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It Pays To Have Insurance

jebl

By jebl,
in Royal Caribbean International

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jebl

jebl

Posted
Posted

DH and I were booked on the Nov 2 sailing of Allure. The last weekend of Sept he woke up and could not walk. Docs suspect several TIAs or mini strokes. He went to the hospital for a week and then into rehab.

 

The rehab is just not doing anything and he will be in the nursing home long term. Still not able to walk and mild dementia. But he has had a good run and will be 88 in Jan.

 

I cancelled the cruise and the cruise care has just sent me an email that I can expect a check for the full amount that RCI did not refund. That's really good service.

 

Thank goodness we always take out the insurance. I would never sail without it.

 

Kudos to RI and to Cruise Care for their prompt action.

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knittinggirl

knittinggirl

Posted
Posted
DH and I were booked on the Nov 2 sailing of Allure. The last weekend of Sept he woke up and could not walk. Docs suspect several TIAs or mini strokes. He went to the hospital for a week and then into rehab.

 

The rehab is just not doing anything and he will be in the nursing home long term. Still not able to walk and mild dementia. But he has had a good run and will be 88 in Jan.

 

I cancelled the cruise and the cruise care has just sent me an email that I can expect a check for the full amount that RCI did not refund. That's really good service.

 

Thank goodness we always take out the insurance. I would never sail without it.

 

Kudos to RI and to Cruise Care for their prompt action.

 

So sorry to hear of your dh.

 

We had to cancel or very first cruise when dh fell and broke his hip. We too always get insurance.

 

Sent from my KFJWA using Tapatalk HD

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Ladysilver

Ladysilver

Posted
Posted

I'm so sorry about what happened to your husband. I hope he improves in time. I'm also sorry you had to cancel your cruise but I'm very glad you had insurance. We don't cruise without it either. We had a health emergency a few years while on a cruise and the insurance saved us. Literally.

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farfromreality

farfromreality

Posted
Posted
Insurance is a good bet, if you can't or don't want to absorb the cost. For healthy, wealthy folks, it's probably a sucker bet.

 

I'm not sure how?

I am looking at $60 for trip cancellation insurance alone for my (so far) $2300 trip. It would take 2300 / 60 = 38 flawless trips before I would pay more than the cost of one cancelled trip due to unforeseen circumstances.

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RCI Cruisers 004

RCI Cruisers 004

Posted
Posted
Insurance is a good bet, if you can't or don't want to absorb the cost. For healthy, wealthy folks, it's probably a sucker bet.

 

Really ?? A sucker bet ? I'd like to know how you figure this ! We were literally headed out the door to catch our flight for our cruise when we got the call my Dad passed! Thank God I took that sucker bet !

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thechicagoans

thechicagoans

Posted
Posted (edited)

OP - sorry to hear about your DH's condition.

 

Insurance is by nature a business. Insurance companies would go out of business if they paid out more than they took in (premiums). The reason we take out insurance is that the individual cost and pain of a canceled trip for most non-wealthy folks is high so we want to protect ourselves against that.

 

If you are worth a lot of money, it is cheaper to self insure. Here's a very simplified example:

 

Cost of Cruise: $2,500

Cost of other travel/hotels/flights/prepaid arrangements: $1,000

 

Total Non-Refundable Cost: $3,500

 

Family A: Net worth: $100,000. Annual income: $75,000

Family B: Net worth $5 million. Annual income: $500,000

 

Let's say the average likelihood of having to cancel the cruise is 5% (1 in 20).

 

The insurance company would lose money if the premium they charged to offer you the insurance for less than $175 (5% of the non-refundable cost). Let's say the insurance company decides to charge $245 for the insurance. On average, they make a $70 profit per insurance policy sold (excluding the cost of selling the policy, their overhead, etc.).

 

Now let's say both Family A and Family B take the cruise every year for 20 years. Let's say that in these 20 years, each family cancels their cruise 1 time.

 

Family A bought insurance every year. They paid $245 * 20 = $4,900 in premiums to the insurance company and got back $3,500 from the one canceled cruise. Family A's cost is the $4,900 paid in premiums.

