The policies also provide reimbursement should illness, injury, or death of a close family member at home force you to cancel or interrupt your trip. Most TCI policies now waive any exemptions for pre-existing medical conditions, provided you insure the full value of your trip within seven days of making your initial deposit or prepayment. In theory, that means the company could deny your claim if you so much as took an aspirin on a doctor's advice within the exclusionary period. We see no reason why you'd even consider such a policy. Those policies won't cover you if your trip is spoiled by a self-inflicted injury, an injury resulting from such hazardous activities as mountain climbing, a medical problem that results from the use of illegal drugs, or a war injury.
Some failures strand travelers abroad without return transportation.
But the application can be tricky. That could render the coverage useless. TCI policies don't pay off when the company that sells the insurance fails. If you buy TCI from a tour operator, the insurance won't protect you if that tour operator fails. That's why we recommend buying directly from an insurance company.