Holiday Insurance Annual or one trip?

[Tikka234]

We have always booked one trip holiday insurance as have only had one ho!iday. Next year we have 2 cruises book due to cancellation. Both europe Norway and Med. Is an annual insurance befter? I know when we went to use with my grandson he had a short hospital stay before holiday (after we had insurance) which I told insurance about they said that's fine it would only make a difference if you had an annual insurance. why?

With annual insurance do you have to tell them every holiday you book?

Does it include uk holidays?

If you develops a condition will they still cover you for holidays booked during that year?

Are there advantages/disadvantages with annual insurance?

Thanks for any advice.

[terrierjohn]

26 minutes ago, Tikka234 said:

We have always booked one trip holiday insurance as have only had one ho!iday. Next year we have 2 cruises book due to cancellation. Both europe Norway and Med. Is an annual insurance befter? I know when we went to use with my grandson he had a short hospital stay before holiday (after we had insurance) which I told insurance about they said that's fine it would only make a difference if you had an annual insurance. why?

With annual insurance do you have to tell them every holiday you book?

Does it include uk holidays?

If you develops a condition will they still cover you for holidays booked during that year?

Are there advantages/disadvantages with annual insurance?

Thanks for any advice.

The main advantage is cost, we found that our annual cost was almost the same as a  one trip one.  We now have medical conditions to cover but still found annual cost was a significant saving.

[Scratchrat]

I have annual insurance as a work perk. It costs me £5 a month to cover the 2 of us.

[Tikka234]

Does annual insurance automatically cover cruises or do you have to tick a cruise box like with one trip?

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Tikka234 said:

Does annual insurance automatically cover cruises or do you have to tick a cruise box like with one trip?

Every insurance policy is slightly different, so I'm not sure anyone can give you a definitive answer. 

My annual policy covers me for basic cruise insurance,  but I upgrade for extra cruise insurance that covers me for missed ports, cabin confinement etc. The extra cost is minimal.

[terrierjohn]

You do need to ensure that you request that your insurance covers cruising, many do but some insurers do add a bit extra for cruise cover.

[kruzseeka]

We have Annual Insurance with our (joint) bank account which covers us both for multiple world wide cover.  We think it's good value and actually cost us less than a one-off cover when I had to take out additional insurance for a declared condition.    

 

It all depends on your circumstances (age, pre existing conditions) but generally won't cover for any conditions which are under investigation.  Each company will have slightly different T&Cs which you should be sure covers your requirements as with single cover policies.

 

If they accept any conditions, then any issues occurring after taking out the insurance should be covered for any trips including the UK (perhaps has to be more than 2/3 nights though).   

 

But it's imperative that you do tell them if something has changed i.e. a new condition, as depending on the condition being declared,  they may not even be prepared to cover you for travel at all.  They should cover you for cancellation costs for trips already booked. They may be perfectly happy to cover you for the new condition but perhaps will charge an additional premium. But you should talk to them about your existing bookings in relation to the condition and not take out new bookings after developing a new condition without doing so.  If cover was taken out after March 19th (?) this year it will not cover Covid-19.  At least this seems to be the situation at present.

 

If you have annual cover, then any other trips you book during that year will be covered as long as your situation hasn't changed.  We don't inform our insurers about individual trips or new bookings unless something has changed. 

 

We really groan when we have to renew car insurance, comparing costs/ cover etc so having annual travel cover avoids all that decision making as long as you remember to keep them updated and disclose anything which changes.

[Scratchrat]

Just checked mine and it covers cruises and safaris as standard.

[Thejuggler]

Like all insurance check the cover is the same.  A single trip policy may be different from an annual policy from the same company.

[john watson]

With Annual Insurance you still have to define your geographical area e.g. worldwide including North America and Caribbean or Europe and check it covers cruising which can be expensive and sometimes not covered because of this.  Cover normally extends to UK breaks which they may define as a minimum number of nights staying away from home and may include staying with relatives but still having luggage stolen.  There may also be a maximum number of days you can do on a trip like 21 days.  There may be a single trip limit and a world cruise of 107 days at a cost of £80,000 may fall outside the scope of the policy on number of days or overall trip cost for cancellation last minute.  In general they are not much more than single trip but it is important to look at the details to see what extents it suits your plans.  Many new policies issued now are going to exclude coronavirus.