 

Family B was wealthy and decided to self insure. They never paid for insurance and therefore they just lost the $3,500 on the cruise they didn't take.

 

Family B saved $1,400 over Family A in this example. That being said, it doesn't mean Family A is making a poor decision by purchasing insurance. Perhaps $3,500 is most of their vacation budget for the year and therefore, it would be really painful to miss out on having any vacation in a given year. Family B might spend $30,000 a year on vacations so losing a little over 10% of that is not a huge deal.

 

Insurance is a business at the end of the day. Calling it a "sucker bet" is harsh but from an actuarial standpoint, it does have negative expected cash value. The value comes from the downside protection it provides. Family A paid just $70 per year for piece of mind.

 

Personally, we don't take out travel insurance for short trips but always by international health insurance for any trip abroad and have bought travel insurance for a once in a lifetime trip we did. It all depends on your personal situation.

Edited by thechicagoans
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kc320

kc320

Posted
Posted
How would it affect the numbers if on one of those trips, they had to pay $50,000 for an emergency medical evacuation?

 

That's what I was thinking!! While I would hate to lose the cost of a cruise, it would not bankrupt me....a medical emergency in a foreign country very well could...$100 or so for insurance is a small price to pay for peace of mind....

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harry0

harry0

Posted
Posted

Op

Hope all works out

Ok here goes another insurance thread.

I here the term"small price to pay for peace of mind"

IMO this would be the opposite for me.

If I pay $100 for somthing and dont use it my mind is not peacful.

If I dont have to buy it I wont.

I have the international medical coverage with my health insurance.

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jaspercat

jaspercat

Posted
Posted

OP - my heartfelt thoughts to you and your DB.

 

I always buy travel insurance and an annual policy versus one-of as it covers all out of province travel. Knock on wood I've never had to use it but won't travel without it. A lot do and a lot like others posters feel it is a waste of money. I feel the OP situation shows its not.

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jaspercat

jaspercat

Posted
Posted
Op

Hope all works out

Ok here goes another insurance thread.

I here the term"small price to pay for peace of mind"

IMO this would be the opposite for me.

If I pay $100 for somthing and dont use it my mind is not peacful.

If I dont have to buy it I wont.

I have the international medical coverage with my health insurance.

 

That works for you, not everyone has that. I have coverage with my work (Canada) but still take out the insurance. Not all company's cover everything. Just my opinion.

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harry0

harry0

Posted
Posted

I understand most Canadians do not have international coverage-thats a different ball game.

 

I just bought a laptop and was offered a extended coverage plan for 20% of the purchase price which would cover everything for a year or two-I never buy those either.

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kc320

kc320

Posted
Posted
I understand most Canadians do not have international coverage-thats a different ball game.

 

I just bought a laptop and was offered a extended coverage plan for 20% of the purchase price which would cover everything for a year or two-I never buy those either.

 

Neither do a lot of american's....I have very good health insurance in country....out of country...ZIP...

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mr walker Holiday Sharing Rare

mr walker

Posted
Posted (edited)
How would it affect the numbers if on one of those trips, they had to pay $50,000 for an emergency medical evacuation?

 

I think that's the thinking of most. Reallistically most who can afford to take a vacation could afford to lose the actual cost of the vacation, so not take out cancellation insurance.

 

However, it is different matter when considering medical evacuation or medical treatment in a country where your exisiting health insurance will not cover you. It is possible that that could run to many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

The ciphering above by chicagoans does not factor in this aspect - I could never venture outside of Australia without comprehensive travel insurance.

 

Dismissing insurance as a sucker bet is very simplistic.

Edited by mr walker
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lucymorgan

lucymorgan

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am so sorry Judy about your DH's health. Hope things improve for you both.

 

In Australia, we all have the public health system to use if ill (although we are encouraged to have private health insurance). When travelling overseas I think most people in Oz buy travel insurance and for the US it is more expensive than anywhere else in the world. Our media sometimes tells stories about travelers to the US without insurance being liable for > 50 or 100 thousand dollars and losing their house or life savings.

Edited by jenibor
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