Travel Insurance cruise cover.

[Beckett]

49 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I need to await the results of medical investigations so I have decided to buy the insurance just before the final payment date in July. Either a single trip policy or maybe an annual one

Oh I see - that makes sense. I hope your investigations give you a good result Dave. Jane.x

[Scriv]

19 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

That's a shame, they only cover up to age 70!

I know 😞  .. but we did manage to get a Single Trip cover quote for a 70 year old.  It mentioned going up to 75 yrs  for the single trip quote I did, but said < 70  for the multi trip.

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by Scriv

[Scriv]

19 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

We have no cover at all at the minute and having moved our October cruise, don't need cover until late December, but looking at their Covid cancellation, it looks good and they also mention Staycation cruises if others are interested.  Best price I have found for our age with underlying conditions.

Thanks Jean, that's very useful. This is all a bit of a pain. I am waiting it out until nearer the time to see if there's an end to the standoff between Nationwide etc and P&O, though I doubt it. Both seem to have dug their heels in.

[Splice the mainbrace]

10 minutes ago, Scriv said:

Thanks Jean, that's very useful. This is all a bit of a pain. I am waiting it out until nearer the time to see if there's an end to the standoff between Nationwide etc and P&O, though I doubt it. Both seem to have dug their heels in.

 

I have the Nationwide Flexplus insurance, what is the standoff between them and P&O?

[Scriv]

13 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 

I have the Nationwide Flexplus insurance, what is the standoff between them and P&O?

Basically, P&O require a minimum of £2m cover for repatriation and medical for the UK Staycation cruises this summer and we have to provide proof that our insurance policies cover this.

 

But Nationwide ( underwritten by UK Insurance Ltd)  will only cover up to £10,000 for this as it's a UK only cruise.

Nationwide and P&O have supposedly been in talks about this, but so far neither has changed their stance.

Edited April 17, 2021 by Scriv

[Splice the mainbrace]

3 minutes ago, Scriv said:

Basically, P&O require a minimum of £2m cover for repatriation and medical for the UK Staycation cruises this summer and we have to provide proof that our insurance policies cover this.

 

But Nationwide ( underwritten by UK Insurance Ltd)  will only cover up to £10,000 as it's a UK only cruise.

Nationwide and P&O have supposedly been in talks about this, but so far neither has changed their stance.

 

We have a Princess cruise booked for October which stops at Cork so it should be classed as International?

I had the automatic annual renewal confirmation letter this week explaining the differences between holidays booked before or after 1st January 2021 but no mention of level of cover as proof at checkin for a cruise. I presume their are some pages online somewhere that can be printed off, I'll have to see which pages need printing as proof of cover. I'm not so much bothered about the actual insurance cover more about being turned away at checkin with lack of proof or cover.

[Scriv]

3 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 

We have a Princess cruise booked for October which stops at Cork so it should be classed as International?

I had the automatic annual renewal confirmation letter this week explaining the differences between holidays booked before or after 1st January 2021 but no mention of level of cover as proof at checkin for a cruise. I presume their are some pages online somewhere that can be printed off, I'll have to see which pages need printing as proof of cover. I'm not so much bothered about the actual insurance cover more about being turned away at checkin with lack of proof or cover.

 

Yours sounds fine from what I am reading. It's just these summer UK cruises. For proof, I had been thinking to go to their website and print off the cover provided - up to £10m in our case with FlexPlus. Also,  there's a link on the Nationwide website to the portal of the underwriters,  UK Insurance Ltd where we might be able to get a specific statement to print off as evidence? 

[davecttr]

36 minutes ago, Scriv said:

Basically, P&O require a minimum of £2m cover for repatriation and medical for the UK Staycation cruises this summer and we have to provide proof that our insurance policies cover this.

 

But Nationwide ( underwritten by UK Insurance Ltd)  will only cover up to £10,000 for this as it's a UK only cruise.

Nationwide and P&O have supposedly been in talks about this, but so far neither has changed their stance.

The standoff may be over the cost of emergency helicopter evacuation. Normally this would be a UK based helicopter (free) tasked by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and carrying their colour scheme. However in certain circumstances a helicopter might not be available and the evacuation may be by a French or Irish (Eire) helicopter, the national agencies do help each other. Do the French and Irish charge? This may be why P&O want £2 million in cover?

 

Nationwide just don't want to pay for it so tell them unless they do you will dump them and get insurance from the companies mentioned here that do provide proper cover.

[wowzz]

As a matter of interest does anyone think that P&O will be employing dozens of staff going through the small print of every passenger's policy on embarkation day? 

