Travel Insurance purchased prior to an upsell....???

[Rowsby]

We always purchase HAL's insurance.  This next cruise will have some extra travel days and I am thinking of Travelguard or some type of additional insurance to cover possible medical problems....

 

The insurance needs to be purchased at the time of booking..........so what happens if you accept an upsell offer.....and the costs jump up significantly.....???

 

Can you increase the amount of coverage after the first booking.....???

[RocketMan275]

8 minutes ago, Rowsby said:

Can you increase the amount of coverage after the first booking.....???

Sure can.  In fact, several companies (IIRC Travelguard incl) have told me to buy the insurance when I make the deposit and insure the trip for only the amount of the deposit.  This ensures you have pre-existing coverage.  Then, when you incur additional non-refundable items, increase the amount of coverage.  

[Cruise_More_Often]

2 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Sure can.  In fact, several companies (IIRC Travelguard incl) have told me to buy the insurance when I make the deposit and insure the trip for only the amount of the deposit.  This ensures you have pre-existing coverage.  Then, when you incur additional non-refundable items, increase the amount of coverage.  

 

To add to this, you MUST inform the insurance company (we use Travel Guard) of any additional non-refundable costs (such as airfare and your upgrade) that you incur within 21 days of purchase. If you do not, you will lose pre-existing coverage.

[Rowsby]

Thanks.....that puts my mind at ease.....:)

 

 

[PSR]

1 hour ago, Cruise_More_Often said:

 

To add to this, you MUST inform the insurance company (we use Travel Guard) of any additional non-refundable costs (such as airfare and your upgrade) that you incur within 21 days of purchase. If you do not, you will lose pre-existing coverage.

 

This is good to know, but when you say "within 21 days of purchase", you mean the purchase of the new non-refundable item, not the purchase of the original insurance, right? If so, I guess the days might vary, depending on the insurance company; some have less days to purchase the original insurance..15 days, etc. 🤔

[3rdGenCunarder]

11 minutes ago, PSR said:

 

This is good to know, but when you say "within 21 days of purchase", you mean the purchase of the new non-refundable item, not the purchase of the original insurance, right? If so, I guess the days might vary, depending on the insurance company; some have less days to purchase the original insurance..15 days, etc. 🤔

 

The time frame for insuring additional parts of your travel starts when you buy each of those extras. And you're right that the window varies. I use Travelguard and for them it's 15 days. 

 

I usually insure the cost of the cruise when I book it (didn't know I could insure just the deposit, so I'll check on that next time!) and put my travel dates as the dates of the cruise.  For most trips I add a few days before and/or after the cruise. When I get that scheduled, which means buying plane tickets, I go online and change my dates to include those extra days and change total trip cost and then pay the extra insurance. 

 

Edited January 26, 2020 by 3rdGenCunarder

[Cruise_More_Often]

2 minutes ago, PSR said:

 

This is good to know, but when you say "within 21 days of purchase", you mean the purchase of the new non-refundable item, not the purchase of the original insurance, right? If so, I guess the days might vary, depending on the insurance company; some have less days to purchase the original insurance..15 days, etc. 🤔

 

Yes, that is true. For Travel Guard, you much purchase trip insurance within 21 days of the original purchase (or cruise deposit) to have a waiver of pre-existing conditions in your policy. Thereafter, for Travel Guard, you must report any new non-refundable item you purchase to the insurance company within 21 days of each purchase. Travel Guard is the only company with which I am familiar, but I know other companies have shorter purchase and reporting periods.

[Cruise_More_Often]

10 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The time frame for insuring additional parts of your travel starts when you buy each of those extras. And you're right that the window varies. I use Travelguard and for them it's 15 days. 

 

I usually insure the cost of the cruise when I book it (didn't know I could insure just the deposit, so I'll check on that next time!) and put my travel dates as the dates of the cruise.  For most trips I add a few days before and/or after the cruise. When I get that scheduled, which means buying plane tickets, I go online and change my dates to include those extra days and change total trip cost and then pay the extra insurance. 

 

 

It looks like we are purchasing different policies through Travel Guard, because the one I just purchased has a 21-day window.

 

I have done exactly what you have done--add in a projected cost for airfare. I did that for our May cruise. So, when I began researching travel insurance for a 2021 cruise, I discovered the issue we're discussing here. Since I had already included a projected cost in the original total cost, I did not report the purchase of airfare to the insurance company. I now believe we are not covered for pre-existing conditions for our May cruise.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Cruise_More_Often

[3rdGenCunarder]

Just now, Cruise_More_Often said:

 

It look like we are purchasing different policies through Travel Guard, because the one I just purchased has a 21-day window.

 

I have done exactly what you have done--add in a projected cost for airfare. I did that for our May cruise. So, when I began researching travel insurance for a 2021 cruise, I discovered the issue we're discussing here. Since I had already included a projected cost in the original total cost, I did not report the purchase of airfare to the insurance company. I now believe we are not covered for pre-existing conditions for our May cruise.

 

I don't try to predict the air cost. I insure as I buy parts of my trip. My initial insurance purchase is for the cost of the cruise. When I buy my plane tickets, I go back and increase the cost of the trip. And I just realized I have to go back and increase the insurance again. I weakened and upgraded my flight to first class.

 

[Cruise_More_Often]

1 minute ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I don't try to predict the air cost. I insure as I buy parts of my trip. My initial insurance purchase is for the cost of the cruise. When I buy my plane tickets, I go back and increase the cost of the trip. And I just realized I have to go back and increase the insurance again. I weakened and upgraded my flight to first class.

 

 

You did it correctly, as I shall in the future.

[PSR]

40 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The time frame for insuring additional parts of your travel starts when you buy each of those extras. And you're right that the window varies. I use Travelguard and for them it's 15 days. 

 

I usually insure the cost of the cruise when I book it (didn't know I could insure just the deposit, so I'll check on that next time!) and put my travel dates as the dates of the cruise.  For most trips I add a few days before and/or after the cruise. When I get that scheduled, which means buying plane tickets, I go online and change my dates to include those extra days and change total trip cost and then pay the extra insurance. 

 

 

Thank you (and everyone else who responded); I didn't know you could just start with the deposit to buy insurance and then increase as needed, to keep the pre-existing condition waiver. Although a few years ago we started buying an annual plan, which has worked well so far, In the future we may want to buy single trip insurance and will keep this in mind. 🙂

[PSR]

37 minutes ago, Cruise_More_Often said:

I did not report the purchase of airfare to the insurance company. I now believe we are not covered for pre-existing conditions for our May cruise.

 

You should check with your insurance. I know in the past when I was looking at single trip coverage, the airfare you paid after your final cruise/trip payment could be added and the pre-existing cov. would still be included. Unfortunately, I can't remember if that was only for the one insurance company (forgot the name) I was reading about, or others.