Seabourn Shield Question re pre-existing conditions

[curiousx]

I have copied below what the Seabourn Shield travel protection policy says about trip cancellation coverage related to pre-existing conditions.

 

I might be travelling with a family member who, two years ago, was diagnosed with cancer, had surgery and all the related treatments, and has been pronounced disease-free for the past year. He now requires no medications or treatments for this or any other condition. The question is whether Seabourn Shield cancellation insurance would cover a recurrence of the cancer should this happen. From the wording of the pre-existing conditions clause, recurrence would seem to be covered, but I would like to hear from people who have actually had some similar experience. Many thanks

 

 

PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS

Under Section I, no payment can be made for any expenses

incurred as a result of injury, sickness, or other condition

affecting you, a traveling companion, or an immediate family

member booked to travel with you which, within the 60-day

period before your protection plan purchase: (A) first

manifested itself or had symptoms which would prompt a

reasonable person to seek diagnosis, care, or treatment; (B)

required taking prescribed drugs or medicine unless the

condition for which the prescribed drug or medicine was taken

remained controlled without any change in the required

prescription; or © required treatment or treatment was

recommended by a physician.

[Keith1010]

I know you will get input on this but if this was me I would want to speak with someone from the insurance carrier and then get something in writing.

 

If you have a TA I would ask them to followup for you. If not, I would ask Seabourn for the contact at the insurance carrier.

 

Keith

[Host Dan]

In the past I have been told that pre-existing conditions are covered only if you purchase the insurance the same time you book the cruise. I agree with Keith, have your TA follow up for you.

 

Host Dan

[Margate Cruiser]

This all new to me. I have a preexisting condition they never asked what it was. You have to bill you primary carrier then if they turn you down your secondary Carrier will pay. As for the the new ships they are not very handy cap friendly as promised. They have electric doors out to the pool that did not work and they have no one there to help, not like the little ones did. The hand rails are not continues on certain deck. We were on the last crossing last year on the Odyssey. They said they would look into this matter. Oh I had to have a Dr's note before they even gave me a booking because I canceled a wait list and when the dr. said i was fine to go he had to send a letter saying I was ok. Sorry about the long note.

[Margate Cruiser]

Third party Ins. includes the air as well they look at the full dollar amount. And you can take insurance as close as 15 days out if you want too. That is for late bookings.

[DaveFr]

curiousx,

 

I advise taking Keith's advice and contacting the insurance company for an answer to your question. Personally, I don't think the preexisting condition clause would apply to your friend but only the insurance company can tell you for sure. One thing I noticed about Seabourn Shield was that if payment is denied because of a preexisting condition, Seabourn will give you a future cruise credit in the amount of the denied payment. So all is not lost.

 

I suggest you also consider third party travel insurance policies. Many such policies will waive preexisting condition clauses. Most policies require you to take them out within a couple of weeks of making your deposit but CSA and HTH have policies that waive their preexisting condition clause if purchased within 24 hours of making your final cruise payment. As a bonus, many third party policies have better benefits than Seabourn Shield.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Dave

[Margate Cruiser]

Another thing is if you are out of the country Medicare will not pay. All third party or shield is a secondary ins. To get a turn down which you could get it take 150 days to get. If you call Medicare in 60 days they will tell you that you were denied. Mediacre on a ship unless you tavel in the US you will be denied.

[curiousx]

Keith, I agree with your advice and my plan is to have my relative or TA talk to the insurance carrier once I have learned all I can from the experiences of the good folks here on CC.

 

Host Dan, our TA said the Seabourn insurance must be purchased, at the latest, at the time final payment is made for the cruise.

 

Dave, I was not aware of the cruise credit provision with the Seabourn shield insurance. Thank you for pointing it out. I am also looking at a couple of insurance alternatives that waive the preexisting conditions clause. Thank you for your suggestions.

 

Margate cruiser, we will be making our own air arrangements and won't be using Seabourn cruise air - I can't see why this would make any difference in the price of the Seabourn Shield insurance or the scope of its coverage. Can you?

 

Also, my relative is already fully covered for medical expenses, including any incurred abroad. So what he is really interested is supplementary insurance that covers the costs related to trip cancellation...cruise tickets, air fare, hotel reservations, etc. This is, I think, what the Seabourn Shield is intended to provide.

 

Many thanks for everyone's help so far

[MarciAnn]

Under the provision of the policy you quoted, the insurance carrier only "looks back" to the 60 day period before the insurance was purchased. If your friend was cancer free during that period and was not unter treatment by a doctor for this condition then he does not fall under the pre-existing condition clause. In the past I have found insuremytrip.com to be exceptionally helpful in finding the right policy for your particular situation. You can call and speak with them and explain your concerns. They will find you the right policy. They did for me..

[Margate Cruiser]

We took out the third party ins. Called Classic Your premium is based on the total amount which would include Air, hotel ship etc. Deepening on your age is the cost and the amount. As an example our package was over 10,000.00 with pre existing condition ad we are 70+ our premium was 603.00. Seabourn was over 750.00 not including air or hotel unless you booked there package. You can base your premium depending on your age and pre existing condition from 4% to 6%. Oh I am not in the insurance business and never was. This was just my TA and I hard work to find a good company that has a very good reputation in the travel area. Also remember when you travel out of the country medicare will not pay. So you bill Medicare get the turn down and submit it to Access ad then they will pay you. The negative is you have to wait fr the turn down from Medicare which can be as much as 60+ days ad your other carrier another 60-90 days. I also carry American express travel insurance which is a back up. it cost about 275.00 a year. It covers you when you travel 150 miles from your home. Hope I gave you a little help.