4

I will be travelling to United States to join a graduate program. I need to buy travel medical insurance for three weeks as I will be an early arrival student. I am thinking of buying Atlas Travel Insurance (HCC Medical Insurance Company). I would like to know if it is a good idea to buy travel insurance from an online broker like insubuy.com ? or should I buy the insurance from the insurance company's website directly ? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using each of these methods ?

Also, any information on the reliability of these online brokers like insubuy.com would be really appreciated.

Improve this question
1

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

The advantage of using online brokers and comparison sites is that they allow you to compare multiple plans at once, even though you will get the same price whether you end up buying through them or buying directly from the company. Legally, there are no discounts on travel insurance in the US.

Online brokers like the one you mention are very reliable and make it easy to compare a variety of plans.

This article talks more about the difference between buying directly from the insurance company and buying from an online broker:

http://www.visitorsinsurancereviews.com/buying-visitors-insurance-from-comparison-site/

There's also some information and reviews about the plan you were considering:

http://www.visitorsinsurancereviews.com/atlas-america-insurance/

Improve this answer
3
  • Do you have a source for legally there being no travel insurance discounts? I find it unlikely that there are no countries anywhere in the world without them...
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Jul 14, 2015 at 20:50
  • According to the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 and section 1300.46 of title 10 of the California Code of Regulations, "prohibit a broker of health care service plans from rebating commissions to his clients" so this applies to the US. law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/4th/35/…
    – Matz
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 1:10
  • You should edit your answer to make that clear - that won't apply in most of the world so that section may or may not be of help/relevance to most of the people seeing your answer!
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 4:58
3

I am the representative of insubuy and we are replying to this question because the original poster has questions about our company.

You should always purchase from a broker such as insubuy because there are many advantages such as expert advice in plan selection, side by side comparison and after sale support, longer service hours etc. Please read our webpage on the topic for further details.

And of course, there is no disadvantage in purchasing from a knowledgeable broker such as insubuy as the prices are the same as anywhere else.

Regarding discounts, they are illegal. Any licensed agent who passes the exam before getting license has to study that. The state laws in the US explicitly prohibit that. You can definitely confirm that by calling your state's Department of Insurance.

Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .