Anyone buy coverage for less than cost of trip?

[labeachcomber]

I'm pretty familiar with trip insurance and the two main websites talked about here to compare different policies.

 

But does anyone ever buy coverage for less than actual cost of the trip? We sail on Oasis in 9 days, yet I haven't gotten trip insurance yet. My reasons for getting insurance are mainly due to any possibility of accident or illness while on an island and needing emergency care or evacuation.

 

At this point, we pretty much know we're going on the trip. Knock on wood, we don't get sick or break anything in the next 9 days that would preclude us from going. It's already too late to get the Cancel For Any Reason clause since you have to buy it within a certain number of days from your initial deposit.

 

So do we really need to cover for the entire cost? Even if we had to cut the trip short, we only get a portion of the cost back depending on how many days we've already been on the cruise? So if the trip for example costs $2500 per person (cruise fare and airfare, not really throwing in incidentals such as precruise hotel, rental car, etc.), would it be wiser to only cover for $1500 or $2000? The cheaper trip costs translates to cheaper travel insurance cost.

 

I realize that it's all a gamble. Save $50 on your travel insurance cost and hope you don't need it. But if you do, you might not recoup the entire cost of your trip. Wondering if anyone else out there has the same thinking and thoughts about insurance.

[dread_pirate]

On my last cruise, I insured it for a cost of $0. I wanted the medical & evac coverage, and the trip delay/interruption coverage. I didn't care about the fare - if I had to cancel, I can afford to eat that amount.

[labeachcomber]

That's a great idea, I had never thought of that. That's exactly why we get insurance as well. Thanks for the tip!

 

 

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[Hlitner]

Keep in mind that if you only want to buy medical insurance, there are a few decent medical policies out there which cost a lot less then trip cancellation policies. For example, we purchase an annual policy from HTH that gives 500,000 of medical insurance for the first 70 days of any trip during the year. So, this type annual policy covers each and every trip for a 1 year period (up to the first 70 days). Total cost is $350 for a couple. There are some less expensive insurance deals such as one offered by American Express to its card holders.

 

Hank

[SuzanneSLO]

If you are thinking of buying a policy with a $0 trip cost, you should read this:http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/blog/dont-insure-a-0-trip-cost-to-save-money/

 

-- Suzanne

[labeachcomber]

If you are thinking of buying a policy with a $0 trip cost, you should read this:http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/blog/dont-insure-a-0-trip-cost-to-save-money/

 

-- Suzanne

 

Good point, but of course an article written by the actual trip insurance agency will be promoting you to insure the trip for more. More insured cost = more insurance premium.

 

If you're going to insure for $1 as the article suggests, you might as well insure for $500, since the premium costs go up in $500 increments.

 

As for our situation, we've luckily not been sick in the last 60,90, or 180 days, so there's no preexisting conditions to worry about. We leave in three days, so there's not much concern between the discrepancy of start coverage between date of purchase and date of actual travel (hopefully nothing happens to us in the next several days).

 

We usually only take one international trip maybe every other year, which is the only time we consider purchasing trip insurance due to the concern about a medical emergency. I think the annual trip insurance makes sense if you're out of the country regularly, but for us I think it makes more economic sense to simply buy coverage per trip.

[labeachcomber]

Too late to edit my last post, but it's interesting that some of the insurance options actually charge more or practically the same amount for your policy if you insure it for $0 versus insuring the trip for $500 or $1000!

 

If that's the case, gosh I'll pay the extra $10 and get $1000 in coverage. Maybe they know that some people use this $0 strategy and hope they don't realize they can essentially get some additional coverage for the same cost?

[dread_pirate]

Too late to edit my last post, but it's interesting that some of the insurance options actually charge more or practically the same amount for your policy if you insure it for $0 versus insuring the trip for $500 or $1000!

 

If that's the case, gosh I'll pay the extra $10 and get $1000 in coverage. Maybe they know that some people use this $0 strategy and hope they don't realize they can essentially get some additional coverage for the same cost?

The problem with that is that there are several companies that won't pay anything for the trip cancellation or any excursion cancellation if you don't insure every cent of the cost. I remember there was an article (and at least one thread) about a year ago about a woman who didn't insure the last few cents of her trip (under a dollar) and all her claims were rejected.

[Keith1010]

On some cruises I have not bought 100% coverage. I treated it like a deductible that one might have on a house or automobile.

 

Keith

[Algebralovr]

If all you want is emergency medical, there are "lite" plans that offer less coverage. You should speak to an agent about exactly what you want.