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Questions about cruise insurance


Bandman45
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We are on the Marina in Feb. and have a few questions about what many of you do for insurance. Did you choose what was provided by Oceania? If not, what company did you use? Were the benefits comparable? Pricing?

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Paul's advice is spot on but also remember that price varies with your age just for starters. Most of us, I think, avoid using a cruiseline's insurance. Some of us got burned by Renaissance's bankruptcy in 2001, although I doubt that Oceania is going to go bust any time soon.

 

If you go to a site like insuremytrip.com, you can compare multiple offers once you've input basic information like age, cost of the trip, etc.

 

Mura

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I also like researching insurance with insuremytrip.

Renaissance went bankrupt 3 days before we were scheduled to leave on a cruise, so I'd never book insurance through the cruiseline. Fortunately, visa refunded all our money within 3 weeks.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

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Also be aware that you must purchase the insurance within 2 weeks of your deposit IF you want to have pre existing conditions covered. As with most insurance the price varies considerably based on coverage.

That is not always the case. There are some carriers that will waive pre-existing conditions as long as you purchase prior to final payment. These include some policies from CSA and Global Alert.

Take a look at tripinsurancestore.com

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That is not always the case. There are some carriers that will waive pre-existing conditions as long as you purchase prior to final payment. These include some policies from CSA and Global Alert.

Take a look at tripinsurancestore.com

 

Agree. I just purchased insurance for May 2018, some insurers use the deposit as the start time with various time deadline requirements to insure and waive pre-existing conditions, others use the final payment date. Noticed that the insurance cost will vary accordingly- lower using the deposit date, a little higher using the final payment date- but that may just be the parameters that I entered into the comparison tables. there is a separate topic for insurance under the cruise critic main board.

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Also be aware that you must purchase the insurance within 2 weeks of your deposit IF you want to have pre existing conditions covered. As with most insurance the price varies considerably based on coverage.

 

As others have mentioned, this is not an absolute necessity.

Even among the "must insure early" policies, some go out to within 20 days of initial deposit.

And there are some where one can purchase - including pre-existing conditions - within 24 hours of FINAL payment (defined narrowly).

 

Keep in mind that one must be "able to travel" on the day the policy is started.

 

Here is the link to the CC subforum on travel insurance:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

 

We also strongly recommend www.TripInsuranceStore.com

But CALL, don't just read online summaries. The "fine print" matters!

 

We've had excellent experiences with Travel Insured policies purchased through TripInsuranceStore.

A few rather large claims, and they were paid without nonsense once all necessary (and appropriate, in our minds) documentation was received. And that's what matters, after all.

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I would like to add that we always get trip insurance through Traveguard. We never get it thru the cruise line.

We actually had to use it once when our daughter in law was deployed to Iraq and couldn't go on the trip. We got every dime back for her. And the check was sent out right away. No delays. We merely emailed them her deployment orders and we received a check. They offer different levels of insurance with different pricing. But you do have to buy it within 14 days of the cruise deposit to cover pre existing conditions. Of course we hope to never use it but I think it's money well spent. Also be sure and get Emergency Evacuation benefits. Ours covers up to $500,000. A friend of ours parent had to be airlifted off of a ship and they didn't have any insurance and it cost then quite a bit.

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Check the wording on the insurance contract. I believe that you can wait until final payment because you must buy the insurance by the date of the first NONREFUNDABLE payment. Since you can get your deposit back, you don't need to buy the insurance early provided you are able to travel as of the date that you make the first nonrefundable payment. But if you do your own air or have made hotel deposits prior to final payment, then the date of the airfare purchase, etc. would be the date of the first nonrefundable payment.

 

Mary

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We use Chuck at Insure My Luxury Travel. He is in Colorado. Always seems to find a policy with full coverage slightly under the others. Now that we are 77 and 82 it seems that our insurance is about 11.5% of the fare. When we book close to embarkation, we do not get insurance.

When we book and it costs under 20,000, we cover it through our Capital One Reserve; when we have a very high value cruise we get Insure My Luxury Travel. Insurance is getting out of hand for us. Even though the demographics fit, we only go to the doc once a year for nothing...just a handshake

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Also be aware that you must purchase the insurance within 2 weeks of your deposit IF you want to have pre existing conditions covered. As with most insurance the price varies considerably based on coverage.

 

 

 

Obviously you haven't done your research. There are a growing number of top insurance companies who have moved that waiver window back to the date of final payment. We were regular Travelex Select Traveler fans (in small part for the three week waiver window). Just switched to another prominent insurer for same coverage, a bit less expensive and "buy before final payment" for the PEC waiver.

Google is your friend.

