IMG Travel Lite Insurance - 2024 Review

IMG Travel Insurance provides comprehensive, single-trip plans for up to 10 travelers per policy.

IMG offers three travel insurance programs:

• IMG Travel Lite
• IMG Travel SE
• IMG Travel LX

This article examines IMG Travel Lite in greater detail.

It is a comprehensive budget-level trip insurance plan that is adequate for international travel.

Travel Lite has strong protection for travelers concerned about losing their trip investment against trip cancellation and trip interruption.

This program also provides benefits for travel delay, baggage loss, baggage delay, and travel assistance.

About IMG Insurance

IMG (International Medical Group), based in Indianapolis, Indiana, opened in 1990.

IMG Travel Insurance received an "A-Excellent" rating for financial strength by AM Best. United States Fire Insurance Company underwrites the plans.

They are an experienced, full-service insurance operation and one of the fastest growing travel insurance carriers in the US.

All of their insurance, administrative, claims, and travel assistance services are performed in-house.

Snapshot of IMG Travel Lite

Benefit per person	IMG Travel Lite
Trip Cancellation	100% Trip Cost
Trip Interruption	125% Trip Cost
Medical Insurance	$100,000
Dental Sublimit	$1,000
Medical Coverage	Secondary
Medical Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains	$500,000
Baggage Loss/Damage	$750
Baggage Delay	$150 24 hours or more delay
Trip Delay	$500 ($125/day) 12 hours or more delay
Look Back Period	60 days
Free Look Period	10 days
Best For	Domestic and international travel
Minimum Trip Distance	100 miles from home
Minimum Insurable Trip Cost	$500
Maximum Trip Duration	180 days
Maximum Age Insured	99 years

IMG Travel Lite Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption

IMG Travel Lite protects the money you invested in travel arrangements with Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption.

Trip Cancellation covers you until the day of departure. Trip Interruption reimburses you for the unused portion of your trip if you must curtail it.

A covered interruption can also refund the extra money spent on transportation returning home, up to an additional 25% of the trip cost.

IMG Travel Lite provides 100% reimbursement for these Trip Cancellation and Interruption reasons:

• Unforeseen illness, injury, hospitalization, or death of a traveler, family member, traveling companion's family member, or business partner
• Complications of pregnancy
• Hospitalization for a mental, nervous, or psychological condition
• Financial default or bankruptcy of a common carrier, cruise line, or tour operator (does not include travel agency)*
• NOAA hurricane warning
• Documented traffic accident en route to departure or the destination
• Common carrier mechanical breakdown or equipment failure
• Shutdown of airport or air traffic control due to fire, power outage, security breach, civil disorder, riot, or government orders
• Strike of common carrier
• Inclement weather
• Residence or destination uninhabitable due to natural disaster, vandalism, or burglary*
• Mandatory evacuation due to adverse weather or natural disaster*
• Hijacking, quarantine, jury duty, subpoena
• Terrorism
• Documented theft of passports or visas

*indicates a Time Sensitive Benefit

What is IMG Travel Lite Cancel For Work Reason?

IMG Travel Lite also has extensive Cancel For Work Reasons.

In these circumstances, the policy reimburses you 100% of the trip cost for:

• Involuntary layoff or termination
• Employer revocation of vacation
• Employee transfer
• Employer merger
• Natural disaster at the place of employment
• Military and first responder activation to provide aid after a natural disaster
• Military leave revoked

Review the policy certificate for details.

IMG Travel Lite Medical Insurance – How Much Do You Need?

Anything can happen while you are away from home, including traumatic injury and critical illness.

TravelDefenders urges anyone traveling abroad to take at least $100,000 Medical Insurance when leaving the US.

IMG Travel Lite supplies $100,000 Medical Insurance per traveler.

Typically, mid-level travel insurance provides this level of coverage. Fortunately, IMG Travel Lite is generous with its Medical Insurance and Evacuation protection.

Standard health insurance rarely protects you while traveling outside the US. Even leaving your network area can cost you considerably.

Similarly, Medicare denies payment for treatment while outside the country.

Some Medicare supplements include a lifetime limit of $50,000 for treatment abroad. However, it must be a life-threatening illness or injury.

Plus, you also pay a copay, deductible, and 20% coinsurance. If your medical care costs more, you pay for 100% of it yourself.

IMG Travel Lite Emergency Medical Evacuation Returns You Home

TravelDefenders always recommends anyone traveling overseas buy at least $250,000 Medical Evacuation, particularly seniors.

IMG Travel Lite provides twice this amount—$500,000. This is a significant benefit for any travel insurance plan, and more so from a "Lite" plan.

Emergency Medical Evacuation:

• Moves you from the location of illness or injury to the nearest hospital
• Transfers you to another hospital if the first one cannot properly treat your condition
• Returns you home from abroad (medical repatriation)
• Includes repatriation of remains
• Covers transportation for a family member bedside visit
• Provides a chaperone and return transportation for children

Substantial Medical Evacuation limits are essential because a private medical jet can cost $15,000 to $25,000 per flight hour.

