No refund for trip insurance

In March, I booked an Oceania thru Marriott Cruises Only for June 2015. We changed our minds and I called to cancel. $100 fee sounded ok but then agent told me that the amt paid for trip ins was not refundable $600+ ! When I asked for further info, she said if I had read my contract (in 5ptfont) I would have seen that I only had 10 days from issue to cancel. OK, my bad but she never alerted me to this which I think a good TA would do.

This policy seems absurd when you are booking over a year ahead there may be a chance something comes up (other than illness) and you need to cancel. You don't need the insurance at time of booking

Is this common policy? Any recourse? Thanks

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In March, I booked an Oceania thru Marriott Cruises Only for June 2015. We changed our minds and I called to cancel. $100 fee sounded ok but then agent told me that the amt paid for trip ins was not refundable $600+ ! When I asked for further info, she said if I had read my contract (in 5ptfont) I would have seen that I only had 10 days from issue to cancel. OK, my bad but she never alerted me to this which I think a good TA would do.

This policy seems absurd when you are booking over a year ahead there may be a chance something comes up (other than illness) and you need to cancel. You don't need the insurance at time of booking

 

Is this common policy? Any recourse? Thanks

 

 

 

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I don't know if there is any recourse. I'm not an expert on cruise insurance by any means. Unfortunately, as uninformed as I am, if indeed your premium is not returned I guess it is part of that pool of unused premiums that goes toward paying out claims, just like the premiums that are paid for trips that are taken.

Cruise insurance can be a very complex maze. Through experience, I have found purchasing third party insurance (I use trip insurance store, and recommend highly) is better than purchasing direct from cruise lines or brokers.

There are certain time windows required for purchase

so that you are covered for pre-ex conditions, etc. Third party agents will be able to guide you through this.

I purchase a policy that lets you "pay as you go", so I don't commit all that much money up front. My big premium payment is at final. So, I can't lose too much if I will need to cancel before final. Some, but not all policies, have such a feature. That's the value added advice you are likely to get from a third party, but that's JMHO.

It is more usual than not that insurance premiums are not refunded. The best many can hope is for the premium to be applied toward coverage for a different trip.

Maven, do not buy insurance until you need it. If you buy early in order to get pre-existing waiver then you have actually USED the insurance coverage from the time you bought it and covered any medical changes during that time or any PECs. I agree with what 7 Seas said, premiums are rarely refunded, occasionally are transferred to another trip.

On another note, if that $100 fee was a TA fee, I would seriously look elsewhere for your next booking. Your TA is not doing you any favors, certainly not saving you money or explaining how these things work.

Maven, do not buy insurance until you need it. If you buy early in order to get pre-existing waiver then you have actually USED the insurance coverage from the time you bought it and covered any medical changes during that time or any PECs. I agree with what 7 Seas said, premiums are rarely refunded, occasionally are transferred to another trip.

 

On another note, if that $100 fee was a TA fee, I would seriously look elsewhere for your next booking. Your TA is not doing you any favors, certainly not saving you money or explaining how these things work.

I must disagree with holding back on buying insurance until you need it. Some of us prefer to have pre-ex covered, as we do. As I mentioned, we "pay as we go", so the up front costs for insurance are small. The big insurance expenses are at final payment.

I think you misunderstood me Goalie; buying insurance when you need to would INCLUDE buying it within the grace period after first deposit to cover pre-existing conditions. Many people need to cover these, and they should be buying it right after first deposit, BUT they also need to realize they are already getting use out of the policy for any ongoing or subsequent medical conditions.

People who do not need pre-existing condition waivers can wait until an appropriate time prior to final payment, usually the number of look back days subtracted from the final payment date.

Also, I would add that not all insurers allow one to top up the policy as trip payments are made, although several popular ones do. Some insurers require that you overestimate the total cost at initial purchase, some of these do allow you to reduce the total cost after final payment when all expenses are known, but not add to it later. It is an important distinction to be aware of. Several popular policies that do allow you to top up as payments are made limit your pre-existing condition waiver.

I think you misunderstood me Goalie; buying insurance when you need to would INCLUDE buying it within the grace period after first deposit to cover pre-existing conditions. Many people need to cover these, and they should be buying it right after first deposit, BUT they also need to realize they are already getting use out of the policy for any ongoing or subsequent medical conditions.

 

People who do not need pre-existing condition waivers can wait until an appropriate time prior to final payment, usually the number of look back days subtracted from the final payment date.

 

Also, I would add that not all insurers allow one to top up the policy as trip payments are made, although several popular ones do. Some insurers require that you overestimate the total cost at initial purchase, some of these do allow you to reduce the total cost after final payment when all expenses are known, but not add to it later. It is an important distinction to be aware of. Several popular policies that do allow you to top up as payments are made limit your pre-existing condition waiver.

I purchase a policy that let's me "top up", pre-existing conditions are covered, and I also get cancel for any reason (CFAR) with primary medical. It also happens to be the most cost effective.

