Claim for Death in Family

[LucyTX]

For everyone who has bought cruise insurance but never used it, I am writing this for you to be aware of what is required.

Last month my sister-in-law passed away due to heart failure after dealing with cancer for two years. I was scheduled to take a cruise 5 days after receiving this news. I called the insurance company I had taken out my cruise insurance with and asked if this was a covered reason. I was told that it was covered as she was a sister-in-law.

(I have since found out that was not true, death in certain instances are not covered, as in suicide).

I was told at that time that the first thing I should do is call the cruise line and cancel the cruise. Paperwork would be emailed to me to submit a claim.

This is what I had to submit for the claim:

1. Trip cancellation form provided by the insurer

2. Proof of loss: a death certificate

3. Proof of payment: I had to make photo copies of my credit card statement showing transactions for not only the cruise, but statement showing the purchase of the insurance

4. Airline ticket info - I was driving to the port so didn’t need, but if you do, you will need copy of the ticket, ticket number & travel date

5. Cruise cancellation policy

6. Photo copy of credit card statement showing refund of any monies by cruise company. Fyi – when you cancel your cruise you are refunded tax and port charges. This is VERY important to know because when you purchase cruise insurance you do NOT have to include this amount to be insured. Only insure the cost of what you are not going to be refunded!

So, I sent in all the requested documents via priority mail. A week later I receive an email saying they received my claim. Five days later I receive an email stating that the death certificate I sent in did not have a CAUSE OF DEATH listed. They will not process claim without having this on the death certificate.

Now I have to ask my brother in law to request a death certificate that has this listed for me. I felt bad asking for the first death certificate, now I am really feeling awkward.

I called the insurance company and was told that the cause of death must be included because not all deaths are covered. I asked to speak to a supervisor and 4 hours later have received no call back.

I never knew there were different death certificates, some that say cause of death and others that do not list this.

On the insurance paperwork it merely says to include death certificate and I feel it is wrong to have to go back now and request this.

Any opinions or experiences with other cruise critic members?

Thanks for letting me vent.

[sail7seas]

I am sorry for your loss and really sorry you are having a hard time having your claim honored but it is not unusual for an insurer to require 'cause of death' on the death certificate.

 

Our local news station did a story just last week about families waiting a long time to be able to collect life insurance of lost family members because the Medical Examiner for their county is very backlogged and it takes a very long time to get death certificates. The delay is getting the 'cause of death' entered on the death certificate.

 

Had I not just heard this news story, I would have wondered the same as you seem to be.

 

I just lost my DH in the last month and because he was in the hospital at the time of his passing, the cause of death is entered or I would be unable to complete life insurance claims.

 

[iancal]

Having dealt with similar issues I can see exactly where the insurance company is coming from.

 

Their policy apparently does not cover certain types of death (even though a high percentage of suicides are never reported as such). Their premiums are based on the conditions in the policy.

 

I think what they are asking for is reasonable-they simply want proof that the all of the conditions of the policy have been met.

 

Not pleasant-but there you have it.

Edited May 15, 2014 by iancal

[Mytime2014]

When you talk to family - make sure they know the importance of having several copies of the D/C for current and future purposes. My mom had to have them for several things - house, banks, cars, insurance [health, life, funeral], social security, employer benefits - seemed like anything that daddy had signed had to have their own copy.

[cbr663]

It is my understanding that this is a common practice to request the cause of death as many insurance policies contain provisions related to the cause of death. As you noted, some will not pay for suicide while others will pay significantly more in the event of an accidental death.

[mamaofami]

First, I'm sorry for the loss of your sister in law.

 

The insurance company's request doesn't seem to be so unreasonable to me. We just canceled a cruise due to my DH's illness, and had to submit all the paper work you mentioned except for a death certificate. I'm sure your brother in law will be understanding about getting you the required paperwork.

 

I know that some life insurance policies even have an exclusion for suicide for several years after the policy is taken out.

 

Good luck and I hope you get your money back.Between HAL and the insurance company, we were made whole except for the cost of the insurance.

