# St Barts Forums > Timeless Tips - A Great Place To Start >  >  trip insurance advice & recommendation

## sbhlvr

I don't always buy insurance unless we're renting a villa. I'm thinking I need to now since my mom is in the hospital.  We leave on the 30th. Is this too close to our departure? I'm concerned that since she's already in the hospital it might be an invalid condition. Any trip insurance company recommendations? 
Thanks in advance.

Carol

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## JEK

Most won't allow you to purchase within 2 weeks and some may not recognize a family member emergency. The only way to know is to try to apply and look at the Ts & Cs. Good luck!

http://www.travelguard.com/coverages/

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## stbartshopper

John is correct. All the travel insurance companies we have worked with require purchase far in advance of a trip. Also with the known condition of your mother being in the hospital two weeks before, I don't believe any company will work with you.

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## Rosemary

Carol - best wishes to your mother, and I hope she is better soon.

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## amyb

Hoping your Mom does fine and you get to enjoy your getaway.

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## phil62

Check out insuremytrip.com. It allows you to compare policies, but I think you are too close to your departure date, but you never know.

Phil

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## NHDiane

Best of luck to you Carol and best wishes to your mom...I went through this same thing four years ago due to my mother's illness and was unable to find what I was looking for.

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## kasi

For three months you will almost certainly have to get a multitrip annual policy. It won't matter if this is your only trip though and it is the best way to secure your trip..

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## jayhawkgirl

Try Squaremouth.com to compare policies.  My husband used to give me trouble about buying trip insurance for our trips outside the US, until two years ago, my dad passed away 5 days before our trip, and we had to cancel our St Bart's trip.  The insurance paid the full price of the prepaid villa and prepaid hotel deposit.  I did, however, purchase the insurance within two weeks of booking our trip.  So, I'm not sure about late coverage.
(side note: I insured our Delta tickets, but Delta gave us a year to reuse the full cost of the tickets, as did SBC, so I probably didn't necessarily need to add those expenses into the trip cost for insurance calculations.  Well, at least not for a death in the family, don't know about illnesses.)

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