Travel Insurance Are YOU COVERED

[Calpespain]

Sun Princess Cancelled Cruise 20th August Singapore: Australian Travel Insurance WILL NOT COVER YOU for any loss whatsoever.

 

Are you aware that Travel insurance issued in Australia (even Allianz Global) does not cover you for any transport carrier who delays/cancels or changes your trips schedule nor if an operator or agent goes into liquidation or suffers any financial loss/hardship.

 

This, therefore makes any claim you make if you were on the ill fated Sun Princess sailing out of Singapore 20th August, completely useless and unable to make any claim whatsoever, even if you can prove you are substantially out of pocket.

 

America and the UK’s Travel Insurance however, will cover, why are we penalized in Australia. Also have you compared the costs of Travel Insurance in Australia, for example a couples annual cover of no more than 37-60 day travel at a time, in Australia cost from $423(Worldcare) to over $1,000 and yet the same in the UK cost from $100, again why is our insurance offering lower cover yet at the very least 4 times the price. Something is wrong with Australian Travel insurance both the cover and the cost.

 

Any ideas to get cancellation cost covered even if the operator cancels the tour/servcie? Apart from the generosity of Princess, which as we know, still puts some well out of pocket due to the inward flight and accommodation costs, it is these costs which I am trying to secure insurance against, which in Australia is currently impossible.

[bazzaw]

I "think" you may/will be covered by the Travel Compensation Fund -- but I guess it will depend on the circumstances of your booking.

 

It is a good reason for booking through licenced TA's here -- but all of life is a gamble. You can never protect yourself from every contingency.

 

Barry

[Guest012]

Travel Compensation Fund It is a good reason for booking through licenced TA's here --

Barry

 

 

An interesting read for you Barry..........

 

http://www.tcf.org.au/files~/mediareleases/media_release_26-06-13.pdf

[bazzaw]

An interesting read for you Barry..........

 

http://www.tcf.org.au/files~/mediareleases/media_release_26-06-13.pdf

 

WELL!! THANK YOU Shiona!! Didn't know about THAT!!!

 

I wonder if this is some kind of response to make Ozzie TA's more "competitive" in this Internet age ?? Do you know what is the reason for this??

 

As for the OP -- the TCF really relates to the collapse of travel agents -- not the supply of a service.

 

Perhaps the legislation dealing with service purchased by credit cards is relevant here??

 

Barry

[fishtaco]

Sun Princess Cancelled Cruise 20th August Singapore: Australian Travel Insurance WILL NOT COVER YOU for any loss whatsoever.

 

Are you aware that Travel insurance issued in Australia (even Allianz Global) does not cover you for any transport carrier who delays/cancels or changes your trips schedule nor if an operator or agent goes into liquidation or suffers any financial loss/hardship.

 

This, therefore makes any claim you make if you were on the ill fated Sun Princess sailing out of Singapore 20th August, completely useless and unable to make any claim whatsoever, even if you can prove you are substantially out of pocket.

 

America and the UK’s Travel Insurance however, will cover, why are we penalized in Australia. Also have you compared the costs of Travel Insurance in Australia, for example a couples annual cover of no more than 37-60 day travel at a time, in Australia cost from $423(Worldcare) to over $1,000 and yet the same in the UK cost from $100, again why is our insurance offering lower cover yet at the very least 4 times the price. Something is wrong with Australian Travel insurance both the cover and the cost.

 

Any ideas to get cancellation cost covered even if the operator cancels the tour/servcie? Apart from the generosity of Princess, which as we know, still puts some well out of pocket due to the inward flight and accommodation costs, it is these costs which I am trying to secure insurance against, which in Australia is currently impossible.

 

Strange my travel insurance clearly states the amount of coverage I am entitled to due to the carrier cancelling travel arrangements or carrier delays in travel arrangements?

 

Princess will be refunding full cruise costs + so they are not claimable against travel Insurance, those that flew to Singapore and stayed in hotels prior to the cruise independent of Princess have nothing to claim from Travel insurance because they have already used the flight and hotel services.

 

Has travel insurance changed since I purchased my last 12 month worldwide policy:confused:

[The_Big_M]

WELL!! THANK YOU Shiona!! Didn't know about THAT!!!

 

I wonder if this is some kind of response to make Ozzie TA's more "competitive" in this Internet age ?? Do you know what is the reason for this??

 

The travel industry didn't want it, since they were the ones paying. After industry grumbling and some issues there was a government review:

 

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/wrath-all-around-in-wake-of-collapse-20120518-1yuot.html

 

In light of the above, the simplest thing was to wind it up.

 

AFTA and TAs were generally happy.

http://ttgasia.com/article.php?article_id=4216

[thunderbolt_cruiser]

 

Perhaps the legislation dealing with service purchased by credit cards is relevant here??

 

Barry

 

If my experience is anything to go by if you purchased the cruise on credit card you would be OK for the cruise fare. Not any costs to get to Singapore accommodation etc.

 

I had purchased flights on the ill fated Australian Air last year before they went belly up and got the money back from Visa pretty quick. I probably would have been OK with our travel insurance as well but would have had to jump through more hoops.

[Australian family]

Strange my travel insurance clearly states the amount of coverage I am entitled to due to the carrier cancelling travel arrangements or carrier delays in travel arrangements?

 

Princess will be refunding full cruise costs + so they are not claimable against travel Insurance, those that flew to Singapore and stayed in hotels prior to the cruise independent of Princess have nothing to claim from Travel insurance because they have already used the flight and hotel services.

 

Has travel insurance changed since I purchased my last 12 month worldwide policy:confused:

 

Can you name the insurance company?

[GHDPeter]

If my experience is anything to go by if you purchased the cruise on credit card you would be OK for the cruise fare. Not any costs to get to Singapore accommodation etc.

 

I had purchased flights on the ill fated Australian Air last year before they went belly up and got the money back from Visa pretty quick. I probably would have been OK with our travel insurance as well but would have had to jump through more hoops.

 

Most travel insurance did not cover Australian Air, due to a statement issued earlier excluding the airline unless the ticket had been purchased before a particular date.

[fishtaco]

The only exclusion I can find in my policy is below But cancellations and out of pocket expenses due to cancellations are included and are clearly defined as claimable?

 

We will not Cover

 

2. A loss arising from the failure of

any travel agent, tour operator,

accommodation provider, airline or other

carrier, car rental agency or any other

travel or tourism services provider to

provide services or accommodation "DUE"

to their insolvency or the insolvency of

any person, company or organisation

they deal with.

[fishtaco]

can you name the insurance company?

 

 

TID International and Annual Policy

[fishtaco]

I understand that Sun Princess cruisers are more than upset and very disappointed as I would be but it is unreasonable to expect a travel Insurance company to compensate people for services that have already been supplied?

 

If Princess refused to compensate for the cruise cancellation the Travel Insurance would have to pay up then fight princess for the costs.

 

Princess "will" pay up with extra so the insurance cover is not claimable as a double dip.

 

If I flew from Perth to Sydney for a cruise and it was cancelled on boarding day, would I expect my Travel Insurance to pay for my flight from Perth to Sydney and one nights accommodation that I had already used? no. If the cruise line offered me a full refund, would I expect the Travel insurance to pay up as well? no.

 

I am flying to NY next year for a Cruise,if its cancelled at short notice I do not expect either the Travel Insurance or Cruise line to compensate me for my pre cruise flight and accommodation that I am booking independent of the cruise line.

[thunderbolt_cruiser]

Most travel insurance did not cover Australian Air, due to a statement issued earlier excluding the airline unless the ticket had been purchased before a particular date.

 

Yep - as I say we were covered by credit card legislation. Our friends on the same did not use their credit card but were OK because we all booked well before the date so the insurance was good (in fact they were known as Strategic when we booked).

[MottNZ]

I am flying to NY next year for a Cruise,if its cancelled at short notice I do not expect either the Travel Insurance or Cruise line to compensate me for my pre cruise flight and accommodation that I am booking independent of the cruise line.

 

I only expect what has been agreed in advance and is written into the policy.

 

It would be great if Kiwis could buy an extension to their policy to cover exactly this scenario. Long haul (particularly business class) to the other side of the world specifically for a cruise that is subsequently cancelled is a chunk of money to write off.

[bazzaw]

I understand that Sun Princess cruisers are more than upset and very disappointed as I would be but it is unreasonable to expect a travel Insurance company to compensate people for services that have already been supplied?

