cancelled cruise due bereavement

[RB9643]

12 hours ago, moposh said:

I'm just wondering.  My great grandmother died while her daughter, my grandmother, was on a cruise and she wasn't told until after the cruise.  I've often wondered about that and wonder what others think.

 

We are very much under that particular cloud every time we cruise. Mother-in-Law is 94, healthy, active, but anything can happen at that age. We have 4 cruises totaling 47-days in the next year. We think about it often.

 

The good wife is the youngest of 5 siblings who all live within a few miles of mom.  It is likely she will have little to say in the program or preparation for the funeral. We have decided that if we will be home within 7-days, we'll finish out the trip.  If longer, we'll fly home as soon as possible. We have travel insurance to cover a trip interruption like this, so cost isn't the issue. The logistics involved, based on where we could be, might be a significant issue.

 

 

[igmurray]

no definitely not. missing my fathers funeral i wouldnt forgive myself. an i needed to help arrange things

[mjkacmom]

47 minutes ago, igmurray said:

no definitely not. missing my fathers funeral i wouldnt forgive myself. an i needed to help arrange things

Oh, I don’t think anyone was implying you’d miss the funeral. I’ve had family members pass while close family members were on vacation, they just delayed the services.

[njkruzer]

38 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Oh, I don’t think anyone was implying you’d miss the funeral. I’ve had family members pass while close family members were on vacation, they just delayed the services.

In certain communities burial happens within a day or 2.  Delaying a funeral for a week or more is unacceptable in those communities.  

[tscoffey]

On 6/30/2023 at 10:01 PM, klfrodo said:

and hoping that his passing wasn't due to a pre-existing condition, if in fact the insurance policy had a waiver of pre-existing condition for non-traveling family members.

I don’t see how this could be possible. Insurance policies are contracts, with the traveling parties being on one side of it. Other people who are not traveling, whether they are family or friends, are not part of the contract. So their conditons, preexisting or not, are irrelevant.

[Joe33472]

3 hours ago, tscoffey said:

I don’t see how this could be possible. Insurance policies are contracts, with the traveling parties being on one side of it. Other people who are not traveling, whether they are family or friends, are not part of the contract. So their conditons, preexisting or not, are irrelevant.

 

Yes, insurance policies are contract with individuals, but when the individual makes a claim under a policy for something that "happens" to a covered person under the policy (e.g. a family member), then I think that pre-existing conditions do come into play. 

 

https://www.squaremouth.com/travel-advice/can-i-cancel-a-trip-due-to-a-family-members-pre-existing-medical-condition?aid=100&src=gad&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqs6lBhCxARIsAG8YcDhd9EovLIOTlHv-PHrVTngZBlbYG_xV48S-daoLOQwDV6vaZaAeubAaAlaOEALw_wcB

 

Without getting into details, it was really important when I recently purchased an insurance policy that pre-existing coverage was included not only for myself, but for immediate family members, many of whom have pre-existing conditions.   If we had to interrupt or cancel our trip due to a family member going into the hospital or passing away, if the condition was pre-existing and there was no coverage, then I'm sure the claim would be denied.   By making sure that the policy included coverage for pre-existing conditions, I am told by my agent that prior medical condition(s) don't even come into consideration when making a claim.  

 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Joe33472

[tscoffey]

But how can you attest to the preexisting conditions of a third party? 

[Joe33472]

20 minutes ago, tscoffey said:

But how can you attest to the preexisting conditions of a third party? 

 

I didn't attest to my Dad's pre-existing conditions when I bought the policy, because the policy that I bought covers his and my pre-existing conditions.   He has some serious chronic health issues, but nothing putting in him in the hospital today.    Because I purchased the policy within 14 days of my first payment, the insurance company can't use pre-existing conditions as an "excuse" not to cover trip cancellation or interruption costs if my dad goes in the hospital or passes away.   

 

The "attestation" you ask about comes from the sick or recently passed away person's physician on the claim form.  See attached example from AIG.   AIG wants to know a lot of medical details pertaining to the illness or death.  I'd imagine with a death, a death certificate with cause of death would also be required.  

tg-sp-medical-certificate-and-other-providers-8-24-16.pdf

[Jt4428]

9 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Yes, insurance policies are contract with individuals, but when the individual makes a claim under a policy for something that "happens" to a covered person under the policy (e.g. a family member), then I think that pre-existing conditions do come into play. 

