Is travel insurance really worth it?

My recently planned 8 day trip to Paris, France - with months upon months of planning, mainly done by my wife Michelle: Sadly didn't happen.
6 months of the Babel app to learn conversational French, (BONJOUR!) Roundtrip airfare from Sea-Tac to Paris, seven night stay at an airbnb , tickets to a Paris Wolf Alice concert, plus plans to the Louvre, restaurants and coffee shops - were cancelled due to an untimely illness in the family. 

“It’ll only make our eventual to trip to Paris even, more sweeter” - That’s what I keep telling myself and my family.

When I’ve told my fellow coworkers and acquaintances of the sad news, they all ask the same big question:

“Did you get trip insurance?”

The short answer is, yes.  (We got our insurance through AIG Travel) It is important to read the fine print to see what the particular travel insurance will and will not cover. 

It was also very important for my family to get the illness documented by a local doctor. With this note, trip accommodations have a fighting chance of being covered. 

We are now knee deep in the refund process. - We are learning on the fly that getting refunds does require due-diligence. 

Kris Kardashian recently gave one of her big secrets:  “If someone tells you no, you’re asking the wrong person”

THIS quote leads me to my last bit of advice:

Be persistent in finding the maximum refund.

My wife called an online travel brand (whom we booked our roundtrip flight...and who I won’t name here). After being placed on hold for 45 minutes, the company spokesperson informed her that we were being charged a $500 late cancellation fee per ticket.

She hung up - waited on hold for another 45 minutes, and was told by a different operator that they would charge us a $250 late cancellation fee.

(a bit of an improvement, but…you guessed it)

She hung up...was put on hold for ANOTHER 45 minutes to speak with yet another company operator, who thankfully gave us a refund for our flight - WITHOUT ANY CANCELLATION FEE.  - Kris Kardashian is indeed on to something -

My wife and I hope to again make plans for Europe. But first, we gotta try and get as much of our money back from our unfortunate cancellation.