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Do I add airfare to my existing policy?


shipster60
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I already purchased travel insurance for an upcoming November cruise. I recently booked my flight. Do I contact the insurance company to add the cost of airfare?
Yes. You contact whomever you purchased the insurance from.
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Is the air refundable?

When you bought the air, the website probably offered insurance before you checked out. Did you buy that?

Does your current cruise insurance require that you cover all non refundable expenses to maintain coverage?

Did you get your air with miles or credits?

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  • 2 weeks later...

This thread seemed to die, but I did not want to start a new thread on the same subject. So I am asking my air/insurance question here.

 

DH and I are looking at policies as final payment is in a few days for a Celebrity cruise to AUS/NZ. We always wait until final to purchase our insurance and we normally use CSA Luxe because they have a pre-existing condition waiver if purchased at or before final payment. We are 60 and 65. Don't have any serious illnesses, though we do both have some pre-existing conditions like heart (A-Fib), minor cancers, etc. No medicine changes in the last year.

 

So, for this trip, we are splurging and flying Business class. We have always just insured the cost of exchanging the airfare tickets, should we have to cancel the cruise. We fly often and can use vouchers. Thankfully never had to make a claim, though. However, I recently read on the Steve's Insurance Store site that the total cost of our air must be insured if we were to make a claim on any part of the trip. :eek: Although this is contrary to what one of his reps indicated when I called for the last trip.:confused: This time, we are a bit more nervous because our Business Class seats cost more than the cruise! With all our non-refundables, the cruise cost, and the addition of full air cost, we are talking insurance around $2000 pp !!! :o

 

Any suggestions?

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Well, here's the deal as I understand it.

1. If your policy requires you to cover the full cost of the trip to get the pre-exisisting condition waiver, that means the full prepaid nonrefundable cost of the full trip. Refundable parts should not be included. But that is only required if you must use the PEC waiver; not everyone needs the waiver. Your meds sound stable; did you go to the doctor or do you have any other conditions that fall in the lookback period?

2. Air costs may or may not be refundable, depends on the ticket you booked and your airline policy. Change fees are generally not prepaid, NR costs. Possible expenses, yes, but not prepaid.

3. If you don't need to invoke the PEC waiver, you can insure any amount of the trip you want.

4. Vouchers, points, credits, miles etc. used to secure air flights are not insurable costs. Their value should not be included because they are not covered expenses.

 

So, if you paid dollars for your airfare, you can insure it. If you paid with vouchers, you cannot. If you must cancel, what are your airline restrictions on rebooking or otherwise using your ticket? And most importantly, is it likely that you would be able to re-use that ticket with whatever limits the airline applies?

 

So,(1) are your air costs insurable and (2) do your existing medical conditions fall into the lookback period and depending on the answers to those, (3) would you be able to re-use the air tickets?

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Very helpful and thought provoking. Thank you!

 

I cannot remember...Is the lookout period from the time we book the travel insurance and back, or from the time that travel takes place?

 

To answer your questions:

 

1. We have both been to the doctor(s) in the last 180 days (I think that's the look back period.) for standard visits like yearly's, colds, skin checks, etc. Recently, I had a minor procedure. ;p The outcome was good. No complications. And I don't think that having that procedure could cause a future problem. I have had no issues with my heart, and have not been to see my Cardiologist in about a year, nor my regular physician. DH has had nothing other than a mole removed. He did visit the Cardio for a yearly follow-up. Dies visiting the doctor, or having minor surgery count against us?

 

2. You brought up an excellent point about air change fees being pre-paid. Duh! All this time, we have been insuring that cost in case we did have to cancel and take a voucher. :o And, yes, we would be able to use the ticket vouchers on another trip should we need to cancel this cruise.

 

With the cost of our BC tickets, they should be refundable! This is what is written at the bottom of our Delta reservation. It's confusing. The part in all caps would indicate that the tickets are refundable, yet the smaller writing suggest that it isn't. :confused:

 

REFUNDABLE WITH FEE/CHANGE FEE APPLI

 

This ticket is non-refundable unless the original ticket was issued at a fully refundable fare. Some fares may not allow changes. If allowed, any change to your itinerary may require payment of a change fee and increased fare. Failure to appear for any flight without notice to Delta will result in cancellation of your remaining reservation.

I am hopeful that perhaps we do not need to insure with a PEC Waiver. That would solve our problem with not having to insure the air!

 

PS - I do plan to write "Steve" and ask him these questions. I wanted a little advice before I did. Thank you, again!

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Definitely discuss this with Steve, he knows it better than anyone here.

