Pre Existing Conditions?

[CINDON]

Does anyone know of a Travel Insurance provider that will waive and cover for pre existing conditions if payment is made around the time of "final payment" and not at time of deposit?

[cruisead]

Try CSA Insurance. They do have a plan to waive pre-existing, but it's much more expensive than if you had purchased at the time of booking.

[DaveFr]

Both CSA Travel Insurance and HTH Worldwide have policies that waive pre-existing conditions if purchased within 24 hours of final payment. You can't make a blanket statement that these policies are always more expensive than policies where you have to take out the policy at the time of deposit to get a waiver of pre-existing conditions. Sometimes CSA and HTH are more expensive, sometimes they're not more expensive.

[BurBunny]

You can also look for policies which have short look-back periods. For example, if your condition is somewhat stable, a policy with a look-back of 60 days means as long as you haven't had a change of treatment or diagnosis in that time frame, your conditions aren't considered pre-existing. That may open up other policy options for you, but you have to look carefully. Some policies have look-backs as high as 180 days or longer.

[Fblack]

I just booked CSA and they said they had no policy that covered pre-existing as late as final payment. If you find one let me know.

 

Try insuremytrip.com

[warmwinds]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but we always take the Celebrity insurance - we say we want it right at the beginning, but we don't PAY for it until final payment. I was concerned once that if I cancelled before final payment I would lose my insurance premium, and I was told no, they don't charge it until final payment time, so if you cancel up until final payment you get your full deposit back. If you DO make your final payment because you are going, then the insurance premium is paid then, too.

 

And since we tell them we want it at deposit, and it is written on our confirmation, any pre-existing conditions are covered.

 

I know some people don't like to buy the insurance that the cruise line offers, but for us it is the simplest thing, and I really don't think Celebrity is going out of business anytime soon.

[Cruiser Susie]

The celebrity policy also had a cancellation provision that gives a 75% credit for a cancellation that is not otherwise covered. So if you can't find something else but are worried about cancellation on a pre-existing cause that might help some.

[shakespeare]

I have found two companies on insuremytrip.com that cover pre-existing as long as payment is made within 24 hours of final payment. In general they do seem to cost a bit more, but for me it is worth it to buy the insurance at that time rather than at the time of deposit. Your age, cost of the trip and length of the trip do affect the insurance price.

 

Liz

[MoreCruisesNow]

warmwinds, I'm afraid you're incorrect in your assumption. Celebrity's insurance carrier has a fairly short look-back period, 60 days I think, but that coverage starts when the insurance becomes effective - and I doubt that you'll find many insurance carriers who will consider the insurance effective until it is paid for.

 

Telling them that you want the insurance does not begin your insurance coverage. Paying for the insurance (which you can only do at final payment) does make the insurance effective.

[cujosmom]

CSA Travel Luxe will cover pre-exisiting if paid for within 24 hours of final payment. We were re-imbursed 100% when my husband had to have emergency surgery 3 days before we were to sail which was due to a pre-existing condition.

[STUR]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but we always take the Celebrity insurance - we say we want it right at the beginning, but we don't PAY for it until final payment. I was concerned once that if I cancelled before final payment I would lose my insurance premium, and I was told no, they don't charge it until final payment time, so if you cancel up until final payment you get your full deposit back. If you DO make your final payment because you are going, then the insurance premium is paid then, too.

 

And since we tell them we want it at deposit, and it is written on our confirmation, any pre-existing conditions are covered.

 

I know some people don't like to buy the insurance that the cruise line offers, but for us it is the simplest thing, and I really don't think Celebrity is going out of business anytime soon.

I Totaly agree with you I was tolld if booked when cruise is reserved and total refund if b/4 final paymont and dose cover pre-existing

 

STUR DAYTON,OHIO

[warmwinds]

Thanks STUR, I was pretty sure that was what I was told. It wouldn't make sense otherwise that they would say "oops, we didn't charge you right away therefore you're PE's are not covered."

