BVI Travel Insurance Question

Hi Everyone,

I had a question about travel insurance to meet the BVI guidelines. I am inserting the link from the website as well as the part about travel insurance:

https://bvi.gov.vg/travel-protocols

Travel insurance (visitors) which includes minimum approved coverage for:

o COVID-19 medical costs including hospitalisation, doctor’s visit and prescriptions

o medical repatriation

o quarantine accommodation costs

This seems vague to me in terms of required coverage. Does anyone have any insight to what is considered minimum coverage related to covid, i.e. - quarantine cost, emergency evacuation related to illness, etc?

Thanks in advance

Dirk

I have never seen a dollar amount specified anywhere.

Here is a link for a locally built/sold insurance policy. It was built in partnership with the BVI authorities. I'm not suggesting anyone purchase this particular policy but it is a good reference for the required coverage.

Hi Jason,

Great! Appreciate the link. I would feel more confident in a plan that was tailored to BVI travel:

"The Aura Assistance Travel Plan has been specifically designed to guarantee conformity with the British Virgin Islands Travel Authorization requirements, and meet their customers' specific needs."

I had looked at getting one through Allianz Global via American Airlines but it was vague on coverage and did not know if it would meet the minimum criteria for the BVI.

Thanks again for the assistance

Dirk

Jason,

I will probably use this ( the Aura) plan if BVI is still requiring insurance in January.

Just to be clear, as far as I can tell,
looks like the Aura Assistance Travel Plan does not cover TRIP CANCELATION.

I traveled to the BVI last week. I had purchased the Allianz policy through American and they sent a letter confirming that covid was covered. However when we flew into EIS no one questioned or mentioned insurance. I could have been just lucky but it was not an issue.

Terry

Hi Jason,

You are correct no clause for trip cancellation but it does include travel delay:

"Travel Delay
If the Beneficiary’s flight is delayed for at least 6 consecutive hours of the original scheduled departure
time, and there is no other alternative form of transportation during this period, AURA ASSISTANCE
will reimburse up to the maximum benefit indicated in the voucher for reasonable accommodations,
traveling expenses, food and communication charges incurred during the hours of delay and until
travel becomes possible. Prior authorization from AURA ASSISTANCE is required and proof of
valid original receipts and evidence from the airline indicating the reason for the delay is required.
Beneficiaries with stand-by tickets are not eligible for this benefit nor does this benefit apply in the
Beneficiary’s country of residence.
This benefit will not be provided if the flight was at an airport located within 100 km of the Beneficiary’s
city of habitual residence or within the city of the Beneficiary’s habitual residence; or if the Beneficiary
travels with a ticket which is offered subject to availability of space. This service does not apply if the
cancellation is due to bankruptcy and / or cessation of airline services."

Thanks again

Dirk

I have bought travel insurance twice to travel here and have never had to show it...hmmmm..Make of that what you will.

and now that the portal has disappeared.... hmmmm.....
Lots of humming going on .

I will also add that prior to the Gateway requirement being removed, all the guests we had last year entered with a letter from their US Insurer that they were covered internationally for medical care. It was always excepted without question. No mention of COVID, quarantine, or repatriation.

Personally, if someone asked at entry I would just show my US Health Insurance card and verbally state it covers me for international care. If you're someone who isn't willing to lose a deposit, you might consider general travel insurance. Deposit refunds were hit or miss in 2020 based on individual businesses and we don't know what's coming next.

Horizon Yacht Charters has a list of Caribbean Travel Insurance options on their web site.

Caribbean Travel Insurance

World Nomads is at a similar price as Aura, covers cancellations, and quarantine.
They too will supply you with letter stating the covered benefits if requested.

I think it's useful to look at the limits on the Aura plan and use that to influence your decisions. The Aura plan is considerably more expensive than the Seven Corners plan we used for our trip in April/May with very similar coverages. It's definitely worth shopping around and checking any coverage you may already have.

Traveled to BVI via ferry STT to BVI today. The only person that asked about insurance was Smiths Ferry, but did not want to look at paperwork. She only asked if I had insurance. Smiths left exactly on time 430pm and arrived in Road Town at 530pm. We were tested and thru customs at 6pm sharp. Everyone was very friendly and polite. We are very excited to be here again this year! We are on s/v Allegro. Say hello if you see us. We will be flying a red "Jolly Rogder".

We got here last week through EIS and were never asked for insurance info.

Hi Everyone,

I had heard that if your private insurance provides international coverage you are good with that but did not want to get all the way there and end up stuck so I went ahead and bought the Aura plan. You live and learn (hopefully), though who knows most things in the BVI seem to be somewhat random in terms of what happens.

