COVID Testing on Iona

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, Teddy123 said:

 

But this says that if a negative contact is offloaded then accommodation and travel will be covered "if it is medically necessary for them to stay beyond their scheduled return date." Some scope for debate about whether it's "medically necessary" for a negative contact to stay, surely - unless being offloaded in these circumstances is seen as consituting a "medical necessity" even for a fit person.  This seems ambiguous to me.

I would agree and have already written back for further detail. 

[clearblueseas]

Reply from P & O Head Office and Mr Ludlow has noted the comments. Seems like they’ve just cut and pasted from their FAQ regarding covid. Can’t paste the reply here because of their copywrite conditions.

 

Oh well I tried to get some answers. Will let you know as soon as I receive a reply from Staysure.

 

 

[Megabear2]

We have clarity from All Clear, and it's partially good but not outstanding:

 

Thank you for your response.

 

Kindly note that in case of personal quarantine whilst abroad, which is a period of time where you are suspected of carrying an infection or have been exposed to an infection and as a result are confined or isolated on the orders of a medical professional or public health board in an effort to prevent disease from spreading, the cover - subject to the policy terms and conditions - will be for reasonable additional transport and/or accommodation expenses incurred, however, the Covid-19 tests will not be covered, and food will only be covered if approved by our Emergency Medical Team, depending on the type of cruise you had originally booked, if it was all inclusive or not.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you have any further questions.

 

Better than nothing, and acknowledging a problem exists but certainly not the best answer.  Based on the £3000 to £4000 spent by the Marella customers I'd guess this is around £2,000 so better than nothing.

[Megabear2]

9 minutes ago, clearblueseas said:

Reply from P & O Head Office and Mr Ludlow has noted the comments. Seems like they’ve just cut and pasted from their FAQ regarding covid. Can’t paste the reply here because of their copywrite conditions.

 

Oh well I tried to get some answers. Will let you know as soon as I receive a reply from Staysure.

 

 

Experience says, try again! Just say thanks for the reply but it doesn't answer your query.  Mr Ludlow has a new boss -  a very dishy (not my words but those of several P&O lady employees) Norwegian. Ask if they can both reply.  The more you push, the better the chances of a full explanation.

[cruising.mark.uk]

8 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

We have clarity from All Clear, and it's partially good but not outstanding:

 

Thank you for your response.

 

Kindly note that in case of personal quarantine whilst abroad, which is a period of time where you are suspected of carrying an infection or have been exposed to an infection and as a result are confined or isolated on the orders of a medical professional or public health board in an effort to prevent disease from spreading, the cover - subject to the policy terms and conditions - will be for reasonable additional transport and/or accommodation expenses incurred, however, the Covid-19 tests will not be covered, and food will only be covered if approved by our Emergency Medical Team, depending on the type of cruise you had originally booked, if it was all inclusive or not.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you have any further questions.

 

Better than nothing, and acknowledging a problem exists but certainly not the best answer.  Based on the £3000 to £4000 spent by the Marella customers I'd guess this is around £2,000 so better than nothing.

Surely they would cover food as well?  I'm guessing the 'Emergency Medical Team' would agree that people who are isolated need to eat and all cruises of which I'm aware are 'all inclusive' in that they include meals (except for specialist restaurants), so the 'depending on the type of cruise you booked' bit strikes me as a bit of a red herring!

If that is true, then it seems that the only thing this won't cover is tests...

[clearblueseas]

Thank you Megabear. Will contact P & O again. Very disappointing that we don’t get a reply to the questions we ask. Thank you also for your support to the forum. Much appreciated.

 

has anyone contacted Simon Caldwell ?

[clearblueseas]

Or indeed Martin Lewis the finance guy.

[Teddy123]

13 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Surely they would cover food as well?  I'm guessing the 'Emergency Medical Team' would agree that people who are isolated need to eat and all cruises of which I'm aware are 'all inclusive' in that they include meals (except for specialist restaurants), so the 'depending on the type of cruise you booked' bit strikes me as a bit of a red herring!

If that is true, then it seems that the only thing this won't cover is tests...

 

I've looked at the most expensive All Clear policy (Platinum). It says there is cover

 

"for reasonable and necessary additional accommodation (room only) and travelling expenses (economy class), including those of one relative or friend if you have to be accompanied home on medical advice or if you are a child and require an escort home. You must have our permission to do this.

Please note cover is limited to a maximum of £2,000 in relation to [this] point if you have to extend your trip because you have contracted coronavirus disease (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), or any mutation or variation of these; or if you are quarantined (on the orders of the treating medical practitioner) abroad as the result of the above conditions."

 

I would expect these words to be definitive in any debate about what's covered.  So accommodation only and a limit of £2,000 on this and travel in total.

[cruising.mark.uk]

Martin Lewis is the Money Saving Expert.com guy; as I mentioned in a post yesterday, their latest weekly newsletter covers Covid travel insurance.

 

I'm not sure this is an issue worthy of his attention or Simon Calder's at the moment.  It would be if the risk was uninsurable.  But early indications from the replies Megabear has already received suggest that this is no longer the case, i.e. it seems that Cover for You and All Clear provide at least some cover for the circumstances that previous research indicated were not covered by anyone.  We may well see when more responses come in that the market more widely is now aware of the problem and is adapting to mitigate it.  In which case, I'm not sure there's anything for advocates like Martin Lewis and Simon Calder to take up.

