cancel for any reason policy

[kathy16]

Is there any travel insurance company that doesn't require 100% purchased coverage (including air) to add cancel for any reason to the policy? I am going on a land based trip to Africa that cost $10k, and the cancellation penalty will only be $2K. But, if I understand correctly, I have to purchase coverage for the whole $10K land trip as well as the $2K airfare, plus any hotels I have booked pre- and post trip, to be fully covered, if I have to use the cancel for any reason part of the trip insurance policy. But, I would only be reimbursed for the $2K penalty- (either 50 or 75% of it depending on the selected policy)?

Thanks,

Kathy

[kathy16]

Anyone have experience in filing a claim covered under the cancel for any reason policy? My work site is undergoing changes financially, and I CAN'T get vacation approval for February , because my boss may be leaving before the end of the year, so I am unsure whether a "cancel for work reasons" would be appropriate if I had to cancel my trip, because I had to work, due to limited staffing.

But, I don't want to have to cover 100% of my trip, because hotels may be able to be canceled without penalty, etc.

Please help with suggestions/recommendations.

Kathy

[GeezerCouple]

Is there any travel insurance company that doesn't require 100% purchased coverage (including air) to add cancel for any reason to the policy? I am going on a land based trip to Africa that cost $10k, and the cancellation penalty will only be $2K. But, if I understand correctly, I have to purchase coverage for the whole $10K land trip as well as the $2K airfare, plus any hotels I have booked pre- and post trip, to be fully covered, if I have to use the cancel for any reason part of the trip insurance policy. But, I would only be reimbursed for the $2K penalty- (either 50 or 75% of it depending on the selected policy)?

Thanks,

Kathy

 

Can you check with the insurer (or a broker who can discuss a variety of policies with different insurance companies) about whether it is 100% of the cost of the trip OR "100% of the non-refundable costs"? If it is the latter, then this might not be a problem; you might only need to insure whatever the actual penalty/loss would be.

 

Our coverage is only for "non-refundable" costs. So while we had refundable airline tickets (we wanted to be sure we had SOME way to get to the cruise, but we weren't entirely sure about the actual dates we'd prefer to travel), we didn't need to add them. Once we changed and locked in the lower non-refundable fare through the cruise line, then we added the air costs to our coverage, within the deadline to preserve coverage for pre-existing conditions. (We have the type of policy that allows the incremental additions.)

 

And while we had a small non-refundable deposit (before full payment date), we only needed to insure that much smaller amount. Once we paid the full and non-refundable amount, then we raised the coverage to the new total of non-refundable costs.

 

So double check just what you need to insure to have the proper coverage you need: the full cost or just the lesser non-refundable amount.

 

Actually, this brought up a peculiarity: Early on, there is NO "non-refundable cost". The ENTIRE deposit is FULLY refundable. Then, at a certain time, a relatively small amount becomes non-refundable.

 

So we were advised to have the policy written for just the $500 minimum coverage amount to preserve the "pre-existing condition coverage", within the required time of making the initial reservation. (It wasn't worth risking that coverage to save such a small amount, even if it seems like there wasn't anything to insure, but we had made the reservation, so the clock seemed to be ticking.)

 

How do others handle this, when a reservation is made, one wishes to make sure that pre-existing conditions are covered, but there isn't initially any non-refundable cost?

 

GeezerCouple

[6rugrats]

Anyone have experience in filing a claim covered under the cancel for any reason policy? My work site is undergoing changes financially, and I CAN'T get vacation approval for February , because my boss may be leaving before the end of the year, so I am unsure whether a "cancel for work reasons" would be appropriate if I had to cancel my trip, because I had to work, due to limited staffing.

But, I don't want to have to cover 100% of my trip, because hotels may be able to be canceled without penalty, etc.

Please help with suggestions/recommendations.

Kathy

 

Most of the discussion is a moot point. If I understand your post correctly, you have already booked this trip and you know there is a possibility you may have to cancel? If so, you now can't purchase "cancel for work reasons" or "cancel for any reason". It's like calling up an insurance agent to buy an auto policy after you are in an accident.

[cruiseco]

Most of the discussion is a moot point. If I understand your post correctly, you have already booked this trip and you know there is a possibility you may have to cancel? If so, you now can't purchase "cancel for work reasons" or "cancel for any reason". It's like calling up an insurance agent to buy an auto policy after you are in an accident.

 

I'm not sure that that is true for "Cancel For Any Reason" plans. When they say "ANY" they have to mean it. It's not "ANY reason. . . except for this or that." I doubt that would stand up to a court challenge or review by any insurance department regulators. Could be wrong though.

[6rugrats]

I'm not sure that that is true for "Cancel For Any Reason" plans. When they say "ANY" they have to mean it. It's not "ANY reason. . . except for this or that." I doubt that would stand up to a court challenge or review by any insurance department regulators. Could be wrong though.

I read OP's post as if she had not purchased insurance yet. If she has purchased "cancel for any reason" you are correct.

[kathy16]

Actually, I went to trip insurance website, and I do need to purchase the insurance by 11/6/13, to have the CFAR coverage, as well as the "pre- existing condition" coverage. I called their "agent" and she said I could add incremental coverage, as I purchased airfare, etc.

I just don't want to get a potential claim denied, because I didn't purchase 100% of the total costs, instead of only non-refundable costs- penalties may be non- refundable if cancelled at last-minute but somewhat refundable if canceled 48 hours prior. Semantics can be so important.

Kathy

[GeezerCouple]

Actually, I went to trip insurance website, and I do need to purchase the insurance by 11/6/13, to have the CFAR coverage, as well as the "pre- existing condition" coverage. I called their "agent" and she said I could add incremental coverage, as I purchased airfare, etc.

I just don't want to get a potential claim denied, because I didn't purchase 100% of the total costs, instead of only non-refundable costs- penalties may be non- refundable if cancelled at last-minute but somewhat refundable if canceled 48 hours prior. Semantics can be so important.

Kathy

 

Good point, and definitely better to be safe than sorry.

 

What we did is to add in the additional non-refundable costs incrementally, as the non-refundable part grew (as the departure date grew closer, the penalties increase, etc.).

 

What we "gained" by this is that IF we had cancelled early, we would have paid less in insurance, for the lesser necessary coverage.

And as it turns out, we paid the full coverage for the full costs, but were able to pay most of it much, much later rather than turn over the larger part of the premiums at the start.

As I understand it, not all policies allow incremental payment of the premium, but that might not be correct (?).

 

The most important thing is to make sure that the payments and deadlines match what the insurance requires, as you've noted.

 

GeezerCouple