Very Confused Regarding Pre-Existing Conditions

[yotefan37]

I recently booked a cruise with an online TA and they included a quote for Travelex Insurance in the deposit confirmation. According to what I've read on this site, you typically need to purchase insurance within 14-21 days of deposit or pre-existing conditions are not covered.

 

HOWEVER, my TA explained that I had the option of purchasing this insurance up until the time of my final payment and any pre-existing conditions would be covered. Does this sound right??

 

Also, the trip that I put a deposit in for is not until Nov 2012. How do I insure the air / hotel portion of my trip when I have no idea how much it will cost, since it so far out. I will have to fly overseas for the trip, so airfare coverage is a must.

 

Can any recommend next steps for me - Friday will be 2 weeks since my deposit, so I need to move on insurance, but I'm confused and "stuck"!

 

Thanks in advance!

[patseacruiser]

In my experience - and I'm no insurance guru - the only one that you can buy at final payment and waives pre-existing conditions is CSA Freestyle Luxe.

[Keith1010]

I recently booked a cruise with an online TA and they included a quote for Travelex Insurance in the deposit confirmation. According to what I've read on this site, you typically need to purchase insurance within 14-21 days of deposit or pre-existing conditions are not covered.

 

HOWEVER, my TA explained that I had the option of purchasing this insurance up until the time of my final payment and any pre-existing conditions would be covered. Does this sound right??

 

Also, the trip that I put a deposit in for is not until Nov 2012. How do I insure the air / hotel portion of my trip when I have no idea how much it will cost, since it so far out. I will have to fly overseas for the trip, so airfare coverage is a must.

 

Can any recommend next steps for me - Friday will be 2 weeks since my deposit, so I need to move on insurance, but I'm confused and "stuck"!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I use Travelex often which I buy directly though them and what your TA has told you I've never heard about.

 

If this was me and I was concerned with pre existing conditions I would quickly call my TA and ask them to show me in writing where it say you can wait for final payment.

 

At the same time I would go to insuremytrip.com which provides a great way to compare insurance policies and I would find a policy and if my TA couldn't show me how this works in writing by tomorrow I would book the insurance myself directly with the travel insurance company.

 

Keith

[patseacruiser]

Forgot to answer the rest. You can either estimate what the air and hotel will be or you can have the insurance benefits increased when you do get the prices and it will just cost more.

[cruiseco]

Travelex has a plan sold through select agencies only that is not available to the general public that does indeed include this benefit. It sounds like the agency you're using may be offering this plan (it's called the Travelex Travel Net plan). Here's from the plan wording:

 

"The Pre-existing Condition Limitation does not apply to:

 

(a) Emergency Medical Evacuation, Medical Repatriation and Return of Remains coverage; or

 

(b) to coverage purchased within 3 days from the time the final Covered Trip payment is paid and for the full cost of the Covered Trip. You must be medically fit to travel at the time the plan was purchased."

 

But be sure to check with your TA that this is indeed the plan being offered and not one of the other Travelex plans that does not have this feature.

 

One other feature of this plan is that the premiums are not age-based, meaning everyone whether age 20 or 90 pays the same premium. This is obviously a good deal for those in the upper age brackets but if you're younger you may be paying way too much and really should look around further.

 

Note that you must insure the full cost of your trip arrangements. If you make these other arrangements after buying the policy you must add those costs on to the policy in order to keep the pre-existing condition coverage in effect. Check with your TA but I'd guess those additional arrangements would have to be added within three days of making them.

 

I get a little nervous when looking at a brand new plan to be used for a trip a year or more in the future. Travel insurers are notorious for trying new features then giving up on them if they're not working out. When it comes time to make the final payment will Travelex still be offering this plan? Probably, but maybe not. If so you'd always have CSA as a fall-back choice.

[yotefan37]

Thanks to all of you for the quick and thorough answers! The info my TA gave me didn't quite pass the "sniff" test - thanks CC'ers for the confirmation.

