Cruise Interrupted: have you ever had to file a claim with Insurance Co, and what happened?

[st5310]

First, the details: DW and I just had a Royal sailing cut short because of a health issue.  We did purchase insurance (not thru Royal) prior to and I have submitted a claim for reimbursement.  As I await their reply, I wanted to ask my cruising brethren if any of you have had this unfortunate experience and how did it turn out for you... i.e. how long did it take, did you get the full amount applied for, etc.?  Thank you kindly.

[Big_G]

5 minutes ago, st5310 said:

First, the details: DW and I just had a Royal sailing cut short because of a health issue.  We did purchase insurance (not thru Royal) prior to and I have submitted a claim for reimbursement.  As I await their reply, I wanted to ask my cruising brethren if any of you have had this unfortunate experience and how did it turn out for you... i.e. how long did it take, did you get the full amount applied for, etc.?  Thank you kindly.

 

Just curious, had you already sailed and was there a medical evacuation?

[klfrodo]

Yes, I have filed a claim. Yes, I have been reimbursed up to the max allowed for a "covered" reason under the terms of the policy AND I provided all the proper documentation required. I have also had a claim denied because I didn't fully comply with the procedures spelled out in the policy.

 

Lately, insurance companies have been delayed in responding. They claim it is due to being inundated with claims. Expect 90 to 180 days.

[twangster]

Alianz fought me at every step.  I eventually prevailed but it took months.  They try to make it difficult and they contradicted themselves multiple times.  They wanted me to give up.  I didn't. 

[nelblu]

Mine was not so much interruption, but cancellation due to my wife being in the hospital.  Royal reimbursed me 50% of fare less the $100 cancellation fee (NRD).  Put a claim via Chase CC (Allianz was the insurer) for the trip interruption and cancellation benefit.  After providing proof of the hospital stay and medical issues, I was reimbursed for the amounts that I was exposed to.   It took about a little over a month, and this was during the Pandemic.

[MommaBear55]

Allianz was great, the only thing I am still waiting on is my normal health insurance to refuse that part of the claim before Allianz will pay that. Very pleased with the insurance, and luckily health improved rapidly.

Interestingly enough, their annual coverage is cheaper than their trip specific coverage.

Edited January 6, 2023 by MommaBear55

[ILCTCRUISER]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Alianz fought me at every step.  I eventually prevailed but it took months.  They try to make it difficult and they contradicted themselves multiple times.  They wanted me to give up.  I didn't. 

My experience as well. Won’t go into details but I believe I provided the documentation Allianz required.  Major stalling.  I’m confident it was all about attrition:  Allianz recognizes (and probably has the statistics) that if it stalls long enough x number of claimants will give up.   During one of my dozens and dozens of calls, one rep even told me he didn’t understand why I hadn’t received my claim funds because his review of the file showed that my claim had been approved for payment.  In the end, Allianz asked for more documentation, documentation that would have been very very difficult to get and which seemed to be unnecessary.  I was told my file would be closed and would be reopened when I produced that documentation.   It got to the point at which I felt I needed to call my lawyer.  Then, one day, I get an email:  Your claims have been paid in full.  Sure enough, the funds had been deposited to my bank account.

 

 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

We had a death in the immediate family (not traveling with us) two days before we sailed.  We canceled, or I should say our TA canceled for us, and after providing a death certificate we got a check for more than what we spent within about two weeks.  After 20 years of traveling this was the first time I ever bought insurance. 

 

I believe in your case it will be "trip interruption" coverage and I recall it's only for expenses after you leave the ship and to get home.  I doubt you will get anything for the missed cruise days.       

[shofer]

10 hours ago, st5310 said:

First, the details: DW and I just had a Royal sailing cut short because of a health issue.  We did purchase insurance (not thru Royal) prior to and I have submitted a claim for reimbursement.  As I await their reply, I wanted to ask my cruising brethren if any of you have had this unfortunate experience and how did it turn out for you... i.e. how long did it take, did you get the full amount applied for, etc.?  Thank you kindly.