 

 

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Also be aware that you must purchase the insurance within 2 weeks of your deposit IF you want to have pre existing conditions covered. As with most insurance the price varies considerably based on coverage.

 

I normally use Alliance; pre-existing conditions are covered provided you secure it before final payment.

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I used to buy trip insurance directly from the insurance company but I learned my lesson the hard way. I had a claim and kept getting the run around for three months even though I gave them the correct & necessary claim information with the initial claim.

 

I then switched to the tripinsurancestore and realized that I now have an agent who will give me guidance plus fight for me with the insurance company if I need it. Someone who writes a lot of policies with the company carries more weight than an individual.

 

The guidance fits my particular needs based upon the particular cruise. For instance, I didn't need as high a medical coverage since Medicare will cover me in the U.S. on the Alaskan cruise so they selected a company that had a lower premium.

 

They also let me buy just the policy premium to cover my deposit amount. Then as I increase non refundable costs, the policy coverage is increased as I go along. That saves the largest part of the premium until final payment. However I am still covered for pre-existing conditions from the initial policy date.

 

But check out the insurance board here on CC. There's a lot more information there.

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Check the wording on the insurance contract. I believe that you can wait until final payment because you must buy the insurance by the date of the first NONREFUNDABLE payment. Since you can get your deposit back, you don't need to buy the insurance early provided you are able to travel as of the date that you make the first nonrefundable payment. But if you do your own air or have made hotel deposits prior to final payment, then the date of the airfare purchase, etc. would be the date of the first nonrefundable payment.

 

Mary

 

Yes, do CHECK THE WORDING ON THE SPECIFIC INSURANCE YOU ARE CONSIDERING.

 

Whether you can "count" from the first "non-refundable" payment OR the "first payment" can depend upon the insurer and/or the type of coverage one needs.

 

For most policies that won't exclude pre-existing conditions, it's counting from the "first payment", refundable or not.

 

This is where a licensed insurance broker such as Steve (and his colleagues) at TripInsuranceStore can be so helpful.

You can discuss what is/is not important to you in terms of coverage, and they'll find the best policy (among the insurers they've vetted) for the best price.

 

We've even had Steve once suggest why we should pay *less* for a different policy for one particular trip. He was correct; for that one trip, we didn't need all of the regular coverage we usually get. That saved us money.

 

He also helped us with one claim.

Travel Insured paid our first (large) claim with no nonsense at all. That's what mattered.

But then we had an unusual situation overseas, and I figured it wouldn't be covered. Am I ever glad I checked with Steve! He contacted the insurer (Travel Insured again), and let us know which specific part of the policy to "invoke" for this particular claim. Sure enough, we were reimbursed 100% for all costs.

 

But everyone should be VERY CAREFUL NOT TO RELY UPON COMMENTS IN THIS OR OTHER ONLINE RECOMMENDATIONS, about "how" insurance coverage works.

--> Read very carefully the policy you are considering.

It won't matter if "someone online" gave advice that turned out not to be correct for your purposes.

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We have an annual travel policy, provided alongside our bank account.

 

As with any travel insurance, it's important to tell them about any pre-existing medical conditions. A couple of years ago, we were denied a claim for cancellation of flights due to me having kneee surgery - we hadnt told them this was due to arthritis which we hadnt told them about. At the time, it just seemed a consequence of getting old, rather than a specific medical complaint, if you see what I mean. Now, we tell them everything - better to be safe than sorry.

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We have an annual travel policy, provided alongside our bank account.

 

As with any travel insurance, it's important to tell them about any pre-existing medical conditions. A couple of years ago, we were denied a claim for cancellation of flights due to me having kneee surgery - we hadnt told them this was due to arthritis which we hadnt told them about. At the time, it just seemed a consequence of getting old, rather than a specific medical complaint, if you see what I mean. Now, we tell them everything - better to be safe than sorry.

 

In terms of "telling the insurance company everything" prior to purchasing the coverage...

 

Obviously, we don't know how all policies work, but the types we get (which are 3rd party, not linked to any travel provider), there are NO questions that require specifying medical conditions. This is the situation with many major travel insurers (in the USA, anyway).

 

For those who want coverage for "pre-existing conditions" (as defined for EACH policy; these definitions can and do vary), what is important is that one purchase within a specified time of the FIRST payment (refundable or not) AND that one be "medically able to travel on the day the travel insurance payment is first made".

There is no need to disclose medical conditions, and there is no restriction due to medical conditions.

NOTE: The above are not legal definitions; those will vary with the insurer and policy.

