Is Travel Insurance necessary??

[tanzanite]

My mums partner booked a cruise for them and is paying for me they live in uk i live in usa cant get insurance from uk for me non resident where can i get insurance for my trip as im not paying i will fly from states to London take cruise then come back home will a travel agent be able to issue some.

[donaldsc]

Here's a current story about why insurance is critical, especially if you are over 60. A friend of ours and her husband were leaving today (Sunday) for a two week river cruise in Europe. Last Thursday, she had a brain embolism; so, obviously the trip is off! I don't know if they had insurance; but, if they didn't, there goes many thousands of dollars which, if they did have insurance would have only cost them a few hundred. And just think what the situation would have been if this happened next week when they were on the cruise in Europe! That is why it is also critical to make sure you have sufficient medivac coverage in your purchased policy.

 

As a footnote: Our friend seems to be doing OK under the circumstances; but all prayers are appreciated. Her name is Judy!

 

Moral of the story: BUY TRIP INSURANCE EVERY TIME!

 

Don & Erica

 

Real moral of the story - buy insurance to cover any losses that you can not tolerate and also consider the probability of actually having a collectible loss.

 

I buy good insurance to cover medical issues and evacuation back to the US as this can be extremely expensive. Since I buy it on a yearly policy, it is not very expensive. I do not buy insurance to cover trip cancellation, trip delay, loss of luggage, etc as I can afford these losses and the chance of collecting is not high enough to justify the expense. If I was in bad health or had relatives in bad health, I might do it differently but even though I am 71 years old, my health is good enough that the probability of collection is low.

 

My point is that the blanket statement to "buy trip insurance every time!" is overly simplistic.

 

DON

[dread_pirate]

Real moral of the story - buy insurance to cover any losses that you can not tolerate and also consider the probability of actually having a collectible loss.

 

I buy good insurance to cover medical issues and evacuation back to the US as this can be extremely expensive. Since I buy it on a yearly policy, it is not very expensive. I do not buy insurance to cover trip cancellation, trip delay, loss of luggage, etc as I can afford these losses and the chance of collecting is not high enough to justify the expense. If I was in bad health or had relatives in bad health, I might do it differently but even though I am 71 years old, my health is good enough that the probability of collection is low.

 

My point is that the blanket statement to "buy trip insurance every time!" is overly simplistic.

 

DON

Don, if it's not against board policy, can you tell me what insurer you use for your yearly policy? Thanks.

[donaldsc]

Don, if it's not against board policy, can you tell me what insurer you use for your yearly policy? Thanks.

 

InsureMyTrip HTH Worldwide Travelgap Gold.

 

DON

[dongeddy]

Of course it’s necessary to have travel insurance. Yes, you can get your travel endurance through your travel agent. This insurance gives you a peace of mind and simply gives you a protection against all the valuables. It will worth your money in difficult situations such as stolen passports, flight cancelation, medical emergencies, lost luggage and natural disasters.

[Marian Paroo]

Of course it’s necessary to have travel insurance. Yes, you can get your travel endurance through your travel agent. This insurance gives you a peace of mind and simply gives you a protection against all the valuables. It will worth your money in difficult situations such as stolen passports, flight cancelation, medical emergencies, lost luggage and natural disasters.

 

Absolutely. Don't even think of not having it!

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Rocketlady]

My friends Mother 89 years old, broke her hip on a cruise line. The ship left

her and her husband in a foreign country .She was in the hospital for three weeks there. When it was all said and done the bill was $80,000.

 

I am not concern about getting my money back for a cancel trip but I am worried about being stuck in another country or island in a hospital. So yes get insurance to cover it all.

[Hlitner]

My friends Mother 89 years old, broke her hip on a cruise line. The ship left

her and her husband in a foreign country .She was in the hospital for three weeks there. When it was all said and done the bill was $80,000.

 

I am not concern about getting my money back for a cancel trip but I am worried about being stuck in another country or island in a hospital. So yes get insurance to cover it all.

 

And just imagine if your friend's Mother had bought the typical "trip insurance" offered by many cruise lines which often limits Medical Coverage to no more then $10-$20,000. As we keep preaching, folks should be less concerned with trip cancellation (where your liability is limited to the cost of your trip) then medical (where your liability is unlimited).

 

We buy a single annual Travel Medical Policy that costs $349 per year (total cost for both DW and myself). This policy covers every trip we take throughout the entire year up to 70 days per trip. And the Medical Coverage is $250,000 with a $500,000 max on trip evacuation.

 

I would add that we seldom to never buy so-called cancellation insurance since it is just too darn expensive for what is covered. DW and I figure we are now ahead by over $100,000 for not having purchased cancellation insurance over the years (we cruise more then 70 days a year and spend several more months traveling).

 

Hank

[donaldsc]

Is Travel Insurance necessary? Rather than get it through the travel company I am looking into booking with, can I get it through my local travel agent who I have my homeowners through?

 

Basic answer - no. You take insurance to cover potential losses of money that you want to avoid. If you don't care or can afford the loss or you consider that the probability of the loss is acceptably low, you are wasting your money on insurance.

 

DON

[donaldsc]

Basic answer - no. You take insurance to cover potential losses of money that you want to avoid. If you don't care or can afford the loss or you consider that the probability of the loss is acceptably low, you are wasting your money on insurance.

 

DON

 

I should have added that medical and evacuation is absolutely necessary. We have a yearly policy that covers us for any and all trips foreign and domestic that we take over the year. I can't remember how much is costs but it is very reasonable as their probability of having ti pay out is low.

 

The rest of the stuff that insurance companies make available for travelers, in my opinion, is a waste of money. However, I am sure that most people on CC would disagree w me and that is why insurance companies make money.

 

DON