Berkeley care travel insurance?

[cruiseco]

100% Satisfaction. Had to have a root canal in Maui on our Hawaiian cruise with NCL and they reimbursed me 100%+

 

Actually, that's surprising. With most travel insurance they won't cover this type of thing -- it's considered to be normal dental maintenance. If you fall down and break a tooth that's covered. Or bite into something. But things like needing a filling or a root canal are usually excluded. Good to know.

 

For example, this is from Travelex:

 

"Benefits will include expenses for emergency dental treatment for Injury to sound natural teeth not to exceed $750. "

 

Unless the root canal is the result of some injury sustained during the trip I bet Travelex (and most others) wouldn't pay for it.

[JandD Mom]

I believe it is secondary coverage in several areas. I prefer Travelex--It is primary coverage and a lower price.

 

I agree, I always buy travelex and they are almost always cheaper. I had a claim and was reimbursed 100%.

 

Some other family members with us also had to cancel and they were paid out even quicker by Access America.

 

Both of these plans are primary, which is important, so you don't get stuck with a delayed claim while the insurer investigates whether you have other coverage.

 

I think one of the recommendations was to use insuremytrip.com, and I agree. It's a great service.

[BerkleySux]

Not to say I know 100% of the results from them, but their offices are closed Sundays, my neice was too sick to fly then, and I ended up footing the bill b/c they placed many stipulations on getting her replacement flight reimbursed after the fact. I'm sure many insurance (including health) companies are like this - inhuman about getting anything done in good faith, just going by the books and getting away with whatever they can. Pretty durned evil, so keep your documentation and get all your doctors' notes in order when making the claim

[BJS]

Not to say I know 100% of the results from them, but their offices are closed Sundays, my neice was too sick to fly then, and I ended up footing the bill b/c they placed many stipulations on getting her replacement flight reimbursed after the fact. I'm sure many insurance (including health) companies are like this - inhuman about getting anything done in good faith, just going by the books and getting away with whatever they can. Pretty durned evil, so keep your documentation and get all your doctors' notes in order when making the claim

 

We have had two very fast payments from Berkley Care and couldn't be more pleased to have received all of our money within a week of submitting our claims.

 

Maybe if you gave us more details about why your claim was denied it might help others avoid the same experience that you have had.

 

.

[Go-Bucks!]

Thanks for that response. In that event, when I don't book air through Princess (which is almost always the case, except for respositioning cruises), it is much less expensive to get a policy with better coverage using www.insuremytrip.com. Of course, the advantage of Princess' travel care is that you can cancel for any reason and get future travel credit, and that it is not price dependant on age.

 

When my TA asked me whether I wanted to get the Princess travel ins., I asked about the price. It was pretty high and when I asked why, the agent said that it depended on my age and how long I was going to cruise. Her quote for my cruisemate was higher because she's older. When I got quotes recently on insuremytrip, they also wanted to know my age. So I'm thinking it's partially dependent on age. :confused:

[cactusrose]

When my TA asked me whether I wanted to get the Princess travel ins., I asked about the price. It was pretty high and when I asked why, the agent said that it depended on my age and how long I was going to cruise. Her quote for my cruisemate was higher because she's older. When I got quotes recently on insuremytrip, they also wanted to know my age. So I'm thinking it's partially dependent on age. :confused:

 

Your TA was feeding you a bag of pooh. Princess Travel Insurance is only based on cost of cruise. Not on age or length of cruise. Other insurance companies do base their premiums on age but not Princess. Take a look for yourself. The rate info is on the second page of document under this link.

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/answer/pdf/travel_care.pdf

[Lynda90]

When my TA asked me whether I wanted to get the Princess travel ins., I asked about the price. It was pretty high and when I asked why, the agent said that it depended on my age and how long I was going to cruise. Her quote for my cruisemate was higher because she's older. When I got quotes recently on insuremytrip, they also wanted to know my age. So I'm thinking it's partially dependent on age. :confused:

I totally agree with cactusrose. Princess travel insurance has never been based on age and your cruisemate should have received the same quote as you did. One of the reasons the insurance may be higher is that Princess offers a "cancel for any reason" clause which most travel insurances do not.

[caribill]

Also, Princess has two insurance prices, regular and (with increased benefits and costs) gold level.

