Any experience with insurance when non-traveling elderly parent becomes ill?

[lovestx]

We have a deposit on a Celebrity cruise for our family of 4 in June 2014. I have the ability to purchase cruiseline insurance through my online TA. For a host of reasons you don't need to hear, I didn't arrange for trip insurance through insuremytrip when I made the initial deposit.

 

My elderly father is now undergoing tests for possible lung cancer. And I am about to book our expensive flights. I have just spoken to a rep at insuremytrip to see if there is a policy that we can buy to cover cancelling our trip if my dad becomes so ill in June that we would not go. CSA offers just such insurance but it's costly ($725 for the four of us for $20,000 trip).

 

Has anyone had any experience with a situation like this? I fear I am not asking all of the right questions of the insuremytrip rep. I basically want to be able to cancel my trip at the last minute if my dad does not look like he'll survive while we are away.

 

As I type this, I realize that it sounds terrible that we would even consider planning a trip under these circumstances. Please know that this trip is to honor our daughter's h.s. graduation (did it for her brother two years ago), will probably be the last big trip the four of us can take due to son's schooling and career and we have no idea whether my dad has cancer or what the future with that holds re: timing.

 

Thanks for any advice you might give me on what I may be missing on the insurance details front.

[sirwired]

You absolutely either need a plan that offers a pre-ex waiver up until final payment (like some plans from CSA, and I think HTH), or a plan that does not apply the pre-ex exclusion to non-traveling family members. (I think Travelex is one, and I'm sure there are others.) FYI, there is a cheaper CSA plan available that offers the pre-ex waiver other than the one insuremytrip sells; I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's probably on the CSA website.

 

Read the plans before purchase, but definitely buy one. And you need to do so before he receives his diagnosis/treatment plan/prognosis. If you purchase insurance after he receives a treatment plan that, for instance, calls for a brutal round of chemo when you are supposed to be on your cruise, the insurance company could call your cancellation "reasonably foreseeable", and no pre-ex waiver will help.

[lovestx]

You absolutely either need a plan that offers a pre-ex waiver up until final payment (like some plans from CSA, and I think HTH), or a plan that does not apply the pre-ex exclusion to non-traveling family members. (I think Travelex is one, and I'm sure there are others.) FYI, there is a cheaper CSA plan available that offers the pre-ex waiver other than the one insuremytrip sells; I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's probably on the CSA website.

 

Read the plans before purchase, but definitely buy one. And you need to do so before he receives his diagnosis/treatment plan/prognosis. If you purchase insurance after he receives a treatment plan that, for instance, calls for a brutal round of chemo when you are supposed to be on your cruise, the insurance company could call your cancellation "reasonably foreseeable", and no pre-ex waiver will help.

 

Sirwired,

Thanks so much for your detailed and helpful post. I will look into the CSA website and will also check out Travelex. And I will purchase the plan this week before we have a final diagnosis. The latter detail was just what I was looking for as far as details I had not considered.

 

Many thanks!

[Hlitner]

The reality is that decent Trip Cancellation Insurance is very expensive. That is why many frequent travelers (like myself) do not routinely buy cancellation insurance....since we find it financially advantageous to self-insure cancellation (but one should always have medical insurance). In the case of the OP, if you are really that concerned about your risk then you just need to dip into your piggy bank and spend the bucks. As with any insurance policy, make sure you carefully read all the fine print since even policies issued by the same company can have substantially different terms and conditions.

 

Hank

[Island Crazed]

We have a deposit on a Celebrity cruise for our family of 4 in June 2014. I have the ability to purchase cruiseline insurance through my online TA. For a host of reasons you don't need to hear, I didn't arrange for trip insurance through insuremytrip when I made the initial deposit.

 

My elderly father is now undergoing tests for possible lung cancer. And I am about to book our expensive flights. I have just spoken to a rep at insuremytrip to see if there is a policy that we can buy to cover cancelling our trip if my dad becomes so ill in June that we would not go. CSA offers just such insurance but it's costly ($725 for the four of us for $20,000 trip).

 

Has anyone had any experience with a situation like this? I fear I am not asking all of the right questions of the insuremytrip rep. I basically want to be able to cancel my trip at the last minute if my dad does not look like he'll survive while we are away.

 

As I type this, I realize that it sounds terrible that we would even consider planning a trip under these circumstances. Please know that this trip is to honor our daughter's h.s. graduation (did it for her brother two years ago), will probably be the last big trip the four of us can take due to son's schooling and career and we have no idea whether my dad has cancer or what the future with that holds re: timing.

 

Thanks for any advice you might give me on what I may be missing on the insurance details front.

I could have almost written the same message. I was researching answers to a similar situation. We are planning a one-time only trip for 4 of us for April. My elderly father has taken a downward turn in the past month. If I happen to have (it is at home - I will be reading it with a magnifying glass) the right type of policy to cancel for close family member's in this situation - What can I expect to get back $%??

It sounds so unfeeling but it is more complicated than my brief message. (We were told to put him in a hospice center four years ago. Brain Tumor, heart attack, stroke) Having young children, we couldn’t stop living. I got a great deal and to go a few months later will be at least $1K+ more. If we don't get most of it back it will be too costly to go later on. It is really April or NEVER (meaning 3-5 years away at least).

[lovestx]

Island Crazed,

 

I am so sorry to hear what your dad and your family are going through. And don't worry...none of us will judge. One thing I've learned since my dad had a very bad stroke 5 1/2 years ago (on the operating table!) is that no one can truly understand a family health situation until they are walking in those shoes. And we never know just when health issues will improve or decline.

 

I am hopeful that you will get to go on your trip. My understanding from the research I did was that you will be o.k. with cancelling if you booked your insurance when you made a deposit and that you could not have known then that your dad might take a turn for the worse in April. In other words, if he did not have a firm diagnosis and treatment plan when you bought the insurance, you should be o.k. But you really need to read the fine print of your policy. And, at this point, try not to stress too much about it as you may have no recourse if you have to cancel.

[Island Crazed]

Island Crazed,

 

I am so sorry to hear what your dad and your family are going through. And don't worry...none of us will judge. One thing I've learned since my dad had a very bad stroke 5 1/2 years ago (on the operating table!) is that no one can truly understand a family health situation until they are walking in those shoes. And we never know just when health issues will improve or decline.

 

I am hopeful that you will get to go on your trip. My understanding from the research I did was that you will be o.k. with cancelling if you booked your insurance when you made a deposit and that you could not have known then that your dad might take a turn for the worse in April. In other words, if he did not have a firm diagnosis and treatment plan when you bought the insurance, you should be o.k. But you really need to read the fine print of your policy. And, at this point, try not to stress too much about it as you may have no recourse if you have to cancel.

Thank you for your encouraging words.

This is what I found basically so I feel better about the money part.

You are prevented from taking or completing Your Covered Trip due to:

1. Death involving You or Your Traveling Companion or Your or Your Traveling Companion’s Business Partner or Your or Your Traveling Companion’s Family Member; That would be the worst case situation. It talks about illnesses but I doubt his would qualify since it has been a 4 year+ decline. They found the brain tumor in March 2010 and operated 3 yrs ago this week he had surgery having a stroke on the table during the 8 hour surgery. He had a heart attack three days later. He really shouldn't still be with us.