February, 2020, one day before our cruise, DH was in the ER being worked up for a cardiac issue.  We had the Royal insurance and everything was covered, no problem.  I don't remember how long it took but it wasn't excessive.  This was right before Covid shut everything down.  Southwest gave us credit for our flight for a term of 18 mos. 

[kernow]

13 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Yes, I have filed a claim. Yes, I have been reimbursed up to the max allowed for a "covered" reason under the terms of the policy AND I provided all the proper documentation required. I have also had a claim denied because I didn't fully comply with the procedures spelled out in the policy.

 

Lately, insurance companies have been delayed in responding. They claim it is due to being inundated with claims. Expect 90 to 180 days.

Claims are also delayed in the UK. Never claimed before but currently have a claim in for our cruise in November (denied boarding for second leg as I tested positive for covid). Insurance company has said it will take at least 10 weeks and not to contact them until after that time. RCL have reimbursed us for the missed cruise but claiming for additional expenses as we were stuck in Australia.

[shipgeeks]

My understanding is that one should file first with one's health insurance (not travel insurance), if it is a medical expense.

[Babr]

16 hours ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

We had a death in the immediate family (not traveling with us) two days before we sailed.  We canceled, or I should say our TA canceled for us, and after providing a death certificate we got a check for more than what we spent within about two weeks.  After 20 years of traveling this was the first time I ever bought insurance. 

 

I believe in your case it will be "trip interruption" coverage and I recall it's only for expenses after you leave the ship and to get home.  I doubt you will get anything for the missed cruise days.       

Trip Interruption does allow up to 150% of cruise fare, depending on the policy, to reimburse for unused days of the trip as well as return transportation. The extra percentage is there to cover both, but it does not pay more than actual expenses/loss.

[st5310]

On 1/6/2023 at 1:46 PM, Big_G said:

 

Just curious, had you already sailed and was there a medical evacuation?

Big G, we were 3 days into the second segment of a 3x B2B.  No evacuation, but ship's medical center sent us to shoreside hospital (Port Canaveral) where DW received care in ER, including CT scan.  After evaluating, the doctor would not clear us to continue the cruise.  Had 2 hours to pack and debark.

[st5310]

7 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

My understanding is that one should file first with one's health insurance (not travel insurance), if it is a medical expense.

Thank you, Shipgeeks, but this is a trip interruption issue.  Medical insurance is irrelevant in this case.

[Big_G]

30 minutes ago, st5310 said:

Big G, we were 3 days into the second segment of a 3x B2B.  No evacuation, but ship's medical center sent us to shoreside hospital (Port Canaveral) where DW received care in ER, including CT scan.  After evaluating, the doctor would not clear us to continue the cruise.  Had 2 hours to pack and debark.

 

We were on the last day of the first leg of a B2B when we were notified my Dad had a stroke at home so we just hopped on a plane on turn around day. It took us a while to get the claim signed by the MD but once submitted it was a quick turnaround. Less than 2 weeks. That was Travel Guard.

[brownc424]

23 hours ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

My experience as well. Won’t go into details but I believe I provided the documentation Allianz required.  Major stalling.  I’m confident it was all about attrition:  Allianz recognizes (and probably has the statistics) that if it stalls long enough x number of claimants will give up.   During one of my dozens and dozens of calls, one rep even told me he didn’t understand why I hadn’t received my claim funds because his review of the file showed that my claim had been approved for payment.  In the end, Allianz asked for more documentation, documentation that would have been very very difficult to get and which seemed to be unnecessary.  I was told my file would be closed and would be reopened when I produced that documentation.   It got to the point at which I felt I needed to call my lawyer.  Then, one day, I get an email:  Your claims have been paid in full.  Sure enough, the funds had been deposited to my bank account.

 

 

Not exactly the same scenario, but when I had to file a trip delay claim (missed connection due to delays), I wound up having to send in the exact same forms three times. Took me four months, but they eventually approved it. It definitely is a delay tactic to get you to forget / lose the paperwork. 