 

If I may impose, I have a few follow up questions...

 

I've been pricing insurance on squaremouth dot com, and there's a few things I just don't understand.

 

1. What is the difference between "Trip Cancellation" and "Cancel for Any Reason"? What does "Cancel for Any Reason" cover that the other cancellation coverage doesn't?
   
2. To receive an isurance quote, I have to enter specific trip start and end dates. I only know the dates of my booked cruise. I imagine we will fly into Rome at least a week early to see the sites, but I won't have specifics for several months, when the flight schedules become available. Should I estimate my dates, or only include my cruise dates now?
   
3. If Pre-Existing Coverage is included, does that mean that I don't need to worry about the RX changes, doctor visits, etc timelines I've been reading about in this forum? This is very important to us.
   

Specifically, I've been looking at the TravelGuard Gold (Protect Assist) plan, as I've read many good things about it on this site. Any additional advice?

 

Thanks again for all the great advice! :)

[sirwired]

1) Trip Cancellation provides a 100% cash refund if any one of a list of things happen. There are also commonly exclusions to this list.

 

Cancel for Any Reason is just that: any reason, no exclusions. You can cancel on a whim. The drawback is that you do not receive a 100% cash refund after final payment with any policy. (You only get 50-75% depending on the policy.)

 

2) Put in your travel dates now (allowing for say, flying in a day ahead of time, and remembering that flights to Europe are overnight flights.) You should be able to modify later without incident. (The policies are priced based on age and trip cost, not destination or length of trip.)

 

3) Correct. As long as you are able to travel on the day you buy the policy, you are in good shape. Remember that as you make deposits or payments on each part of your trip, you MUST call and have those payment amounts added to the policy. (With TravelGuard, you'll lose your pre-ex waiver if you don't.)

[Lou33]

Also, the trip that I put a deposit in for is not until Nov 2012. How do I insure the air / hotel portion of my trip when I have no idea how much it will cost, since it so far out. I will have to fly overseas for the trip, so airfare coverage is a must.

Thanks in advance!

 

Never insure things that are refundable anyway. For your hotel, the best insurance is to not prepay. You have a reservation that you can always cancel with 48 hours notice, so why insure that?

 

You may also consider not insuring your airline tickets. If you need to cancel, many (check with yours) airlines will at least give you a voucher for a future flight. They will probably subtract a few hundred dollars for a change fee. Many people don't know this, but if you insure your airfare, then file a claim for a cancelled trip, your insurance co. will make you surreder your vouchers to them before they will give you a refund. You can't double dip.

[patseacruiser]

You may also consider not insuring your airline tickets. If you need to cancel, many (check with yours) airlines will at least give you a voucher for a future flight. They will probably subtract a few hundred dollars for a change fee. Many people don't know this, but if you insure your airfare, then file a claim for a cancelled trip, your insurance co. will make you surreder your vouchers to them before they will give you a refund. You can't double dip.

 

I insure my air because usually the vouchers will be good for one year. What if I can't use them within the year. I would rather have the $ back, however, you have to see if the cost of the insurance rises much by adding in that cost.

[cruiseco]

 

You may also consider not insuring your airline tickets. If you need to cancel, many (check with yours) airlines will at least give you a voucher for a future flight. They will probably subtract a few hundred dollars for a change fee. Many people don't know this, but if you insure your airfare, then file a claim for a cancelled trip, your insurance co. will make you surreder your vouchers to them before they will give you a refund. You can't double dip.

 

Not insuring the cost of the air tickets could be a disaster for this cruiser who:

 

1) Needs to be sure that any pre-existing conditions are covered, and

2) Is considering the Protect Assist plan from Travel Guard.