 

That said, I would suggest you look at Steve's other policies, too. Most lookbacks (number of days prior to policy purchase) are in the 60-90 day range, and IF your medical visits fall outside those numbers, then you might be better off buying one of those policies. PEC would not apply to you in that case, and the whole need for a waiver of the PEC is moot if you don't have a PEC. And then you can insure for whatever amount you want and feel comfortable with. Don't chase the PEC waiver if you don't need it.

 

In the future, you may want to look at timing your insurance purchase to fall just outside the 60 day lookback window. Of course, that sometimes means you have to start lumping your annual routine appointments closer together, too.

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The look back period can vary with Policy and with age so can vary. Also a purpose of the pre-existing condition waiver is to give coverage for a stable condition (that is covered). The fact that there have been no changes to that condition means it is stable, not that it does not necessarily need coverage; means it could be eligible for a waiver.

 

 

Travel insurance is a complex, personal to your condition and needs contract that can have significant financial implications. I cannot advise you on this but suggest you do speak with a licensed agent. Some time back I had emails with a rep from Steve's company and I had helpful responses.

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Also a purpose of the pre-existing condition waiver is to give coverage for a stable condition (that is covered). The fact that there have been no changes to that condition means it is stable, not that it does not necessarily need coverage; means it could be eligible for a waiver.
Pretty sure you either have this backwards or are misunderstanding the term "waiver of a pre-existing condition (PEC)". If an existing medical condition is stable (as defined) and unchanged it is not a PEC. A PEC waiver is only needed for a PEC, it is not applicable to non-PEC conditions, which are new medical events or stable conditions.

 

If you are talking about obtaining a PEC waiver just in case your stable condition might be deemed a PEC, that is something else entirely.

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Pretty sure you either have this backwards or are misunderstanding the term "waiver of a pre-existing condition (PEC)". If an existing medical condition is stable (as defined) and unchanged it is not a PEC. A PEC waiver is only needed for a PEC, it is not applicable to non-PEC conditions, which are new medical events or stable conditions.

 

If you are talking about obtaining a PEC waiver just in case your stable condition might be deemed a PEC, that is something else entirely.

Hmmmm. my thinking is that a pre- existing condition is a just that; some condition that one has. If it is stable within the look back period then it could be eligible for a waiver. if it is not stable then it is not eligible for a waiver.

 

Not arguing, trying to understand what you are saying.

 

 

You wrote "A PEC waiver is only needed for a PEC, it is not applicable to non-PEC conditions, which are new medical events or stable conditions." To me this sounds like you are saying a non-PEC condition is a stable condition. And from that I infer that a PEC is not stable. But a PEC waiver only covers conditions that are stable in the look back period so I am confused here.

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Oh my...y'all both have me confused, now. :confused: Good thing that I wrote Steve already. Hope to hear back from him tomorrow.

 

My understanding of a purchased PEC "waiver" plan was... if a person had a flare-up of a previous condition, and nothing had changed (the condition had remained stable) during the insurance "lookback" period, then insurance would cover that person should they need to cancel or got sick while on a trip...due to that PEC.

 

Anyway, thank you again and let's hope Steve can straighten this out.

 

BTW- I found out that the air to/from LAX to Aus/NZ is refundable. However, we purchased separate air from our hometown out to LAX and back. Those are in First Class and for some reason, non-refundable, but exchangeable. The reason I believe that they are not-refundable is because the equipment on the 2 short legs of that trip (home to ATL and back) does not have a First Class section. The coding for the First Class and the Business Class is the same, but the coding for the shorter legs of the trip are different and in the non-refundable category. Doesn't seem fair, but at least those tickets are not as high $$$$ as the Business class tickets. So insuring them will be a lesser hit. :eek:

 

 

In the future, you may want to look at timing your insurance purchase to fall just outside the 60 day lookback window. Of course, that sometimes means you have to start lumping your annual routine appointments closer together, too.

 

I did not realize that routine visits to the doctor count against that lookback period? Or maybe I am misunderstanding you.:confused:

 

And we wait until final payment to make sure we can still go on the trip. If insurance is purchased any earlier, and we cancel, we do not get that money back.

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OK, I will try and take a stab at these terms again, and with luck I won't confuse anyone further. But it is important to understand the differences because it could make a huge difference in filing a claim. This is long, so my apologies.

 

First, every term is defined within the policy itself. Be sure to read the definition in your own policy to make sure you are understanding any minor differences,

 

A Pre-Existing Condition (PEC) is usually defined similar to this: Any condition for which a reasonable person would have, or did seek or receive medical treatment in the Lookback period.

 

Note, conditions for which you are not taking medication and do not fall into the lookback period, are not PECs.

 

So if you have, for example, a former diagnosis such as cancer which has been resolved, and for which you take no medication but do see the doctor once a year for a follow-up, it usually is not a PEC. But if you go to the doctor for your annual, routine check up and he takes the annual routine blood test, that alone (the test) could possible trigger a PEC label for the next 60 or 90 days. And if something new shows up (and it could entirely unrelated to the previous condition) in the blood test, then Bam! you now have a PEC until the lookback runs out after any treatment or further medical intervention. This is why it makes sense to schedule any routine follow up visits in such a way that you have had no doctor visits for anything in the lookback period of 60-90 days. If you had no medical care (including medication) for anything during the lookback period, then you do not have a PEC.

 

Similarly, if you have an ongoing condition, but which is controlled through medication, and your medication does not change within the Lookback period of 60 to 90 days, it is considered a stable condition. As a stable condition it is specifically excluded from being a PEC in most policy definitions. That is the same as if you did not have a medical condition, but this is not a waiver. This seems to be the area where people get confused about what is a PEC or not. If a stable condition is defined as not a PEC, it is not a PEC. Many people worry that if something changes with their stable condition, it will all of a sudden be considered a PEC. That would really only happen if you had worsening symptoms, and you did not go to the doctor to have them checked out. You should have, because that's not really a stable condition. But if you have a condition that truly is stable and have had no new symptoms or no worsening issues and no changes in medication then it is stable and is not a PEC. Again, this is not a waiver of a PEC, it is by definition not a PEC. The difference matters (more below).

 

Most trip insurance policies do not include coverage for PEC's. So if you have a PEC and you cancel your trip because of that PEC, your insurance does not pay. If your PEC causes you to need medical care while traveling, your insurance may not cover that medical care. So, what is a person who does have a PEC to do? Well, they have something for that...

 

 

...the PEC waiver! If someone has a PEC, they still want insurance, but they want the insurance to cover their PEC. Enter the PEC waiver. A waiver basically takes your PEC and turns it into a non-PEC, IF you meet certain requirements. And that is why the difference between a defined not -a-PEC and a waiver of a PEC matters. The latter has requirements which must be met.

 

 

Still, some folks without actual PECs just like to have a PEC waiver anyway, just so they don't have to worry about timing and lookback periods and stable (or not) conditions. Or maybe they just don't want to be bothered reading the details, whatever. And generally there is no extra cost for getting the waiver, so why not. That's fine, but you do have three requirements to fulfill to get this waiver:

 

 

1. You must buy within a certain timeframe.

2. You must insure the full amount of all prepaid non-refundable trip costs.

3. You must be able to travel on the day you purchase the insurance.

 

 

With or without the waiver, if you have a claim, you'll still have to fill out all the same details about when you went to the doctor and what for.

 

 

If you intended to get the waiver, but missed meeting the requirements, all is not lost, you just have to maneuver around the PEC exclusions of the policy. Sometimes easier said than done.

 

 

For people who may want to insure only some portion of the trip for cancellation purposes, it is important to know whether they have a PEC or not. If you always make sure you qualify for the waiver, perhaps it is less so. There are as many variables and unique needs as there are people buying insurance.

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Sorry that I have been away a few days.;)

 

I wanted you to know that Steve called Wednesday evening to discuss which policy we should get. Based on what I told him ( a little more detail than what I have written here) he says that he doesn't see the need for us to worry about having the PEC waiver. However, DH and I are still a little hesitant about that. :rolleyes: We may purchase with a waiver, anyway. Especially now that we don't have to insure the larger airfare amount (as mentioned above.) We would need to cover the first flight, though. :(

 

Another option that we discussed with Steve was buying a couple of yearly plans since we have 3 cruises planned for 2018, not to mention a beach trip and misc. travel in the U.S. My homework this weekend is to look at Steve's suggestion of multi-trip RoamRight, combined with GeoBlue, plans.

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My homework this weekend is to look at Steve's suggestion of multi-trip RoamRight, combined with GeoBlue, plans.

 

Nice to see he is recommending RoamRight multi-trip. We have that policy and it fits the bill for us since we usually have several trips a year.

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We just purchased the Roam Right Multi-Trip yearly plan from him. Steve said with that plan, there is no need to worry about PEC's. Going to also get the GeoBlu.

 

I read an excellent review from someone that had to make a medical claim with RoamRight. Feel good about that! Here it is: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2379208

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