COVID Testing on Iona

[clearblueseas]

I have  just written this email to the founder of Staysure and await a reply with anticipation.

 

This gentleman is also on Twitter but as I don’t know how to use that facility perhaps someone whose more capable could do so. The more information we acquire the better.

 

Personal attention of Mr Ryan Howsam 

Dear Sir

Very serious implications for cruise passengers alike

Would you please explain to my why your insurance terms conditions regarding covid cover fail to mention if someone is unfortunate enough to be offloaded from a ship because they are a close contact of a covid positive person and are themselves negative your medical advisors will address the problem in that situation and the outcome may be we have to pay all costs involved ourselves. We need definitive answers here. Are we covered for all costs or not please ? This could be devastating for families and all passengers alike.

We, as many others no doubt we’re of the understanding that when we purchased your insurance we would be covered for all eventualities. This is not clear cut.

It would be greatly appreciated if a passenger/s found themselves in this situation you would confirm we are fully covered by Staysure.

We feel we’ve been possibly put in a very serious situation here and would appreciate a definitive answer please. Thank you.

 

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

It’s Saga holidays, rather than the cruise arm. And it’s essentially an issue relating to cover in Spain on a policy requiring an additional premium to cover that country.

Thanks Harry. I can ignore then.

[Megabear2]

20 minutes ago, clearblueseas said:

I have  just written this email to the founder of Staysure and await a reply with anticipation.

 

Excellent.  If anyone else has time to write in this tone to their insurer it would be great.

 

My original research is now over three month's old and there may have been updates.  Thank you.

[Megabear2]

I've just found a Mr Matthew Pack of Holiday Extras who is apparently their CEO with the following email and Twitter.

 

matthew.pack@holidayextras.com

@matthewpack

Perhaps an email in the same tone to him might be useful?

[tring]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

An important bit of the island though as the biggest eruption in hundreds of years has severed all the North/South road links on the west side of the island and destroyed thousands of properties and the livelihoods of thousands of people. they will have to wait some time until they can construct a new road link. Luckily for cruise passengers the area was not normally visited by excursions.

 

edit- for anyone interested this gives an overview of the eruption with maps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Cumbre_Vieja_volcanic_eruption

 

We know the island well from past holidays and the main residential area is actually before the part of the road which would have been blocked (i.e. most of Los Llanos) so communications between there and the capital, Santa Cruz will be fine.  Would cut those people off from the SE coastal area though.  I do not dispute that it is a problem for the island, but the coastal road around the south is a good road, which will not take a lot longer to drive around than the very windy road over the central part of the island, which goes up to a fair height.  Will make a massive difference to driving what was a lovely quiet road around the south though I should imagine.

 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

La Palmas de Gran Canary rather than La Palma the island which is now getting cruise ship visits despite a good chunk of the island being buried under lava.

Sorry, got my islands confused.

[wowzz]

Normal service has been resumed on Spirit of Discovery - no other information as yet.

[Megabear2]

I decided to follow clearblueseas example and wrote to the CEO office of Holiday Extras:

 

Quote:

 

Dear Sir

I would appreciate a full explanation as to your insurance terms and conditions regarding covid cruise cover, and in particular the fact they fail anywhere to mention that if someone is unfortunate enough to be offloaded from a ship because they are a close contact of a covid positive person and are themselves negative, that your medical advisors will address the problem in that situation only on "a case by case scenario" and therefore the outcome may be that the passenger will have to pay all costs involved. 

 

Definitive answers should surely be made available in supporting documentation, not some wishy washy "dealt with case by case". Are cruise passengers covered for all costs or not please ? This could have a devastating financial outcome for families and all passengers alike. You are the recommended insurer for many major UK cruise companies and yet appear to not address anywhere in your policies this possibility.

 

I have asked repeatedly about this issue in online chats and telephone conversations to ensure my family have full cover before sailing in April with P&O (they all have annual travel policies with your company as recommended by the cruise line).  Your agents state they cannot answer the question as we would actually have to be in the offloaded situation before your company could assess the position.  

 

This, I am sure you will agree, is a most unsatisfactory answer to people wishing to ensure they meet the cruise lines' full insurance requirements and purchasing what are frankly very expensive policies offered by your company precisely because they claim to be specifically for cruising. 

 

Offloading into quarantine of both positive and negative testers has, since Omicron arrived, become sadly quite frequent with all the worry involved apparently being passed to the unfortunate passenger.  It seems also that the issue of who is responsible for these costs is also something not clear cut in the case of forced quarantine by a government port body of a negative testing passenger.

