Travel insurance

[Bizziecruzer]

Like Pushka said, I would challenge that with the insurance company, supported by my Medical Specialists.

 

A reasonable person can't know what they don't know at the time, which is why we take out expensive insurance in the first place.

 

If we had cancelled at the time we notified them of the issue they would have paid out our claim for cancellation in full, however in their fine print PDS the health issue then became a "pre-existing" prior to travel and we would not have been covered for anything relating to this health issue if/when we travelled. We sought medical advice and found that it was highly unlikely that anything would happen and we took the gamble - we are not usually risk takers, however in this instance we decided to do the travel - thankfully no issues.:)

[pattle66]

That is a ridiculous scenario to submit. If you have had a serious injury to stop you travelling then you are not going anywhere.

 

Besides it does not work anyway because too many medico legal doctors would find a way around it which is what insurance companies do.

 

Many people who travel have had issues in the past which may re occur but in the mean time they could be fit and healthy. When a fit person signs up for insurance they do not have to divulge entire medical history. People could have broken limbs, cancers removed, joint problems from workplace injury, hernia all in the past and be fully recovered and they are considered fit and healthy.

 

Going by your scenario if a person was to get sick on a cruise then the insurance company could quite easily get the persons medical history and say "oh I see you have had a similar condition as an infant you are not covered"

 

That is exactly what they would do Sutho. We had to claim insurance for my mum when she couldn't take a cruise because she was diagnosed with cancer and needed chemo. We had to get letters from the gp and oncologists verifying the date of diagnosis and that no symptoms were present before insurance was taken out.

 

It is the responsibility of the person taking out the policy to be honest about their health situation. The insurance policy won't just pay out without proof it wasn't pre-existing.

[Tara Jane]

I had to cancel a trip due to breast cancer diagnosis and the required treatment. I had taken out insurance with southern cross. When I lodged a claim for cancellation they decided it was pre existing and refused to pay out.

A long hard battle with the support of my wonderful gp and they eventually paid up but it was a battle I didnt need to have to endure while undergoing chemo and all that went with it.

I recoved and went on the trip 12 months later, insuring with covermore who accepted my other pre existing conditions but not covering me for breast cancer, I take an annual policy as its the most economical way to go.

[Pushka]

I guess insurance companies try to refuse claims for people assuming they have symptoms but haven't sought a diagnosis when they take out a policy. Some people probably do that. Good to see you had success there and best wishes for your continued health Tara Jane.

[Tara Jane]

Thanks Pushka, so far so good and making the most of every day. I guess yes some people might try to deceive with a pre existing of some health issues. However with something like breast cancer I really think no one would be prepared to suspect they have a condition and not act on it for a while while arranging travel insurance as chances are they would end up like me cancelling.

I was still quite a bit out of pocket - the cost of the insurance policy and excesses for the claim wouldnt make sense to take insurance and wait.

Overall when I received some refunds my insurance claim was approx $1200 so not a huge amount in the scheme of travel insurance.

[cruisine21]

Just be careful with Credit Card Travel insurance. We received the new Westpac Black Card in the post which includes complimentary travel insurance. You need to pay for your complete holiday on the card including return flights.

 

I was told it would not cover a one way flight to Hawaii and return cruise. It also does not cover a cruise from Australia.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Just be careful with Credit Card Travel insurance. We received the new Westpac Black Card in the post which includes complimentary travel insurance. You need to pay for your complete holiday on the card including return flights.

 

I was told it would not cover a one way flight to Hawaii and return cruise. It also does not cover a cruise from Australia.

 

Good advice..just because your CC says Free Travel Insurance it pays to check out just what it does cover and not take it for granted.

In actual fact it is not free as you have usually paid a much dearer annual fee for the use of the card.

 

 

[nanaof2]

Just be careful with Credit Card Travel insurance. We received the new Westpac Black Card in the post which includes complimentary travel insurance. You need to pay for your complete holiday on the card including return flights.

