Insurance Issue - I'm Upset

[bossladypu]

I just found out that Disney's insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions. The reason my husband and I took the insurance was mianly due to the fact we both have elderly parents. His parents are diabetic and my mother has high blood pressure. If they had a stroke, heart attack, etc. Disney could aways say it was from the pre-existing condition. I'm really concenred because my husband and I are the primary care takers of our parents. If they fall ill, we must take care of them. Is there an insurance out there that would cover us if we would have to cancel to take care of our parents? Thank you in advance for any information.

 

[Princess49]

I went to INSUREMYTRIP.com & it seems like they have a lot of options. They have a few that include pre-existing. I'm not really sure what all of the stuff means but it seems like you get better prices on more insurance- I'm not even sure which kind to book for us, there are SO many options. The web-site is reccomended through Passporter. Don't quote me on this one- but it can't hurt to look! Good Luck!

 

[aprilgail2]

I know that it did not cover my godsons pre-existing condition....I cancelled in time to only loose 200-300 for his portion ( I can't recall, the money didn't even matter at the time) but it didn't cover him.

 

[bossladypu]

Princess49, Thank you so much. I'm checking out this site right now.

 

[CGC33A]

Many insurances will cover pre existing conditions IF purchased with in a time frame set by the insurance company (often 7-14 days from first deposit with the cruise line/TA). Don't know what DCL's says, never used theirs. Of course, I don't know of an insurance company that will refund your $ if you cancel the cruise even will before the cancellation penalty period. Other insurance companies have a preexisting condition clause that is very restrictive (i.e. care for any condition 60-90 before the purchase of the plan...). So it is a toss up, buy the insurance at time of deposit & hope you don't need to change the date/cancel (hard to plan when I try to book 1 1/2 years out) or risk it & buy later when plans are more final. Also look at Access America's site www.accessamerica.com & see what they sat about it (this is the company the DCL uses)

 

[awatt]

I have a reexisting condition which is always covered with travelsafe.com,so long as I buy the insurance within 15 days of booking the cruise.

 

[Doctor P]

If I understood the question/concern correctly, I think you are misinterpreting the preexisting condition clause. If your parents aren't going on the cruise with you, then I don't think the preexisting condition thing applies. Preexisting conditions are for the people who are actually insured and are mainly for coverage of things like medical care and evacuation. I would make sure that the death or sickness of a family member who is not cruising is covered in any circumstance--don't think the preexisiting condition thing will affect this issue, but the coverage may still be an issue. Good luck!

 

[webray]

We didn't use disney's insurance..we had a similar situation...preemie grandaughter born, weighing in at 2 pounds, months before our cruise. She was surviving day to day, when we booked and we had to decide about insurance..my ta gave me the number to the insurance co she recommended..they answered all my questions..I explained about the baby and we may have emergency if anything happened to her..they totally understood and got us exactly what we needed.

Always get the insurance company recommendation from your ta and then talk with them directly..get all your questions answered about coverage before purchasing.

 

[professorandmom]

There was a big discussion about pre-existing conditions and "age related problems" and ACCESS which is Disney's agent. It was my understanding (I am not an expert but did use ACCESS) that if my Dad had a heart attack, for example (he was not going on the cruise) and I decided to cancel that this WOULD be covered. My Dad is in relatively good health - takes blood pressure medicine etc but is older and -well, it is more likely that older people might have a heart attack...bottom line, perfect health is not a requirement - sudden illness of another family member is covered........
Barbara

 

[LAMPSKIES]

I didn't purchase DCLs "trip insurance" at the time of booking for our last sailing due to the run around I recieved with our cancelled Nov. 2002 sailing. When i finally purchased the insurance about 60 days out they then told me that "preexisting" conditions were not covered. I was told that the insurance had to be purchased within a certain amount of time of booking.....I think it was 14 days, but not less than 60 days prior to sailing.

 

[dianthus]

We purchased insurance through Travelguard for our Nov. cruise. My DD's friend suddenly became ill 2 days before we were to leave, which was in the no refund period. I just got paid on the claim a few days ago. No problems, pretty painless. You just have to submit a lot of documentation.

I looked at my policy. For pre-existing conditions for the insured to be covered, the policy must be purchased within 7 days of booking the trip.

~ Linda

 

[bossladypu]

I want to thank everyone for their responses, even though I'm still really confused and upset. I am going to check other insurance companies, but I've decided we will get insurance no matter what I find out. This is what I found out after calling Disney and then calling the insurance company they use directly.

My grand-daughter for example has severe asthma and if she has a bad attack and may not live (God forbid), then this is not covered. Even if she dies, and we have to leave the ship or cancel it is not covered. If a family member dies of a pre-existing condition they will not cover it. I was in shock, this is a death for gosh sakes. She said now any accident is covered because it is considered totally unexpected (I cannot remember her exact wording on this).

Let's say my father-in law (who is healthy but is diabetic) has
heart pulpatations after the 120 days before our cruise is fine, but then while we are on the cruise or a few days before would die of a heart attack they will not cover this either. I'm just writing this for anyone else who has wondered exactly what the insurance covers.

 

[makaylee]

You could also consider canceling your trip (if it hasnt gotten a lot more expensive) and rebook. That way you can buy insurance within the 1-2 week window and be able to cover preexisting conditions. What ever you choose, I hope it works out for you.

 

[bossladypu]

I am still confused. My husband and I have the Disney insurance. We opted for it the day I booked the cruise. So does that mean pre-existing conditions are covered? The lady at the insurance company led me be believe no they would not be.

 

[twhipple]

My father had leukemia but was in remission. He hadn't been treated for the leukemia for 30 days prior to our booking. He died while we were on the cruise (he wasn't) of leukemia. The cancellation and return transportation was covered. This was with AccessAmerica through DCL.

We looked at changing to AAA this time and were told that if we booked the insurance within 7 days of booking the cruise, there would be no pre-existing clause. I think you need to talk to insurance companies you are considering and check out the specifics. What actually constitutes a pre-existing condition.

With DCL, we were told the patient had to be actively treating when the insurance was purchased. If the insurance company is going to exclude you, find one that will if it will give you piece of mind.

 

[prymsu]

We travel a lot and I always purchase insurance from a third party. This is because if a tour operator, airline, or cruise line would go belly up, then I would be able to collect from the third party insurer.

So for example, if i booked a cruise with cruiseline XYZ, and they went out of business unexpectedly, or bankrupt, I most likely would not be able to get my money back. If i had purchased the travel insurance from Access America, then I would be covered.

It is all pretty complicated, and we always want to think nothing will happen, but I highly recommend getting travel insurance within the alloted time of booking to get the most for your coverage.