Good for you. Sounds like you found a policy that fits your needs.

I purchase a policy that let's me "top up", pre-existing conditions are covered, and I also get cancel for any reason (CFAR) with primary medical. It also happens to be the most cost effective.

Would you mind sharing with us which company sells this policy? It sounds ideal for my needs though I'm unsure what 'top up' means.

Thanks, in advance.

Would you mind sharing with us which company sells this policy? It sounds ideal for my needs though I'm unsure what 'top up' means.

Thanks, in advance.

 

TravelInsured sells a policy like this.

We pay insurance for ONLY the deposit (even if refundable) amount, at the start.

Later, as non-refundable payments are made (airfare, cruise payments, any non-refundable hotel payments, etc.), we "up" the amount of the coverage.

NOTE: Because the FIRST insurance payment includes ALL of the medical, it cost "more per dollar of travel payment" than do later payments.

However, it is transferable to a totally different trip, should the trip originally planned be cancelled (before any insurance claim is made).

If one only needs to change the departure or return dates (e.g., one decides to arrive a few days early or stay a few days longer), one just calls (we use TripInsuranceStore.com) and changes the dates. NO charge, unless the non-refundable costs have thus gone up, such as if there are more non-refundable hotel nights added.

And this was the company where we had a rather large claim for the very first policy we took out. No hassles. Just documentation of payments made, and doctors' statements, which was fair enough.

GeezerCouple

Thank you, GeezerCouple.

I just want to verify I am understanding this would included pre-existing condition if fit to travel on date policy was first bought and within the time line after first cruise deposit?

Thank you, GeezerCouple.

I just want to verify I am understanding this would included pre-existing condition if fit to travel on date policy was first bought and within the time line after first cruise deposit?

 

Ah, yes - sorry, that's important for us!

Yes, this coverage does not exclude pre-existing conditions, if purchased with (I think it is) 21 days of FIRST PAYMENT (refundable or not). We get it quickly, just in case any health situation changes!

We also pay for CFAR ("Cancel For Any Reason"), as we thought our biggest concern would be unexpected last-minute consulting work (lucrative :) ), and little did we ever expect a sudden, serious medical problem!

(As I've mentioned, IF that medical problem had occurred just a few days later, we'd already have been away from home, and the risks - and costs - would have skyrocketed quickly.)

GeezerCouple

Would you mind sharing with us which company sells this policy? It sounds ideal for my needs though I'm unsure what 'top up' means.

Thanks, in advance.

 

Same as Geezer Couple - same insurance, same broker.

OP - the insurance company was at risk from the moment your coverage was purchased. You don't get your money back because you cancelled your trip. However, many companies will let you transfer the policy to a new trip. Ask them about that.

TravelInsured sells a policy like this.

 

We pay insurance for ONLY the deposit (even if refundable) amount, at the start.

 

Later, as non-refundable payments are made (airfare, cruise payments, any non-refundable hotel payments, etc.), we "up" the amount of the coverage.

 

NOTE: Because the FIRST insurance payment includes ALL of the medical, it cost "more per dollar of travel payment" than do later payments.

However, it is transferable to a totally different trip, should the trip originally planned be cancelled (before any insurance claim is made).

 

If one only needs to change the departure or return dates (e.g., one decides to arrive a few days early or stay a few days longer), one just calls (we use TripInsuranceStore.com) and changes the dates. NO charge, unless the non-refundable costs have thus gone up, such as if there are more non-refundable hotel nights added.

 

And this was the company where we had a rather large claim for the very first policy we took out. No hassles. Just documentation of payments made, and doctors' statements, which was fair enough.

 

GeezerCouple

If you don't mind saying, what is the name of the policy you use?

Thank you!

If you don't mind saying, what is the name of the policy you use?

 

Thank you!

I have to ask you to phone TripInsuranceStore.com folks, and DESCRIBE exactly what we wrote.

888.407.3854

They'll give you the information and costs for this, and also make suggestions about other policies IF they hear you mention something that suggests different coverage might be better for your needs.

(For example, some of the pricing differences are age-dependent, so for younger people, *maybe* a different policy would be better.)

I'd hate to find out that the "name" of the coverage changed since we've started our several policies for upcoming trips.

(It probably hasn't, but still... this is way too important, and you want to "get it right"!)

There IS another company and policy that does allow coverage that would not exclude pre-existing conditions, and can be purchased when the full payment of the most expensive trip is made, so that could be a year or so later.

TWO potential problems:

1. If you want CFAR, that almost triples the cost (instead of less than doubling it!);

2. IF your health status changes in the meantime...

As far as the second point, as long as all payments are refundable, we figure that wouldn't be a problem.

The fact that DH still feels more comfortable making plans for expensive vacations if we have CFAR... that means that this other policy isn't quite right for us yet.

GeezerCouple