 

https://www.squaremouth.com/travel-advice/can-i-cancel-a-trip-due-to-a-family-members-pre-existing-medical-condition?aid=100&src=gad&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqs6lBhCxARIsAG8YcDhd9EovLIOTlHv-PHrVTngZBlbYG_xV48S-daoLOQwDV6vaZaAeubAaAlaOEALw_wcB

 

Without getting into details, it was really important when I recently purchased an insurance policy that pre-existing coverage was included not only for myself, but for immediate family members, many of whom have pre-existing conditions.   If we had to interrupt or cancel our trip due to a family member going into the hospital or passing away, if the condition was pre-existing and there was no coverage, then I'm sure the claim would be denied.   By making sure that the policy included coverage for pre-existing conditions, I am told by my agent that prior medical condition(s) don't even come into consideration when making a claim.  

 

 

Sorry you're wrong about this. Pre-existing conditions relate to who's cruising not the person at home who dies.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Jt4428
Auto correct

[Joe33472]

9 hours ago, Jt4428 said:

Sorry you're wrong about this. Pre-existing conditions relate to who's cruising not the person at home who dies.

 

I'm just going by what I've been told by my insurance agent and what I read online.   I've found this on Generali's website.  They claim they are one of the few carriers that don't look at pre-existing conditions of non-traveling family members.  

 

 

 

I keep thinking of a scenario where someone buys a cruise a  year in advance, buys no insurance, and then two weeks before the cruise a family member goes into the hospital.  The day after the hospitalization, the cruiser buys a travel insurance policy.  The family member stays in the hospital, cruiser goes on the cruise, and then during the cruise something happens to the family member and the cruiser wants to interrupt the trip.  Is the insurance company going to pay out? 

 

Generali seems to be saying that they'd be one of the few that would cover this type of situation.    I'm not an insurance expert nor an attorney, and it could be Generali just "marketing" their policy as being better than others.  I looked at my travel insurance contract and can't make any sense of the pre-existing condition wording coverage.   

 

 

 

[Joe33472]

9 hours ago, Jt4428 said:

Sorry you're wrong about this. Pre-existing conditions relate to who's cruising not the person at home who dies.

 

Just read your post again.  Yes, I agree that pre-existing conditions probably doesn't matter with death.   I was thinking in my head trip interruption or cancellation due to sickness.  Death is probably a totally different thing.  I was responding to a blanket statement that pre-existing conditions don't matter to non-traveling family members.  I do think that they still matter for illnesses or conditions, but probably just not death.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Joe33472

[Jt4428]

29 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Just read your post again.  Yes, I agree that pre-existing conditions probably doesn't matter with death.   I was thinking in my head trip interruption or cancellation due to sickness.  Death is probably a totally different thing.  I was responding to a blanket statement that pre-existing conditions don't matter to non-traveling family members.  I do think that they still matter for illnesses or conditions, but probably just not death.

 

 

Sorry but I don't believe that's true either.

[Joe33472]

10 minutes ago, Jt4428 said:

Sorry but I don't believe that's true either.

 

No problem.  Like I said, I'm not an insurance professional or attorney.  Just going by what I was told. 

[igmurray]

Hi again  thanks again  for all comments,  just an update. 

We got all taxes, fees and drink packages refunded by RCI and got a payment from my travel insurance enough to cover the cancelled part of cruise but only a small fraction of cost of the late flights home, (but I had to get home and dont regret my decision)I am glad I wasn't successful in the royal upgrade bid as I would have lost that too. For information,  I know  the rules are different in different countries but I did have to pay for my father's dr to complete a form fro insurance answering various questions .

We also got annual leave cancelled and now going away again next month on celebrity 

[nolegirl01]

I'm so sorry for your loss. May he rest in peace.

Which insurance do you all get when crusing? do you all get the one that RCI offers or a 3rd party one? Just curious which is better.

[Babr]

On 7/16/2023 at 10:39 AM, tscoffey said:

I don’t see how this could be possible. Insurance policies are contracts, with the traveling parties being on one side of it. Other people who are not traveling, whether they are family or friends, are not part of the contract. So their conditons, preexisting or not, are irrelevant.

The pre-existing conditions exclusion does indeed extend to non-traveling family members in some comprehensive travel policies. That is true of all credit card insurance provided as a benefit with fee based cards. Claims for cancellation or trip interruption are denied if they are determined to be caused by a pre-existing condition of the policy holder, traveling companion, or non-traveling family member. That is why it is important to read the policy carefully.

 

It does not necessarily mean death from a pre-existing condition isn’t covered unless it is stated in the policy, such as in the Aegis policy.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Babr

[ReneeFLL]

17 hours ago, nolegirl01 said:

I'm so sorry for your loss. May he rest in peace.

Which insurance do you all get when crusing? do you all get the one that RCI offers or a 3rd party one? Just curious which is better.

We use Travel Smart by Allianz for a yearly policy. You can also buy per trip if you don’t sail very much. We would never use Royal's since they don't cover as much.

