Paula in Tuxedo Park, New York asked: I’m going on a European cruise and I only want to buy travel insurance for Germany, I do not want to buy the whole package they sell, can I buy insurance independently and what company do you recommend.

Peter replied: I insist that you buy insurance independently. You never buy insurance from the travel provider themselves. There are many companies you can buy insurance from including Travel Guard and Allianz. You also want to consider repatriation insurance I recommend from MedJet or Travel Guard.

The reason why you don’t want to provide any travel insurance―including trip cancellation and interruption insurance―from the travel provider is what happens if the travel provider goes under. Then your insurance goes under too.

Plus, when you buy from an independent insurance company the language in the policy is more beneficial towards you. Check out the website Insure My Trip, which does an excellent job of comparing policy language so that you can make your own reasoned decisions. They tell you what is and isn’t covered and it really does vary policy to policy. Policies also vary depending on whether you’re buying an annual premium or a per trip premium.

Remember the insurance premiums will require you to make sure you don’t have a pre-existing condition, just like any other medical insurance.

Visit the Travel Insurance category for our complete insurance archives.

By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide