Is insurance available w/o pre-existing exclusion

[Jaddy]

I'm new to this board so I apologize in advance if this has been endlessly covered. In any event, I just booked a TA aboard Celebrity for my wife and I starting from Rome 11/5. My wife has macular degeneration (a bad eye condition) that is stable at present but needs monthly treatments. All expectations are that her condition will remain stable, but things can change in a hurry as many of you unfortunately know too well.

 

In any event, are there any carriers that will waive pre-existing conditions? I suppose the answer is yes, but only for a huge price. So I guess I should refine my question and ask if there are any carriers out there that have a reputation for waiving pre-existing conditions for a price lower than others? If so, what is the best way to access such carriers?

 

Thanks for your help with this important question.

[GeezerCouple]

Good luck with your wife's condition. Hopefully things will remain stable.

 

But in case they don't, call the folks at

TripInsuranceStore.com at 888.407.3854

 

There are quite a few insurers who offer coverage that *includes* pre-existing conditions, but you usually must purchase the policy soon after the first payment for the trip.

It is not necessarily much more expensive than coverage that doesn't include pre-existing conditions - that's the good news!

 

TripInsuranceStore.com can help you choose among the various insurers and policy types.

 

GeezerCouple

[dread_pirate]

CSA offers a policy which covers pre-existing conditions if you buy it within 24 hours of final payment. Most others must be purchased within 14 or so days of deposit.

[Jobeth66]

Travel Guard also sells policies that cover pre-existing conditions if purchased within 15 days of booking (with limitations, you'd have to look at their policy to make sure your situation isn't excluded). In addition, when you purchase within 15 days, their medical coverage becomes primary at no extra cost. http://www.travelguard.com.

[RJ2002]

Another site that many use for purchasing travel insurance is:

 

insuremytrip.com

 

I have found their representatives to be very helpful.

[Happy2cruise]

Another recommendation for tripinsurancestore. Usually purchase TravelSafe thru them and if policy purchased within 21 days of booking the pre-ex is waived.

 

Suggest call and talk directly to one of the reps and they will help you get the best policy for your particular situation.

[shallwe]

I called my travel insurance company at the weekend to notify them of a pre-existing medical condition for each myself and my wife and it was rubber-stamped there and then with no problems at all - and no extra cost.

 

I'm sure that different conditions would have different conclusions.

 

Good luck with your wife's condition.

[Jaddy]

I called my travel insurance company at the weekend to notify them of a pre-existing medical condition for each myself and my wife and it was rubber-stamped there and then with no problems at all - and no extra cost.

 

I'm sure that different conditions would have different conclusions.

 

Good luck with your wife's condition.

 

Thanks. What travel insurance agency or agent did you use???

[klfrodo]

Thanks. What travel insurance agency or agent did you use???

 

Jaddy

 

Shallwe is from the UK. Completly different set of laws and rules than what you're looking for being from the US.

[ghstudio]

Your wife does not have a "pre-existing" condition as defined by travel insurance policies. This is one of the most mis-understood aspects of travel insurance and it is perpetuated to get your non-refundable insurance payment when you book the trip.

 

Most policies have a lookback period....generally 90 to 180 days. If your condition is stable over that period, you have had no medication changes and no special visits to a doctor for that condition during the past 90/180 days, you DO NOT have a pre-existing condition.

 

Since your wife has regular monthly treatments and is currently stable (I assume that she just has normal visits with her eye doctor), you don't have any pre-existing condition to worry about as far as travel insurance.

[GeezerCouple]

Your wife does not have a "pre-existing" condition as defined by travel insurance policies. This is one of the most mis-understood aspects of travel insurance and it is perpetuated to get your non-refundable insurance payment when you book the trip.

 

Most policies have a lookback period....generally 90 to 180 days. If your condition is stable over that period, you have had no medication changes and no special visits to a doctor for that condition during the past 90/180 days, you DO NOT have a pre-existing condition.

 

Since your wife has regular monthly treatments and is currently stable (I assume that she just has normal visits with her eye doctor), you don't have any pre-existing condition to worry about as far as travel insurance.

 

I have a question about this.

 

Suppose someone has no pre-existing conditions as defined (either "nothing" or "no change in medication/etc." within the required window).

