Holland American charges for dead people?

[Begete]

In 40 years of cruising, I have never heard of such a thing. A friend of mine had a husband who had been quite ill, off and on, for many years. They purchased a 7 day cruise from California to Mexico, I believe scheduled for early April. Last week, her husband died very suddenly, but not from the chronic condition he had. Her travel insurance will not reimburse her because of prexisting condion, even tho that condition is not what he died from, and Holland America will not refund even her husband’s portion of the fare. 

 

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

[OlsSalt]

3 minutes ago, Begete said:

In 40 years of cruising, I have never heard of such a thing. A friend of mine had a husband who had been quite ill, off and on, for many years. They purchased a 7 day cruise from California to Mexico, I believe scheduled for early April. Last week, her husband died very suddenly, but not from the chronic condition he had. Her travel insurance will not reimburse her because of prexisting condion, even tho that condition is not what he died from, and Holland America will not refund even her husband’s portion of the fare. 

 

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

 

Take this up with the insurance company. Then read the cruise contract about last minute cancellations. April is still nearly a month away. There may be some refund capacity. Is she still taking the cruise anyway - your last comment is confusing.

 

This is not unconcsionable, it is personally tragic but contracts are contracts and the duty of the heir is to clear up all of the decendent's contractual obligations. Not pick and choose which ones they think are worth paying or not.  If you never choose HAL again, that is your choice.

Edited March 14, 2019 by OlsSalt

[CruiseGal999]

5 minutes ago, Begete said:

In 40 years of cruising, I have never heard of such a thing. A friend of mine had a husband who had been quite ill, off and on, for many years. They purchased a 7 day cruise from California to Mexico, I believe scheduled for early April. Last week, her husband died very suddenly, but not from the chronic condition he had. Her travel insurance will not reimburse her because of prexisting condion, even tho that condition is not what he died from, and Holland America will not refund even her husband’s portion of the fare. 

 

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

 

I don't know about the insurance ... but if the wife goes on the cruise, then there is nothing to reimburse.  As she would have to pay for 2 people/double occupancy anyway.  

 

If she does not go on the cruise ... and is past final payment or beyond whatever date cruise line determines for refunds or partial refunds, then she is left with submitting claim to insurance.  And that is in the fine print of the policy.  

 

 

[Fouremco]

29 minutes ago, Begete said:

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

This is a cruise industry standard, not a policy unique to HAL. 

 

The issue here is with the insurance company, not HAL. Unfortunately, there is insufficient information in your post to understand why they rejected the claim.

[Oakman58]

She needs to be more aggresive with her travel insurance company.

[DAllenTCY]

There is an opening at the New York Post for you.

 

David

 

 

[cruisinbunny]

I'm sorry about the passing of your friend's husband. This is not the first time I've heard of something like this happening. 

[1964IceCreamLady]

I am so sorry for your friend.  But I guess she didn’t buy the HAL cancellation plan.  I have many close sick and/or elderly relatives and buy the CCP just for that reason (a sudden death).  It seems odd she didn’t buy it.  

Edited March 14, 2019 by 1964IceCreamLady

[Germancruiser]

Why on earth should the refund the fare for the passed hubby? Never heard of that! I am sure the finanical aspect is not the most worrysome when dear hubby has to go!

[RDC1]

the cruiseline does not refund outside it's normal refund policy in case of death. that is what travel insurance is for. So the real question is why the insurance company is not paying when presented with a properly documented claim. 

might be the medical information that was provided to them indicates that preexisting condition was related.

what insurance policy did they purchase.

 

I guess you wont be cruising with anyone because other cruise lines have the same refund practices.

Edited March 14, 2019 by RDC1

[Donald]

At HAL, how can you tell when they are dead?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry to hear about your friend's husband'd death.

 

If he died of something different than the pre-existing condition, she needs to get an attorney and fight for the refund.

 

Is she still going on the cruise?

[Caribbean Chris]

It’s never easy for family and friends when something like this happens. But perhaps your headline should more accurately have been, ““Insurance company won’t pay for cancellation?”

 

Whether or not your friend collects eventually for her deceased husband’s portion of the fare, if she does not cancel and chooses to travel solo in a double stateroom, yes - I believe she would be charged the same single rate that any solo traveler pays which is usually 200%.

 

 

 

[TiogaCruiser]

I’m sorry for your friend’s loss.

 

There isn’t enough detail but another reason Insurance might not pay is what his condition was when they first booked. You say he was ill on and off.

If on the date they booked he was not healthy enough to jump on the ship and go then, the insurance would not cover. 

[daisy-mae]

Regardless of the cause of death, if the condition was not disclosed on the policy application, the insurance company may be exploiting a loophole. that would allow it to deny compensation.

 

I once read about a woman who had sustained a bad cut when snorkeling too close to some coral while on holiday. Her travel insurer denied her claim because she had not declared that she suffered from asthma when applying for insurance, even though the condition had nothing to do with her injury. Insurance companies are allowed to access a claimant's medical files (it's in the fine print).

