Travel Insurance

[jvigrl]

Interested in purchasing travel insurance for our upcoming cruise. Quote from travel agent was $337.00 for four of us. Total trip cost around $4700.00. Looked into Access America and Travel Guard priced at $149.00 and 193.00. Not sure what price I should be around. Any suggestions would be great...Thanks Jvigrl

[FLAHAM]

Interested in purchasing travel insurance for our upcoming cruise. Quote from travel agent was $337.00 for four of us. Total trip cost around $4700.00. Looked into Access America and Travel Guard priced at $149.00 and 193.00. Not sure what price I should be around. Any suggestions would be great...Thanks Jvigrl

 

When comparing policy prices, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Some (more expensive) policies are primary coverage while others (less expensive) are secondary. The former will pay directly for your covered losses while the latter will only fill in the gaps after you collect from any other insurance you may have (medical, homeowners, etc.).

[jvigrl]

thanks i'll keep looking

[WesW]

Please take a look at these links..super travel insurance information:

 

http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/

 

http://www.elliott.org/blog/so-where-should-i-buy-my-travel-insurance/

[Arwenmark]

I always use insuremytrip.com very easy to compare there. and some advice, never buy insurance through your TA or through the Cruiseline, unless you do so for a very specific reason.

[jack300s]

I always use insuremytrip.com very easy to compare there. and some advice, never buy insurance through your TA or through the Cruiseline, unless you do so for a very specific reason.

 

May I ask why you should never purchase insurance through you TA or Cruisiline?

[WesW]

Reason for recommending not buying Tvl Ins thru your TA is highlighted below (taken

from the second article link, posted above):

 

When the subject of travel insurance comes up, I’m usually quick to say: Don’t buy the first policy you’re offered.

 

That’s because the first policy is normally a brochure your travel agent slides across the desk right after you’ve plunked down $14,000 for that dream safari, along with the warning, “You’ll want insurance.”

 

You will want insurance, but probably — and I stress the “probably” — not from your travel agent.

 

Agents are often heavily incentivized to sell a particular kind of travel insurance that benefits them (read: high commissions) but not necessarily you (read: lots of fine print). What’s more, they rarely take the time to review the limits of the policy and when it comes time to making a claim, only the very best agents will ensure every appeal is exhausted if you’re denied.

 

However, the author does say:

 

So what about your travel agent? If you’re offered several options and aren’t pressured to make a quick decision, you’re probably OK to buy. Take your time and do your due diligence.

 

Also, recommendation for not using the cruiseline to buy your tvl ins policy is:

 

Also, avoid policies for tour operators or cruises that are not underwritten by an outside insurance agency. In the unlikely event the operator or line goes out of business, your policy could be worthless.

[6rugrats]

May I ask why you should never purchase insurance through you TA or Cruisiline?

 

Because they have a financial incentive to push a certain policy that may not be what you need, and is probably overpriced.

 

We always use Travel Guard; we've had to file two claims and they have been processed promptly. No problems so far.

[cruiser429]

ditto to insuremytrip.com has always been the best place to compare what you are looking for. They also rate the different policies.

[jvigrl]

Thank you to everyone. You've been all so helpful!!!

[cruiseco]

ditto to insuremytrip.com has always been the best place to compare what you are looking for. They also rate the different policies.

 

I don't believe that's correct.

[cruiser429]

I don't believe that's correct.

 

I'm not sure if you're doubting the website or the ratings, but if you expand any of the policy information you get an A.M. BEST rating which are assigned to companies that, in the opinion of A. M. Best, have an excellent ability to meet their ongoing financial obligations to policyholders. "A Best's Rating from A.M. Best is an independent third-party evaluation that subjects all insurers to the same rigorous criteria, providing a valuable benchmark for comparing insurers."

