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"Piecemeal" Travel Insurance


LDVinNC
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We are planning a trip - two transatlantic cruises with a 2 night hotel stay before the first crossing and then an 8 night hotel stay in between. The hotel stays are cancellable without penalty up to a couple of days before, so I am not worried about covering that expense. What I thought about was getting the cruiseline insurance for the two crossings, and a separate medical/evacuation policy because the cruiseline policy coverage for those two things is so low and so that we are covered medically for pre-existing conditions. This combination is less expensive than one overall policy.

Is this a dumb idea?

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Not a dumb idea at all. Just be advised that in the case of a claim and overlapping coverage (i.e. while on the cruises) that your two policies will have to negotiate with each other to share the payment for medical claims, depending on whether each is primary or secondary coverage.

 

Do double check your travel dates for the third party policy; you likely will need it to cover the entire time you are away from home, not just the days you are off the ship.

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Good point about the credit card insurance, too. I checked the card we will use and its coverage will be enough for one of the crossings, I think we can manage with cruise line insurance one-way, so to speak. Thanks!

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We are planning a trip - two transatlantic cruises with a 2 night hotel stay before the first crossing and then an 8 night hotel stay in between. The hotel stays are cancellable without penalty up to a couple of days before, so I am not worried about covering that expense. What I thought about was getting the cruiseline insurance for the two crossings, and a separate medical/evacuation policy because the cruiseline policy coverage for those two things is so low and so that we are covered medically for pre-existing conditions. This combination is less expensive than one overall policy.

Is this a dumb idea?

 

What do you mean by "... so that we are covered medically for pre-existing conditions"?

 

Are you referring strictly to medical costs?

If so, what about any costs from cancellations that are due to pre-existing medical conditions?

 

In general, I'd check *very* carefully about a combination of different policies that aren't originally intended to work together.

 

RM

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Our main concern is very large medical and/or evacuation expenses. We have some ordinary controlled, pre-existing conditions (think high blood pressure and the like) so I'd be nervous about an insurer using those as an excuse to not cover medical and evacuation. That could be financially ruinous.

 

Not so worried about the costs of the cruises in terms of pre-existing conditions - after all, if we can afford to take the trip, it would not be financially disastrous to lose that money, although we'd certainly prefer not to.

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Our main concern is very large medical and/or evacuation expenses. We have some ordinary controlled, pre-existing conditions (think high blood pressure and the like) so I'd be nervous about an insurer using those as an excuse to not cover medical and evacuation. That could be financially ruinous.

 

Not so worried about the costs of the cruises in terms of pre-existing conditions - after all, if we can afford to take the trip, it would not be financially disastrous to lose that money, although we'd certainly prefer not to.

 

I am considering doing very much the same thing for my 2019 cruise. GeoBlue has more medical coverage than I have seen on a comprehensive policy (although many will let you increase coverage for a large amount of extra money. Cruise line insurance is a joke when it comes to medical care. You probably could not even have a broken arm or leg cared for in the amount they include.:(

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We have been trying to decide on trip insurance like you. I have coverage with our credit card that looks like it covers the cruise, airfare etc if we have a problem. It won't cover an emergency return flight, medical, or evacuation costs. What type of insurance should we be looking at getting? We have no pre existing conditions but elderly parents at home and you never know what can happen when traveling.

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We have been trying to decide on trip insurance like you. I have coverage with our credit card that looks like it covers the cruise, airfare etc if we have a problem. It won't cover an emergency return flight, medical, or evacuation costs. What type of insurance should we be looking at getting? We have no pre existing conditions but elderly parents at home and you never know what can happen when traveling.

 

Many of us work with www.TripInsuranceStore.com

 

They are an insurance broker (no extra charge to you), and handle several good insurers, each with a few different policies.

 

You might try calling them and asking them specifically what they'd recommend, given the coverage you already have, to minimize overlap.

They can also make sure that whatever coverage/concerns you have would indeed be covered.

 

We've purchased policies through them with Travel Insured.

And we've had a couple of large claims, which were paid without any nonsense, which is what matters...

 

Don't rely upon just the online summaries; CALL them.

There is so much "fine print", it's really difficult to go by only the generalities.

We've also found that they'll ask some leading questions at first, and that has helped us to get some policies that were a better fit for our needs (and also cost less!).

 

GC

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  • 3 weeks later...

In my mind, the purpose of insurance is to deal with the ruinous costs, not the things that are just an inconvenience. For example, I insure against the loss of my house, but I decline "insurance" on TVs and other electronics. I insure for medical when I'm outside Canada, but not for lost luggage.

 

If I can get a decent price on cancellation/interruption with my medical, I'll get it, but if not, I insure medical and evacuation to make sure I can at least get back to a Canadian hospital (if not my local one).

 

In your case, since medical is your biggest concern, if you have a plan that covers or waives your pre-existing stuff for the entire time you are away, then you are good. Consider anything else covered at no extra cost a bonus.

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