Are you really insured for cruise?

[CRUISENSNOOZE]

Maybe you would like to double check your Travel Insurance covers for cruising.I was renewing my yearly Travel Insurance and just by chance mentioned we were going on a cruise. The lady then informed us we were not insured for cruising!! I said I didn't know this and she said their Cruise insurance was an add-on - this was all news to us. I checked through all the small print and no where did it say we were not insured (never let on that 2 years ago we were on a cruise!!) She told us it was due to all the added costs of air lifting a person off a ship. We paid the add-on - about £20. I phoned our previous insurer of a few years ago and they too do not insure. On another line, my bank offered me yearly insurance and was just about thinking of joining, but thought I would check their sports inclusion as we are divers. Yes, it said we are insured to 30M etc etc, so thought that was great, but still decided to check by phone. Glad I did - as told it was only for 5 dives a year! - no good for a diving holiday of maybe 20 dives. Again no where printed. Don't get caught out and landed with a bill of thousands.

[Thejuggler]

I have checked cover for annual and single trip cover from the same company and cover wasn't as comprehensive with the annual policy so you do need to check small print.

 

It is also easy with annual policies to forget to update medical history, leaving you with potential problems.

[davecttr]

I can't see how they can exclude cruising if it isn't printed in the policy as an exclusion. It must be in writing somewhere to be legal?

[frogsgirl]

Maybe you would like to double check your Travel Insurance covers for cruising.I was renewing my yearly Travel Insurance and just by chance mentioned we were going on a cruise. The lady then informed us we were not insured for cruising!! I said I didn't know this and she said their Cruise insurance was an add-on - this was all news to us. I checked through all the small print and no where did it say we were not insured (never let on that 2 years ago we were on a cruise!!) She told us it was due to all the added costs of air lifting a person off a ship. We paid the add-on - about £20. I phoned our previous insurer of a few years ago and they too do not insure. On another line, my bank offered me yearly insurance and was just about thinking of joining, but thought I would check their sports inclusion as we are divers. Yes, it said we are insured to 30M etc etc, so thought that was great, but still decided to check by phone. Glad I did - as told it was only for 5 dives a year! - no good for a diving holiday of maybe 20 dives. Again no where printed. Don't get caught out and landed with a bill of thousands.

 

You bring up a good point, I was reading this article, not quite the same but insurance related, see link. I will be double checking with my provider..

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/holidays/article-2269693/23-000-medical-shocks-family-father-coma-cruise-ship-travel-insurer-refuses-pay-up.html

[simonpjd]

Interesting thread peoples.

I will shortly be hunting around for insurance and we have 2 cruises booked in the next year but we may have to take out 2 policies.

1 P&O 10 dayer to Iberia and a bit of Casablanca. Not anticipating any problem there.

2 23 dayer to Antarctica on a specialist small ship adventure. This is likely to be more problematical.

Has anyone any suggestions for companies that provide insurance for these.

Thanks

[frogsgirl]

Interesting thread peoples.

I will shortly be hunting around for insurance and we have 2 cruises booked in the next year but we may have to take out 2 policies.

1 P&O 10 dayer to Iberia and a bit of Casablanca. Not anticipating any problem there.

2 23 dayer to Antarctica on a specialist small ship adventure. This is likely to be more problematical.

Has anyone any suggestions for companies that provide insurance for these.

Thanks

 

I've looked at the company below, as I have a pre existing condition, still wading through small print!:rolleyes:

http://www.allclearcruise.co.uk/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+msdweb10+msdcr03+alc

[FredChopin]

We have a policy which comes with our bank account. I asked the question and they confirmed it did cover cruises. When asking for a quote from the company with the red telephone, they said they did not.

[sez809]

Our policy comes with our bank account too............time to check, I think! Thanks for the heads up!

[The Odd Couple]

Maybe you would like to double check your Travel Insurance covers for cruising.I was renewing my yearly Travel Insurance and just by chance mentioned we were going on a cruise. The lady then informed us we were not insured for cruising!! I said I didn't know this and she said their Cruise insurance was an add-on - this was all news to us. I checked through all the small print and no where did it say we were not insured (never let on that 2 years ago we were on a cruise!!) She told us it was due to all the added costs of air lifting a person off a ship. We paid the add-on - about £20. I phoned our previous insurer of a few years ago and they too do not insure. On another line, my bank offered me yearly insurance and was just about thinking of joining, but thought I would check their sports inclusion as we are divers. Yes, it said we are insured to 30M etc etc, so thought that was great, but still decided to check by phone. Glad I did - as told it was only for 5 dives a year! - no good for a diving holiday of maybe 20 dives. Again no where printed. Don't get caught out and landed with a bill of thousands.

 

We had exactly the same scenario when we recently renewed our travel insurance. On double-checking the small print in the annual insurance I had just bought on-line, I discovered I wasn't covered for cruises and at the level of insurance I had chosen, I couldn't upgrade either. I had to cancel the policy and take out a new one with another insurer. Don't assume you are automatically covered for a cruise.

[Thejuggler]

Bank account policies are one type where cover can be lacking. In particular check cover for lost passports, losing them can be a very expensive business.

