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We are adding up our prepaid and non-refundable expenses for purchasing insurance with pre-existing condition waiver at final payment. This policy stipulates that you need to include all of your expenses.

 

I have been told different things by agents on the following and wonder if anyone knows:

 

1. Do we need to include taxes and fees charged by the ship as I understand these are refundable. If we had to interrupt our cruise are they still refundable?

 

2. We are using FF miles for air. One agent told us we need to include the fee that the airline would charge to redeposit the miles if we had to cancel. Anyone else been told that? I had never thought of it but I guess it makes sense.

 

We usually book our cruises over a year out. At that point I do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for insurance (which would include pre-existing waiver ) as if we had to cancel we would loose the insurance money. So we get a policy with pre-existing waiver at final payment. I am not totally sure we need the waiver but like to be on the safe side.

 

This cruise is from Japan to Alaska so we will be overseas with Medicare only.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

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We are adding up our prepaid and non-refundable expenses for purchasing insurance with pre-existing condition waiver at final payment. This policy stipulates that you need to include all of your expenses.

 

I have been told different things by agents on the following and wonder if anyone knows:

 

1. Do we need to include taxes and fees charged by the ship as I understand these are refundable. If we had to interrupt our cruise are they still refundable?

 

2. We are using FF miles for air. One agent told us we need to include the fee that the airline would charge to redeposit the miles if we had to cancel. Anyone else been told that? I had never thought of it but I guess it makes sense.

 

 

We usually book our cruises over a year out. At that point I do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for insurance (which would include pre-existing waiver ) as if we had to cancel we would loose the insurance money. So we get a policy with pre-existing waiver at final payment. I am not totally sure we need the waiver but like to be on the safe side.

 

This cruise is from Japan to Alaska so we will be overseas with Medicare only.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

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We use Trip Insurance store, have purchased over a dozen policies. We almost always get a policy written by Travel Insured Intl. A big reason I purchase from TI is I can "pay as I go". I make initial payment (deposit) and I insure for that amount, rounded up to the closest $500 increment (doesn't cost any more to round up within that increment). I think you have twenty days to make the first payment to get pre-ex and some other time sensitive elements, but I usually purchase within a day or so. Any subsequent travel payments, prepaid and non-refundable, for air, cruise, etc. I pay additional for the increased premium within a day or so of payment for the additional travel expense.

As to question 1, I would call the cruise line direct to find out what fees/taxes etc. are fully refundable. I believe govt. taxes are refundable, I don't know about fees.

As to question 2, I would probably insure based on what you were told. However, I will give you my two cents (that's about all it's worth, I'm not an insurance broker). If you haven't paid any money up front for airfare, and used only FF miles, then there is nothing that is prepaid. So, that wouldn't be prepaid and non-refundable, even though you would be hit up for that fee later. I have also been told that (by an agent) that I might want to insure in an amount for an event such as yours, as I could claim that amount, and probably recover that amount, in the event of a claim. Best to call the company that writes your policy.

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We use Trip Insurance store, have purchased over a dozen policies. We almost always get a policy written by Travel Insured Intl. A big reason I purchase from TI is I can "pay as I go". I make initial payment (deposit) and I insure for that amount, rounded up to the closest $500 increment (doesn't cost any more to round up within that increment). I think you have twenty days to make the first payment to get pre-ex and some other time sensitive elements, but I usually purchase within a day or so. Any subsequent travel payments, prepaid and non-refundable, for air, cruise, etc. I pay additional for the increased premium within a day or so of payment for the additional travel expense.

As to question 1, I would call the cruise line direct to find out what fees/taxes etc. are fully refundable. I believe govt. taxes are refundable, I don't know about fees.

As to question 2, I would probably insure based on what you were told. However, I will give you my two cents (that's about all it's worth, I'm not an insurance broker). If you haven't paid any money up front for airfare, and used only FF miles, then there is nothing that is prepaid. So, that wouldn't be prepaid and non-refundable, even though you would be hit up for that fee later. I have also been told that (by an agent) that I might want to insure in an amount for an event such as yours, as I could claim that amount, and probably recover that amount, in the event of a claim. Best to call the company that writes your policy.

 

This ^^^

 

We also use TripInsuranceStore, and get policies from Travel Insured.

And we've had some claims, including 2 large ones, and we got paid in full with no nonsense.

 

We also need to insure ALL pre-paid costs, even if refundable, and we only pay as we add more costs.

