Tin Leg Gold review: the marketplace's own plan, read against its certificate

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The verdict

1. Buy Tin Leg Gold when an overseas hospital bill is the loss you are insuring against. The plan page shows $500,000 per person of primary emergency medical and the policy schedule shows $500,000 of emergency medical evacuation as of September 2026 — the top of the comprehensive shelf, on a plan whose claims are handled by the marketplace that sells it. You can compare live quotes on Squaremouth and see Gold priced against the rest of the panel before you commit.
2. Do not buy it for a big-ticket trip. The certificate carries a ceiling the marketplace table never shows: Maximum Trip Cost: $30,000 and Maximum Trip Length: 90 Days. If your insured per-person trip cost is above $30,000, cancellation stops there no matter what "100% of the trip cost" suggests.
3. Do not buy it if your gear is the asset. Baggage and personal effects top out at $500, with a per-article limit of $100 and a $250 combined cap on the described-property list that includes cameras and electronics.

Tin Leg is unusual: it is the house brand of the marketplace that sells it. Squaremouth's provider page says so plainly, and says Tin Leg claims are handled through Squaremouth rather than a third-party administrator — the same company writes the comparison table and sells a product sitting in it. We read the Gold certificate, policy form LT 007 underwritten by Starr Indemnity & Liability Company, against the plan page, and the two do not say the same thing.

What Tin Leg Gold actually pays

The marketplace publishes a summary; the certificate publishes a contract. As of September 2026 the schedule of benefits reads:

• Emergency accident and emergency sickness medical expense: $500,000, with a $0 deductible, emergency dental capped at $750 and an advance payment to a hospital of up to $1,000. The plan page describes this as primary coverage, which means the plan pays first rather than waiting on your domestic health insurer.
• Emergency medical evacuation: $500,000, with repatriation of remains carried separately at $250,000.
• Trip cancellation: up to 100% of trip cost insured — subject to the ceilings below.
• Trip interruption: up to 150% of trip cost, to a maximum benefit amount of $45,000.
• Trip delay: $150 per day to a maximum of $500, after a delay of 6 hours.
• Missed connection: $500, after 3 hours. Baggage delay: $200 with a $100 daily limit, after 24 hours.
• Airline ticket change fee: $200, after a delay of as little as 1 hour.
• Accidental death and dismemberment: a $10,000 principal sum.
• Optional cancel for any reason at 75% of non-refundable trip cost, to a maximum of $22,500.

The policy carries a 14 days free look from the date of purchase, which the plan page repeats.

The three numbers the comparison table leaves out

This is the part that earns the review.

The trip-cost ceiling. Squaremouth's Gold plan page lists trip cancellation as "100% of the trip cost." The certificate schedule says Up to 100% of Trip Cost Insured: Maximum Trip Cost: $30,000, Maximum Benefit Amount: $30,000. Both statements are true; only the second one tells a couple whose insured cruise fare runs past that ceiling where the money stops. Interruption carries the same $30,000 trip-cost ceiling with a $45,000 benefit maximum. If you are reading a benefit grid and cannot find the ceiling, that is the habit our guide to reading a benefit table before you buy is trying to break.

The trip-length ceiling. The same schedule line adds Maximum Trip Length: 90 Days. Gold is not a long-stay product. A semester abroad or a slow winter in Europe runs past it, and the plans built for that are a different shelf entirely — see our comparison for a student studying abroad for a semester.

The baggage sub-limits. Here the marketplace and the certificate agree, and the number is still smaller than most buyers expect: $500. Per Article: $100, Combined Maximum Limit For Described Property: $250. The described-property list in the policy text covers jewelry, watches, silver, gold or platinum articles, furs, sports equipment, radios, cameras, camcorders and other electronic items. A stolen camera bag does not get $500. It gets $250 across everything in it, and $100 for any single item. Squaremouth's own provider page names this as a con — "Low baggage coverage limits on most plans" — which is a rare piece of candour from a seller about its own brand. We work through how these caps behave across insurers in does travel insurance cover lost luggage.

Where Gold says no

Adventure activities. The general exclusions remove "Participating in bodily contact sports, skydiving, mountaineering where ropes or guides are normally used, hang gliding, parachuting, any race by horse, motor vehicle or motorcycle, bungee cord jumping, scuba diving, spelunking, caving or rock climbing." Read that list again: scuba diving is excluded outright on Gold — not above a depth, at all. Tin Leg's own Adventure plan exists for exactly that reason, and if diving is on the itinerary, Gold is the wrong document. Our roundup of the best travel insurance for scuba diving sorts plans by where the depth line sits, and our hiking and scuba diving comparison does the same for altitude.