The process could take hours, especially if some policies are unclear, and underwriters and insurance companies need to be contacted for clarification. Good luck with that on a Saturday afternoon in August! 

I'm wondering if P&O have made their requirements clear, and expect everyone to have taken out the level of cover required, and,  despite what they say, will not actively examine individual policies at the port.

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

As a matter of interest does anyone think that P&O will be employing dozens of staff going through the small print of every passenger's policy on embarkation day? 

The process could take hours, especially if some policies are unclear, and underwriters and insurance companies need to be contacted for clarification. Good luck with that on a Saturday afternoon in August! 

I'm wondering if P&O have made their requirements clear, and expect everyone to have taken out the level of cover required, and,  despite what they say, will not actively examine individual policies at the port.

Exactly my view. Any examination is likely to be cursory, and quite possibly just a simple yes/no question.

 

All the work’s been done in advance, P&O have covered their back, and what financial incentive is there to do any more at check in. They may sample a tiny percentage, and the risk of that’s enough.

 

HMRC operate a similar system with self-assessment.

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

As a matter of interest does anyone think that P&O will be employing dozens of staff going through the small print of every passenger's policy on embarkation day? 

The process could take hours, especially if some policies are unclear, and underwriters and insurance companies need to be contacted for clarification. Good luck with that on a Saturday afternoon in August! 

I'm wondering if P&O have made their requirements clear, and expect everyone to have taken out the level of cover required, and,  despite what they say, will not actively examine individual policies at the port.

Well if you don't have adequate cover and suffer the remote chance of being evacuated to France and having to pay including hospital charges etc it won't be P&O weeping over the cost, it will be you!. Years ago I accidentally gave P&O the wrong insurance name and the wrong underwriter. I presume they never even checked.

[Scriv]

5 hours ago, davecttr said:

The standoff may be over the cost of emergency helicopter evacuation. Normally this would be a UK based helicopter (free) tasked by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and carrying their colour scheme. However in certain circumstances a helicopter might not be available and the evacuation may be by a French or Irish (Eire) helicopter, the national agencies do help each other. Do the French and Irish charge? This may be why P&O want £2 million in cover?

 

Nationwide just don't want to pay for it so tell them unless they do you will dump them and get insurance from the companies mentioned here that do provide proper cover.

I will have to be going elsewhere for these two summer cruises I think, but dumping them is not so easy as we also use that account for car breakdown, mobile cover etc and for other worldwide holidays. Have to say that they have been excellent up until now and we have been with them for years. Ah well, it's only £20 extra to pay out for a single cover..

Edited April 17, 2021 by Scriv

[alpha whiskey]

Quick question, which I am sure one of you will be able to clarify, and apologies if this has already been raised .....It seems that ships will be sailing within UK waters, hence all the chatter regarding insurance policies. Does this mean that shops and casinos will not be able to open as (I think 🤔) ships have to be in international waters? 

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Exactly my view. Any examination is likely to be cursory, and quite possibly just a simple yes/no question.

 

All the work’s been done in advance, P&O have covered their back, and what financial incentive is there to do any more at check in. They may sample a tiny percentage, and the risk of that’s enough.

 

HMRC operate a similar system with self-assessment.

I pre registered with my TA for a cruise next October this morning, and when the agent was going through the required selling blurb she said that P&O will be checking insurance info ahead of the cruise, which I took to mean before boarding. I suppose only time will tell.

[Scriv]

1 hour ago, alpha whiskey said:

Quick question, which I am sure one of you will be able to clarify, and apologies if this has already been raised .....It seems that ships will be sailing within UK waters, hence all the chatter regarding insurance policies. Does this mean that shops and casinos will not be able to open as (I think 🤔) ships have to be in international waters? 

I'm sure I have read on a P&O Q&A page that the casinos will be open,  following government rules and restrictions at the time. 

[Bin man]

I googled the question and it says you have to be in international waters 12 miles off British coast and have a foreign port so I dont know if its correct not being a casino person 

[majortom10]

1 minute ago, Bin man said:

I googled the question and it says you have to be in international waters 12 miles off British coast and have a foreign port so I dont know if its correct not being a casino person 

You are correct under normal circumstances but I am sure the government could have relaxed these rules just for these UK waters cruises.

[davecttr]

I think for the casino and shops it is the 12 mile limit which is why you sometimes see the ship doing a mad dash from the shore to get the tat stalls open.

 

As for the casino, will it open at all apart from some socially distanced machines? The table games have players close together and handling chips and cards, IMO a source of onboard illness. You could run a blackjack table, say 3 players max and you buy the chips with your ships card, no cash. You don't get to handle the chips either, only the dealer can do that and you don't touch the cards anyway in blackjack. The casino is a franchise and if they can't make a profit or break even they might not open. I like playing blackjack but if the casino is closed, so be it.

