Is there a downside to this strategy?

[Newarkgin]

A few days ago booked a 14 day Panama Canal cruise Ft. Lauderdale to SanDiego. Planning to drive a week to Fl, then a week or so in CA. We are on Medicare and am not concerned about insurance for the land portions of the trip. Our biggest concern for the cruise is Cancellation insurance and Medical/Evacuation Coverage. Sought quotes from a few on-line insurance sites, studied the offers which seemed reasonable--but then began looking at client reviews. Frankly, once you've looked at reviews of clients who have actually had to use the insurance, you feel afraid to buy anything. A few years back, we had outstanding experience with Allianz (and Holland America) when my mother took ill on her cruise, went ashore at Martinique and subsequently had open heart surgery and was air-lifted home. As time has past and I've gone through this exercise of looking at insurance, I realize I probably will never bring myself to travel on any other cruise line or buy any other insurance. The Allianz insurance is pricey and even more so for CFAR, but they do have a "Medical Only" coverage that is quite reasonable (though not overly generous on the medical side). I was thinking of getting the Allianz "Medical Only" within the 14 day window, then before final payment purchasing the Holland America basic plan to give us the CFAR coverage. Would this strategy work? 

[iamtrustworthy]

8 hours ago, Newarkgin said:

A few days ago booked a 14 day Panama Canal cruise Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego. Planning to drive a week to Fl, then a week or so in CA. We are on Medicare and am not concerned about insurance for the land portions of the trip. Our biggest concern for the cruise is Cancellation insurance and Medical/Evacuation Coverage. Sought quotes from a few on-line insurance sites, studied the offers which seemed reasonable--but then began looking at client reviews. Frankly, once you've looked at reviews of clients who have actually had to use the insurance, you feel afraid to buy anything. A few years back, we had outstanding experience with Allianz (and Holland America) when my mother took ill on her cruise, went ashore at Martinique and subsequently had open heart surgery and was air-lifted home. As time has past and I've gone through this exercise of looking at insurance, I realize I probably will never bring myself to travel on any other cruise line or buy any other insurance. The Allianz insurance is pricey and even more so for CFAR, but they do have a "Medical Only" coverage that is quite reasonable (though not overly generous on the medical side). I was thinking of getting the Allianz "Medical Only" within the 14 day window, then before final payment purchasing the Holland America basic plan to give us the CFAR coverage. Would this strategy work? 

Hi Newarkgin,

> I was thinking of getting the Allianz "Medical Only" within the 14 day window, then before final payment purchasing the Holland America basic plan to give us the CFAR coverage. Would this strategy work?

 

No, it won't work. Here's why:

I looked at their policy wording (all.pdf) and it says "On the policy purchase date, you insured the full non-refundable cost of your trip with us. This includes trip arrangements that will become non-refundable or subject to cancellation penalties between the policy purchase date and the departure date."

 

I haven't sold Allianz nor its predecessor since 2003 for good reasons.

 

A better choice is to buy a trip cancellation plan that doesn't require you to insure all your prepaid trip costs to have the pre-existing medical conditions coverage. I have four plans that allow this.

 

If you want specific plan advice that pertains just to you, neither CruiseCritic nor myself want you to put any personally identifiable or private information in a public forum. You may email me at steve@tripinsurancestore.com or call me at 1-888-407-3854 and I will help you.

 

> Frankly, once you've looked at reviews of clients who have actually had to use the insurance, you feel afraid to buy anything.

 

Nearly everyone we talk with has either had a bad experience or knows someone who had one.

 

I say this on my website:

"Why are there so many denied claims? I (Steve) firmly believe that the majority of denied claims are because the insured travelers either received the wrong advice prior to purchase or that they were sold the wrong policy by an uninformed travel insurance seller. You get our help with claims. We even help you if you didn’t buy from us.

 

Buying any insurance is a risk. You are trading a known certainty (your hard earned money) for an unknown quantity – the promise of the insurance policy doing what it says it will do. That’s why I pre-screened & selected the plans I feel comfortable representing."

 

The truth is that not all travel insurance claims are paid to a customer’s satisfaction. Sometimes the travel insurance company makes a mistake (I have gotten these resolved), but other times it’s not a payable claim. We go to great lengths to educate you. If travel insurance isn’t a good idea for you to buy it, we will tell you not to buy it, If you insist, we will refuse to sell it to you.

 

Here's a perfect example of what happens when someone assumes what they are doing is covered:
https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/why-karas-claim-wasnt-paid/
https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/more-on-why-karas-claim-wasnt-paid/

I hope this helps you,

 

Steve Dasseos

[Newarkgin]

Thank you, Steve, for your very thoughtful and complete reply; among other insights you provided, it made me realize that in addition to focusing on Cancellation and Medical, Interruption should also be a concern.  Thanks again, and I will email you!

[iamtrustworthy]

8 hours ago, Newarkgin said:

Thank you, Steve, for your very thoughtful and complete reply; among other insights you provided, it made me realize that in addition to focusing on Cancellation and Medical, Interruption should also be a concern.  Thanks again, and I will email you!

You are very welcome.