 

Thus, the ratings that I mentioned. If two policies are similar in all other aspects, I'll buy the A+ before the A-

[cruiseco]

I'm not sure if you're doubting the website or the ratings, but if you expand any of the policy information you get an A.M. BEST rating which are assigned to companies that, in the opinion of A. M. Best, have an excellent ability to meet their ongoing financial obligations to policyholders. "A Best's Rating from A.M. Best is an independent third-party evaluation that subjects all insurers to the same rigorous criteria, providing a valuable benchmark for comparing insurers."

 

Thus, the ratings that I mentioned. If two policies are similar in all other aspects, I'll buy the A+ before the A-

 

Thanks for the further explanation. Now we can see why the original statement "They (insuremytrip) also rate the different policies." was so wrong. Since "insuremytrip" is the only antecedent to the pronoun "they" that's a logical inference that you were referring to insuremytrip there..

 

Take two policies featured on the insuremytrip web site:

 

#1 Access America Classic rated: A

#2 Travelex Select Plan rated: A+

 

By this statement "insuremytrip also rate the different policies" it would be fair for a traveler to come to the conclusion that insuremytrip thinks the Travelex policy is better in some way than the Access America policy. That is not correct. As you subsequently pointed out, insuremytrip doesn't rate anything. Problem #2 is that even A.M. Best (or anyone else) does not rate any policies -- they have no opinion as to why the Travelex policy may or may not be better than the Access America policy. In fact they don't even rate the various travel insurers (Travelex, Travel Guard, CSA, etc.) at all. They only rate the underwriter that provides the money to pay the claims for the travel insurance companies.

 

A more correct statement would have been something like "The insuremytrip site information also includes independent third-party A. M. Best ratings for the companies that underwrite the various plans shown on the site." There's a huge difference in meaning between that and "insuremytrip also rate the different policies".

[cruiser429]

After following what you said, it would have been simpler to state that the underwriters are rated.

Be it so, I'd rather have a policy backed by a better underwriter.

[Arwenmark]

A couple reasons not to use TA or cruiseline ins. TA's are not licensed to sell insurance, this can be a problem in some states.

Also they get benefits to try to sell it to you.

 

Cruiseline insurance has much lower coverages on things than most of the third party policies you can buy. Some of them offer you 50 to 75% credit on another cruise if you cancel, but that is not as good as getting 50 to 75% of your cash back.

 

Also buying from cruiseline you are usually not protected if the cruiseline itself goes under. Most third party have that coverage included or at least available.

 

As I say unless there is a very good specific reason to go with a particular cruiseline ins. and off hand I can't think of one, you are better off going with another insurer.

[ottawa_traveler]

We have an annual policy through the company that provides our home and auto insurance. It costs us about $150/year for the whole family (4 people) for any number of trips, whether we are flying, driving, etc., as long as the trips are under 21 days. While it does not cover lost baggage, it does include trip cancellation/delay, as well as medical.

[melligene]

Don't know if this will help but, here is my limited experience as one year ago we took our first cruise and we'll be leaving on another later this month. Both cruises were purchased through a local TA and it was suggested that if there is a pre-existing medical condition that it may be wise to purchase Travel Insurance when booking as it MAY be covered, which of course, will depend on the amount you wish to pay for covereage and is also dependant on your age bracket.

Don't know if this helps but, I can tell you it costs us $184.00 for a seven day cruise that covers just about everything including loss of air fare.. Also............ piece of mind. Just sayin.......

[Turtles06]

We always use Travel Guard; we've had to file two claims and they have been processed promptly. No problems so far.

 

We use Travel Guard as well. Have also had to file a couple of claims, and they were processed fully and quickly.

 

Whatever company you use, be sure that they defiine important terms in a way that makes sense for you. (E.g., the definition of "family member" varies with different companies; I saw one, for example, that excluded aunts and uncles.)

 

Also, as another poster says, depending on your own circumstances, you may want to be sure that pre-existing medical conditions are covered. (With Travel Guard, if you buy coverage within 15 days of your initial trip deposit, they will cover pre-existing medical conditions (an important consideration so you don't have to fight about something medical that might come up and cause you to cancel your trip.))

[Coolmama_1]

We also use TravelGuard.