[alpha whiskey]

I am only a casual casino person, but thought it was worth asking the question to tie in with what's international and what is UK waters? Surely this would have a bearing on travel insurance? If casinos and shops are open, does that mean you have left UK waters, and therefore an international traveller? 

[majortom10]

52 minutes ago, alpha whiskey said:

I am only a casual casino person, but thought it was worth asking the question to tie in with what's international and what is UK waters? Surely this would have a bearing on travel insurance? If casinos and shops are open, does that mean you have left UK waters, and therefore an international traveller? 

We have done many British Isles cruises where the ship has called at Cobh and Dublin prior to going up to Scotland on some days the casino and slot machines were closed as per rules but they never had any day when at sea when the shops were not open so I think the rules only apply to the opening of casinos and not shops. We have been on many cruises where the ship in the evening has only started moving and hardly left the port and they have opened the shops.

[davecttr]

12 hours ago, alpha whiskey said:

I am only a casual casino person, but thought it was worth asking the question to tie in with what's international and what is UK waters? Surely this would have a bearing on travel insurance? If casinos and shops are open, does that mean you have left UK waters, and therefore an international traveller? 

I think the definition of international waters is actually the edge of the continental shelf and the waters from there to the 12 mile limit are a sort of fuzzy area. I was on a cruise where we were stuck in port but the negotiated for the casino/shops to open because we could not leave the ship so no loss of business for local establishments.

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

I think the definition of international waters is actually the edge of the continental shelf and the waters from there to the 12 mile limit are a sort of fuzzy area. I was on a cruise where we were stuck in port but the negotiated for the casino/shops to open because we could not leave the ship so no loss of business for local establishments.

Thanks for all the thoughts around this subject. Really appreciated.

So, to sum up surely it would be a legitimate argument (admittedly not one I'd like to have) that if shops, maybe even duty free (?), casinos, and the fact that you cannot travel without a valid passport, would all lead me to think you are leaving the UK and heading for international waters. Therefore, our usual Worldwide/Europe policies should just kick in?

 

It is not a deal breaker for me whether the casino and shops are open or not, but just my way of trying to get my head round this whole UK/ international travel situation for insurance purposes. Has this never come up before in years gone by for the British Isles cruises?

 

Have a good Sunday🌞

 

 

 

 

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, alpha whiskey said:

Thanks for all the thoughts around this subject. Really appreciated.

So, to sum up surely it would be a legitimate argument (admittedly not one I'd like to have) that if shops, maybe even duty free (?), casinos, and the fact that you cannot travel without a valid passport, would all lead me to think you are leaving the UK and heading for international waters. Therefore, our usual Worldwide/Europe policies should just kick in?

 

It is not a deal breaker for me whether the casino and shops are open or not, but just my way of trying to get my head round this whole UK/ international travel situation for insurance purposes. Has this never come up before in years gone by for the British Isles cruises?

 

Have a good Sunday🌞

 

 

 

 

 

I would not bet on it, best to confirm in writing that the cover is OK for your specific staycation cruise. for that it would be best if you told them all the details, start and finish port, any intermediate port calls, any possibility of entering foreign 12 mile limits etc. As for previous round Britain  cruises, maybe they all had a scheduled call in Eire or Belgium?

[majortom10]

4 hours ago, alpha whiskey said:

Thanks for all the thoughts around this subject. Really appreciated.

So, to sum up surely it would be a legitimate argument (admittedly not one I'd like to have) that if shops, maybe even duty free (?), casinos, and the fact that you cannot travel without a valid passport, would all lead me to think you are leaving the UK and heading for international waters. Therefore, our usual Worldwide/Europe policies should just kick in?

 

It is not a deal breaker for me whether the casino and shops are open or not, but just my way of trying to get my head round this whole UK/ international travel situation for insurance purposes. Has this never come up before in years gone by for the British Isles cruises?

 

Have a good Sunday🌞

 

 

 

 

 

It has come up on Princess cruises where they do Round British Isles cruise all through the summer period and have done for many years. We have been on many and on them all when the ship is cruising in areas West of Scotland there have ben days when the casino has been closed due to regulations but none of the shops have ever closed.

[delgirl]

Have Barclays travel plus with our bank account. I e-mailed today and they have said will be covered for the full 10million as if we were abroad. Only thing they don't cover is medical expenses as it is free on nhs and we are in UK waters. So it looks like we won't have full cover so won't be going.