 

You were probably not told which you were quoted.

[iamtrustworthy]

When my TA asked me whether I wanted to get the Princess travel ins., I asked about the price. It was pretty high and when I asked why, the agent said that it depended on my age and how long I was going to cruise. Her quote for my cruisemate was higher because she's older. When I got quotes recently on insuremytrip, they also wanted to know my age. So I'm thinking it's partially dependent on age. :confused:

 

Hi beachyfe,

 

Non-cruise line insurance is based on your age, per person trip cost & length of trip (if over 30 31 days).

 

If you haven't read read this article on cruise critic about travel insurance, it's a good place to start:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseplanning/articles.cfm?ID=274

[coiran]

Princess insurance (Berkely) does not charge based on age only on the cruise cost.

If you buy your own air you can usually insurance through a third party from the airlines. Our flights from DTW to FLL, about $300pp, only cost $12 for insurance.

No matter whou you insure with they will have you file and settle with your primary, and if it is Medicare, your secondary also before you can file with them. BTW Medicare will pay nothing for out of country, however, Berkely and probably others require a confirmation of that.

One of the things to look at on all policies is the "emergency" evacuation coverage. From what I have seen Princess has the best in this area. Also with Princess you can cancel for any reason and get 75% (I think) returned as applicable for another cruise.

Ron

[BJS]

One of the things to look at on all policies is the "emergency" evacuation coverage. From what I have seen Princess has the best in this area. Also with Princess you can cancel for any reason and get 75% (I think) returned as applicable for another cruise.

Ron

Princess Travel Care will pay either $25,000 or $50,000 for Gold for evacuation which is good but not the best. Your costs could run much higher depending where you are.

Medjet Assist has a better coverage for Medical Evacuation because there is no dollar limit for this evacuation.

 

You are correct that if you cancel for any non-covered reason you will receive a 75% cruise credit for the non refundable cruise fare. That increases to 90% with Travel Care Gold.

 

.

[anniversarycruiser40]

Starchild,

 

I am so sorry that your Mom passed away while on a cruise and in a foreign country. It must have been terrible for you and for your Dad. I am amazed that no one on this post expressed their sympathy to you. I can not even imagine the anxiety and anguish this caused you and your family. I had a claim with Berkely and had good results, but it is NOTHING compared to what you and your family went through.

 

You have my sympathy and Prayers.

[Ndirish]

Booked my first ever cruise with my wife departing Baltimore to Bermuda. We are in our mid fifties. Bought this insurance, hurricane Emily was going to be a factor, wife was scared, so we cancelled under the rules for any reason, losing 25% of cruise, some 1400, suppose to get back around $2800. Berkley tells u over and over it takes five business days. They received my info on august 16' now the song and dance begins, waiting to confirm with royal Carribean . Off to be finalized, yeah yeah. Finalized adjuster can't be reached, getting voice mail, blah blah. Just hung up on them with the same crap, should be done at end of week. Appears this is just another scam with royal Carribean . Five business days my ass. Will never ever use royal Carribean or their cancel for any reason travel insurance again. It, like royal Carribean are a joke. I assume other cruise lines are the same and their supposed travel insurance. Would rather just see the USA instead of going through this. Thanks for nothing royal Carribean!

[Dietemann]

Booked my first ever cruise with my wife departing Baltimore to Bermuda. We are in our mid fifties. Bought this insurance, hurricane Emily was going to be a factor, wife was scared, so we cancelled under the rules for any reason, losing 25% of cruise, some 1400, suppose to get back around $2800. Berkley tells u over and over it takes five business days. They received my info on august 16' now the song and dance begins, waiting to confirm with royal Carribean . Off to be finalized, yeah yeah. Finalized adjuster can't be reached, getting voice mail, blah blah. Just hung up on them with the same crap, should be done at end of week. Appears this is just another scam with royal Carribean . Five business days my ass. Will never ever use royal Carribean or their cancel for any reason travel insurance again. It, like royal Carribean are a joke. I assume other cruise lines are the same and their supposed travel insurance. Would rather just see the USA instead of going through this. Thanks for nothing royal Carribean!

This is the Princess Forum, not Royal Caribbean! We had absolute no problems getting our payment from Berkeley when we had to cancel our PRINCESS cruise for health reasons. They were very pleasant and quick in their response.