 

On 1 January 2022 most cruise lines selling their product in the UK changed their terms and conditions and protocols to highlight, in particular but not exclusively, the almost certain removal from ships into quarantine for passengers unfortunately affected by Covid at Spanish ports. These passengers may not test positive at any point for Covid but are termed "close contacts". The cruise lines' statements now pass the onus fully and singularly on the passenger to ensure they have full and adequate insurance.  Clearly this is not possible to purchase with the current lack of wording on negative offloading to quarantine. Under Treating Customers Fairly should not policies explain full everything included and excluded? This does not seem to be the case from documents my family have shown me.

My family and I, and no doubt many others, were of the understanding that when they purchased your insurance we would be covered for all eventualities. This is not clear cut and your staff appear to have been instructed to be evasive when asked about the scenario. 

It would be greatly appreciated, therefore, if you would confirm that if a passenger/s found themselves in this situation they are fully covered by their Holiday Extras insurance policy which purports to cover cruises and Covid 

Failure to explain fully the cover could possibly put passengers in a very serious situation and I would appreciate a definitive answer on this point please. Thank you.

 

Regards

 

Unquote 

[cruising.mark.uk]

Thanks, Megabear.  That's a fantastic email.  I await the reply with interest, but I'm not optimistic it will -  at this stage - contain the answer we'd all like to see.  If the pressure is maintained, however, hopefully cover will evolve over time so that the main insurers provide cover for these circumstances, albeit perhaps at additional cost.

[ann141]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Normal service has been resumed on Spirit of Discovery - no other information as yet.

Misleading as I think the person who stated that is actually on spirit of Adventure! According to someone on spirit of Discovery people have been allowed out of their cabins but not off the ship yet

[Megabear2]

Good Lord!  Matthew Pack has been VERY quick off the mark. Just received:

 

My thanks for bringing this to my attention ********* . I will ensure this is improved and a better response provided right away. Pls give me a couple of days to come back to you. 

 

Wishing you all the best. 

Matthew

[Megabear2]

Following this flush of success I have written in almost  the same terms to Allclear, Cover for You and Avanti.

 

I think along with Staysure, Saga and Holiday Extras I've covered most of the companies those on here are insured with, leaving aside the bank account and M&S policies.  If anyone wishes me to contact a specific insurer not mentioned here please let me know and I will follow up.

 

Will keep you posted in any replies received.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Following this flush of success I have written in almost  the same terms to Allclear, Cover for You and Avanti.

 

I think along with Staysure, Saga and Holiday Extras I've covered most of the companies those on here are insured with, leaving aside the bank account and M&S policies.  If anyone wishes me to contact a specific insurer not mentioned here please let me know and I will follow up.

 

Will keep you posted in any replies received.

Once again thank you for all the hard graft you are doing here. 

[zap99]

31 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Following this flush of success I have written in almost  the same terms to Allclear, Cover for You and Avanti.

 

I think along with Staysure, Saga and Holiday Extras I've covered most of the companies those on here are insured with, leaving aside the bank account and M&S policies.  If anyone wishes me to contact a specific insurer not mentioned here please let me know and I will follow up.

 

Will keep you posted in any replies received.

Thanks for all your hard work. We have been using goodtogo due to an issue with waiting for a procedure. They aren't the best, but are adequate. I wonder if all of these CEO's are discussing this at their trade association principles meetings. If they invite you along, take a chaperone incase the make you an offer you can't refuse.🤣

[Megabear2]

8 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Thanks for all your hard work. We have been using goodtogo due to an issue with waiting for a procedure. They aren't the best, but are adequate. I wonder if all of these CEO's are discussing this at their trade association principles meetings. If they invite you along, take a chaperone incase the make you an offer you can't refuse.🤣

Are you volunteering to be my wing man?  I'm on to GoodtoGo for you.

[cruising nanagrandad]

Hi Megabear2- have been following this board with interest. We are booked with p& o 3 times this year,the first on Ventura in march to the canaries.Obviously now concerned with what is happening. Our insurance is an annual Admiral gold with cruise cover.Are you able to send your letter to admiral as well?. Many thanks

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Are you volunteering to be my wing man?  I'm on to GoodtoGo for you.

Thanks. I have had enough trade association committees to know that there are not many useful things that they are allowed to discuss. Competition act and all that, but some nice Lunches.

