Cruise travel insurance confusion.

[Cruise-n-2015]

When I booked our cruise, I was trying to keep my deposit as low as possible at that time. I did ask if I had until the paid in full date to add. I was assured I did..
Today I made my final payment (my paid in full date is Oct. 7)
So after I made my final payment I confirmed the info above and was told no if I wanted to add insurance I needed to do it pay it today or I could not get travel insurance. I meant paid in full date, they mean until your cruise is paid in full.
So I had to get an extra $289. USD so like a million Canadian (lol ) to make sure that was added today!
Not a huge deal just a misunderstanding, I thought I'd post incase it helps someone else out.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Cruise insurance is always a must.

 

[Cruise-n-2015]

Which is exactly why I made sure we added in today once that was clarified. I was happy I double checked!Definitely something we did not want to be without!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Which is exactly why I made sure we added in today once that was clarified. I was happy I double checked!Definitely something we did not want to be without!

 

[Saamh]

Does anyone know if you purchase trip insurance from another company if this applies or do they allow you to purchase even if after final payment date?

 

[IAMASTITCHER]

I have purchased 3rd party insurance after PIF date (usually within 72 hrs).

 

[squirrel]

I have purchased 3rd party insurance after PIF date (usually within 72 hrs).

I did mine just before the PIF date, I was worried it would be harder to get. Wish I had PIF a bit earlier as our dollar got worse a few days before my PIF date.

 

[avgsuperheroine]

I think you can buy insurance any time before you leave from most other companies, but (usually) if you buy insurance more than 2 weeks after your initial booking (deposit date) you won't qualify for certain cancellation coverages.

 

[jtba]

I think you can buy insurance any time before you leave from most other companies, but (usually) if you buy insurance more than 2 weeks after your initial booking (deposit date) you won't qualify for certain cancellation coverages.

if you have pre-exiting medical conditions (definitions vary), most insurance companies require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14-21 days of making your INITIAL trip payment in order to get the medical waiver.

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

I was told, if I cancel my trip after the PIF date, my trip insurance would kick in and I'd get a "credit", not a refund, for 75% of the cost of the cruise. Why not 100%? Isn't the point of trip insurance so you don't lose your money? 75% is better than 0%; however, 100% is better than 75%. I was also told, I'd get 100% back, if the cancellation was due to the death of one of the traveling members or a close relative. Well, I certainly pray that's never the reason we will need to cancel.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I was told, if I cancel my trip after the PIF date, my trip insurance would kick in and I'd get a "credit", not a refund, for 75% of the cost of the cruise. Why not 100%? Isn't the point of trip insurance so you don't lose your money? 75% is better than 0%; however, 100% is better than 75%. I was also told, I'd get 100% back, if the cancellation was due to the death of one of the traveling members or a close relative. Well, I certainly pray that's never the reason we will need to cancel.

It depends on your policy. Insurance companies offer different policies for different scenarios.

 

[MillauFr]

Cruise insurance is always a must.

I never buy it. I prefer to self insure.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP, I think they recently changed the way and the timing Disney-direct insurance gets paid.

Does anyone know if you purchase trip insurance from another company if this applies or do they allow you to purchase even if after final payment date?

You can buy it whenever, but it's going to be different pricing the longer you wait, and the reasons you're allowed to cancel are going to get smaller and stricter. If there are any pre-existing conditions that might cause you to cancel (before or during the cruise) you need the waiver for those, and you cannot get that waiver if you are outside of a certain amount of time from paying your initial deposit.

I was told, if I cancel my trip after the PIF date, my trip insurance would kick in and I'd get a "credit", not a refund, for 75% of the cost of the cruise. Why not 100%? Isn't the point of trip insurance so you don't lose your money? 75% is better than 0%; however, 100% is better than 75%. I was also told, I'd get 100% back, if the cancellation was due to the death of one of the traveling members or a close relative. Well, I certainly pray that's never the reason we will need to cancel.

