If family member passes...

[Finch85]

I'm tired of reading conflicting information. Basically, I want to know if most/all plans will reimburse a trip (cancellation or interruption) if a non-traveling family member passes away whether they had a pre-existing condition or not.

 

I was told by an agent of insuremytrip.com that Travelguard would be the one to go with. Surely, they aren't the only company that has this coverage.

[cruiseco]

Basically, I want to know if most/all plans will reimburse a trip (cancellation or interruption) if a non-traveling family member passes away whether they had a pre-existing condition or not.

 

 

All? Definitely not. Most? No. Some? Yes.

 

If you want a 100% breakdown of those that do and those that don't you'll have to read the documents for each and every plan. The results can vary by your state of residence and other factors. And keep in mind that insurers that do not apply their pre-existing condition exclusion to non-traveling family members may have other exclusions that would result in a claim being denied.

 

For example, if that non-traveling family member has been diagnosed as "terminal" as of the date you buy your policy and dies before you leave on your trip the claim may be denied by some insurers that nominally don't apply the pre-ex exclusion to non-traveling family members -- not under the pre-ex exclusion, but because the insurer will typically only cover losses arising from "unexpected" circumstances and the death of that family member is no longer unexpected.

[cruiseco]

 

I was told by an agent of insuremytrip.com that Travelguard would be the one to go with. Surely, they aren't the only company that has this coverage.

 

By the way. I would double-check directly with Travel Guard as to what you were told. Here's the definition of a pre-ex condition from their most popular plan:

 

"(s) PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITION EXCLUSION:

The Insurer will not pay for any loss or expense incurred as the result of an Injury, Sickness or other condition of an Insured, Traveling Companion, Business Partner, or Family Member which, within the 180 day period immediately preceding and including the Insured’s coverage effective date: (a) first manifested itself, worsened or became acute or had symptoms which would have prompted a reasonable person to seek diagnosis, care or treatment; (b) for which care or treatment was given or recommended by a Physician; © required taking prescription drugs or medicines, unless the condition for which the drugs or medicines are taken remains controlled without any change in the required prescription drugs or medicines."

 

Nothing in there tells me that a non-traveling family member would be exempted from this exclusion. For comparison's sake, here's the definition of a pre-ex condition from TravelSafe:

 

"“Pre-Existing Condition” means any injury, sickness or condition (including any condition from which death ensues) of You, Your Traveling Companion, or Your or Your Traveling Companion’s Family Member traveling with You which within the 60 day period prior to the effective date of Your Trip Cancellation coverage under the Policy: (a) manifested itself, became acute or exhibited symptoms which would have caused one to seek diagnosis, care or treatment; (b) required taking prescribed drugs or medicine, unless the condition for which the prescribed drug or medicine is taken remains controlled without any change in the required prescription; or © required medical treatment or treatment was recommended by a Legally Qualified Physician. "

 

Note that here it explicitly states that the pre-ex exclusion only applies if the family member is traveling with you. If that family member is NOT traveling with you the exclusion does not apply.

 

What you were told about whatever Travel Guard plan was being referred to may be correct but I'd sure want to see something in writing backing that up.

[Finch85]

I decided to go with travelguard...thanks for the help!

[Alabama Alan]

I have the same question. We neglected to purchase insurance close enough to when we made our initial payment to cover cancel for any reason.

 

However, with elderly relatives (no specific illnesses), we want to make sure that we can cancel if a grandparent passed away, for example.

 

Did I wait too late, or is there a category for this other than "any reason?"

[sirwired]

Some providers, such as TravelEx, do not apply pre-ex clauses to non-traveling family members. (Check the policy specific to your state to be sure.)

 

If your relatives are elderly, they'll almost certainly have a pre-exsisting condition if they've visited a doctor for anything but a routine checkup anytime during the lookback period for a policy.

[sail7seas]

Look at CSA if you have not yet made final payment.

[peaches from georgia]

All? Definitely not. Most? No. Some? Yes.

 

If you want a 100% breakdown of those that do and those that don't you'll have to read the documents for each and every plan. The results can vary by your state of residence and other factors. And keep in mind that insurers that do not apply their pre-existing condition exclusion to non-traveling family members may have other exclusions that would result in a claim being denied.

 

For example, if that non-traveling family member has been diagnosed as "terminal" as of the date you buy your policy and dies before you leave on your trip the claim may be denied by some insurers that nominally don't apply the pre-ex exclusion to non-traveling family members -- not under the pre-ex exclusion, but because the insurer will typically only cover losses arising from "unexpected" circumstances and the death of that family member is no longer unexpected.

My personal experience covers this exact situation of a non-traveling family member with a pre-existing condition having a medical emergency forcing us to cancel our cruise. My Dad had had Alzheimers for 8 years and the night before we were to sail we received notification that he was dying. Of course we cancelled immediately. When we filed our claim with TravelGuard or TravelEx- one of the 2, can't remember which- his pre-existing condition did not enter into our making a claim at all.

 

We had to provide a letter from his doctor that at the time we booked and purchased the insurance, there was no reasonable expectation that he would die within a short time. He had been sick for a long time, but there was nothing about his condition that would lead the doctor to think there would be an emergency before the time we were to cruise forcing us to cancel. In other words, as you say, the impeding death the night before our cruise was "unexpected" even though his ultimate death from his pre-existing condition was not unexpected. The pre-existing condition didn't enter into the claim, just whether we had reason to believe this would happen before the cruise.

 

Once we sent the doctor's letter we were paid in full by the insurance company immediately, no questions asked. The rest of the story is that when we got to his bedside he had revived and was sitting up in bed eating jello and smiling. So, the impending death diagnosis which precipitated our cancellation didn't even have to happen. At the time we cancelled all the medical people involved in his care thought he was dying and told us to cancel our cruise, so we were completely covered.