 

Regards John

[Windsurfboy]

The only way is to go online and price insurance for the exact two holidays /cruises you have booked vs an annual policy with appropriate geography and cruise cover 

[Tikka234]

Thanks for all your replies I will look at both and May try annual if cheaper 

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

The only way is to go online and price insurance for the exact two holidays /cruises you have booked vs an annual policy with appropriate geography and cruise cover 

The issue I always gave with online quotes, is that i haven't found one yet that easily deals with pre-existing conditions. They either decline to offer any insurance, or ask me to make a call.

[mercury7289]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

The issue I always gave with online quotes, is that i haven't found one yet that easily deals with pre-existing conditions. They either decline to offer any insurance, or ask me to make a call.

wowzz,

I use Explorer insurance on line and insure for pre-existing conditions on a cruise by cruise basis.

Maybe not the cheapest, but so very easy to use.

 

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, mercury7289 said:

wowzz,

I use Explorer insurance on line and insure for pre-existing conditions on a cruise by cruise basis.

Maybe not the cheapest, but so very easy to use.

 

Thanks for that.

We have used an annual policy for several years that allows us to exclude certain pre-existing conditions, resulting in a pretty competitive (imho) price.

[brian1]

Insure and go has an extensive drop down menu for pre existing conditions.When you choose and declare, they are covered.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, brian1 said:

Insure and go has an extensive drop down menu for pre existing conditions.When you choose and declare, they are covered.

Insure and go is the company we use. However,  neither my wife's condition, nor mine, is shown on the drop down menu.  

However their call centre staff are helpful, and, as mentioned above, the policy is competitive.

[brian1]

6 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Insure and go is the company we use. However,  neither my wife's condition, nor mine, is shown on the drop down menu.  

However their call centre staff are helpful, and, as mentioned above, the policy is competitive.

No worries,we had to call them once to verify a procedure that my OH had done,whether it had to be declared.

[davecttr]

Decisions time, I received a letter yesterday from my bank advising that my annual travel insurance is due for renewal in July and please phone them. I wonder what they will say. As a solo cruiser it looks increasingly as if the onboard restrictions similar to the ones proposed by Costa effectively remove any pleasure for solo cruisers unless you like being a hermit. I must decide whether to forget about cruising for a year or two in which case I can save £18 per month on my bank account plus the medical supplement I pay.

 

It appears that solo cruisers will not be popular as they occupy the same social space as a couple.

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, davecttr said:

It appears that solo cruisers will not be popular as they occupy the same social space as a couple.

However, solo passengers do pay a large single supplement. It may be that in order to reduce passenger numbers, but keep up revenue, single passengers will actually be more welcome than before.  

[kruzseeka]

25 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Decisions time, I received a letter yesterday from my bank advising that my annual travel insurance is due for renewal in July and please phone them. I wonder what they will say. As a solo cruiser it looks increasingly as if the onboard restrictions similar to the ones proposed by Costa effectively remove any pleasure for solo cruisers unless you like being a hermit. I must decide whether to forget about cruising for a year or two in which case I can save £18 per month on my bank account plus the medical supplement I pay.

 

It appears that solo cruisers will not be popular as they occupy the same social space as a couple.

 

I see where you are coming from wrt solo travelling and that potentially future cruising will be a whole different experience for us all but more so for solo travellers.

 

Re the insurance we found they were very good when we discussed it with them and were happy to let it lapse then pick it up again when we wanted cover again for any new holidays booked. 

 

We did continue with ours on the basis that we had a couple of trips already booked for next year and we then transferred a deposit from one cancelled this year and provided we maintain the insurance, they are covered including for Covid. 

 

However it did dawn on me during the discussion that we would still be paying the account fee of £13 pm for the account anyway (I think that's what it is) and all we would save is the additional travel insurance premiums we pay for age and declared conditions. We use that insurance for breakdown cover too so on balance stuck with it (I think mobile insurance and some other benefits apply too but we don't rely on that) and to keep the account active for future insurance benefits.

 

I'm sure we're all hoping for an effective vaccine when hopefully we can resume cruising - and have no reservations about social mixing with all passengers including solos.  ☺

Edited June 18, 2020 by kruzseeka

[Mewat]

We have an annual one that includes cruising, because although we only have one cruise holiday a year, we do a few mini-breaks or weekends away which are then covered as well.

 

Michele