[Typhoon1]

All the red tape you have to go through in your time of loss is ridiculous. A death certificate should be enough proof.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am sorry for your loss.

Insurance -- so many policies and so many rules.

Sorry for your loss of money for the cruise.

[lazey1]

TO LUCY TX

You are very welcome to vent all you want. we know you are hurting and trying to deal with insurance companys is difficult under the best of circumstances. (This from a person who handled liability insurance claims for 40 years)

 

The death certificate including the cause of death that the insurance company is asking for is reasonable and necessary to determine coverage. The death certiificate without the cause of death is like a provisional death certificate. It will suffice to get the body released from the morgue and for burial but not much else.

 

It took over 2 months to get a final death certificate listing the cause of death from the State of California when my daughter died from bronchial pneumonia. I mention this only to let you know that you may have a long wait.

[liketraveling]

Sorry for your loss.

 

I am sure your brother understands.

 

I had to cancel a trip one time because of some medical issues.

 

In order for my friend to be able to go without the single supplement I needed to provide her with my biopsy report and final pathology report to provide to the insurance company. I cancelled before final payment and was refunded my final deposit. My friend felt bad asking for this.

 

When my aunt passed away the SS number was wrong on the death certificate and it took six month to get it corrected. Insurance companies are a pain to deal with under normal circumstances

 

Best of luck to you and again so sorry for your loss.

Edited May 16, 2014 by liketraveling

[mhb1757]

So sorry you are having such a hard time. My mother passed away a few weeks before a cruise we had booked with her last year. We had insurance. I called the TA we had booked with, she contacted HAL and even though we were past the final payment date they offered a full refund or said we could travel and they would refund her fare. No one ever even asked for documentation. The airline did the same thing. All fares were credited back to the cc we had used for payment within a couple of days. I never even filed a claim with the insurance company. I was so grateful not to have to deal with anymore paperwork at that point in time.

Hope you get a speedy resolution.

[PatsyAnne]

Even when the paperwork is reasonable, it's one more thing to do following a loss. A couple of years ago I cancelled a cruise a week or so before it started because my dad had fallen and was in the hospital for surgery. I was fortunate my TA led me through the process, but the requirements list looked something like yours. Because my dad was still alive then, I needed a letter from his doctor explaining why I needed to be there. The doctor was very helpful and wrote a fairly long reason by hand. To this day, I'm not sure exactly what it said, but I figured the insurance company had asked for it so they deserved it. Either they could read it better than I, or they took it on faith, but they accepted it.

 

I remember that for the airfare they required proof that the fare was non-refundable. Unfortunately, somewhere between the original and the second airline-directed reschedule, the wording had been dropped from the contract copy, so I had to resend the documentation with an earlier copy. I'm better now at keeping all revisions just in case.

 

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

 

Trish

[KAKcruiser]

I think there are two different types of death certificates. One had cause of death and some other information and the other doesn't.

[eandj]

Official state death certificates include cause of death. Where we live, the medical examiner is called in to add that info before filing the death certif. paperwork with the state. It HAS to be certified somewhere.

 

For any insurance purposes, legally that info is required. That includes too any banking, annuity,trust or other financial institutions. Not sure what "form" your bil provided you. In time he will have the certified form. Usually takes a couple weeks here.

 

Sorry for your loss. Did you read all the small print on the travel insur. policy? Know what you are entitled to. there are often exclusions hidden in the mix if you read carefully. I have seen really poor policies where they don't cover costs if family members had preexisting conditions...not just the traveler, but for those left at home too. Sort of makes the policy pretty darn worthless.

Edited May 17, 2014 by eandj

[eandj]

When you talk to family - make sure they know the importance of having several copies of the D/C for current and future purposes..

 

 

YES!!! Not all places will accept a copy of the certified death certificate...they want an "original" stamped and registered form.

[wander]

And, I was amazed how many copies I actually needed of the "original" stamped certificate I needed. The funeral home had insisted that I would need at least xxx of them, I really doubted it but they were correct. By the time all the paperwork was done (insurance, retirement benefits etc.) I only had 2 left.