 

If Princess refused to compensate for the cruise cancellation the Travel Insurance would have to pay up then fight princess for the costs.

 

Princess "will" pay up with extra so the insurance cover is not claimable as a double dip.

 

If I flew from Perth to Sydney for a cruise and it was cancelled on boarding day, would I expect my Travel Insurance to pay for my flight from Perth to Sydney and one nights accommodation that I had already used? no. If the cruise line offered me a full refund, would I expect the Travel insurance to pay up as well? no.

 

I am flying to NY next year for a Cruise,if its cancelled at short notice I do not expect either the Travel Insurance or Cruise line to compensate me for my pre cruise flight and accommodation that I am booking independent of the cruise line.

 

I completely understand where you are coming from and agree with you. However, I can see how others may see it a different way. This situation is one of those unfortunate situations for which there is no answer. Not every thing that happens in our lives has an answer. I have been aware of this possibility ( of flying somewhere only to find a holiday cancelled) - 20 years ago, when we did some Trafalgar coach tours in Europe. Our tours went OK - but on the first one we met a lady who had booked and paid for flights to Europe plus Trafalgar Tour -- only to find out late that the coach tour had been cancelled due to insufficient passengers. As she could not cancel the flights, she had to desperately look around for something else to do to replace the coach tour and finished up on ours. So now, I would make sure that we booked onto one of their "GUARANTEED DEPARTURE" tours.

 

Last year we flew to London, stayed in a hotel, did 3 back-to-back cruises which all started from Southampton , back up to London to another hotel, onto the Eurostar train to Paris, then onto Germany on the ICE train and finally stayed with my son for 2 weeks. All of this had to be pre-planned and paid for before departure - and any one of the elements of the trip could have "fallen over" in some way or another. My biggest fear , was that by the time we got to Germany, my son would have "moved on" to somewhere else, so I always had in the back of my mind a "Plan B" if this eventuated. It didn't - everything went according to plan.

 

However - I have heard it said that if everything in your holiday goes to plan - then when you get home, you won't have anything to talk about !! :)

 

Barry

[timtam2]

If you have used a service, you are not 'out of pocket' so therefore can't claim this on travel insurance. Sure, it was part of the holiday, but insurance companies deal in facts. You paid for the flight and the hotel, you used them.They dont care that it was the way to get to a cruise that was cancelled.

 

However, any expenses incurred after the cancellation could be considered out of pocket and claimable

[Aussie Gal]

If my experience is anything to go by if you purchased the cruise on credit card you would be OK for the cruise fare. Not any costs to get to Singapore accommodation etc.

 

I had purchased flights on the ill fated Australian Air last year before they went belly up and got the money back from Visa pretty quick. I probably would have been OK with our travel insurance as well but would have had to jump through more hoops.

 

We too got our money refunded in full from our Visa Card insurance for flights we had paid for on Australian Air.

 

Jennie

[Calpespain]

I have sort a legal opinion on this and that came back as:

 

“The position in law is that where a breach of contract takes place the Claimant is entitled to damages for his loss. The measure of damages would be the sum total of his foreseeable losses arising from the breach – the object of damages being to put the Claimant back into the position he would have been had the breach not occurred. I would strongly argue that if you had to fly from Australia to Singapore to board the ship then, in the event the cruise was cancelled, it was clearly foreseeable you would lose the cost of those abortive flights. In law therefore they should be claimable”

 

Depending on certain factors here and, if Princess would allow you to take it to court to set a precedent in Australia, I’m not sure. For most people, as I see this, the offer to refund the cruise costs and to give a cruise credit for that amount and pay for your flights home would indeed be more than enough in total dollar terms to compensate for any loss you may have found yourself in.

 

However, some may well have flights paid to the embarkation port/ accommodation 1 night and onward homeward flights at the disembarkation port, which could, may well, be grater than the cost of the cruise itself, in this instance, according to my legal advice, it is that figure you should be able to claim for your loss back from the operator of the cruise.

 

This is a tricky one and none of us knows yet if Princess will pay but, from conversations I have had with Princess staff in Australia, they will not pay for more than what is highlighted in the letter given to all passengers. Which for some, will mean not being fully compensated, financially.

