IMG Travel Insurance Review: Flexible Options For Your Next Trip

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In this IMG Travel and Travel Medical Insurance review, we’ll explore what plans they offer, how they compare with each other, and which plan is best for different situations. Enjoy!

When planning a trip, it’s crucial to consider protecting your financial and physical well-being. If you’ve put down expensive, non-refundable deposits, it’s smart to protect those investments with a travel insurance policy. You might tell yourself you can’t afford it, but it’s more likely that you can’t afford to skip it.

The other major consideration is the cost of medical care outside your home country. No one likes to think about it, but what if you get injured or fall ill during your trip? Travel medical insurance covers the cost of emergency care so you can focus on getting better without worrying about the expense.

Today I’ll review IMG travel insurance and travel medical insurance. IMG offers a ton of products to meet the needs of almost any traveler. While I don’t have space to get into the nitty-gritty off all the options, I’ll focus on the main travel insurance and travel medical insurance plans to give you an idea of how they work and what’s included.

Here we go!

IMG at a Glance

• Customizable, renewable travel medical insurance
• Multi-trip travel medical plan for frequent travelers
• Travel insurance featuring trip cancellation, trip interruption, and emergency medical coverage
• Specialty travel medical plans for seniors, missionaries, U.S. visitors, and expats

IMG Travel Insurance Products

IMG offers two broad types of products: travel insurance and travel medical insurance.

Travel insurance (sometimes called trip protection) protects the investment you make in your trip. Its main features are trip cancellation and trip interruption, but it includes other benefits, too.

Trip cancellation gives you money back on your non-refundable trip costs when you need to cancel your trip for a covered reason. Trip interruption reimburses your non-refundable costs if you need to return home suddenly once your trip has started.

Travel insurance plans also typically cover some of the inconveniences that might come up when you travel. Think things like delayed flights and delayed or lost baggage. Travel insurance plans often include emergency medical coverage as well, making them well-rounded options for many travelers.

IMG offers the following travel insurance plans:

• iTravelInsured Travel Lite Insurance
• iTravelInsured Travel SE Insurance
• iTravelInsured Travel LX Insurance

The other main type of insurance IMG sells is called travel medical insurance. These policies provide temporary medical coverage when you’re traveling outside of your home country. They cover the cost of emergency medical treatment in the unfortunate event you get injured or sick during your trip.

IMG offers the following travel medical plans for coverage outside the U.S.:

• Patriot Travel International Medical Insurance
• Patriot Platinum International Travel Medical Insurance
• Patriot Multi-Trip Travel Medical Insurance

They also offer three travel medical plans for non-U.S. residents who need short-term medical coverage while visiting the U.S.:

• Patriot Travel America
• Patriot Plus America
• Patriot Platinum America

Although it is beyond the scope of this review to include details on these, be aware that IMG also offers specialty plans targeting international students, expats, seniors, and missionaries. Check out their website to learn more.

IMG Travel Insurance: What’s Included?

First, let’s take a closer look at the benefits included with IMG’s travel insurance plans.

iTravelInsured Travel Lite Insurance

Travel Lite is IMG’s entry-level plan. It offers secondary coverage, which means you have to exhaust other forms of insurance before IMG will pay a claim. Even though it’s a budget pick, it boasts impressive coverage.

iTravelInsured Travel SE Insurance

Travel SE is IMG’s most popular plan. It’s suitable for domestic or international travel, including cruises. It includes all the benefits of the Travel Lite plan, but with higher levels of coverage, plus a few extra perks.

iTravelInsured Travel LX Insurance

Travel LX is IMG’s deluxe travel insurance plan, providing the broadest range of benefits with the highest levels of coverage. It includes everything the Travel SE offers and more.

The biggest perks are the cancel and interrupt for any reason coverage. With the other plans, these benefits only apply when you cancel or interrupt your trip for a covered reason. The covered reasons are fairly inclusive, but you can’t beat the flexibility of being able to change your plans for any reason.

The Travel LX plan will appeal to adventure travelers, since it covers the sports and recreation activities excluded under the other plans. Those types might also be more likely to rent sporting equipment, so they might appreciate being covered for that, too.

IMG Travel Medical Insurance: What’s Included?

Now let’s take a closer look at the benefits included with IMG’s travel medical insurance plans.

Patriot Travel International Travel Medical Insurance

The Patriot Travel International plan is IMG’s most popular travel medical insurance product. It offers short-term medical coverage when traveling outside your home country and is renewable up to 24 continuous months. Maximum limits and the deductible you pay are customizable, so you can design a plan that meets your needs and your budget.