 

So IF one takes out the policy within the required number of days of first travel payment (usually 10-20 days; there are some policies that can be started as late as "within 24 hours of FINAL payment", defined narrowly of course) AND if one is "able to travel" at that point, then ALL pre-existing conditions are included/covered.

 

One nice aspect of these policies (the ones that do NOT exclude pre-existing conditions) is that if there is a claim, there is no need to submit lots of medical records from the past. It won't matter. All that will matter is that if it is a medical-based claim, one needs to properly document the occurrence that caused the loss. Similarly, documentation is needed if it's a non-medical claim, obviously.

 

Keep in mind that the vast majority of policies will NOT result in a claim. Insurers would be overloaded keeping track of medical reports of everyone taking out policies.

 

The above is for most USA-based travel insurance. It might be very different elsewhere.

And of course, there could be specific insurance companies that DO want to have the full medical history of anything recent, prior to a claim.

 

As always, what is important is to understand and meet the terms of the policy YOU are getting, including any country-specific requirements.

So many disappointments and complaints here (on CC generally, not just the Oceania sub-forum) about travel insurance stem from not understanding the terms of the specific policy one has.

 

More discussion is available at the CC subforum on travel insurance:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

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r

It might be very different elsewhere.

It is, as I indicated.

 

My policy is not at all uncommon in requiring disclosure of medical conditions. It specifically requires disclosure of any complaint for which there's been a medical consultation.

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It is, as I indicated.

 

My policy is not at all uncommon in requiring disclosure of medical conditions. It specifically requires disclosure of any complaint for which there's been a medical consultation.

 

You had written:

 

"As with any travel insurance, it's important to tell them about any pre-existing medical conditions."

[emphasis added]

 

"Any"?

 

Where are you located, that this is "not at all uncommon" or, apparently, even required for *any* travel insurance?

I did mention that my comments were specific to the USA.

Coverages, and also how one gets coverages, can be quite different elsewhere, but we still don't know where you are located, and there's no location "hint" above your comments where "location" is shown by some posters.

 

Many (most?) of the major insurers in the USA simply have a clause (this is only relevant if one does NOT purchase "within the window" so pre-existing conditions are not excluded) about how recently one can have been treated, or have had meds changed, etc., and still get coverage.

 

But there usually is no requirement to announce those conditions up front.

It only becomes an issue IF there is a claim, and then, IF one has violated those terms and tries to make a claim based upon the medical condition no longer covered... *then* it would show up in the medical records that need to be submitted concerning the previous specified period.

 

If you are in the USA, could you please share which insurer requires this?

This would be very important to know.

If it's a different country, sharing this would also be extremely helpful to others.

 

Thanks.

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We have an annual travel policy, provided alongside our bank account. As with any travel insurance, it's important to tell them about any pre-existing medical conditions..

 

Does that mean your bank gives you free travel insurance because you have an account there? Their policy provisions will vary from other types of travel insurance policies.

 

 

As to your saying, "with any travel insurance, it's important to tell them about any pre-existing medical conditions," I tend to agree with GeezerCouple. In purchasing trip insurance, I have never been asked for medical information prior to the purchase that was made within their Pre-existing waiver period.

 

Another aspect I believe is pre-existing conditions for a relative if you're making a claim based on their condition or death. I'm not really sure but I thought I read that somewhere. Can anyone confirm?

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we still don't know where you are located, and there's no location "hint" above your comments where "location" is shown by some posters.

.

Indeed. As I understand it, that is a choice not a board requirement.

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Does that mean your bank gives you free travel insurance because you have an account there? Their policy provisions will vary from other types of travel insurance policies.

That's right, Steve. It comes as part of a package of "free" services with the particular account we have. FWIW, the full policy booklet takes two pages detailing the requirements for disclosure - and the consequences on not disclosing. Something similar is a commonplace requirement here with most travel insurers that we've had contact with over the years. As indicated in my earlier agreement with GeezerCouple's comment that "it might be very different elsewhere", I do not live in America.

Edited by Harters
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Indeed. As I understand it, that is a choice not a board requirement.

 

Well, of *course* it is a choice.

 

But you are describing legalities of insurance coverage (or denials), without mentioning that it is location specific, as though it applies to "any" (your wording) insurance.

 

There is only an "issue" because you pronounced directives necessary for any/all insurance, and that is not correct.

 

IF you had specified something like, "for the insurance we get, we must declare all medical conditions..." or something like that, there wouldn't be any issue at all.

No one would assume it would necessarily apply to them...

 

And, as you learned, it can matter a LOT whether one complies with all requirements.

The claim might not be paid.

 

So again, what matters is that everyone fully understand the terms of THEIR specific policy.

(But the terms can differ from policy to policy, which is why it can get especially confusing.)

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