But there are lots of different policies.

DON'T rely upon what you read here. Posters could be trying to be as helpful as possible, but if it isn't YOUR *specific* policy, in YOUR state, with whatever extras (riders) that YOU include, it won't help you a bit if your claim is later denied.

 

For one of our claims, for a totally cancelled trip at the last minute (medical emergency), we had to provide a lot of charge receipts *proving* we had insured everything we paid for.

(It was tedious to cut and paste charge statements. We figure "the web" has pretty much everything about our spending and browsing patterns already, so we just sent a stack of statements, and let them find everything that we had highlighted. They may have checked dates of payment additions to make sure that we upped the coverage within the window. If so, we had done it all quite properly. They processed it all, called us to say a check was being sent, and the next week that [large] check arrived.)

 

Listen to what Steve and crew at TripInsuranceStore.com tell you, and get one of the policies they recommend for what you need.

 

Also, our policies allow us to *transfer* the premiums already paid for one trip, to another trip (within a time limit, maybe a year??). We've done that a couple of times, too, so the premiums were not, in fact, "lost".

 

GC

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This ^^^

 

We also use TripInsuranceStore, and get policies from Travel Insured.

And we've had some claims, including 2 large ones, and we got paid in full with no nonsense.

 

We also need to insure ALL pre-paid costs, even if refundable, and we only pay as we add more costs.

But there are lots of different policies.

DON'T rely upon what you read here. Posters could be trying to be as helpful as possible, but if it isn't YOUR *specific* policy, in YOUR state, with whatever extras (riders) that YOU include, it won't help you a bit if your claim is later denied.

 

For one of our claims, for a totally cancelled trip at the last minute (medical emergency), we had to provide a lot of charge receipts *proving* we had insured everything we paid for.

(It was tedious to cut and paste charge statements. We figure "the web" has pretty much everything about our spending and browsing patterns already, so we just sent a stack of statements, and let them find everything that we had highlighted. They may have checked dates of payment additions to make sure that we upped the coverage within the window. If so, we had done it all quite properly. They processed it all, called us to say a check was being sent, and the next week that [large] check arrived.)

 

Listen to what Steve and crew at TripInsuranceStore.com tell you, and get one of the policies they recommend for what you need.

 

Also, our policies allow us to *transfer* the premiums already paid for one trip, to another trip (within a time limit, maybe a year??). We've done that a couple of times, too, so the premiums were not, in fact, "lost".

 

GC

This is a cut and paste from TI website: "and you insure all Prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions." It is in reference to coverage for pre-ex. There may be some grey area there with using FF points and any cancellation penalty. I absolutely agree with you that it's extremely important to talk with Steve, or anyone else at Trip insurance Store, or whatever broker you choose.

I have had two claims from TI. The first was two weeks ago, for a small medical claim from the ship's doctor. TI was primary payer (we prefer med to be primary), we were paid within three days, after filling out paper work.

The other was a couple years ago for the full cost of the trip (substantial) two days prior to sailing. Quite a bit more involved, our Doc had to fill out some paperwork, more receipts, etc., we were paid in full. It took longer, about a month.

It is my belief (again I'M NOT A BROKER) that, with most policies, one does not need to insure any prepaid costs that are FULLY REFUNDABLE.

For our TI claim of the full trip cost, we had purchased air travel which was fully refundable. We did not insure that amount, and we were paid in full on that claim.

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Thanks for all the help. Will definitely look into pay as we go from now on. I usually book online through Princess and later transfer to a big box store for onboard credit. I have in the past used Travel Guard which the latter is associated with. However the last time I did this the agent came up with so many scenarios which would invalidate any claim that I did not go with them. We are in good health and do not anticipate any problems but you never know. We have used the Trip Insurance Store for our recent trips and I was just trying to get a round trip figure to go by. I also agree that it is better to get a policy with primary coverage. There are grey areas. I think we look at worst case scenarios which hopefully will never happen but we have to consider. We will probably over-insure as we usually do for peace of mind. We live in WA state so that makes a difference too. I will call the Trip Insurance Store and talk to them.

Happy New Year [emoji322]

 

 

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This is a cut and paste from TI website: "and you insure all Prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions." It is in reference to coverage for pre-ex. There may be some grey area there with using FF points and any cancellation penalty. I absolutely agree with you that it's extremely important to talk with Steve, or anyone else at Trip insurance Store, or whatever broker you choose.

