view plans” to see a variety of different options in this category.
A scrollable list of coverage options will appear, each with details about the company that provides the insurance, what the policy offers, and the plan rating. As you’ll notice, this page also comes with a handy checklist that can help you customize your options.
You can specify whether you’re looking for:
- Limited or comprehensive coverage
- Coverage for pre-existing conditions or the acute onset of pre-existing conditions
- Covid-19 benefits
- Coverage including or excluding the USA
- and more
See Related: Travelex Insurance Review: Is It Worth It?
Broader Search and Filter Options
If you’re looking for insurance plans for travel for the first time, then looking through all your options may seem a bit intimidating. That’s why VisitorsCoverage also offers a quick questionnaire to help you find the right plans for you.
Imagine that you’re a 35-year-old with no pre-existing conditions looking for health insurance coverage for an upcoming trip to France (totally not revealing anything about myself here). From the VisitorsCoverage homepage, you’ll select the Visitors and Travel Medical Insurance option.
On the next page, you’ll specify the country you intend to travel to, as well as any additional countries you plan to visit throughout your trip.
Next, you’ll enter your age, home country, and country of residence.
If you want coverage for more than one traveler, you can also enter their information here as well. Last but not least, you’ll enter the dates of your trip.
The site will then filter out and present the best possible options for you.
You’ll also have the option to further customize the insurance plans in your results. Select the specific types of coverage you’re looking for, your minimum coverage amount, and more.
You can even check the “compare” box of up to three different insurance plans at a time to view a side-by-side comparison.
Whether you’re looking for a lower price, deductible, or better coverage for certain medical conditions, the comparison feature offers a thorough breakdown of your selected choices.
Once you make your final choice, you can then buy the policy right from the VisitorsCoverge site. Rest assured that all the prices on the VisitorsCoverage website are the same as if you purchased the plan directly from the provider.
Through the payment process, you’ll also create a VisitorsCoverage sign-in that allows you to log in and manage your policy details and documents anytime.
See Related: World Nomads Insurance Review: Is It Worth It?
Resource and Customer Support
VisitorsCoverage also has a nice range of content to help familiarize first-time customers with different types of visitor insurance and travel insurance. You can purchase medical insurance from VisitorsCoverage at any time, but just be aware that your coverage will only apply to new medical conditions.
Choose from helpful articles for both non-U.S. citizens and U.S. residents traveling abroad. Or learn about different types of coverage from a series of educational videos.
If you still have questions or need help filing a claim, you can reach out via chat, email, or phone for assistance. You can also reach out to customer service to cancel most medical insurance policies before coverage begins for a full refund.
If the coverage is already active, then you can also reach out to get a partial refund for any unused days that you no longer need. Trip insurance plans can only be canceled under specific circumstances after a free look-back period.
VisitorsCoverage Alternatives
VisitorsCoverage makes it much easier to find the right insurance company for you. But how do they stack up against the competition?
The site enjoys an excellent rating of 4.7/5 stars on TrustPilot and an A+ rating from the BBB, though they are not yet accredited. While we were able to find a few complaints filed on other less reputable websites, overall the reviews we found for VisitorsCoverage were positive.
You can also check out the site’s various rewards and qualifications on the VisitorsCoverage website.
VisitorsCoverage competitors include similar sites like Insubuyand World Nomads. While we weren’t able to find as many customer reviews for Insurby, the company is accredited and rated A+ by the BBB.
Insubuy offers similar options to VistorsCoverage, as well as a few additional options. These include:
- Fiance visa insurance
- Marine Crew health insurance
- Hazardous sports insurance
- A vision and dental plan
- Kidnap & ransom insurance
- Short-term and group domestic insurance
World Nomads is an Australian-based travel and visitors insurance company that specializes in coverage of over 200 extreme sports. Interestingly enough, World Nomads does not fare as well as on TrustPilot and currently has a 3.7/5 star rating.
While World Nomads may be worth looking into for some travelers (and many of us at VT are frequent users of World Nomads), its insurance offerings are far less comprehensive and flexible than what’s on offer at sites like VisitorsCoverage.
VisitorsCoverage Pros and Cons
Here’s a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of using VisitorsCoverage to find travel or visitor insurance for your next journey.
Pros:
- Offers a huge range of options for everything from trip cancelation to medical insurance with comprehensive coverage.
- Plenty of options for non-U.S. citizens and U.S. residents alike.