[BND]

My dad has been fading for two years.  For the last 6 months they've been saying it could be no more than a couple of weeks.  My sister and her family have a trip to Ireland (grown kids and spouses) next week.  My other sister is going to a wedding out of town that weekend so DH and I are going back down again to stay with them.  My mom told my sister yesterday to go ahead and go on her trip as burial will take a couple of weeks as he'll be going to another state for that and my dad would want them to go.  We have a 20 night cruise coming up next month.  For some reason, I don't think she'd say the same to us because my family thinks we cruise too much.  I made sure she knew we're going to 4 new ports for us and this is a very different cruise than what we usually do.  Anyway, we have Allianz and bought more than just the basic plan for this year so we do need to double check but I'm pretty sure the pre-existing only applies to the actual insured.  The only pre-existing condition my dad really has is he's almost 86.

 

As for the issue of telling or waiting, for me it doesn't really matter.  The deceased won't really care so it's whatever you're comfortable with.  Plenty of services/burials take place weeks or even months later for a variety of reasons.

Edited August 29, 2023 by BND

[Babr]

4 minutes ago, BND said:

My dad has been fading for two years.  For the last 6 months they've been saying it could be no more than a couple of weeks.  My sister and her family have a trip to Ireland (grown kids and spouses) next week.  My other sister is going to a wedding out of town that weekend so DH and I are going back down again to stay with them.  My mom told my sister yesterday to go ahead and go on her trip as burial will take a couple of weeks as he'll be going to another state for that and my dad would want them to go.  We have a 20 night cruise coming up next month.  For some reason, I don't think she'd say the same to us because my family thinks we cruise too much.  I made sure she knew we're going to 4 new ports for us and this is a very different cruise than what we usually do.  Anyway, we have Allianz and bought more than just the basic plan for this year so we do need to double check but I'm pretty sure the pre-existing only applies to the actual insured.  The only pre-existing condition my dad really has is he's almost 86.

 

The pre-existing conditions exclusion does extend to family members, but it is waived if you already had the policy when you booked the trip or purchased it within 14 days of booking.

[PATRLR]

 

On 7/5/2023 at 8:40 PM, Jt4428 said:

I do not think you are correct on this.  The pre-existing condition refers to the cruise passengers who take out the insurance, not the loved ones at home who passed away.  

Not correct for many policies.

On 7/16/2023 at 11:39 AM, tscoffey said:

I don’t see how this could be possible. Insurance policies are contracts, with the traveling parties being on one side of it. Other people who are not traveling, whether they are family or friends, are not part of the contract. So their conditons, preexisting or not, are irrelevant.

Yes they are relevant if they are the reason for your claim.

On 7/17/2023 at 12:09 AM, Jt4428 said:

Sorry you're wrong about this. Pre-existing conditions relate to who's cruising not the person at home who dies.

Simply not true for many policies.

 

The posts above, and others in this thread are proof positive of the importance of doing serious research on travel insurance.  There is an entire forum here on CC dedicated to the subject, it's that complicated. 

 

[packedandready]

Was there any explanation of why only partial refund on flights? 

[PATRLR]

On 8/22/2023 at 5:42 AM, igmurray said:

Hi again  thanks again  for all comments,  just an update. 

We got all taxes, fees and drink packages refunded by RCI and got a payment from my travel insurance enough to cover the cancelled part of cruise but only a small fraction of cost of the late flights home, (but I had to get home and dont regret my decision)I am glad I wasn't successful in the royal upgrade bid as I would have lost that too.

I am curious as to why you only got part of the return flight home.  Was it due to hitting a maximum payout value?  Likewise for the Royal Up, had you won a bid.   And possibly related, was your insurance a per-trip plan, or, an annual plan?

[BND]

55 minutes ago, Babr said:

 

The pre-existing conditions exclusion does extend to family members, but it is waived if you already had the policy when you booked the trip or purchased it within 14 days of booking.

Those are tough requirements to fulfill as we cruise several times a year (book at least a year ahead of time usually) and are now buying an annual policy.  My dad hasn't been diagnosed with anything except he is fading.   He went into hospice care a couple of months after we bought the policy.  

Edited August 29, 2023 by BND

[Babr]

25 minutes ago, BND said:

Those are tough requirements to fulfill as we cruise several times a year (book at least a year ahead of time usually) and are now buying an annual policy.  My dad hasn't been diagnosed with anything except he is fading.   He went into hospice care a couple of months after we bought the policy.  

The timing of coverage is determined by booking date, not when he went into hospice. Did you have the annual policy when you booked the cruise?

[BND]

18 minutes ago, Babr said:

The timing of coverage is determined by booking date, not when he went into hospice. Did you have the annual policy when you booked the cruise?

No, we booked the cruise over a year ago and decided to go annual policy in Dec.  As I said, those requirements are very difficult to meet with anyone who travels regularly.   What exactly is a pre-existing condition for old age?