 

Here's the requirements to get the pre-existing condition waiver with this plan:

 

"Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver

The Insurer will waive the pre-existing medical condition exclusion up to a maximum of the first $30,000 of Trip Cost per person if the following conditions are met:

1. This plan is purchased within 15 days of making the Initial Trip Payment;

2. The amount of coverage purchased equals all prepaid nonrefundable payments or deposits applicable to the Trip at the time of purchase, and the cost of any subsequent arrangement(s) added to the same Trip are insured within 15 days of the date of payment or deposit for any subsequent Trip arrangement(s);

3. All Insured's are medically able to travel when plan cost is paid."

 

Don't need the pre-existing condition waiver? Fine, insure as little or as much of your trip cost as you'd like. But if you do need the waiver you need to comply with ALL of the conditions listed in the plan wording.

[Deckhandoug]

Never insure things that are refundable anyway. For your hotel, the best insurance is to not prepay. You have a reservation that you can always cancel with 48 hours notice, so why insure that?

 

You may also consider not insuring your airline tickets. If you need to cancel, many (check with yours) airlines will at least give you a voucher for a future flight. They will probably subtract a few hundred dollars for a change fee. Many people don't know this, but if you insure your airfare, then file a claim for a cancelled trip, your insurance co. will make you surreder your vouchers to them before they will give you a refund. You can't double dip.

 

A few hundred dollars change fee for each airline ticket can equal more than the total cost of the entire insurance policy

[Keith1010]

A few hundred dollars change fee for each airline ticket can equal more than the total cost of the entire insurance policy

 

Remember insurance is all about the cost of the policy versus the risk if something happens to you.

 

Each person needs to decide what makes the most sense for them.

 

Keith

[MoneyGuy]

I'm a financial planner who can sell this stuff and have never bought cancellation insurance for myself but I load up on medical insurance. Cancellation insurance except in rare cases it in my opinion. To each his or her own.

[Deckhandoug]

Remember insurance is all about the cost of the policy versus the risk if something happens to you.

 

Each person needs to decide what makes the most sense for them.

 

Keith

 

 

?

and that has what to do with my post?

[CRUISE4JANE]

Check out insuremytrip.com. Travel Insured has policies that cover pre-existing conditons up to 21 days after booking and their coverage is better than going through the cruiselines.

[Host Caroline]

There are several plans on insuremytrip.com that cover pre-existing conditions if purchased w/in a specific time frame (usually 14-21 days from deposit). They have a "compare" feature that you can use that compares medical evac coverage (necesity IMHO), baggage delay, preexisting condition coverage etc. etc.. Lots of good companies to choose from...

[deedeetoo]

I recently booked a cruise with an online TA and they included a quote for Travelex Insurance in the deposit confirmation. According to what I've read on this site, you typically need to purchase insurance within 14-21 days of deposit or pre-existing conditions are not covered.

 

HOWEVER, my TA explained that I had the option of purchasing this insurance up until the time of my final payment and any pre-existing conditions would be covered. Does this sound right??

 

Also, the trip that I put a deposit in for is not until Nov 2012. How do I insure the air / hotel portion of my trip when I have no idea how much it will cost, since it so far out. I will have to fly overseas for the trip, so airfare coverage is a must.

 

Can any recommend next steps for me - Friday will be 2 weeks since my deposit, so I need to move on insurance, but I'm confused and "stuck"!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I'm not sure, but I think I may be using the same on-line agency.

 

I had similar questions about the pre-existing conditions and the time frame for buying it. First, my confirmation from the agency actually states that pre-existing conditions are covered if you buy before final payment. After reading your post and the replies, I spoke to my agent today. She said that they do such a large business with the travel insurance company that the insurance company agreed to allow them to sell the policy like that. It is real and is not a mistake. I also asked about the airfare. In our case, we will buy airfare before final payment so she said just to tell them the amount and they will add it in.

 

I did go to insuremytrip and compare prices and the rates she quoted me were competitive and coverages were simlar. Given the ability to postpose the purchase of insurance until final payment and still get preexisiting conditions covered has made me decide to go with the agency's insurance.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Our TA has insurance that any PRE is not a problem