Therefore, evacuation can easily cost $125,000 to $250,000 from Europe or Central America

Alternatively, evacuations from Africa, Asia, Australia, or other remote areas run from $300,000 to $500,000.

The US State Department recommends all travelers buy trip insurance with Medical Evacuation because they do not provide any medical assistance.

Pre-existing Medical Conditions – What Are They?

Pre-existing Medical Conditions are injuries or illnesses that occur before you buy your travel insurance plan.

IMG Travel Lite covers Pre-existing Conditions if they are:

• Older than 60 days
• Stable, under control with medication
• Unchanged, not worsened in the past 60 days

Suppose you had medical treatment, a test, medication change, new medication added, or received recommendations for future treatment or test within the 60 days before buying travel insurance.

In this case, IMG Travel Lite would not cover claims for trip cancellation, interruption, or medical treatment related to that condition.

If covering a Pre-existing Condition is important to you, look for a policy with a Waiver of Look Back or a Waiver of Pre-existing Condition.

Look Back Period – What Is It?

As mentioned earlier, the 60-day window before buying your travel insurance is called the Look Back Period.

Look Back refers to how long an insurance company concerns itself with your health history.

IMG is only interested in your medical history during the 60 days before you bought insurance. If they determine that your claim is due to a Pre-existing Medical Condition, they do not cover it.

IMG Travel Lite is generous with a 60 day Look Back Period. Some policies look back 180 to 360 days.

To cover Pre-existing Conditions entirely, buy a policy with a Pre-existing Condition Waiver. It eliminates the Look Back Period.

Time Sensitive Period – What Is It?

IMG Travel Lite has a handful of Trip Cancellation reasons that only apply if you buy the policy early.

They activate when you buy the plan within 20 days of paying your Initial Trip Deposit.

When you buy early, IMG Travel Lite includes:

• Carrier bankruptcy protection
• Your home or destination is inaccessible or uninhabitable due to natural disaster, fire, burglary, or vandalism
• Mandatory evacuation at destination

These covered reasons also apply to Trip Interruption.

IMG Travel Lite Trip Delay – How Does It Work?

Trip Delay reimburses you for the cost of food, hotel, taxi, and phone calls if you have a covered delay:

• Car accident en route to departure city or destination
• Documented common carrier delay (airline, cruise line, train, bus, etc.).
• Strike causing cessation of services
• Being hijacked or quarantined
• Documented theft or loss of passport or visa
• Inclement weather that prevents you from reaching your trip destination or return destination
• Natural disaster, mandatory evacuation at your departure city, destination, or return destination

With IMG Travel Lite, Trip Delay benefits begin after you are delayed 12 hours by any of the above perils.

The policy covers up to $125 per day per person, for a maximum of $500 per person.

Baggage Insurance and Baggage Delay

Have you ever received your luggage at the airport and found it was damaged? Stolen items? Or worse, missing entirely?

Baggage Insurance compensates you for lost or damaged baggage items.

IMG Travel Lite offers $750 for lost or damaged baggage. However, it has a $250 per item limit. If you packed your $1,000 camera in luggage that was lost or damaged, $250 is the most you could receive in compensation from insurance.

Sometimes baggage is delayed, not lost. During those times, it makes sense to replenish your clothing and necessities until your supplies arrive.

IMG Travel Lite covers up to $150 for Baggage Delay replacements if a common carrier delays your luggage 24 hours or more.

Always save receipts just in case you need to file a claim.

Travel Assistance

IMG Travel Lite also provides Travel Assistance services. They are available 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

They can help with:

• Emergency travel arrangements, message relay, prescription replacement, cash transfer
• Lost passport/travel documents assistance, luggage assistance
• Embassy or consulate referral
• Medical and legal referrals
• Emergency translations

You can reach Global Assistance from the US or Canada at 866-243-7524. Outside North America, call collect +1-317-655-9798.

IMG Travel Lite Works Hard, Costs Little

IMG Travel Lite is an outstanding and affordable choice for domestic and international travel. It offers tremendous value for your money.

TravelDefenders consistently recommends travelers take at least $100,000 Medical Insurance and $250,000 Medical Evacuation when trekking abroad.

IMG Travel Lite exceeds our recommendations. It offers robust Medical Insurance and Medical Evacuation that rivals higher-cost plans.

Travel Lite also provides a very healthy list of covered Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption reasons. Although, we would prefer that it offered a Pre-existing Condition Waiver.

Shop TravelDefenders Travel Insurance Marketplace to compare over 30 trip insurance plans in one place.

You will always find the best price with us. We guarantee that even the insurance company cannot sell the same policy for less than we do.

Please stop by and chat with us, send an email, or give us a call at +1(786) 321 3723.

Safe travels!