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, cruising nanagrandad said:

Hi Megabear2- have been following this board with interest. We are booked with p& o 3 times this year,the first on Ventura in march to the canaries.Obviously now concerned with what is happening. Our insurance is an annual Admiral gold with cruise cover.Are you able to send your letter to admiral as well?. Many thanks

Of course

[Megabear2]

7 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Thanks. I have had enough trade association committees to know that there are not many useful things that they are allowed to discuss. Competition act and all that, but some nice Lunches.

You should try the Law Society and the Houses of Parliament, although I must admit the latter does have a truly splendid cellar!

[cruising nanagrandad]

Thanks Megabear2. I will continue to follow this board ,as we are very undecided on how to proceed at the moment. Needless to say ,we are very alarmed at the prospect of being taken off the ship. Also today the government has reduced isolation times to 5 days, so it feels very unfair practice by the cruise lines.

[Megabear2]

31 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We have been using goodtogo

You, of course, just have to be different and special!

 

GoodtoGo are a company owned by Ancile Insurance Group Limited.  Investigation shows that although you think you are insured with GoodtoGo your policy may have been shifted without your knowing to one of a number of policies including Cover For You.  In light of not knowing which you may actually be under I've contacted the CEO of Ancile Insurance Group.  This one might be interesting as they seem to have 10 different insurance companies under their guise and according to Companies House they are all active.

[Megabear2]

7 minutes ago, cruising nanagrandad said:

Thanks Megabear2. I will continue to follow this board ,as we are very undecided on how to proceed at the moment. Needless to say ,we are very alarmed at the prospect of being taken off the ship. Also today the government has reduced isolation times to 5 days, so it feels very unfair practice by the cruise lines.

I have written.  Just so you understand it is not cruise line policy but the policy of sources in UK and EU governments that give them permission to sail.  I'm sure given the choice the cruise lines would most definitely not choose to quarantine you for long periods.

 

[zap99]

26 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

You, of course, just have to be different and special!

 

GoodtoGo are a company owned by Ancile Insurance Group Limited.  Investigation shows that although you think you are insured with GoodtoGo your policy may have been shifted without your knowing to one of a number of policies including Cover For You.  In light of not knowing which you may actually be under I've contacted the CEO of Ancile Insurance Group.  This one might be interesting as they seem to have 10 different insurance companies under their guise and according to Companies House they are all active.

Thanks. Due to DW being on a waiting list, options are limited. They were ok for staycation cruises and foreign fly away holidays, but seem not good for cruises with a risk of getting turfed off. Hopefully we can get back to a mainstream company soon. Like you, but for different reasons I have had the pleasure of looking through their conditions, a bit like my days of doing contract review. Many folk would be surprised with some of the exclusions. Like swimming in the sea being covered, but if you are over 50m from the shore, that is a hazardous persuit. Those folk taking out insurance should always look at the exclusions.

[lujaha]

Thanks once again Megabear for all you are doing.  We are due to go on 29th Jan and I don't know how many times I have changed my mind.  I finally made my mind up not to go, then my husband went and got the dreaded Covid!  He has just done his 2 negative tests so all clear now.  Despite us just carrying on as normal indoors I didn't catch it from him.  So now my theory is that he won't be at risk of catching it onboard, so there will just be me at risk and if I didn't catch it from him.......So we are now going...I think.  How wonderful it would be if you got some positive answers from Holiday Extras before we go.  And of course all the other insurance companies.  You certainly deserve all the treats from P&O.

[clearblueseas]

I have just written this email to Paul Ludlow senior Vice President of P & O cruises 

 

Personal attention of Mr Paul Ludlow 

Dear Sir

It’s a great concern to me and most probably many of your passengers that, I believe the Spanish authorities require both covid and close negative contacts of a covid case to be offloaded to quarantine in their country. My understanding is that this  is beyond your control.

Unfortunately many of us have found out that our covid insurance which we thought would include all eventualities, probably does not cover for negative close contacts and it’s up to the insurance medical team at the time as to whether it will or not.

Because of this families/passengers are finding themselves offloaded as they do not naturally want to be seperated and this can involve them in a great expense. Ideally, should we unfortunately get covid/be a close negative contact the answer would be to isolate onboard. 

This is an extremely worrying/traumatic time  and until the insurance companies cover us I am wondering why you are sailing to ports that demand this. Your comments would be appreciated please.