Pre-existing conditions. The policy defines a pre-existing condition using a 60 day look-back ending on the effective date, and waives the exclusion only if the policy is bought within 14 days of your initial trip deposit, the booking is the first and only booking for that travel period and destination, and you are not disabled from travel when you pay. Miss the window and it cannot be bought back later. The mechanics are the same everywhere and the deadlines are not — see how the pre-existing condition waiver actually works and, if you are shopping for an older traveler, insurance for older travelers with pre-existing conditions.

Age. Squaremouth's Tin Leg FAQ states the brand suits senior travelers "up to the age of 75." That is a real gate on a plan otherwise marketed at retirees.

Evacuation destination. The certificate pays to move you "to the closest adequate medical facility." It does not pay to move you to the hospital you would prefer. Our piece on how much medical evacuation coverage is enough explains why that clause matters as much as the dollar limit, and the coverage estimator will size it for your own trip.

The house-brand question

Does a marketplace's own plan deserve suspicion? Not automatically — but it deserves a named caveat. Squaremouth built Tin Leg in 2014, calls Gold its most popular plan, and processes Tin Leg claims itself. The upside is a short chain: one company quotes, sells and adjudicates. The downside is that the same company decides where Gold appears in a comparison. The honest test is whether the plan holds up when the panel is sorted by benefit rather than by brand, which is why we still think the marketplace is worth using for the comparison itself. For a second engine to sanity-check pricing, you can also check plan pricing on HelloSafe.

One structural note: Cancel For Any Reason is available on 5 of its 9 policies, not all of them, so the Gold CFAR upgrade is a plan-level feature rather than a brand-level one. It pays 75% and requires you to cancel no less than 2 days before departure.

Who Gold suits, and who it does not

It suits the traveler whose worst case is a foreign hospital: $500,000 of primary medical and $500,000 of evacuation on a moderate trip cost is a strong pairing, and the $0 medical deductible removes the usual first-dollar friction. It also suits anyone who values a single company handling quote, sale and claim.

It does not suit three groups. Travelers with an insured per-person trip cost above $30,000, because cancellation stops there. Travelers going away for more than 90 days. And travelers carrying expensive gear, because $100 per article is not a serious baggage benefit. If high medical limits are the goal but the trip cost is large, the head-to-head worth running is against a plan with a six-figure cancellation ceiling — our Seven Corners Trip Protection Choice review covers the closest rival, and Travelex Ultimate vs Seven Corners Choice sets two of them against each other.

A final caveat that applies to every plan on this site: the Gold policy ships with state endorsements bound into the back of the document, and several of them rewrite the pre-existing condition definition or delete an exclusion outright. Your state's version governs, and it is attached to the certificate you are emailed at purchase.

FAQ

Is Tin Leg Gold worth it?

It is worth it when high primary medical and evacuation limits are the reason you are buying and your insured trip cost is moderate. As of September 2026 the plan page shows $500,000 per person of primary emergency medical and the certificate shows $500,000 of emergency medical evacuation. It is a poor fit if your per-person insured trip cost runs above the certificate's $30,000 maximum, because cancellation cannot pay past that.

Who underwrites Tin Leg Gold?

The Gold certificate is issued by Starr Indemnity & Liability Company on policy form LT 007. Tin Leg itself is a brand created and backed by Squaremouth, and Squaremouth states that Tin Leg claims are processed through Squaremouth rather than an outside administrator.

Does Tin Leg Gold cover scuba diving?

No. The general limitations and exclusions in the Gold policy specifically list scuba diving alongside bodily contact sports, skydiving, parachuting, bungee cord jumping, spelunking, caving and rock climbing. There is no depth threshold to stay under. Tin Leg sells a separate Adventure plan aimed at those activities.

How much baggage coverage does Tin Leg Gold include?

The schedule shows $500 for baggage and personal effects, with a per-article limit of $100 and a combined maximum of $250 for described property, which the policy defines to include jewelry, watches, precious-metal articles, furs, sports equipment, cameras, camcorders and other electronic items. Baggage delay is separate at $200, with a $100 daily limit, after a delay of 24 hours.

Can you add Cancel For Any Reason to Tin Leg Gold?

Yes, as an optional upgrade. It pays up to 75% of non-refundable trip cost to a maximum of $22,500, must be purchased within 14 days of the initial trip deposit, requires you to insure the full non-refundable cost, and requires you to cancel no less than 2 days before your scheduled departure date.