 

If cover is available, I think that the important outstanding issue will be whether the insurance firms / policies recommended by P&O, Cunard, wider-CCL and other cruise lines provide cover for the specific circumstances of debarked negative passengers.  If they do, I think the work of Megabear and the others on here who have been championing this issue is just about complete.  If, however, those specific companies / policies don't provide cover for this eventuality, there is still a discussion to be had with the cruise lines as to either how they make sure their customers are aware of that shortcoming or (preferably) how they either influence their recommended supplier to adapt the policy so that it does or change recommended supplier to an alternative which will look after debarked negative testing passengers.  

Edited January 14, 2022 by cruising.mark.uk

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, Teddy123 said:

 

I've looked at the most expensive All Clear policy (Platinum). It says there is cover

 

"for reasonable and necessary additional accommodation (room only) and travelling expenses (economy class), including those of one relative or friend if you have to be accompanied home on medical advice or if you are a child and require an escort home. You must have our permission to do this.

Please note cover is limited to a maximum of £2,000 in relation to [this] point if you have to extend your trip because you have contracted coronavirus disease (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), or any mutation or variation of these; or if you are quarantined (on the orders of the treating medical practitioner) abroad as the result of the above conditions."

 

I would expect these words to be definitive in any debate about what's covered.  So accommodation only and a limit of £2,000 on this and travel in total.

I agree. 

[cruising.mark.uk]

Fair point Teddy and Megabear.  Although they may not have had it in mind when they worded the policy, is it not the case that debarked passengers are being reimbursed by cruise lines the per diem cost of days of the cruise for which they were in quarantine or have missed?  Given that part of that fare would have been for food, could insurers argue that the refunded money should be used by the passenger to fund meals in quarantine?  I can sort of see the sense of that, but if they were going to use that as an argument not to pay for food, they could use the same argument not to pay for at least some of the accommodation charges, because lost days in the cabin would also be included in the per diem refund and might theoretically be 'reassigned' by the passengers to meet hotel costs.

[watsonbeau]

In earlier post I would agree this is very relevant 

 

 "if it is medically necessary for them to stay beyond their scheduled return date." 

 

Likely that could be a get out for the insurer.

 

on different tangent - Daily Mail today - Tui

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10402483/British-couple-say-Tui-needs-stricter-Covid-controls-cruises-test-positive.html

 

 

[Megabear2]

Further update from Cover For You:

 

Thank you for your queries.

 

Kindly note that the note "if it is medically necessary for them to stay beyond their scheduled return date" relates to the situation where the insured person(s) are requested to leave the ship if they tested positive for Covid-19. For the insured person(s) who has been in close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 and, by decision of the ship captain, needs to self-isolate on land, it is not required to have a positive Covid-19 test, and will be covered - subject to the policy terms and conditions - for the period required by the local authorities to self-isolate on these situations.

 

We hope we were able to explain this matter, please contact us, if you have any further queries.

[Megabear2]

Holiday Extras have returned to me:

 

Liz Gray (Holiday Extras)

14 Jan 2022, 13:22 UTC

14th January 2022

RE: Our Reference: 3346854

Dear xxxxxxxxx

Thank you for getting in touch, my name is Liz, Matthew has passed your email to me as it is my role, as Customer Experience Executive for Holiday Extras Travel Insurance, to look at all complaints both according to the terms and conditions of the policy and ensure you have been treated fairly.

I'm disappointed to learn that you are having difficulties in obtaining definitive answers about the cover provided and I appreciate you taking the time to let us know about this.

I'd like to assure you we are taking this extremely seriously, I have now started to investigate this and will send you our final response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint on 13th January 2022, however, I will aim to get this completed within 7-10 working days. This will outline our investigations and will say how we propose to resolve your complaint. I will try my best to respond as quickly as possible and will keep you updated along the way. If you are dissatisfied with our final response you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service in line with the final stage of the complaints procedure detailed in your policy booklet.

If you have any questions or wish to provide us with any new information that will help us investigate your complaint, please let me know by replying to this email.

Yours sincerely

Liz

[davecttr]

16 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Further update from Cover For You:

 

Thank you for your queries.

 

Kindly note that the note "if it is medically necessary for them to stay beyond their scheduled return date" relates to the situation where the insured person(s) are requested to leave the ship if they tested positive for Covid-19. For the insured person(s) who has been in close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 and, by decision of the ship captain, needs to self-isolate on land, it is not required to have a positive Covid-19 test, and will be covered - subject to the policy terms and conditions - for the period required by the local authorities to self-isolate on these situations.

 

We hope we were able to explain this matter, please contact us, if you have any further queries.

what about when it is not the ships captains decision but the shore authority or cruise HQ

[Gettingwarmer]

18 minutes ago, davecttr said:

what about when it is not the ships captains decision but the shore authority or cruise HQ

I would think it would apply as the Captain has to no choice but to decide to agree to the Spanish authorities request. 

[terrierjohn]

9 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I would think it would apply as the Captain has to no choice but to decide to agree to the Spanish authorities request. 

I would agree, I think the Captain has the last word on whether you need to disembark, even if he is having to follow foreign country protocols.

[Host Sharon]

This is now way off topic so I have closed it.