[Randyk47]

12 hours ago, Begete said:

In 40 years of cruising, I have never heard of such a thing. A friend of mine had a husband who had been quite ill, off and on, for many years. They purchased a 7 day cruise from California to Mexico, I believe scheduled for early April. Last week, her husband died very suddenly, but not from the chronic condition he had. Her travel insurance will not reimburse her because of prexisting condion, even tho that condition is not what he died from, and Holland America will not refund even her husband’s portion of the fare. 

 

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

 

I think if you researched this and truly feel this strongly about how HAL has treated this unfortunate situation you’ll not be cruising with any line.   This is more an issue with her insurance company not HAL who aced like any other line would most probably act.  

[wombatKY]

Has anyone suggested that they look at their credit card insurance, if they used one to pay for the cruise?  

 

I think they have more generous terms on cancellation.

[TheCruisingAccountant]

Holland America clearly did not "charge for dead person"

Living person purchases cruise under certain agree upon terms. 

Unfortunately, person is no longer living when the time comes to execute the action contained within said terms. 

Terms do not allow for refund under given circumstances that prevent execution of the action.

 

Suggesting that HAL "charges for dead people" only adds a classic appeal to emotion to attempt to influence the opinions of readers when the facts of the terms are not consistent to what an observer feels the outcome "should" be.  

 

 

[OlsSalt]

21 minutes ago, TheCruisingAccountant said:

Holland America clearly did not "charge for dead person"

Living person purchases cruise under certain agree upon terms. 

Unfortunately, person is no longer living when the time comes to execute the action contained within said terms. 

Terms do not allow for refund under given circumstances that prevent execution of the action.

 

Suggesting that HAL "charges for dead people" only adds a classic appeal to emotion to attempt to influence the opinions of readers when the facts of the terms are not consistent to what an observer feels the outcome "should" be.  

 

 

 

Bad pattern for an argument, as you well state: (1)false claims---(2)subjective outrage---(3)extortive demands

My condolences for the deceased who innocently got dragged into this.

Edited March 14, 2019 by OlsSalt

[Diver2014]

16 hours ago, Begete said:

 

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

 

After 40 years of cruising, blaming the cruise line for an insurance issue is highly questionable.  If the cruise line refunded everyone who thought they should have a refund due to their situation,  where does it end?  Sorry,  you're only hurting

yourself if you never cruise with HAL again.  As others have said, other cruise lines apply the same guidelines.

[twodjs]

This, unfortunately, is why you always take out your insurance within the first few days of booking, as most insurance companies then cover any preexisting conditions.

[twodjs]

More accurately, they can't deny coverage because of a preexisting condition, if coverage is obtained within a few days of booking the cruise. So this coverage was obtained after the cutoff date, or this insurance company didn't offer that benefit. 

[zqvol]

 

19 hours ago, Begete said:

In 40 years of cruising, I have never heard of such a thing. A friend of mine had a husband who had been quite ill, off and on, for many years. They purchased a 7 day cruise from California to Mexico, I believe scheduled for early April. Last week, her husband died very suddenly, but not from the chronic condition he had. Her travel insurance will not reimburse her because of prexisting condion, even tho that condition is not what he died from, and Holland America will not refund even her husband’s portion of the fare. 

 

IMHO, this is unconscionable, and my husband and I will never cruise with Holland America again.

 

This is common practice across the industry. If you find it unconscionable you should probably consider giving up cruising.

[Cancun01]

All valid points to a certain extent.   I suspect that the pre-existing condition may not have been disclosed and as suggested above it is being used as a loop-hole to not refund.

 

 To add insult to injury, the cruise line will probably turn around and resell the stateroom thus “double-dipping”.  In other words they will sell the stateroom twice with no refund to the original  purchaser.  That is the unconscionable part.  Just because it is common practice doesn’t make it right.  To the O/P ...make sure that your friend at least receives the port fees back. She is entitled to those fees. 

 

BTW Some of the luxury lines have been known to offer some type of partial credit on a future cruise in similar  circumstances if they are indeed able to resell the stateroom.   They see the bigger picture and don’t want to loose potential future business.  Then again there are others who won’t even give a voucher for a cheap bottle of wine on a future cruise. 

 

Your friend should contact one of the various travel ombudspeople to ascertain if there is anything that can be done. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Cancun01

[Jersey42]

19 hours ago, Begete said:

Her travel insurance will not reimburse her because of prexisting condion, even tho that condition is not what he died from

What travel insurance did they purchase? If they purchased the HAL Cruise Cancellation Protection, it looks like they do not have a preexisting condition clause, so I am guessing it was a third party plan.  Many if not most of the comprehensive travel insurance plans waive the pre-existing condition clause as long as certain requirements are met.  Each policy is unique, but typical key requirements are:

• You must be medically able to travel when you purchase the insurance
• You must purchase the insurance within xx days of making your first trip payment.  xx is typically in the 14 - 21 day range.
• You must insure the full non-refundable amount of your trip for the entire length of the trip.

If they met the requirements, they should be able to get the insurance to pay.  If not, it may require some work or an attorney to demonstrate he did not die from the pre-existing condition.  I wish her luck.