 

We also had to cancel a cruise once at the very last minute for one of the "non-covered" reasons and getting the 75% back was wonderful instead of losing everything.

[DaveFr]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but we always take the Celebrity insurance - we say we want it right at the beginning, but we don't PAY for it until final payment. I was concerned once that if I cancelled before final payment I would lose my insurance premium, and I was told no, they don't charge it until final payment time, so if you cancel up until final payment you get your full deposit back. If you DO make your final payment because you are going, then the insurance premium is paid then, too.

 

And since we tell them we want it at deposit, and it is written on our confirmation, any pre-existing conditions are covered.

 

I know some people don't like to buy the insurance that the cruise line offers, but for us it is the simplest thing, and I really don't think Celebrity is going out of business anytime soon.

warmwinds,

 

I've taken Celebrity's insurance before and carefully read the policy. I just reread the policy online. There is nothing in the policy that waives pre-existing conditions because you indicate you will purchase the insurance at the time of deposit but don't pay for the policy until the time of final payment. I could see the insurance policy waiving pre-existing conditions as other policies do if payment was made at the time of deposit. However, when the insurance is paid for at the time of final payment, waiving pre-existing conditions would amount to the insurance company giving you a free benefit. When was the last time you heard of an insurance company doing that?

 

Now, the Celebrity insurance policy does waive pre-existing conditions for the emergency medical evacuation benefit and for repatriation if you die on the cruise. Also, the pre-existing condition exclusion for trip interuption and cancellation benefits is waived if you die.

 

In effect, there is a partial waiver of pre-existing conditions in that you receive a 75% future cruise credit of non-refundable money paid if you cancel for a non-authorized reason or if the pre-existing condition exclusion applies.

 

Hope this helps.

[CaroleSP]

We have taken the CSA Travel Luxe the last couple of cruises. We never take it within 14 days of deposit, because we usually book on board and often change to another itinerary. Once you do that, you are way past the 14 days.

 

I always understood that Celebrity does not waive pre-existing, so we bought outside insurance. I hope we never have to test it, but I'm glad to be able to get this type of insurance.

[chessbriar]

X does not cover pre existing.

[cruiseco]

X does not cover pre existing.

 

That is correct. A cancellation due to a medical reason that is determined to be pre-existing by the plan's definitions is handled the same way as any other "non-covered" reason -- 25% of the penalty in effect at the time of the cancellation is forfeited, and the remaining 75% is held as a credit toward a future cruise.

 

But when you buy the policy can have an effect on whether or not a specific condition will fall under the pre-existing condition definition. The plan's "look back" timeframe to determine if a condition is pre-existing or not is the 60-day period prior to the plan's effective date, which for trip cancellation coverage is basically the same as the purchase date.

 

Say you've just gotten over a case of pneumonia (30 days ago)and book your cruise and buy the Celebrity plan at that point. If the pneumonia flares up again and you have to cancel, the claim would be paid under the "non-covered reason" method described above since you had been treated for the pneumonia in the 60-day period prior to purchasing the policy.

 

But what if you wait an extra 40 days or so to buy the plan? If the condition flares up again and causes you to cancel you would be paid the same as for any other COVERED reason -- 100% in cash. This is because you were symptom-free in the 60 days prior to the date you bought the policy so the pneumonia would now be treated as a new illness, not a pre-existing one.

 

If you have the chance to clear an illness off that "look back" period by waiting a bit to purchase the policy you should think about doing so. If there's a relapse you don't lose the 25% of the penalty amount and you get cash back instead of a future cruise credit.

[luvocean9]

Yes! I had this problem last year. Go to insuremytrip.com. HTH provides coverage for pre-existing as long as you buy within 24hours of final payment. Or at least they did last year.

[bigwally]

I just booked CSA and they said they had no policy that covered pre-existing as late as final payment. If you find one let me know.

 

CSA Freestyle Luxe - "Pre-Existing Condition Waiver - If purchased within 24 hours of final trip payment".

[warmwinds]

Thanks all for the clarification.