As you can see, it includes a slew of medical benefits. Be sure to visit the website to review a comprehensive list (spoiler alert: It’s long).

Patriot Platinum International Travel Medical Insurance

The Patriot Platinum plan offers the highest level of coverage of any of IMG’s international travel medical plans. It includes the same benefit categories as the Patriot plan, but in many cases, more coverage. It also adds:

• Remote transportation
• Supplemental accident
• The ability to extend coverage to up to 36 months

Note that you can add additional coverage for adventure sports to any of IMG’s travel medical plans.

Patriot Multi-Trip Travel Medical Insurance

The Patriot Multi-Trip plan is an ideal solution for frequent travelers. It covers all trips lasting up to 30 or 45 days in a 12-month period and is renewable for up to 36 months. Unlike the other travel medical plans, the coverage limits and benefits are not customizable.

Benefits include but are not limited to:

• Medical expenses
• Emergency dental
• Emergency and political evacuation
• Emergency reunion
• Return of mortal remains
• Return of minor children
• Accidental death and dismemberment
• Trip interruption
• Lost luggage

A Note About the Patriot America Plans

IMG offers three plans for non-U.S. residents visiting America. The Patriot Travel America, Patriot Plus America, and Patriot Platinum America offer similar benefits to the Patriot International plans, with some distinct features. Consult the certificate of insurance for specifics.

How Much Do They Cost?

The price of IMG’s plans will depend on:

• The plan you select
• The duration of coverage
• Your destination
• Your age
• The value of your trip (for the travel insurance plans)
• Your desired coverage limit and deductible (for the travel medical insurance plans)

For accurate pricing, it’s best to get a quote directly from IMG. Don’t worry – it’s fast and easy on their website.

Just for fun, I tested out the system and grabbed a fast quote for a hypothetical family of four from Alabama spending a week in sunny Dominican Republic. Their ages are 38, 36, 10, and 8. Their trip costs $5,000. These are their quotes:

• iTravelInsured Travel Lite: $172
• iTravelInsured Travel SE: $196
• iTravelInsured Travel LX: $392
• Patriot Travel International: $35.02
• Patriot Platinum: $49

As you can see from those quotes, the travel insurance plans are much more expensive than the travel medical plans. That’s because the travel insurance plans include trip cancellation coverage for $5,000, which is an expensive benefit. The Travel LX plan, which is the most expensive on the bunch, includes cancellation for any reason, which is part of what drives up the cost.

IMG: What Isn’t Covered?

Certain Sporting and Recreational Activities (Except Travel LX)

With the exception of the iTravelInsured Travel LX plan, IMG’s travel insurance plans don’t cover losses related to certain sporting and recreation activities that are considered adventurous. The travel medical plans come with the option of adding coverage for an extra charge, but they don’t include it by default. Consult your specific plan to see which activities are excluded. (Pssst: For incredibly inclusive adventure sport coverage, check out World Nomads).

Anyone Who Is Pregnant, HIV+, or Disabled

The Patriot Travel Medical plans won’t cover anyone who is HIV+, pregnant, hospitalized, or disabled on the plan’s effective date. While it’s a given that people in the hospital won’t be traveling, it’s important for pregnant women and HIV+ travelers to be aware of this exclusion and look elsewhere.

> Read More: Best Travel Insurance Companies This Year

Losses Related to War

Like most travel insurance and travel medical insurance providers, IMG will not cover losses related to war, civil unrest, hostilities between nations, riots, and the like.

Pre-Existing Medical Conditions (With Some Caveats)

Generally speaking, IMG’s plans cover losses related to pre-existing medical conditions, but there are some caveats.

The definition of pre-existing medical condition varies by plan. IMG’s iTravelInsured travel insurance plans define it as a condition for which you sought care, treatment, testing, or medication in the 60 days before your plan effective date. The Patriot travel medical insurance plans define it as a condition that required treatment, testing, or medication (including a change in medication) in the 30 days before the plan effective date.

The iTravelInsured travel plans do not cover pre-existing medical conditions. However, a pre-existing condition exclusion waiver is available with the Travel SE and LX plans if you purchase it within 20 days of your initial trip payment.

The Patriot single-trip plans cover acute onset of pre-existing conditions for travelers under age 70. That means that if a condition is stable for 30 days before your policy comes into effect, but something unexpected comes up when you’re traveling, you’re covered. The Patriot Multi-Trip plan covers sudden and unexpected recurrence of a pre-existing medical condition.

Who Can Be Covered?

To be eligible for IMG’s Patriot single-trip travel medical insurance plans, you must be at least 14 days old and cannot be pregnant, HIV+, hospitalized, or disabled on the date your coverage begins. Only non-U.S. residents are eligible for the Patriot America travel medical plans. Travelers under age 76 with their own domestic health insurance policies are eligible to purchase the Patriot Multi-Trip plan.

