Detour Insurance

What Detour Insurance is

Detour Insurance is a travel protection plan brand for US residents, built around adventure and extreme sports trips. It is not the insurer. The FAQ says it "offers plans underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in New York and Washington and by AXIS Insurance Company in all other states," and adds that "Both insurers have an A (Excellent) financial strength rating of from AM Best and an A+ (Strong) rating from S&P Global Ratings." The company behind the site is Detour Travel Protection, Inc., with its "Basecamp" at 5255 Winthrop Ave in Indianapolis. Claims are handled by a third party, Co-Ordinated Benefit Plans, which the FAQ names as Detour's claims administrator, and emergency help abroad comes from On Call International.

The selling point is on the about page: "we offer simplified travel insurance plans with built-in protection for adventure and extreme sports," with "no need to worry about add-on options." Every plan on the plans page carries the line "Includes Extreme Sports Coverage."

The four plans and their limits

Detour sorts its plans by trip cost, and each has a published schedule on the plans page. Benefits are per person; the FAQ says "The outlined plan benefits reflect per-person limits."

Active ("Great for lower-cost trips") covers 100% of trip costs up to $3,500 and starts "as low as" $79.54 per traveler. Medical limits are $100,000 for emergency medical expenses, with up to $500 for dental, and $500,000 for medical evacuation. It adds $50,000 each for political or personal security evacuation and natural disaster evacuation, $5,000 for search and rescue, and $25,000 accidental death and dismemberment. Baggage is covered to $2,000 ($250 per article), baggage delay to $500 after 12 hours, travel delay to $2,000 at $150 a day after 12 hours, and sports equipment rental to $3,000 for gear lost or damaged in transit.

Adventure ("Good for higher-cost trips") covers trip costs up to $6,500. The standard version starts at $109.73 per traveler and the page says it "Includes CFAR"; Adventure+ starts at $145.86 and adds Interruption For Any Reason. Emergency medical stays at $100,000 (dental up to $500), but medical evacuation rises to $1,000,000, security and natural disaster evacuation to $100,000 each, search and rescue to $10,000, and accidental death and dismemberment to $50,000. Baggage rises to $3,000 ($300 per article), baggage delay to $750, travel delay to $200 a day, and sports equipment rental to $5,000.

@the Edge ("Most comprehensive plan," "Highest medical coverage") covers trip costs up to $12,500, from $134.34 for the standard version and $194.54 for @the Edge+. It carries the highest emergency medical limit on the site, $250,000, with up to $750 for dental, plus $1,000,000 medical evacuation, $10,000 search and rescue, and the same gear and delay limits as Adventure.

Access is for trips costing $12,500 or more per traveler, priced by "custom quote based on your trip." The plans page lists $100,000 emergency medical and $1,000,000 medical evacuation for it, so its medical limit is lower than @the Edge's even though the trip-cost cover is higher.

Read side by side, the schedules show @the Edge alone reaching $250,000 in medical expenses, while Active caps medical evacuation at $500,000 against $1,000,000 on the other three.

Who can buy and when

Plans are for US residents only; the FAQ says "Detour Insurance plan coverage is available to U.S. residents only." Price depends on "age of traveler(s), trip length, trip cost, and state of residence," and plans can be bought for unaccompanied minors. One policy can cover "Up to 10 travelers" with the same travel dates and the same state of residence; different dates or states need separate policies.

Timing matters. The FAQ says a plan can be bought "until the day before you depart on your trip," but CFAR, IFAR and "other time sensitive benefits" require purchase "within 14 days of your first booking for the trip." A policy cannot be bought once the trip has started, and coverage cannot be extended mid-trip except for a covered reason. Trips can run up to 180 days, departure cannot be more than 30 months after the effective date, and Detour "does not offer annual travel plans." A free look period applies in most states, with a full refund if no trip has started and no claim has been filed.

The FAQ lists excluded destinations: Afghanistan, Belarus, Crimea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar/Burma, North Korea, the Palestinian Territories, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen, where "claims will not be paid for any events that may occur relating to travel to, from or within these destinations." CFAR is not available for travel to Israel. Cruises are covered, and COVID-19 is treated "like other illnesses," including quarantine within 10 days of departure under trip cancellation.

Claims and assistance

Claims start online at Co-Ordinated Benefit Plans' portal with the traveler's name and the DATP policy number; claim status questions go to the same administrator, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern. For emergencies, the FAQ says "international assistance coordinators are available, 24 hours a day/seven days a week" through On Call International, reachable toll-free from the US and Canada or by collect call elsewhere. Detour's own support line keeps the same weekday hours, and the about page promises "We won't leave you in endless hold loops or with AI chatbots."

The plans page lists no deductible and no age cap. The homepage's Adventure Hub runs guides for cave diving, sailing, kayaking, glacier trekking, mountain climbing, skydiving, bungee jumping, paragliding and hang gliding, caving, yoga and whitewater rafting. The caving guide describes cover for "Complex evacuations from difficult-to-access cave systems," emergency treatment for injuries sustained while caving, and damaged helmets, lights, ropes and other specialized equipment. The yoga guide walks through a retreat canceled by illness three days before departure, with prepaid, non-refundable costs reimbursed under trip cancellation. Both guides say coverage and benefits vary by the plan chosen. The generic policy wording sits behind a "Full Policy Details" link, and the FAQ warns of "slight differences in coverage by State."

Who it suits, and who it fits less well

Detour fits a US resident booking one adventure trip who wants sports cover included rather than bolted on, a group of up to 10 from the same state traveling on the same dates, and a buyer who wants evacuation limits of $1,000,000 on the three higher plans. The published schedules make it easy to match a plan to trip cost.

It does not fit a non-US resident, a frequent traveler who wants annual cover, anyone already on the road, or a trip to one of the excluded destinations. A traveler whose main worry is a large foreign hospital bill, rather than trip cost, will find the medical limit tops out at $250,000 on @the Edge.