[Pia1913]

This thread is 3 1/2 years old. Wonder how someone found it and why they resurrected it. That being said, we too had a claim with Berkley and they paid very quickly. Our friends had to cancel their South Pacific cruisee a week before and they got their $11,500 refund within 3 weeks.

[sonnenschein]

we also had to cancel our cruise to England, my husband needed unexpected open heart surgery and Berkley repaid us our cruise fare in a timely manner but we did not get the almost 500.00 insurance payment back,only the cruise price we paid Princess. I been wondering if we should also have gotten the price we paid for the insurance back. Just a question,I am not complaining about the insurance price.

[Dietemann]

we also had to cancel our cruise to England, my husband needed unexpected open heart surgery and Berkley repaid us our cruise fare in a timely manner but we did not get the almost 500.00 insurance payment back,only the cruise price we paid Princess. I been wondering if we should also have gotten the price we paid for the insurance back. Just a question,I am not complaining about the insurance price.

No, you do not get the insurance premium back, it is a non-refundable purchase.

[cdngrl]

i've had 2 claims with them, one to reimburse me for a hotel and meals when the ship was late into port (7 hours late) and we missed our flights. the other was a day stay in the infirmary. i did pay this out of pocket and was reimbursed. they are great to deal with on the phone and via email.

[pcsunlover]

My parents booked Berkley Care on their last cruise. My mother ended up in a hospital in St. Maarten. A company called On-Call International handled communication with the family and arranged for a nurse to escort my mother back to the US. My mother was cleared by the local doctor to fly on Friday; On-Call said that the nurse would be there on Monday. She showed up at the hospital unannounced on Sunday. They told me her return would be on a commercial flight on Monday. Then they told me they were sending an air ambulance to bring her back on Tuesday. The air ambulance would not take my mother even after On-Call promised me that transportation that day would be a sure thing. My mother died that night. When I got to St. Maarten the next day, the On-Call crew had gone home.

 

Local laws in St. Maarten did not allow us to make arrangements concurrently. So the local coroner has to get a promise of payment from On-Call for repatriation of the remains before he could file for the death certificate. The time it took for both parties to fax paperwork back and forth meant we could not fly Mom home on Friday, and had to wait until Monday. I spent $1400 in airfare, $1000 on a hotel room and between the hotel phone and home phone about $700 in phone calls. Not to mention my father's return ticket, which should be reimbursable.

 

Now I cannot file a medical claim with Berkley until I file claims with Mom's primary coverage. When I called to ask if I could file a partial claim for the room, phone and airline ticket, I was told to file everyting at the same time.

 

That is my experience so far with Berkley Care Insurance and affiliates. I leave you to decide for yourself.

 

I am so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how stressful it was to deal with all of that while mourning the loss of your mother. All my best to you and your family.

[mysweetness]

so sorry for your loss.

 

I had a completely different experience with Berkley Care.

 

They were wonderful with answereing any questions and we got our refund very quickly.

[CORAL02]

Don't use them they are fraud!!!!! Honestly do not use them ...if i can save 1 person from loosing your money i will pursue this forever no need to go into detail i am truthful don't use berkeley .

[Pia1913]

Don't use them they are fraud!!!!! Honestly do not use them ...if i can save 1 person from loosing your money i will pursue this forever no need to go into detail i am truthful don't use berkeley .

 

YOU are full of baloney first time poster. They are terrific and lots of folks will attest to it. Don't know what your problem is; I think it might just be stirring the pot.

[Bucky3]

This thread is not current. It was started 6 years ago!

[Pia1913]

This thread is not current. It was started 6 years ago!

 

I realize that, but the one I responded to is very current. LIke this morning. And since I am subscribed to these threads which I suppose is forever, they just pop into my UCP area when something is added.

[Bucky3]

I realize that, but the one I responded to is very current. LIke this morning. And since I am subscribed to these threads which I suppose is forever, they just pop into my UCP area when something is added.

 

Pia, I wasn't really replying to your post. I just wanted to alert people to the age of this thread. I know I'm bad about looking at the date of a post myself! So sorry I didn't get to meet you on the Hawaii cruise last month, but hopefully our paths will cross on some sea in the future! I sure do enjoy your blogs.