[D4]

I’m so sorry that happened.  Keep in mind that some people bash their trip insurance company for denying their claim.  I think this is often due to not having the waiver for pre-existing medical conditions or not meeting all the requirements of the waiver.

 

I wish you the best.

[ARandomTraveler]

I made a claim on my travel insurance policy for trip interruption back in September. I bought a policy from Trawick International (which I guess is part of Nationwide Insurance), which I found on insure my trip dot com. 
 

I wasn't on a cruise, I was on a land vacation, and I had to change my travel plans due to a strike in Europe, so I had to pay an extra night in a hotel, and I missed an excursion that wasn't refundable. 
 

I made a claim to the insurance policy by sending them emails from the airline, receipts from the hotel for my extra night, and receipts from my excursion that I missed to show the price and that they were non-refundable. I also made claims for the food and Ubers for that interrupted travel day, but sent no receipts for those.

 

I received a response from them within a day that said they were backed up with claims. After a month I ended up calling insure my trip dot com instead of calling the insurance company, and insure my trip called the insurance company on my behalf.
 

I heard from the insurance company the very next day, letting me know they were expediting my claim. A couple days later my claim was approved, but it took a couple more weeks before I got my check.

 

So it took about 2 months to get my money, but I had no issues with my actual claim. They were fine with the receipts that I sent and never asked for anything additional. There was a maximum limit on the hotel room, and since I was staying in an expensive hotel, I only received the maximum amount of the policy for that portion (which was $300). But it was totally worth having the insurance policy.

[robmtx]

7 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I made a claim on my travel insurance policy for trip interruption back in September. I bought a policy from Trawick International (which I guess is part of Nationwide Insurance)

 

So it took about 2 months to get my money, but I had no issues with my actual claim. They were fine with the receipts that I sent and never asked for anything additional. There was a maximum limit on the hotel room, and since I was staying in an expensive hotel, I only received the maximum amount of the policy for that portion (which was $300). But it was totally worth having the insurance policy.

 

I've been buying Trawick policies since the pandemic hit as they brag about their covid coverage. Haven't had to file a claim with them, but thanks for this mini review of their process and payout. 

 

So hard to judge the full service of a policy if you buy it 10 times and never use it. I hope we never have to file a claim again, but will probably use Trawick some more

 

We had to file a claim in Feb 2020 to AIG for a delayed departure (cruise line's fault) - AIG covered expenses above and beyond what Royal paid as reimbursements, but they did take awhile. The pandemic had just started so I attribute the lengthy response to that. It took about 3 months to get a response but once they started 'working on my claim' it was resolved within days, without additional requests from them. 

 

With AIG I even submitted (and was reimbursed for) movie ticket stubs because we took our boys to see a movie to pass the time as Royal initially had only delayed the sailing by 6 hours and we needed to hangout by the cruise port. 

[nimbex1970]

My mother fell and broke her hip on a Nova Scotia excursion.  The insurance was excellent and paid for her to fly home (once medically cleared after surgery) and paid for a private nurse to escort her from Canada to her home in Buffalo NY.  She was refunded a pro-rated amount, having used three days of the cruise.  Her travel companion received the same in compensation.  The travel companion was reimbursed for the full flight as well. This took about two months time and documentation of the hospitalization. 

[nelblu]

Has anyone had experience if one uses miles for an airline ticket and purchases trip insurance as part of this transaction.  Does the insurance company reimburse for the replacement cost of airfare, etc.

[ARandomTraveler]

5 hours ago, nelblu said:

Has anyone had experience if one uses miles for an airline ticket and purchases trip insurance as part of this transaction.  Does the insurance company reimburse for the replacement cost of airfare, etc.

There are insurance plans that offer this as a benefit. You have to read through the full policy to see if "loyalty points" is a benefit. I don't think the policy that Royal Caribbean sells will cover anything having to do with your airfare, but the private policies do.