I have had two claims from TI. The first was two weeks ago, for a small medical claim from the ship's doctor. TI was primary payer (we prefer med to be primary), we were paid within three days, after filling out paper work.

The other was a couple years ago for the full cost of the trip (substantial) two days prior to sailing. Quite a bit more involved, our Doc had to fill out some paperwork, more receipts, etc., we were paid in full. It took longer, about a month.

It is my belief (again I'M NOT A BROKER) that, with most policies, one does not need to insure any prepaid costs that are FULLY REFUNDABLE.

For our TI claim of the full trip cost, we had purchased air travel which was fully refundable. We did not insure that amount, and we were paid in full on that claim.

 

REFUNDABLE vs. NON-REFUNDABLE PRE-PAID COSTS:

 

It is CRITICAL to understand the requirements of the specific policy that *you* are purchasing, and not rely upon anonymous internet posts.

 

I have just reconfirmed (for about the fifth time, due to challenges here) with Travel Insured directly, that for our specific type of policies, we DO need to include "ALL PAID COSTS, refundable AND non-refundable".

It is definitely NOT a "gray area".

It has nothing to do with frequent flyer points, for example.

 

Travel Insured has a variety of policies, as do other insurers.

For the specific coverages that we want to include, we do indeed need to cover ALL costs that we have paid, upping the coverage within 20 days of each payment that would bump us into a higher $500 or $1k grouping.

 

Note that Former Goalie's comment was clear, about applying to "most" policies not needing to include refundable costs.

Unfortunately, others have made that claim more universally, that "refundable costs do *not* need to be included", without clarifying that this is for the types of policies that the person posting has, or is for "some" or "most" policies, but does NOT apply to all policies.

 

It is definitely the case that SOME other coverages do not have the same requirement as our Travel Insured policies, and only require that "pre-paid and NON-refundable" costs be included in the coverage. And I think that for some policies that are only needed for medical coverage, the paid travel costs might not matter (but I am NOT that familiar with these policies, as we always want the trip costs included).

 

Hotel costs are often refundable (a few are not), but we try to make those "guaranteed by credit card" so that we don't have any pre-departure payments for as many hotel costs as possible.

The place where this really matters is for the airfares, except when we are using awards. So we do indeed need to insure the full cost of any paid tickets, not just any cancel/change fees.

(Now that we typically use awards for expensive international premium travel, we can obviously save not only on the cash costs of those tickets, but also by not needing to insure any such cash costs.)

 

So please be sure that you understand exactly what your own policy covers, and also what needs to be included in the "insured costs".

That is why it is SO important not to rely upon online "summaries" of policies. That "fine print" can really matter...!

What is "quoted' here may or may not apply to the policy *you* have purchased.

It won't matter if "you read it on the internet"... if... "it's wrong" :mad:

 

Happy New Year to all!

 

GC

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REFUNDABLE vs. NON-REFUNDABLE PRE-PAID COSTS:

 

It is CRITICAL to understand the requirements of the specific policy that *you* are purchasing, and not rely upon anonymous internet posts.

 

I have just reconfirmed (for about the fifth time, due to challenges here) with Travel Insured directly, that for our specific type of policies, we DO need to include "ALL PAID COSTS, refundable AND non-refundable".

It is definitely NOT a "gray area".

It has nothing to do with frequent flyer points, for example.

 

Travel Insured has a variety of policies, as do other insurers.

For the specific coverages that we want to include, we do indeed need to cover ALL costs that we have paid, upping the coverage within 20 days of each payment that would bump us into a higher $500 or $1k grouping.

 

Note that Former Goalie's comment was clear, about applying to "most" policies not needing to include refundable costs.

Unfortunately, others have made that claim more universally, that "refundable costs do *not* need to be included", without clarifying that this is for the types of policies that the person posting has, or is for "some" or "most" policies, but does NOT apply to all policies.

 

It is definitely the case that SOME other coverages do not have the same requirement as our Travel Insured policies, and only require that "pre-paid and NON-refundable" costs be included in the coverage. And I think that for some policies that are only needed for medical coverage, the paid travel costs might not matter (but I am NOT that familiar with these policies, as we always want the trip costs included).

 

Hotel costs are often refundable (a few are not), but we try to make those "guaranteed by credit card" so that we don't have any pre-departure payments for as many hotel costs as possible.