[dorsetlad]

We get our insurance from Columbus Direct, and they do cover for cruises, but you have to state at the beginning of the application if you are going on a cruise. Strangely, I have already got the insurance for our upcoming Med cruise in May, but out of interest I decided to get another quote from them, but this time indicating that it was a cruise. Guess what, it came out about £7 cheaper. I will take it up with them to see what I have to do.:confused:

 

Brian

[capasamari]

See this timely article from "This Is Money" newsletter! It happened on P&O over New Year.

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/holidays/article-2269693/23-000-medical-shocks-family-father-coma-cruise-ship-travel-insurer-refuses-pay-up.html?ito=newsletter

 

Carol x

[Thejuggler]

In this case Barclays are aware that the next mis-selling scandal i.e. packaged bank accounts is heading over the horizon.

 

By settling they have admitted mis-selling the policy as adequate checks were not carried out. PPI mk 2 is coming and the banks know it.

[CRUISENSNOOZE]

See this timely article from "This Is Money" newsletter! It happened on P&O over New Year.

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/holidays/article-2269693/23-000-medical-shocks-family-father-coma-cruise-ship-travel-insurer-refuses-pay-up.html?ito=newsletter

 

Carol x

Funny that - same bank that told us we were covered for diving and then delved deeper and we were not........ Chris

[CRUISENSNOOZE]

Interesting thread peoples.

I will shortly be hunting around for insurance and we have 2 cruises booked in the next year but we may have to take out 2 policies.

1 P&O 10 dayer to Iberia and a bit of Casablanca. Not anticipating any problem there.

2 23 dayer to Antarctica on a specialist small ship adventure. This is likely to be more problematical.

Has anyone any suggestions for companies that provide insurance for these.

Thanks

I have found 1 stop travel insurance.co..... very helpful and maybe able to help with your Antartica trip - sounds great. Good luck

[Ellan Vannin]

I have found 1 stop travel insurance.co..... very helpful and maybe able to help with your Antartica trip - sounds great. Good luck

 

We used Tesco Finest Insurance for an expensive cruise, Had a good cancellation limit £10K per person I think and they paid up promptly without fuss when we had to cancel due to sudden illness.

 

Always pays to ask them first though if you are covered

[gmnil]

Checked with my bank Bank Of Scotland and we are covered for cruises. Any Holiday has a limit of 30 days. Looking forward to April 14th for J302 on Arcadia to the Caribbean!!:)

[Rocket ron]

I've looked at the company below, as I have a pre existing condition, still wading through small print!:rolleyes:

http://www.allclearcruise.co.uk/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+msdweb10+msdcr03+alc

Just read your piece on Cruising Insurance for travellers with pre-medical conditions,clicked on to the company you suggested and got a quote of £2600.can get the same cover from the company I have used for the past three years for £272,what a difference,if anyonr out there are struggling to find cover contact World First Travel I nsurance,they are brilliant,I've had a heart attack,bowel cancer,skin cancer.colitis,high blood pressure and they still cover me for that quote of £272,can anyone beat that,if so I would like to hear from them...Rocketron,,,aged 76

[fantasy51]

After reading this, I've just phoned John Lewis (my insurers for annual travel insurance) and was told that cruises are covered. They have just changed their insurer and I don't think the cover is as good as their previous one, but it's about the only policy I could find at short notice that covers me for my 45-day trip to Australia later this year. Most policies have a limit for any one holiday of 31 days.

[Essexlass2]

Our Lloyds Bank account covers us adequately for cruises for up to 30 days :)

[beachmudhut]

Just checked with the Pru and discovered we were not covered. Had to pay an extra £11.00! Thanks for flagging this up.

[rifle-club]

Last September (2012) my wife had to call on the services of the on-board doctor on our Yangtze river cruise; resulting in antibiotics and saline drips plus attendance charge. These had to be paid before disembarking at Chongking.

Upon arriving home a week later we contacted our insurers, Rock Holiday Insurance (- Premier Policy - £70 - Worldwide), and had our claim paid in full less the excess through Travelclaims Services Limited (the agents)

[stevet2607]

The question here is not "Am I covered for a cruise", but WHAT LEVEL OF COVER DO I HAVE?

 

We have an annual policy, which gives cover on transport during the trip, it even states a sea vessel. But the small print specifically excludes air rescue and evacuation from ship.

 

I've looked at many other online companies who offer cruise insurance. Most are just ordinary policies with similar exclusions. Of the ones I found that were specifically for cruising several offered cover for missing the ship at port, but again many did not cover evacuation by air.

 

Interestingly the cover available directly with P&O does cover missing the ship in port and air evacuation, but it is expensive especially for a pre existing medical conditions.

 

Can anyone else done the research and can suggest a insurance company offering the cover I am looking for?

[Scriv]

Our one with our current account covers cruises only in European waters.

[tring]

As previously stated, it is necessary to keep the insurance company up to date on pre existing conditions, but I sometimes wonder if everyone understands the exclusion of an uninsurable condition.

 

I was surrering from 'unsteadiness' a few months ago and had a couple of scans, which were clear, but, because the cause of the condition of unsteadiness had not been diagnosed, I can not be insured for it until six months have passed from my last investigation. My insurer insisted that I was covered for everything else, but not that condition - the optimum words being 'directly or indirectly', which means that any condition related to those symptoms will not be covered. Hence, if I fell and suffered very bad head injuries, or if I have a stroke, it would be very easy for the insurer to say the conditions could be conected, so will not be covered. At least my current insurer covers holidays that were booked before the condition arose so I am still coverd for a couple of pre booked hols.