- Search filters and questionnaires make it easy to find the right options for you.
- Offers plans with coverage for acute onset of pre-existing conditions during travel.
- Offers coverage from reputable insurance companies such as Seven Corners, Atlas Travel Insurance, United Healthcare, Patriot Insurance Company, and more.
Cons:
- Some VisitorsCoverage reviews complained that the site felt overwhelming due to the wide number of options offered.
- Due to the fact that VisitorsCoverge is a third-party site, experiences may vary based on the provider you choose to go with.
See Related: Best Senior Travel Insurance Plans & Options
Visitors Coverage Category Ratings:
Ease-of-Use: 5
Due to the sheer number of options available on VisitorsCoverge, it’s inevitable that some first-time users may find it a bit overwhelming. But the site is built to direct customers to the best plans for their needs as easily as possible.
Features: 5
First-time users will find a thorough breakdown of coverage options as well as an easy-to-use questionnaire designed to present them with the most relevant policies. The site’s filtering and comparison options make it possible to find the best results quickly.
VisitorsCoverage also offers an impressively thorough resource section with tools designed to answer questions about different types of insurance products.
Customer Service: 4
VisitorsCoverage offers a wide range of customer service options, including chat, email, and phone support. Based on reviews, customers seem pretty satisfied with the services offered.
The only reason we give it a 4 rather than 5 is that their phone service is only available Monday- Friday from 7:00 am – 6:00 pm PST. This could present a challenge if you were traveling in a different time zone or needed assistance immediately.
Value for Money: 5
While you won’t necessarily save money with VisitorsCoverge, you’d be hard-pressed to find lower prices elsewhere either. All of the coverage options the site presents are bound by law to be listed for the same prices you’d pay through any other insurance provider or broker.
It’s also important to note that the billing process of medical insurance plans can vary depending on which facility you choose to visit. If possible, it’s a good idea to ask how insurance works before your visit.
While some facilities may be able to bill the provider directly, others may require upfront payment, which you can file a claim to have reimbursed later.
Overall VisitorsCoverage Ranking: 4.75
Overall, we highly recommend VisitorsCoverge as a travel insurance solution. The site offers leads on comprehensive medical insurance, visitors insurance, and trip insurance for a wide range of situations.
If the medical insurance you have in your home country doesn’t extend to an area where you plan to travel, then it’s not worth the risk to set off without proper coverage. VisitorsCoverge offers plenty of options to insure that you and your family will be protected if you need to request treatment for injuries or illnesses abroad.
In addition to medical insurance, VisitorsCoverage also makes it easy to cover any expenses you would incur due to trip cancelation, luggage issues, or other unexpected hang-ups.
Just be sure to read through each policy in detail to ensure that the one you select offers the right comprehensive coverage for you.
Final Thoughts: Is VisitorsCoverge Legit?
Yes, VisitorsCoverage is a legitimate company that offers health and trip insurance plans for travelers (among many more). While not an insurance provider in itself, it is a licensed insurance broker.
The VisitorsCoverge website allows customers to compare plans from a number of different providers in one convenient place. The site also offers a number of questionnaires and filters that can help direct customers to the best plans for their unique situations.
FAQ
What kind of insurance can I find through VisitorsCoverge?
A whole bunch!
Visitors insurance, which covers medical expenses for short-term visitors to the U.S. International travel insurance, which covers medical expenses during international trips. Trip insurance covers expenses related to flight cancellations, trip interruptions, or baggage delays.
Immigrant and “Green Card” insurance which includes short-term medical coverage for new U.S. immigrants and Green Card holders. European and Schengen visa insurance covers medical expenses during European trips.
Student visa insurance covers medical expenses for students studying abroad. And last but not least, COVID-19 coverage!
Can you purchase travel medical insurance after arriving in the U.S.?
Yes! With VisitorsCoverge, you can buy a plan after arriving in the U.S., just know that the plan only covers anything that happens after the policy start date.
Related Resources
VisitorsCoverage
VARIES
Pros
- Offers a huge range of options
- Plenty of options for non-U.S. citizens and U.S. residents alike
- Search filters and questionnaires make it easy to find the right options for you.
- Offers plans with coverage for acute onset of pre-existing conditions
- Offers coverage from reputable insurance companies
Cons
- Some VisitorsCoverage reviews complained that the site felt overwhelming due to the wide number of options offered.
- VisitorsCoverge is a third-party site, experiences may vary based on the provider you choose to go with.