The place where this really matters is for the airfares, except when we are using awards. So we do indeed need to insure the full cost of any paid tickets, not just any cancel/change fees.

(Now that we typically use awards for expensive international premium travel, we can obviously save not only on the cash costs of those tickets, but also by not needing to insure any such cash costs.)

 

So please be sure that you understand exactly what your own policy covers, and also what needs to be included in the "insured costs".

That is why it is SO important not to rely upon online "summaries" of policies. That "fine print" can really matter...!

What is "quoted' here may or may not apply to the policy *you* have purchased.

It won't matter if "you read it on the internet"... if... "it's wrong" :mad:

 

Happy New Year to all!

 

GC

We get Travel Insured Worldwide Protector Plus,

I will copy the wording as it pertains to cancel for any reason and pre-ex. As I mentioned, we pre-pay air fare many months in advance, for a fully refundable fare without restrictions. Thus, we don't insure for that amount.

We had a claim with TI for thousands of dollars, we were paid in full for that claim, with the aforementioned airfare. Of course, as the air fare was refunded in full, no penalties whatsoever, there was no recovery there.

 

 


  • You insure 100% of the Prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or
    restrictions

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We get Travel Insured Worldwide Protector Plus,

I will copy the wording as it pertains to cancel for any reason and pre-ex. As I mentioned, we pre-pay air fare many months in advance, for a fully refundable fare without restrictions. Thus, we don't insure for that amount.

We had a claim with TI for thousands of dollars, we were paid in full for that claim, with the aforementioned airfare. Of course, as the air fare was refunded in full, no penalties whatsoever, there was no recovery there.

 

 

  • You insure 100% of the Prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or
    restrictions

 

Well, now I am worried about the information I received from TI.

 

I'm going to call them again, and ask for them to send me something in writing about what they've told me.

I can't find language in our policies that precisely enough matches what they've said...

I do know that there were some changes within the past year or so to the type of policy we get, but... I'm not relying upon conversations I had with them way in the past...

 

There isn't recently much of a difference in the totals of "all payments" and "only non-refundable payments", given that we aren't paying cash for air tix and we try to guarantee hotels (not pay in advance), but I do want to make sure I understand it properly - AND that they are giving us correct information, obviously!

 

Thanks very much.We need this in writing, and clearly, from TI :mad:

 

GC

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Well, now I am worried about the information I received from TI.

 

I'm going to call them again, and ask for them to send me something in writing about what they've told me.

I can't find language in our policies that precisely enough matches what they've said...

I do know that there were some changes within the past year or so to the type of policy we get, but... I'm not relying upon conversations I had with them way in the past...

 

There isn't recently much of a difference in the totals of "all payments" and "only non-refundable payments", given that we aren't paying cash for air tix and we try to guarantee hotels (not pay in advance), but I do want to make sure I understand it properly - AND that they are giving us correct information, obviously!

 

Thanks very much.We need this in writing, and clearly, from TI :mad:

 

GC

And JMHO your broker @ tripinsurancestore.

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And JMHO your broker @ tripinsurancestore.

 

Absolutely, if it turns out that the very recent information per Travel Insured was *not* correct.

 

But TI is the only one that I've spoken with really recently, and as I mentioned, there was a major change (at least for our needs) to the policy type we get, so what really matters right now is... what is required for the *current* version of the policy.

 

I'll definitely report back, either way.

 

Thanks again.

 

GC

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UPDATE: RE: "PRE-PAID COSTS" - Refundable vs. Non-refundable costs to insure

 

Thanks, Former Goalie (and others), for getting us to check this yet again.

 

THE TERMS RECENTLY CHANGED, ALONG WITH BETTER COVERAGE :)

 

Effective relatively recently, ONLY NON-REFUNDABLE COSTS NEED BE INSURED for Travel Insured's Worldwide Trip Protector Plus.

(I have no information about any other policy types.)

 

The rep who spoke with us yesterday is "new"

And the information was NOT CORRECT. :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

However... for our PAST policies, it absolutely WAS a requirement to include BOTH non-refundable and refundable pre-paid costs.

Fortunately, we have not included the now unnecessary refundable costs on any of our policies that were taken out since the change. (But based upon that new service reps incorrect statement, we may have done so shortly... Ouch.)

 

I spoke with a supervisor there, after searching through our most recent policy wording, and not seeing the bit about the "refundable" costs... but... the rep had been *very* clear about it being necessary...