IMG’s iTravelInsured travel plans cover travelers up to age 99 who are medically able to travel on their plan effective date.

Pros and Cons of IMG Travel and Travel Medical Insurance

Pros	Cons
Travel medical plans are customizable and renewable.	Travel medical plans won’t cover pregnant women or anyone with HIV+ status
Travel medical plans cover acute onset of pre-existing medical conditions.	Travel insurance plans can’t extend beyond 90 days
Travel insurance plans cover travelers up to age 99.	Travel Lite plan does not cover pre-existing medical conditions and no exclusion waiver is available.
Coverage available inside and outside the U.S.
Specialty plans available for students, missionaries, and expats.

Who Should Buy It?

• Seniors: IMG’s travel insurance plans cover travelers up to age 99, so age won’t prevent seniors from securing the protection they need. IMG also offers a product specifically for seniors that is worth checking out.
• Groups: IMG offers group rates, which means your travel posse might be eligible for a discount. Get a quote today to find out.
• Travelers Looking for One Product to Cover All Their Needs: IMG’s travel insurance plans bundle trip protection, emergency medical coverage, and convenience features. For many travelers, this is a simple solution that covers all their needs.
• Travelers Seeking Customizable Coverage: Travelers seeking to customize their medical coverage and deductible can select a travel medical plan that suits their needs and budget. The Patriot plans offer high levels of coverage that will satisfy even the most discerning traveler.
• Long-Term Travelers: IMG’s travel medical plans are renewable up to 24 or 36 months, depending on the plan. That means travelers with a case of wanderlust won’t find themselves without protection if they decide to extend their trip.
• Frequent Travelers: People who travel several times per year might benefit from IMG’s Patriot Multi-Trip Travel Medical Insurance. Rather than buying a policy for each individual trip, getting the multi-trip plan means you’ll be covered for all trips within a year.

Who Should Skip IMG?

• Anyone Who Is Pregnant or HIV+: IMG’s travel medical plans won’t cover travelers who are pregnant or HIV+ on the plan effective date. While most travel medical insurance providers will not cover claims related to routine care during pregnancy, most of the ones I have reviewed do not refuse to cover pregnant women altogether. So even if you’re trying to get pregnant, I would look elsewhere. Similarly, while many providers do not cover pre-existing medical conditions, most do not exclude people completely based on HIV status.
• Anyone Looking for Travel Insurance Lasting Longer Than 90 Days: IMG’s travel insurance (as opposed to the travel medical) plans cover trips lasting up to 90 days. If you’re planning to be away for an extended period, the travel medical plans might work for you, since they are extendable up to 24 or 36 months. Of course, the travel medical plans don’t include the same benefits as the travel insurance plans. Notably, they don’t provide trip cancellation. You might want to check out SafetyWing Travel Insurance instead.
• Travelers Looking to Bundle Trip Cancellation With Customizable Medical Coverage: When you shop IMG, you basically have to choose between two key benefits: trip cancellation and customizable medical coverage. You can get either, but not both on the same plan. If you opt for a travel insurance plan, you get trip cancellation and one-size-fits-most emergency medical coverage. If you opt for a travel medical plan, you get to choose your level of medical coverage and the deductible you’re comfortable paying, but you forfeit trip cancellation. This is the case with many providers, but it can still be a difficult decision.

How to Buy IMG Travel Insurance or Travel Medical Insurance

The easiest way to buy IMG travel insurance or travel medical insurance is on their website. Start by entering information about yourself, your traveling companions, and your trip. You’ll get a quote for all the plans that meet your needs. From there, choose the one that works best for you and purchase it online. If you need help, you can always contact IMG.

How to Make a Claim

If you need to file a claim, you can log into MyIMG to complete and submit claim forms online. Alternatively, you can mail claim forms and original itemized bills to IMG’s claims department. IMG needs to receive all relevant documents within 90 days of the service you’re claiming.

IMG Travel Insurance Plans: Are They a Good Buy?

IMG offers so many options that one is bound to suit your needs. The travel insurance plans are good all-in-one options for people who need trip cancellation coverage. Even the iTravelInsured Travel Lite, which is the entry-level offering, has solid trip protection and medical coverage. For anyone who doesn’t need customizable medical coverage or deductibles and wants to protect their trip, IMG travel insurance plans are a good buy.

Travelers who don’t need trip cancellation or trip delay can save some money and gain more control over their medical coverage by opting for travel medical insurance.

Have you purchased a policy from IMG for a trip? Share your experiences with us below!