In my reply to Penny and Bob about Venice and Provence, I suggested buying enough travel insurance when they made their first travel reservation for the trip. Linda asked whether this was permissible. Thanks to Mara, I found the information on insuremytrip.com

In the FAQ, http://tinyurl.com/87z4e it says:

Q. I booked part of my vacation, but not the flight. I would like to purchase travel insurance within the pre-existing condition exclusion waiver period. Do I have to wait until the flight is booked?

A. You can certainly purchase the travel insurance right away. You will probably want to include the cost of your airline tickets in the trip cost. If you can find out what the price of the tickets will be before purchasing them, you can include that amount in the total trip cost. If not, an estimate will have to do. Otherwise, buy the policy now with the costs expended to date and contact us at when you make your other arrangements and we will have the policy corrected to reflect the change. If there is any additional premium as a result of the change, it will be charged at that time. Be sure you do this within the 7 - 21 day purchase requirement (depends on company) in order to comply with the pre-existing condition waiver requirements.

Q. How do I determine the total cost of the trip?

A. To determine the insurable cost of the trip, add together the cost of all of your non-refundable pre-paid trip arrangements.

So last time, we got our insurance when we made our first booking - guesstimated the full non-refundable costs and paid a premium for the appropriate amount. That way we were covered for all our trip.

Frances Toronto, Canada