 

Importantly, when we had been told that in the past, it was correct information.

(I did suggest that they do some additional training, to make sure ALL of the reps get it right, including older reps who may not, er, remember the change, etc....)

 

For those who care, among the new, "improved" (in our minds) coverage terms, in addition to the CFAR, which is for *cancelling", there is now an "Interrupt For Any Reason", which is especially useful for us, for the same reason(s) we tend to select CFAR.

 

Thanks again.

 

We've learned a LOT here, and we want to do our best to pass along the assistance.

 

GC

 

REFUNDABLE vs. NON-REFUNDABLE PRE-PAID COSTS:

 

It is CRITICAL to understand the requirements of the specific policy that *you* are purchasing, and not rely upon anonymous internet posts.

 

I have just reconfirmed (for about the fifth time, due to challenges here) with Travel Insured directly, that for our specific type of policies, we DO need to include "ALL PAID COSTS, refundable AND non-refundable".

It is definitely NOT a "gray area".

It has nothing to do with frequent flyer points, for example.

 

Travel Insured has a variety of policies, as do other insurers.

For the specific coverages that we want to include, we do indeed need to cover ALL costs that we have paid, upping the coverage within 20 days of each payment that would bump us into a higher $500 or $1k grouping.

 

Note that Former Goalie's comment was clear, about applying to "most" policies not needing to include refundable costs.

Unfortunately, others have made that claim more universally, that "refundable costs do *not* need to be included", without clarifying that this is for the types of policies that the person posting has, or is for "some" or "most" policies, but does NOT apply to all policies.

 

It is definitely the case that SOME other coverages do not have the same requirement as our Travel Insured policies, and only require that "pre-paid and NON-refundable" costs be included in the coverage. And I think that for some policies that are only needed for medical coverage, the paid travel costs might not matter (but I am NOT that familiar with these policies, as we always want the trip costs included).

 

Hotel costs are often refundable (a few are not), but we try to make those "guaranteed by credit card" so that we don't have any pre-departure payments for as many hotel costs as possible.

The place where this really matters is for the airfares, except when we are using awards. So we do indeed need to insure the full cost of any paid tickets, not just any cancel/change fees.

(Now that we typically use awards for expensive international premium travel, we can obviously save not only on the cash costs of those tickets, but also by not needing to insure any such cash costs.)

 

So please be sure that you understand exactly what your own policy covers, and also what needs to be included in the "insured costs".

That is why it is SO important not to rely upon online "summaries" of policies. That "fine print" can really matter...!

What is "quoted' here may or may not apply to the policy *you* have purchased.

It won't matter if "you read it on the internet"... if... "it's wrong" :mad:

 

Happy New Year to all!

 

GC

 

We get Travel Insured Worldwide Protector Plus,

I will copy the wording as it pertains to cancel for any reason and pre-ex. As I mentioned, we pre-pay air fare many months in advance, for a fully refundable fare without restrictions. Thus, we don't insure for that amount.

We had a claim with TI for thousands of dollars, we were paid in full for that claim, with the aforementioned airfare. Of course, as the air fare was refunded in full, no penalties whatsoever, there was no recovery there.

 

 

  • You insure 100% of the Prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or
    restrictions

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One of Steve's associates gave me similar, incorrect information last year. Steve has some very very passionate fans on CC but I worry about the pattern of misinformation from his agency that, if relied on, would tend to boost commissions on premiums paid. It seems to me to be critically important to make the first priority of everyone who answers the phone there not making this kind of mistake ever again - and really to never again make a mistake that would tend to drive a consumer to purchase more insurance than necessary.

 

Full disclosure: When I found out that I received this incorrect information from Steve's associate it helped me decide to go with the agency that gave me the correct information to start with: insuremytrip.com.

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One of Steve's associates gave me similar, incorrect information last year. Steve has some very very passionate fans on CC but I worry about the pattern of misinformation from his agency that, if relied on, would tend to boost commissions on premiums paid. It seems to me to be critically important to make the first priority of everyone who answers the phone there not making this kind of mistake ever again - and really to never again make a mistake that would tend to drive a consumer to purchase more insurance than necessary.

 

Full disclosure: When I found out that I received this incorrect information from Steve's associate it helped me decide to go with the agency that gave me the correct information to start with: insuremytrip.com.

 

This error was from Travel Insured directly.

The supervisor seemed to take it quite seriously, and I hope they will indeed do some remedial re-training.

