Is it prudent to insure a husband and wife under the same visitor insurance plan? We are often confronted with this question when a family is seeking visitor insurance coverage. The answer is – usually yes if both the visitors are adults. Visitor insurance companies do not offer premium discounts for insuring the husband and wife on the same plan. The total cost of the plan is the sum of the premiums for each individual. The benefits are also designed for each person and it is not possible to exhaust one’s benefit limit and then tap into the benefits of the other person insured under the same plan. Likewise deductibles and co-insurance must also be met separately by each person insured on the plan.

Consider now the benefits of having individual plans one each for the husband and wife respectively. Individual policies for each visitor provides the flexibility in selecting plan maximums and deductibles based on the needs of each individual. There are not many plans offering coverage for 70 years and above so if the spouse is less than 70 then it would make sense to shop the wide array of plans for the spouse while considering the few available for the 70 plus. If the visitors have different itineraries or if you desire flexibility on the return date for one of the visitors then it is advantageous to purchase separate insurance for visitors. If both members are insured under the same plan then it is not possible to modify or cancel coverage for one of the insureds while retaining coverage for the other insured.

In some cases it may be a good idea to purchase visitor coverage together. If there are children below age 18 traveling with an adult, buying one plan to cover both of them can provide substantial cost savings. Some plans offer free coverage to children if an adult is on the same plan while some others offer discounted dependent rates for children.

Visit the visitor medical insurance and visitor health insurance pages to compare plan costs, benefits and exclusions.