Cancel for any reason with trip insurance

[JohnDaleswife]

Has anyone ever purchased trip insurance with the cancel for any reason included and filed a claim?

Did you get back 100% of what you had insured or only part of that amount?

 

[lanejudy]

I haven't had to file a claim. But to clarify, you should get back 100% of non-refundable monies paid. For example, if you book a room-only at WDW and pay if off a month before your trip, but then need to cancel 2 weeks prior to the trip, insurance will pay nothing and WDW should refund the full amount paid because you haven't hit the cancellation period yet. If you booked a package rather than a room-only in the above scenario, the insurance should cover it all because the package had to be PIF before you canceled.

So if any portion is refundable from the vendor (hotel, airline, etc.) you will need to make sure that gets refunded to you from the vendor. Trip insurance will only pay out on the non-refundable portion. And your insurance premium will not be paid back. Speaking generally, many hotels and car rentals are refundable until just a few hours prior to arrival so trip insurance may have little value for vacations like that. Just be aware of what the various cancellation policies are for the various parts of your trip.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[msmayor]

But to clarify, you should get back 100% of non-refundable monies paid.

Not necessarily. You need to read the terms and conditions of the policy you plan to purchase. Some will only pay 75-90% under cancel for any reason, but will pay 100% for a specific covered reason.

You also need to be careful about the total value of the trip that you insure. Some policies, for cancel-for-any-reason or a waiver of the pre-existing conditions will require you to insure the TOTAL cost of the vacation.

 

[tvguy]

Not necessarily. You need to read the terms and conditions of the policy you plan to purchase. Some will only pay 75-90% under cancel for any reason, but will pay 100% for a specific covered reason.

You also need to be careful about the total value of the trip that you insure. Some policies, for cancel-for-any-reason or a waiver of the pre-existing conditions will require you to insure the TOTAL cost of the vacation.

Exactly. KNOW exactly what the insurance you are buying covers, and what they do if they have a claim filed.
My travel agent no longer sells, or has any recommendation on travel insurance, saying it is a personal decision. They got tangled up in a nasty lawsuit when one of their clients purchased travel insurance and his employer canceled his time off the day before the cruise. The insurance paid up immediately, and then filed suit against the employer for reimbursement of what they paid in the claim. In the process the employer filed suit against the travel agent. 5 years down the road, the employer was ordered to pay up all the insurance companies outlay and legal costs.
I can't imagine having to work for a company that, first of all would cancel time off when they knew the employee was going on a cruise, and second, that ended up having the pay the bill.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Yes. I got everything back but the insurance costs. You need to read the policy carefully. Generally this type is considerably higher priced than policies where you only get a portion back on the cancel for any reason with a partial refund. For my upcoming Christmas booking it was almost $200 a perso higher

 

[tvguy]

Yes. I got everything back but the insurance costs. You need to read the policy carefully. Generally this type is considerably higher priced than policies where you only get a portion back on the cancel for any reason with a partial refund. For my upcoming Christmas booking it was almost $200 a perso higher

Holy cow, $200 a person MORE? I just pulled my paperwork from the only trip I have ever purchased Travel Insurance for, a $10,000 7 day Disney Caribbean Cruise with cross country airfair for 4, the TOTAL premium was $125, and that included "cancel for any reason".

 

[JohnDaleswife]

All the ones I have seen have 50-75% reimbursement rates. So not so good. So the option of renting DVC points when we do go back will probably not be an option.

 

[Green Tea]

Why do you want the cancel for any reason clause? Do you think you might change your mind about wanting to take a trip at the last minute? Some policies carry a cancel for work reason. But other than the drama of a teenage girl changing her mind on a whim I can't really envision a reason I would cancel a planed trip that wasn't covered by the regular insurance policies.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Why do you want the cancel for any reason clause? Do you think you might change your mind about wanting to take a trip at the last minute? Some policies carry a cancel for work reason. But other than the drama of a teenage girl changing her mind on a whim I can't really envision a reason I would cancel a planed trip that wasn't covered by the regular insurance policies.

You know, that's a really good point.