 

When I got that information from Steve and crew, it was still CORRECT information.

(But it is obviously possible that you got something else from them more recently. I don't remember the exact/approximate date of the change in terms for this particular policy. And, I've alerted/reminded them to this, just in case there is anything needed there about updating information/knowledge. IF any of them were getting *incorrect* info directly from Travel Insured, as I did, then that's another source of "problems", but it's on TI in that case, IF that's what was happening.)

 

The calls are all recorded, fortunately.

And I have to give credit to TI's supervisor, who at first didn't quite understand what I was saying, about getting incorrect info yesterday, but once she did, she changed her approach/words, and did precisely what I'd hope/expect.

But that doesn't "fix" what clients (or prospective clients) may have done in terms of which costs are being covered... and premiums paid........!

 

At least, now we have the direct extension of a reasonable supervisor there, if we ever need to check on anything.

I hope we don't need that contact info, but it can't hurt :)

 

In the past, when we did indeed include some relatively high refundable costs, it *was* necessary for the exact coverages we wanted.

 

But here's another, different problem, and it would ultimately be "on us": That is, with the understanding we had from many policies over several years, I usually just called up and gave "the amount to be insured", without asking about eacy 'type' of cost. YES, I absolutely should have read the full terms every time! But I admit... I didn't. :o

I think TI (or any company with changes to relatively standard and unchanging 'contracts') should flag any significant changes for some period of time. That would be in everyone's interest.

 

At least, we found out in time to avoid some significantpremium over payments, but that was just luck...

... AND another huge value of the combined input from CC members.

Thank you all, once again - for help on all sorts of topics!

(In fact, we first learned about the importance of travel insurance here. And on our next big trip, first time with insurance, we had a last minute medical emergency, and had a large claim for special trip that was cancelled entirely, with less than two weeks to go. We got a nice check from TI, so we didn't need to "pay again" for that trip. :))

 

Happy New Year!

 

GC

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UPDATE: RE: "PRE-PAID COSTS" - Refundable vs. Non-refundable costs to insure

 

Thanks, Former Goalie (and others), for getting us to check this yet again.

 

THE TERMS RECENTLY CHANGED, ALONG WITH BETTER COVERAGE :)

 

Effective relatively recently, ONLY NON-REFUNDABLE COSTS NEED BE INSURED for Travel Insured's Worldwide Trip Protector Plus.

(I have no information about any other policy types.)

 

The rep who spoke with us yesterday is "new"

And the information was NOT CORRECT. :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

However... for our PAST policies, it absolutely WAS a requirement to include BOTH non-refundable and refundable pre-paid costs.

Fortunately, we have not included the now unnecessary refundable costs on any of our policies that were taken out since the change. (But based upon that new service reps incorrect statement, we may have done so shortly... Ouch.)

 

I spoke with a supervisor there, after searching through our most recent policy wording, and not seeing the bit about the "refundable" costs... but... the rep had been *very* clear about it being necessary...

 

Importantly, when we had been told that in the past, it was correct information.

(I did suggest that they do some additional training, to make sure ALL of the reps get it right, including older reps who may not, er, remember the change, etc....)

 

For those who care, among the new, "improved" (in our minds) coverage terms, in addition to the CFAR, which is for *cancelling", there is now an "Interrupt For Any Reason", which is especially useful for us, for the same reason(s) we tend to select CFAR.

 

Thanks again.

 

We've learned a LOT here, and we want to do our best to pass along the assistance.

 

GC

 

Well, I looked at an old Worldwide Travel Protector + (policy document dated 5/29/14) we used, and the wording is the same for CFAR, very slightly different (below) for pre-ex, but generally IMHO, to put it simply: pre-paid and non-refundable. Are you talking about policies written before then, because, in our history with TI, prepaid and non-refundable is all we've ever insured for?

 

You insure all Prepaid Trip costs that are subject tocancellation penalties or restrictions

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Well, I looked at an old Worldwide Travel Protector + (policy document dated 5/29/14) we used, and the wording is the same for CFAR, very slightly different (below) for pre-ex, but generally IMHO, to put it simply: pre-paid and non-refundable. Are you talking about policies written before then, because, in our history with TI, prepaid and non-refundable is all we've ever insured for?

 

You insure all Prepaid Trip costs that are subject tocancellation penalties or restrictions

 

Hmmmm....

 

I'm going to go back into our archives (not on this computer) and check the exact wording on our older policies.