 

I was told it would not cover a one way flight to Hawaii and return cruise. It also does not cover a cruise from Australia.

 

We have travel insurance with ANZ, and, all we had to pay for the trip was:

 

To meet the eligibility criteria, you must:

have purchased with your platinum card account a

minimum of $250 (inclusive of taxes and other charges)

of your pre-booked transport costs (airfares and/or

cruise) and/or land content (tours, hire cars or other hired

transport and accommodation) prior to the

commencement of your trip. The payment must be

debited to your platinum card account prior to your

departure from Australia.; and

(e) hold a ticket to return you to Australia.

 

Maybe depends of the bank issuing the insurance:confused:

[Aus Traveller]

We have travel insurance with ANZ, and, all we had to pay for the trip was:

 

To meet the eligibility criteria, you must:

have purchased with your platinum card account a

minimum of $250 (inclusive of taxes and other charges)

of your pre-booked transport costs (airfares and/or

cruise) and/or land content (tours, hire cars or other hired

transport and accommodation) prior to the

commencement of your trip. The payment must be

debited to your platinum card account prior to your

departure from Australia.; and

(e) hold a ticket to return you to Australia.

 

Maybe depends of the bank issuing the insurance:confused:

Exactly right. It depends on the bank. We usually pay the deposit using the card even though it is a bit higher than is required to qualify for insurance. Most TA's or cruise companies charge a fee if we use our CC. We pay the balance of the trip cost into the TA/cruise company bank account so don't have to pay the extra fee.

 

We have had a couple of large claims against travel insurance through our ANZ Visa card and they were met without any problem.

[Pushka]

I think the more you pay for the card then the less money you need to spend on it to gain insurance. I always get additional insurance as I find the card doesn't cover all events and my husband likes to do things like paragliding. But I have claimed on card insurance for a robbery which they couldn't really argue with. Also there is a higher excess on some things. Just do your own research.

[cruisine21]

We have travel insurance with ANZ, and, all we had to pay for the trip was:

 

To meet the eligibility criteria, you must:

have purchased with your platinum card account a

minimum of $250 (inclusive of taxes and other charges)

of your pre-booked transport costs (airfares and/or

cruise) and/or land content (tours, hire cars or other hired

transport and accommodation) prior to the

commencement of your trip. The payment must be

debited to your platinum card account prior to your

departure from Australia.; and

(e) hold a ticket to return you to Australia.

 

Maybe depends of the bank issuing the insurance:confused:

It turns out that the staff member in the branch was given the incorrect information by the call centre.

You only need to spend a minimum of $500 per person prior to your trip and hold a return ticket to Australia.

[Aus Traveller]

I think the more you pay for the card then the less money you need to spend on it to gain insurance. I always get additional insurance as I find the card doesn't cover all events and my husband likes to do things like paragliding. But I have claimed on card insurance for a robbery which they couldn't really argue with. Also there is a higher excess on some things. Just do your own research.

On our 'free' credit card travel insurance there is an excess of $200. We insure ourselves for the big bills, not small ones, and we consider the excess to be similar (or even cheaper) than we would have paid for travel insurance if we took a policy for the cruise. Our of all our dozens of trips where we relied on the CC travel insurance, we have only had to claim on one occasion. Our son also had a very big claim on CC travel insurance.

[benjoon]

I use to leave travel insurnance until late into our booking plans. One year for some reason I deided to do it as soon as I booked a cruise. This was the time my mother in law got gravely ill and we had to cancel the cruise and change the long holiday to a few days in Singapore. We got all our money back that we had spent and the fees to change our accomodation. When we did travel the insurance that we had used for getting money back was still valid for the short trip we did.

 

Now I put a deposit down on cruise. Wait until I pay for the flights and then get the travel insurance. Then everything is covered. For our July cruise this year I booked flights and paid for insurance in October last year.