Reminder to book insurance when you make your deposit

Hello all-

I'm kicking myself for not buying the trip insurance the same day I made the initial deposit for our cruise. We typically don't buy it until we pass the 'no 100% refund' date for our cruise, but this time we are traveling with my MIL, who is older and has some health issues. And now I realize, of course, that I can't buy the 'cancel for any reason' or 'pre-existing causes waiver' since I didn't buy the insurance at the time of initial deposit. We'll still be covered for the most expensive stuff such as medical evacuation, and the 'look back window' is short enough we should be fine, but still - if I'd been thinking I would have bought it when I made the deposit. Passing it on so others can learn from my error.

There are pre-ex waiver policies that can be purchased up until Final Payment; I think CSA offers one. If you haven't made final yet and are still within the "free-look" period for the policy you bought, it's worth a try.

There are many schools of thought on this but I am with the OP on this one...I always purchase with my deposit. We often book on a long timeline (10-18 months) and from my perspective, because of 6-month look-back periods, a 'pre-existing condition' can arise AFTER my deposit has been made. I want that waiver...

We booked our next trip two months ago for next March. Health issues have sprung up for my father-in-law in the last month. As we approach the final payment date at the end of the year I don't need to be concerned about making final payment OR searching for a policy that will cover us. Its already done.

I consider the insurance part of my fare and factor it in to my total trip cost at the beginning.

Hello all-

I'm kicking myself for not buying the trip insurance the same day I made the initial deposit for our cruise. We typically don't buy it until we pass the 'no 100% refund' date for our cruise, but this time we are traveling with my MIL, who is older and has some health issues. And now I realize, of course, that I can't buy the 'cancel for any reason' or 'pre-existing causes waiver' since I didn't buy the insurance at the time of initial deposit. We'll still be covered for the most expensive stuff such as medical evacuation, and the 'look back window' is short enough we should be fine, but still - if I'd been thinking I would have bought it when I made the deposit. Passing it on so others can learn from my error.

Nationwide Choice Cruise plan has "cancel for any reason" and "preexisting" that allows you to purchase on/before your last payment date.

Take a look at Allianz too. They allow you to go up until final payment.

There are pre-ex waiver policies that can be purchased up until Final Payment; I think CSA offers one. If you haven't made final yet and are still within the "free-look" period for the policy you bought, it's worth a try.[/quote

 

Yes, CSA will do that but if you want their "Cancel for any reason" benefit you have to buy the policy right away after making your deposit -- for that they only give you 24 hours. If you need the CAR benefit you can't wait. I've complained to them many times about this because if you make your cruise deposit on a Friday you don't even have until the following Monday to get the CAR benefit. It seems like they could make this a little more consumer friendly. Maybe 72 hours instead of 24?

There are pre-ex waiver policies that can be purchased up until Final Payment; I think CSA offers one. If you haven't made final yet and are still within the "free-look" period for the policy you bought, it's worth a try.

 

Yes, CSA will do that but if you want their "Cancel for any reason" benefit you have to buy the policy right away after making your deposit -- for that they only give you 24 hours. If you need the CAR benefit you can't wait. I've complained to them many times about this because if you make your cruise deposit on a Friday you don't even have until the following Monday to get the CAR benefit. It seems like they could make this a little more consumer friendly. Maybe 72 hours instead of 24?

CSA has at least one plan that allows one to *start* the insurance within 24 hours of the FINAL payment (narrowly defined) and still get the waiver of pre-existing conditions exclusion AND CFAR.

The "catch" is that CFAR then costs much more. But otherwise, it's not all that much more than other policies.

We've done this once, when we decided to go on a cruise where we had placed a deposit long ago, not really expecting to go.

Otherwise, we use Travel Insured, which requires insuring the first payment within 21 days (and increasing coverage as more payments are made).

Given that one must be able to travel on the day insurance is started, we get it right away... just in case one of use gets sick towards the end of the 21 day time limit.