For every heartwarming, indelible family vacation memory, there is at least one or two that you can laugh at today, but were downright disasters at the time.

In one memory, three generations of your family swam together with the dolphins in the Florida Keys. In another, your conversion van broke down driving through the Poconos during a snowstorm. And you spent Christmas Eve dining on gas station hotdogs awaiting a tow truck.

A travel insurance plan from Allianz Global Assistance can come to the rescue of family travel memories in peril, whether it reimburses you for costs incurred during a travel delay or provides emergency medical benefits after eating some bad Haggis. Different plans come with different benefits, so you’ll want to review your plan closely. And another area to bone up on is exactly who is covered and what they can be covered for, which is precisely what you’ll learn in this article.

First Things First: TravelSmart

Before we get into the nitty gritty of who’s covered and for what, let’s quickly address something you can do right now to make travel insurance work harder and smarter for your family: download TravelSmart.

You know that super resourceful family member you take trips alongside — the one with a spot-on sense of direction, savvy multilingual abilities, and a tendency to stay calm during an emergency? Well, in our metaphor, you’re travel insurance and your well-traveled family member is TravelSmart.

The Allianz Global Assistance TravelSmart App allows you to consult your travel insurance plan from your smartphone in a pinch, checking on claims, benefit details, and more. And if your family vacation experiences an unexpected speed bump or worse, features including instant access to local emergency phone numbers and 24/7 assistance can get you back on track.

How does travel insurance define “family”?

For the purposes of your travel insurance policy, Allianz Global Assistance defines family members as the following:

• Spouse (by marriage, common law, domestic partnership, or civil union);
• Cohabitants (A person you currently live with and have lived with for at least 12 consecutive months and who is at least 18 years old. You must be able to show evidence that you have lived together for 12 consecutive months.)
• Parents and stepparents;
• Children, stepchildren, foster children, adopted children, or children currently in the adoption process; Siblings;
• Grandparents and grandchildren; The following in-laws: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, and grandparent;
• Aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews;
• Legal guardians and wards; Paid, live-in caregivers;
• Service animals (as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act)

When family members are traveling with you, what does travel insurance cover?

Some of our most popular plans, the OneTrip Prime Plan and the OneTrip Premier Plan, cover children 17 and under for free when they’re traveling with a parent or grandparent (not available on policies issued to Pennsylvania residents).

If your family member is also your traveling companion — meaning a person traveling with you whose name appears with yours on the same trip arrangement and who will accompany you on your trip — then other travel insurance benefits may apply. For example:

• If your traveling companion suffers a covered illness, injury or develops a medical condition; is quarantined; is involved in a traffic accident (not including a mechanical breakdown) on the departure date and needs medical assistance and/or critical vehicle repair; gets divorced; loses their job (through no fault of their own); or is deployed for military service, these may be covered reasons for trip cancellation. (There are additional reasons as well; be sure to check your plan.)
• If your traveling companion cancels or interrupts their trip for a covered reason, trip interruption benefits may reimburse you for additional accommodation fees you’re required to pay, such as a single supplement fee from a cruise line, if you prepaid for shared accommodations.
• If your traveling companion is hospitalized while you’re on your trip, trip interruption benefits may cover extra accommodation and transportation expenses up to limits set in your plan.

When family members aren’t traveling with you, what does travel insurance cover?

Even the most carefully planned trips can be derailed by an emergency at home. That’s why it’s so important to have travel insurance that includes trip cancellation and trip interruption benefits. These benefits can reimburse you for nonrefundable trip expenses if you must cancel or interrupt your trip due to the covered serious illness or injury of a family member (among other covered reasons). The injury, illness, or medical condition must be considered life threatening by a physician or require hospitalization.

How does this work in real life? Imagine you’re touring Tokyo when you get news that your sister has a sudden, serious accident. Trip interruption benefits can reimburse you (up to your plan’s limits) for your last-minute flight home, as well as reimburse you for the nonrefundable prepaid expenses you lose by cutting your trip short. Or, if you have to cancel an anniversary trip to Paris after your son’s hospitalized with a concussion, trip cancellation benefits can reimburse you for nonrefundable prepaid expenses.

Some Allianz Travel Insurance plans also consider attending the birth of a family member’s child to be a covered reason for trip cancellation.

Sometimes, you’re the one who needs help from family. If you’re hospitalized during your trip, your emergency medical transportation benefits can arrange and pay for round-trip transportation for one friend or family member to come and stay with you.

Do travel insurance exclusions apply to family members?

When you’re reading through your travel insurance plan documents, pay attention to the part labeled “Exclusions.” Some named exclusions apply to family members — even if the family member is not traveling with you.

Our plans, like other types of insurance, have exclusions that impact the coverage and benefits. Each plan is different, so be sure to read the documents we send about your plan.

What about pre-existing medical conditions?

Reimbursements for losses due to family members’ pre-existing conditions can only be covered when you have pre-existing medical condition coverage. Several Allianz Travel Insurance plans include pre-existing medical condition coverage, but certain rules apply. Here’s a more detailed explanation of how travel insurance can cover pre-existing medical conditions.

We know travel insurance can get complicated! If you have any questions about what your travel insurance plan covers, don’t hesitate to call us at 1-866-884-3556. Our travel insurance experts can walk you through the plan documents and explain your benefits.

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