This could get, er, "interesting", but I sure hope it doesn't...

 

In general, most of what we pay in advance would have some sort of penalty, but not always.

But whether we paid more than we should have (which would NOT be okay!) is somewhat different from whether incorrect information had generally been given out.

 

This is getting more interesting.

How have you insured your cruise costs, when there is an increasing penalty schedule?

It wouldn't matter if one takes the trip, except that some of the premiums might have been paid a bit too early.

But theoretically... if someone paid to insure the "full/final payment"... and then cancelled when, say, the penalty was maybe still only 50%... did one get back the premium for that 50% that was refundable/refunded?

 

Am I now over-thinking this?

 

GC

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Hmmmm....

 

I'm going to go back into our archives (not on this computer) and check the exact wording on our older policies.

This could get, er, "interesting", but I sure hope it doesn't...

 

In general, most of what we pay in advance would have some sort of penalty, but not always.

But whether we paid more than we should have (which would NOT be okay!) is somewhat different from whether incorrect information had generally been given out.

 

This is getting more interesting.

How have you insured your cruise costs, when there is an increasing penalty schedule?

It wouldn't matter if one takes the trip, except that some of the premiums might have been paid a bit too early.

But theoretically... if someone paid to insure the "full/final payment"... and then cancelled when, say, the penalty was maybe still only 50%... did one get back the premium for that 50% that was refundable/refunded?

 

Am I now over-thinking this?

 

GC

This is how I pay premiums, I'll use an example for a policy taken out very recently with TI, the policy is WTP +:

We paid a $300 pp (two of us) deposit with the cruise line, for which we paid the premium for $500 pp. within two days of payment w/ cruise line. We probably will not pay any additional premium for months, as we most likely will not pre-pay anything additional until final payment to the cruise line. At final payment, I will increase the premium (substantially) from $500 pp, paying the premium for 100% of the cruise costs within a day or so after final payment.

The one time we filed a claim was, as I mentioned, for the entire cruise costs, as we were in 100% penalty. If we were to cancel for a covered reason in 50% penalty, I would expect to recover only 50% of cruise fare, the cruise line would pay the other 50%.

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This is how I pay premiums, I'll use an example for a policy taken out very recently with TI, the policy is WTP +:

We paid a $300 pp (two of us) deposit with the cruise line, for which we paid the premium for $500 pp. within two days of payment w/ cruise line. We probably will not pay any additional premium for months, as we most likely will not pre-pay anything additional until final payment to the cruise line. At final payment, I will increase the premium (substantially) from $500 pp, paying the premium for 100% of the cruise costs within a day or so after final payment.

The one time we filed a claim was, as I mentioned, for the entire cruise costs, as we were in 100% penalty. If we were to cancel for a covered reason in 50% penalty, I would expect to recover only 50% of cruise fare, the cruise line would pay the other 50%.

 

Sounds like this is what we do.

... start the coverage with the deposit (rounded to the next highest $500 or $1k, depending upon level), and then increase coverage as we make additional payments. Usually that's not until final payment, but it could be sooner if we get special low cost hotel rates that are non-refundable, but we usually don't do that until we are close to final payment, when we could always cancel, ahem...

 

But here is the question: Shouldn't we (and you?) be paying insurance for, say, the 25% cancel fee at first, then add the next 25% (when the cancel fee would be 50%), etc., rather than pay the insurance for the full amount - that "final/full payment" - if only part of it is not refundable at that time? It can take months for that full amount to change to 100% penalty.

Point is.., SURE, we'd get the money back from the vendor (e.g., cruise line), but we wouldn't get the insurance premium back for that extra "half" (or whatever %) was refunded.

 

And for some cruises or tours, if they are expensive, that can be really significant insurance costs.

For an expensive tour that we took (not cruise related), it was paid over time, such that each, say, 25% was paid at several months intervals and was non-refundable once paid. But the total 100% wasn't paid until towards the end, when none was refundable. Cruises don't tend to be like that.

 

I hope that's more clear?

Thanks!

 

ETA: Or what about a deposit of $3500 pp, a year in advance, but only a few hundred is non-refundable. Should we just insure the "few hundred"? The rest of it is refundable until final payment, when the rest of it (a lot!) and that entire deposit, becomes non-refundable.

 

GC

Edited by GeezerCouple
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Sounds like this is what we do.

