Travel Insurance recommendations

[Retired08]

A big thanks to one and all for the great suggestions and for allowing me to vent. The one thing I have learned is whenever you call a customer service "rep" and they advise you the call is being recorded for quality purposes, they are actually recording the call to cover themselves in case of my incident and to cover themselves in the case of any litigation that may result. The bottom line with me is that the "rep" I spoke to did not give me correct information and thus it caused me to file a claim based on that information. I am waiting for word from supervisors and then will act accordingly based on their findings.

[RDC1]

Any decent TA will be able to send you a copy. They will have a hard copy on file.

 

They will send it to you, but not always easily. Especially with the larger ones. Took 4 phone calls to finally get all of the information.

 

In the case of mine they could see the info and tell it all to me, but once it was canceled they no longer had the capability to send the documents including original itinerary, invoice, payment receipts, documentation of refund. Instead they had to forward the request to their administration group who had the ability to retrieve and send the documents.

 

This, by the way, happened to be the first time I had used a TA. I prefer to book direct. As such Celebrity would not give me any information, including the refund amount. This will also be the last time I use a TA. The benefits were/are not worth the break in direct communication with the cruise line.

[vermonter16]

I have used Travel Insured International and been pleased. My husband had a heart attack and quad bypass 3 months before a trip. The trip was nonrefundable and we had already purchased the airfare. I sent in all the required paperwork and they payed every dime....and it was A LOT of dimes. I don't have any experience with using them while on a trip though but we still have always used them.

[Ontariotrekker]

I buy a year at a time and through my extended health carrier. I've also added it to my house/vehicle insurance policy which offers a good discount for the 3 combined. I check each year and decide which deal covers most for less.

 

Shar

[ghstudio]

One simple fact: All insurance companies are good until they aren't.

 

One person's experience more than likely has no relationship to what yours might be. The policies are all different and which one you purchase should be based on what they cover, the medical limits, the evacuation limits and so on......not how the handled someone else's claim. Don't trust your TA or cruise company to offer you the best policy....or even one that covers what you need. It's worth going to squaremouth or insuremytrip or other and compare their coverage and limits to the one the cruise line or TA is offering you. You'll quickly understand the differences...and if you don't, then you can call those web sites and talk to someone who really does understand travel insurance.

[vulcan1971]

One simple fact: All insurance companies are good until they aren't.

 

One person's experience more than likely has no relationship to what yours might be. The policies are all different and which one you purchase should be based on what they cover, the medical limits, the evacuation limits and so on......not how the handled someone else's claim. Don't trust your TA or cruise company to offer you the best policy....or even one that covers what you need. It's worth going to squaremouth or insuremytrip or other and compare their coverage and limits to the one the cruise line or TA is offering you. You'll quickly understand the differences...and if you don't, then you can call those web sites and talk to someone who really does understand travel insurance.

 

 

 

Great advice as usual!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PelicanLvr]

A few insurance related ramblings:

 

1. Sites like Insuremytrip etc: Use the site to get educated about the different coverages, but don't buy until you call their rep and talk to them. They are quite helpful, knowledgeable and can further educate you on the coverages available, policy differences and how to best cover yourself. We have used insuremytrip several times and were satisfied; but no claim filed.

 

2. Watch out for "initial trip payment": This usually triggers the time period to cover pre-existing conditions. We once paid the taxes on mileage international business class tickets long before booking anything else and get stuck with that date as the initial payment date, not the deposit date for our tour. We learned.

 

3. Lots of cruise company policies provide cancel for any reason with a 75% cruise credit. This may be important for some.

 

4. Medjet Assist is a great evacuation coverage. They removed someone from our Nile cruise in Egypt and got them home to the US. They were very professional and provided outstanding service in a crisis.

[DrKoob]

Don't trust your TA or cruise company to offer you the best policy....or even one that covers what you need.

 

I didn't really except this from someone who has been cruising and posting as long as you have. I can't speak for the cruise company but I can for a TA. If you have a good TA, then they should know what you need and what you want. That's their job. If they don't know, get a new TA. Of course I am talking about a TA that you have been doing business with for a while, not an online TA that you have never met. But generalizing about an entire profession of people, many of who do their job very well is just wrong.