Trip Insurance Questions

[jrabbit]

First off ... I work in the Insurance Industry - just not the travel insurance sector - I know a little about home and auto insurance.

You're my friends here on the Cruise Forum - I rarely look at the other areas - so I am asking my questions here.

Yep, i have been on over 20 cruises and have only purchased travel insurance a couple of times.

I know that travel insurance is for the "non refundable" portions of your costs, along with trip interruption and medical and other items.

I believe that the cost of the policy is based upon the value of those non refundable items.

Next year, not going on a cruise, but I am building a land trip in Europe. This involves Airline Tickets, several days at DLP, Train travel on the continent, a two week tour and pre / post tour hotels.

I know what the cost of my DLP package and tour are. What's not know at this time is the price of airfare (way high from the west coast), pre / post stay hotels and train tickets.

Now for my real question (whew that was a long winded intro!)

Do you estimate the costs up front and buy the insurance based on your estimates, or do you buy a policy and as we book additional items we add those to the policy and pay the additional premium.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[MickeyD]

I have always estimated the costs up front, but with a land trip not sure how far in advance to book insurance? For our land trips we always use our Marriott Vacation Club Points and they offer insurance through them. Sorry I can't be more help other than to say "estimate the costs."

 

[clten]

When we buy insurance, we estimate the cost of all non-refundable components and buy the insurance based on that. We just find it is easier than forgetting to insure components as we add them or of there ever being a chance that something wouldn't be covered because of timing (when we booked vs a pre-existing condition, etc.)

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Purchase the policy for the initial coverage amount to qualify for the pre-existing condition waiver, then add additional coverage as you finalize plans, paying the added premium.

Another alternative is to price out an all trips annual policy that allows you to set the maximun coverage. Because we have been cruising at least twice a year and doing land add ons with these trips along with some land only trips, we have found the most economical option has been an annual plan we purchase from Allianz.

 

[KDG]

Purchase the policy for the initial coverage amount to qualify for the pre-existing condition waiver, then add additional coverage as you finalize plans, paying the added premium.

Another alternative is to price out an all trips annual policy that allows you to set the maximun coverage. Because we have been cruising at least twice a year and doing land add ons with these trips along with some land only trips, we have found the most economical option has been an annual plan we purchase from Allianz.

Ralph & Pam, we have cruises booked in July of 2019 and May of 2020. Would an annual plan work for that? If so, when would we purchase it so both cruises were covered in the annual plan?

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Ralph & Pam, we have cruises booked in July of 2019 and May of 2020. Would an annual plan work for that? If so, when would we purchase it so both cruises were covered in the annual plan?

You would want the plan to be active for the 12 months that include both sail dates, so a start date around June 1, 2019 or July 1, 2019 would cover through May 31, 2020 or June 30, 2020, respectively. You might need to call to speak with a representative to specify the start and end points for your own policy. We have been buying for a number of years and just renew annually, so haven’t had to work this out for a while.

 

[Starwind]

Ralph & Pam, we have cruises booked in July of 2019 and May of 2020. Would an annual plan work for that? If so, when would we purchase it so both cruises were covered in the annual plan?

You need to check the fine print of the annual plan. The annual plan we have has specific conditions for covering a trip with regard to when the first deposit or first non-refundable amount is paid.

SW

 

[ember1205]

First of all, you are correct that trip insurance only applies to the non-reimbursed portions should you cancel or have an issue. However, this could be 100% if you have an issue close to departure date or during the trip.

Second, costs and estimating... You only need to estimate your total costs to understand what the TOTAL premium of the policy would be. When you're booking the insurance, you insure only what you have paid for "so far." As you add to your trip, you add those costs into the value of the policy and premium changes would occur as you add items to the list of things being covered.

For example: You might book a cruise a year out but not buy plane tickets until three months prior. So, you insure the cruise right away and add the airline tickets when you buy them.