With DCL insurance, if you cancel for a reason that is *rejected* by the insurance company, Disney will still give you a partial credit. If the reason is covered, then you'll get 100%. So you're not being told things in a completely correct way. Always good to read your policy (and they can send it to you before you buy) so you know absolutely what you are buying.

But DCL insurance does NOT (ever) have the pre existing condition waiver (which is why it cannot be sold in WA, because WA requires that insurance offer to cover pre existing conditions as long as you buy it in time), so if anyone you might cancel for has an already-diagnosed condition and a flare up of that condition causes your cancellation, DCL insurance isn't going to cover it.

So if I moved to Oregon and was able to buy the DCL insurance and my MIL got in a car accident that wasn't her fault and passed from that, our cancellation would be covered. If she was in a car and had a stroke and caused the car accident that led to her death, since she has had strokes before, ultimately because the stroke was the thing that led to her demise, our cancellation wouldn't be covered. (sorry MIL, for hypothetically killing you off twice, but it's a real-life possibility since she insists on driving)

And it's the same scenario as if I still live here in WA and buy outside insurance after the deadline for getting the pre-existing condition waiver and that happens.

 

[MelSpees]

OP, I think they recently changed the way and the timing Disney-direct insurance gets paid.



You can buy it whenever, but it's going to be different pricing the longer you wait, and the reasons you're allowed to cancel are going to get smaller and stricter. If there are any pre-existing conditions that might cause you to cancel (before or during the cruise) you need the waiver for those, and you cannot get that waiver if you are outside of a certain amount of time from paying your initial deposit.



With DCL insurance, if you cancel for a reason that is *rejected* by the insurance company, Disney will still give you a partial credit. If the reason is covered, then you'll get 100%. So you're not being told things in a completely correct way. Always good to read your policy (and they can send it to you before you buy) so you know absolutely what you are buying.

But DCL insurance does NOT (ever) have the pre existing condition waiver (which is why it cannot be sold in WA, because WA requires that insurance offer to cover pre existing conditions as long as you buy it in time), so if anyone you might cancel for has an already-diagnosed condition and a flare up of that condition causes your cancellation, DCL insurance isn't going to cover it.

So if I moved to Oregon and was able to buy the DCL insurance and my MIL got in a car accident that wasn't her fault and passed from that, our cancellation would be covered. If she was in a car and had a stroke and caused the car accident that led to her death, since she has had strokes before, ultimately because the stroke was the thing that led to her demise, our cancellation wouldn't be covered. (sorry MIL, for hypothetically killing you off twice, but it's a real-life possibility since she insists on driving)

And it's the same scenario as if I still live here in WA and buy outside insurance after the deadline for getting the pre-existing condition waiver and that happens.

Not that I wanted to use DCL insurance, but I wondered why we couldn't buy it here in WA. Thanks for the info.

 

[Saamh]

And DCL will only cover the cost of your air travel arrangements with their insurance if you purchase your air through Disney.

 

[Uncleromulus]

About pre-existing conditions--you can bet your bottom dollar that if there is a medical condition that causes you to file a claim, the Insurance Company will do all it can to show it WAS pre-existing.

 

[kiford]

Does anyone know if you purchase trip insurance from another company if this applies or do they allow you to purchase even if after final payment date?

It depends on the insurance company. We paid for our Northern European cruise, bought airline tickets, booked and paid for hotel in London and booked a car in Germany before buying trip insurance. We didn't need to add the car because we can cancel up to 24 hours in advance and one leg of our flights is in points so it doesn't need to be added. We could have bought the insurance just for the cruise and then added as necessary. If anything had happened between paying off the cruise and buying the insurance to prevent us from travelling, we'd have been in trouble so timing can be important. We are less concerned about having to cancel the cruise than we are about having an issue while overseas so we were most concerned about ensuring that we had trip interruption insurance. Ours covers both (having to cancel before travelling and having to come home during the trip).