... start the coverage with the deposit (rounded to the next highest $500 or $1k, depending upon level), and then increase coverage as we make additional payments. Usually that's not until final payment, but it could be sooner if we get special low cost hotel rates that are non-refundable, but we usually don't do that until we are close to final payment, when we could always cancel, ahem...

 

But here is the question: Shouldn't we (and you?) be paying insurance for, say, the 25% cancel fee at first, then add the next 25% (when the cancel fee would be 50%), etc., rather than pay the insurance for the full amount - that "final/full payment" - if only part of it is not refundable at that time? It can take months for that full amount to change to 100% penalty.

Point is.., SURE, we'd get the money back from the vendor (e.g., cruise line), but we wouldn't get the insurance premium back for that extra "half" (or whatever %) was refunded.

 

And for some cruises or tours, if they are expensive, that can be really significant insurance costs.

For an expensive tour that we took (not cruise related), it was paid over time, such that each, say, 25% was paid at several months intervals and was non-refundable once paid. But the total 100% wasn't paid until towards the end, when none was refundable. Cruises don't tend to be like that.

 

I hope that's more clear?

Thanks!

 

ETA: Or what about a deposit of $3500 pp, a year in advance, but only a few hundred is non-refundable. Should we just insure the "few hundred"? The rest of it is refundable until final payment, when the rest of it (a lot!) and that entire deposit, becomes non-refundable.

 

GC

Again, we're just talking TI here. My understanding is that one must insure 100% of, for example, final payment amount plus deposit for the cruise, even though, for example, the penalty, just a guess, might be 10% of that ten days after the final payment (first segment of penalty phase).

The wording would IMHO support that, and mentions nothing about amounts which might be recovered at different times of penalty phase:

 

You insure all Prepaid Trip costs that are subject tocancellation penalties or restrictions

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Again, we're just talking TI here. My understanding is that one must insure 100% of, for example, final payment amount plus deposit for the cruise, even though, for example, the penalty, just a guess, might be 10% of that ten days after the final payment (first segment of penalty phase).

The wording would IMHO support that, and mentions nothing about amounts which might be recovered at different times of penalty phase:

 

You insure all Prepaid Trip costs that are subject tocancellation penalties or restrictions

 

Yes, TI only here.

 

I'm trying to reach my new BFF at TI (lol) about this.

 

Is it really any different than just insuring an air ticket for, say, only the penalty/cancel/change fee, rather than the full amount *paid* for the ticket? My understanding has been that's what's required.

With the cruise "final payment", one is paying a higher amount that needs to be paid "now", but only a small portion of it is at risk/non-refundable/etc. Yet the full amount needs to be insured at the same time. With the air tix, one is only insuring what would actually be lost.

 

I'm more concerned about paying for insurance for portions that might get refunded, rather than paying "sooner" for the same amount.

Think about paying insurance for, say, $10 or 20k that might end up being refunded.

It's not especially likely, but it *could* happen...

(And we know people who insure far more expensive trips. But what matters is the amount that is relevant to one's self, etc., of course.)

 

GC

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...

Uh huh.

 

You insure all Prepaid Trip costs that are subject tocancellation penalties or restrictions
Precisely.

 

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

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Yes, TI only here.

 

I'm trying to reach my new BFF at TI (lol) about this.

 

Is it really any different than just insuring an air ticket for, say, only the penalty/cancel/change fee, rather than the full amount *paid* for the ticket? My understanding has been that's what's required.

With the cruise "final payment", one is paying a higher amount that needs to be paid "now", but only a small portion of it is at risk/non-refundable/etc. Yet the full amount needs to be insured at the same time. With the air tix, one is only insuring what would actually be lost.

 

I'm more concerned about paying for insurance for portions that might get refunded, rather than paying "sooner" for the same amount.

Think about paying insurance for, say, $10 or 20k that might end up being refunded.

It's not especially likely, but it *could* happen...

(And we know people who insure far more expensive trips. But what matters is the amount that is relevant to one's self, etc., of course.)

 

GC

I imagine there is an entire department at an insurance company which does nothing but run the numbers for a given policy. And, that department (at TI specifically) has determined that a policy is profitable if the company allows pre-payment in increments up to final payment, but requires 100% coverage at final payment. Insuring in increments after final payment probably would tip the scale to the policy being unprofitable....or, premiums would need to be raised, given paying in increments after final payment.

Your scenario makes complete sense in terms of one's recovery potential at any given time, I agree.

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