Cancel due to political unrest

[Photojunkie_I_am]

We haven't purchased insurance in the past. However taking kids with us overseas next summer. If there is significant unrest (state department advisory) in general, do travel insurance policies allow a cancellation?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[sirwired]

Some policies will cover a "terrorist incident" within a certain distance of your travel destination.

 

No policy I'm aware of will cover just a State Department Warning.

 

That said, if sudden unrest is really bad and/or travel to the country is impossible, most tour providers (assuming they are based outside of the country in question) will cancel the trip and airlines generally offer ticket credits.

[sail7seas]

Whatever policy you decide on, read the verbage very carefully. Some eliminate war zones as coverable. How is war zone defined? You will have a number of days to read the complete policy after purchasing but, of course, the clock is running if you are seeking pre-existing coverage.

 

Call the insurer and ask to have the policy e-mailed in advance of buying, if you can.

[GeezerCouple]

Some travel insurance policies have an upgrade (for an additional charge, of course) so that you can cancel "For ANY Reason".

That could be "just because I changed my mind" as well as "because we are worried about political unrest".

 

Note: This level of coverage would also avoid many of the problems mentioned elsewhere.

(Check whether pre-existing condition coverage deadlines STILL must be met for that particular situation to be covered.)

 

Depending upon the policy level, it would refund 50%, 75%, or 90% of the insured costs.

It's not 100% refund, but it's certainly better than zero percent if the reasons aren't covered under the basic policy.

 

That seems to provide a nice degree of "peace of mind", so that you can relax a bit and enjoy planning and anticipating the trip.

 

GeezerCouple

[Hlitner]

Oh my. The alarmist syndrome is already spreading. So please take this to heart. If you are referring to the problems in Syria and Egypt they might have an impact on cruises schedules to go to certain Middle East ports. But outside this small part of the Med it is unlikely to have any impact. As to your cruise, if it were scheduled to go to a port that happened to be affected the cruise line would simply alter the itinerary. In fact it just happened that one cruise line cancelled some port calls in Israel...and just substituted other ports. Trip cancellation insurance does not pay-off for altered itineraries or cancelled ports. There are some policies sold by the cruise lines that do allow a cruiser to cancel for nearly any reason but these policies all have their limitations. In many cases you would only get a cruise credit that would have to be used on other cruises of the same line.

 

Hank

[Jacqueline]

At least with travelguard. The fact that I have a cancelled trip to Egypt and I still, after a month, have no response. Last I spoke to them, they said not only would I have to wait until one month before my trip to put in a claim. I have a lot of money tied up and the print reads, if there is a terrorist occurance within one mile of the city I am traveling to then they will consider a claim.

One mile is not so far.

They said that they are handling Egypt on a case by case basis.

The kicker is this insurance cost $500 and they will not refund my premium.

The premium is vioded if you are in a place with unrest, so even if I went to Egypt, they would not cover me under my policy!

After 20 minutes trying to get through to a real person, I got an answering machine and was told to leave a message.

It is not possible to buy cancel for any reason in New York state.

[RJ2002]

At least with travelguard. The fact that I have a cancelled trip to Egypt and I still, after a month, have no response. Last I spoke to them, they said not only would I have to wait until one month before my trip to put in a claim. I have a lot of money tied up and the print reads, if there is a terrorist occurance within one mile of the city I am traveling to then they will consider a claim.

One mile is not so far.

They said that they are handling Egypt on a case by case basis.

The kicker is this insurance cost $500 and they will not refund my premium.

The premium is vioded if you are in a place with unrest, so even if I went to Egypt, they would not cover me under my policy!

After 20 minutes trying to get through to a real person, I got an answering machine and was told to leave a message.

It is not possible to buy cancel for any reason in New York state.

 

You posted these same comments as the start of a new thread, below. I responded there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1916046