I also asked the travel board and was told if your insurance covers outside of the US it is fine......my specific question was if the global health care coverage I have (BC/BS IL) that I used for entry in May would cover me for this trip.

Hi bagsarepacked,

I have BC/BS MA and could not get a straight answer when I called them...we made a last minute decision to go to BVI before high season so I just took whatever the easy surething was but good to know for future reference though I hope all this is behind us my next year...I think this is what I thought earlier this year but hope it turns out to be the last wave.

Thanks
Dirk

The requirements have not changed; they are just better documented and publicized now. As you know from May, your insurance was accepted even though BCBS does not provide quarantine expenses or medical repatriation.

Personally, I'd travel with that same coverage. You probably won't even be asked to show it on arrival.

Dirk,

To get the BCBS letter you have to contact their overseas department. At least this is what we did using our BCBS Government insurance in January.

We are headed down 11/19 and all I did was email our insurance company (BCBS AL) telling them I needed a coverage letter that stated our policy would cover us outside of the United States and that it did include Covid coverage. They responded with an email asking who all on the policy was going and what the dates were. They are sending us their standard international travel letter. Not sure about other BCBS plans, but our does specifically say that we are covered for medical repatriation as long as we are not outside of the US for more than 90 consecutive days.

Be sure to read read the fine print...

BVI was/is requiring TRIP insurance not just HEALTH insurance.

Difference is, TRIP insurance covers some health care cost, but also things like trip cancelation, lost luggage, delays and "cost for Covid quarantine".

These things that regular health care does not cover is what BVI is/was requiring.

Also know that the health care portion of most TRIP insurance policies is called "Secondary" meaning it only covers any remaining cost after your regular health care policy has paid out.

Since I have HEALTH care that covers me for issues outside the US, I really don't need the "Health" portion of the TRIP insurance policy. Have not seen a TRIP insurance policy that only covers TRIP related issues w/o HEALTH.

On the last three trips we got the Moorings travel insurance. Not the best deal, but easy to add to charter contract and not too likely to be questioned.

Since Moorings have stopped offering that, we went with a policy by IMG sold through insubuy.com... about $150 for 2 people for 4 weeks.

Since we did not have to got through the BVI portal we didn't have to upload the policy. Someone may have glanced at it in the BVI, but certainly nobody was checking the details.

We not only didn't have to show our insurance policy, they didn't even ask to see our vaccination cards at West End.

Bingo!

I didn't have to show my insurance or vaccination card either.

Bags-

We have the exact same coverage BCBS IL....in June we got travel insurance but this time was thinking of just using the BCBS coverage.

What specifically did you get to show proof of the BCBS IL international coverage?

Thanks in advance

Flew into EIS this past Tuesday. No one in San Juan, when we checked in with our airline or anyone in EIS when we arrived, mentioned one word about insurance. We were of course asked for our vax cards before getting tested.

Same here. We arrived in STT on 11/2. Had our USVI portal and vax card but was never asked about insurance.

Arrived Tortola yesterday via ferry. No one asked about travel insurance. We got it, but I wouldn't bother with it next time.

Last week when checking in at the ferry in St Thomas Native Son wanted to confirm we had insurance. Looks like the answer is you may or may not be asked to see it.

I have BC/BS of MA. I spoke to them 3 days ago. They said I was covered, and emailed me a form letter stating the same. The only hook I could see was that I need to pay the bill, then seek reimbursement from BC/BS.

This is what all of our guests travelled with this year. No issues.

I have a new twist on ferry dock boarding. Our BC/BS cards only have my wife's name on them as she holds the policy. RTFF wouldn't sell me a ticket without something with my name on it. We were able to get on-line and pull up proof of insurance with both names from the web site. That was good enough. We had 10 minutes to spare!

interesting...mine only have my name on it...

anybody have the bcbs international approval letter or know how to get?

We have had 4 different groups fly into EIS in the last 2 weeks. Nobody had to show proof of insurance

Your mileage may vary !!
Cheers

Bob
Double Trouble

We purchased Covid Ins through Atlas. We were asked if we had ins by Smiths Ferry prior to boarding but no-one looked for proof. For Covid re entry testing into the USVI, the clinic at Jost was efficient and friendly, $70.

I came in last month on Native son. They asked to see both my health insc and travel insc. I have read other places that they are asking. Seems like a roll of the dice. It was inexpensive enough to grab a policy via 7 Corners. Since my airfare was miles and I could get credits I only got quoted covered the few nights of lodging I had on Virgin Gorda.
Hopefully this requirement will go away soon. Fingers are always crossed.....but the small price I paid for coverage was not worth risking being possibly turned away at the ferry terminal.