Deciding how much to insure—and when—can be tricky.

Here are three options:

• Insure the deposit now and the balance later. This is cost effective, and also preserves eligibility for time-sensitive benefits, such as preexisting condition exclusion waivers and cancel for any reason.

If those incremental payments are not insured incrementally, eligibility for cancel for any reason and preexisting condition exclusion waivers are jeopardized.

• Insure the entire trip cost now. This is the surest way to preserve eligibility for time-sensitive benefits, but if you later decide not to go on the trip, your travel insurance premium is not refundable.
• Insure the trip later, when the balance is paid. Waiting to buy coverage until the balance of the trip is paid is not recommended, as the eligibility window for time-sensitive features will have expired as that window opened when the deposit was made, no matter how small or large that deposit was.

Bottom line:

Preserve eligibility for time-sensitive benefits by insuring the deposit now and the balance later.

Be sure to set calendar appointments and reminders so you don’t forget!