Pre-existing not necessarily covered when purchased 14 days from deposit

[39august]

I mistakenly thought that all travel policies covered pre-existing conditions when purchased within either 10 or 14 days from the date of initial deposit. (That is, other than RCI and Celebrity's policies which cover if the person is stable and no changes to meds within 60 prior to the date of purchase of insurance.) Not so! Be very careful in reading the policy you are considering if pre-existing coverage is needed.

[Kamloops50]

I mistakenly thought that all travel policies covered pre-existing conditions when purchased within either 10 or 14 days from the date of initial deposit. (That is, other than RCI and Celebrity's policies which cover if the person is stable and no changes to meds within 60 prior to the date of purchase of insurance.) Not so! Be very careful in reading the policy you are considering if pre-existing coverage is needed.

 

That is a fairly common clause. In some policies the pre-existing clause is six months . If you had surgery the clause could be as long as 18 months before the purchase of insurance.:eek:

[sirwired]

This is correct. When a waiver is offered, it usually has time-of-purchase restrictions. (10, 14, 15 days, or "prior to final payment") But some policies do not offer a waiver at all, and there are often other restrictions.

 

1st-party policies never do (though more and more of them include pretty decent Any Reason coverage), most (though not all) "comprehensive" 3rd-party policies do (but in some states there may be an additional charge.

 

All the more reason to read the policy prior to purchase.

[triodes]

yep.

 

Good point.

 

Not only that, the pre-existing condition clause usually also applies to death of a family member, and other covered persons who are reason for trip interruption.

 

My mother, and my wife's mother are in reasonably good health and in their mid-80's. They both have conditions that are stable but could also easily become a full blown reason for death, so that was a must for us. They may well easily live another 15 years, or they might not make it thru the summer.

 

I called insuremytrip, told them my specific requirements in a policy and they suggested one that had everything I wanted.

 

It was expensive, but after I looked at the other options, figured it was worth it. I bought it, and a day later noticed that it went up an additional 20% for same policy and amount of coverage.