[GHDPeter]

The only extra compensation that Princess has given its passengers is the free cruise credit for another cruise. All the other compensation - refund, airfares home, overnight accommodation, and incidentals is what they are REQUIRED AND HAVE COMMITTED to do under the Cruise Passengers Bill of Rights - http://www.cruising.org/news/press_releases/2013/05/cruise-industry-adopts-passenger-bill-rights , which you will find on the Princess.com website under legal except if you are in Australia as it seems that page is geoblocked.

 

Also Princess must have known there was a problem with the ship and that there was a high probability that the ship was not going to sail, otherwise they would not have been able to have the people on a flight from Sydney to Singapore in time to deal with the problem.

 

Sent from my AMID-972XS using Tapatalk

[GHDPeter]

We too got our money refunded in full from our Visa Card insurance for flights we had paid for on Australian Air.

 

Jennie

 

I think you got your money back not through the insurance but through charge back.

 

Sent from my AMID-972XS using Tapatalk 2

[Aussie Gal]

We did receive one credit within a week or so but that was because the charge was still within the time before we needed to pay the credit card. That was for our return flight.

 

The other charge which we had paid a month or so earlier for the flight over to Honolulu was one where we had to fill out the details on the Insurance claim form and then we waited quite a few weeks for it to come through.

 

Whatever it was - Charge Back or an Insurance Claim - we did receive the full refund.

 

Jennie

[PeterJB]

Sun Princess Cancelled Cruise 20th August Singapore: Australian Travel Insurance WILL NOT COVER YOU for any loss whatsoever.

 

Are you aware that Travel insurance issued in Australia (even Allianz Global) does not cover you for any transport carrier who delays/cancels or changes your trips schedule nor if an operator or agent goes into liquidation or suffers any financial loss/hardship.

 

This, therefore makes any claim you make if you were on the ill fated Sun Princess sailing out of Singapore 20th August, completely useless and unable to make any claim whatsoever, even if you can prove you are substantially out of pocket.

 

America and the UK’s Travel Insurance however, will cover, why are we penalized in Australia. Also have you compared the costs of Travel Insurance in Australia, for example a couples annual cover of no more than 37-60 day travel at a time, in Australia cost from $423(Worldcare) to over $1,000 and yet the same in the UK cost from $100, again why is our insurance offering lower cover yet at the very least 4 times the price. Something is wrong with Australian Travel insurance both the cover and the cost.

 

Any ideas to get cancellation cost covered even if the operator cancels the tour/servcie? Apart from the generosity of Princess, which as we know, still puts some well out of pocket due to the inward flight and accommodation costs, it is these costs which I am trying to secure insurance against, which in Australia is currently impossible.

 

We always take out travel insurance whenever we do major trips like cruises or overseas holidays. We had a cruise earlier in the year and were called home early because my wife's mother took ill suddenly and passed away before we could arrive home. We took out insurance with Allianz Global Assist and they refused to pay our claim because they "dont recognise anyone over the age of 85 years". This is a disgrace and we have just been advised from Anti Discrimination Queensland Agency that it is discrimination on the basis of age.

Avoid Allianz Global Assistance travel insurance at all costs, as we have found since our experience, there are others who have lost many more dollars due to refused claims by Allianz:mad:

[The_Big_M]

We took out insurance with Allianz Global Assist and they refused to pay our claim because they "dont recognise anyone over the age of 85 years". This is a disgrace and we have just been advised from Anti Discrimination Queensland Agency that it is discrimination on the basis of age.

 

Don't insurers have an exemption for age discrimination though?

 

In the case of medical, and other lifestyle aspects, there are statistical differences.

 

Same as how some insurers give discounts for elderly because they're more likely to be at home, retired and so on.

[Aussie Gal]

Also, I think our Travel Insurance is more expensive than the U.K. because we don't have the population. Compare our 23 million with that of 63 million and it means that our insurance companies do not get the business that those in the U.K. and the U.S.A. can get.

 

One cannot compare us with those two countries as we are so small in terms of population.

 

Jennie

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Also, I think our Travel Insurance is more expensive than the U.K. because we don't have the population. Compare our 23 million with that of 63 million and it means that our insurance companies do not get the business that those in the U.K. and the U.S.A. can get.

 

One cannot compare us with those two countries as we are so small in terms of population.

 

Jennie

 

Also in the UK Jennie, I believe Insurance is compulsory if you want to book a cruise.

At least that is my understanding with P&O Cruises.