Then they make a deposit, but plan to get the insurance closer to final payment.

 

What if they LATER get some complication or some new medical problem, before they've started the insurance?

Wouldn't that make it impossible to cover anything related to that condition (or perhaps get insurance at all)?

 

Also, at least for the type of coverage we get, the insurance that has to be purchased within 21 days of the first deposit only needs to include the amount of the rather small deposit, not the higher costs of the full cruise/excursions/airfare.

We increase the insurance amount as we increase any non-refundable costs.

 

(One thing we did for a long flight was to purchase fully refundable air tickets. No need to pay insurance for those, and we were guaranteed being able to fly in and back on the dates we wanted. When it came time for final cruise payment, we checked with the cruise line, and they were able to offer us the *same* flights and class of service for a considerably lower - but non-refundable - cost. But by then, we were locked in with the non-refundable cruise fare, so this was okay.)

 

We work with an insurance broker, not with an individual insurance company (who would never tell anyone there is a more suitable or less expensive policy from another insurance company).

 

GeezerCouple

[Former Goalie]

Your wife does not have a "pre-existing" condition as defined by travel insurance policies. This is one of the most mis-understood aspects of travel insurance and it is perpetuated to get your non-refundable insurance payment when you book the trip.

 

Most policies have a lookback period....generally 90 to 180 days. If your condition is stable over that period, you have had no medication changes and no special visits to a doctor for that condition during the past 90/180 days, you DO NOT have a pre-existing condition.

 

Since your wife has regular monthly treatments and is currently stable (I assume that she just has normal visits with her eye doctor), you don't have any pre-existing condition to worry about as far as travel insurance.

We prefer to eliminate any uncertainty about what is or isn't a pre-existing condition, and buy the insurance during the window allowed after first payment. That said, we also get CFAR, which has the same window as pre-ex. We take out a policy which allows us to pay the premium in "layers", we add to the premium as we pay the up front costs for the cruise/trip. The big expense being final payment usually 2 1/2 months before the trip, that makes the initial cost of the insurance much smaller, thus much easier to swallow if we lose these funds were we to cancel the trip before final payment. For those reading this post, please be aware that not all policies allow you to purchase additional insurance as more up front costs happen, read the policy about this, and any other fine print in the certificate of coverage.

[Ken076]

I have a question about this.

 

Suppose someone has no pre-existing conditions as defined (either "nothing" or "no change in medication/etc." within the required window).

Then they make a deposit, but plan to get the insurance closer to final payment.

 

What if they LATER get some complication or some new medical problem, before they've started the insurance?

Wouldn't that make it impossible to cover anything related to that condition (or perhaps get insurance at all)?

 

Also, at least for the type of coverage we get, the insurance that has to be purchased within 21 days of the first deposit only needs to include the amount of the rather small deposit, not the higher costs of the full cruise/excursions/airfare.

We increase the insurance amount as we increase any non-refundable costs.

 

(One thing we did for a long flight was to purchase fully refundable air tickets. No need to pay insurance for those, and we were guaranteed being able to fly in and back on the dates we wanted. When it came time for final cruise payment, we checked with the cruise line, and they were able to offer us the *same* flights and class of service for a considerably lower - but non-refundable - cost. But by then, we were locked in with the non-refundable cruise fare, so this was okay.)

 

We work with an insurance broker, not with an individual insurance company (who would never tell anyone there is a more suitable or less expensive policy from another insurance company).

 

GeezerCouple

 

The pre-existing lookback window applies to the date the Policy was purchased (paid-for) -not- the date the cruise was booked. So if you pay for the Policy at final payment, the lookback window would be for "new occurrences or change of treatment" in the xx days backward from the final payment date. ken

[Former Goalie]

We prefer to eliminate any uncertainty about what is or isn't a pre-existing condition, and buy the insurance during the window allowed after first payment. That said, we also get CFAR, which has the same window as pre-ex. We take out a policy which allows us to pay the premium in "layers", we add to the premium as we pay the up front costs for the cruise/trip. The big expense being final payment usually 2 1/2 months before the trip, that makes the initial cost of the insurance much smaller, thus much easier to swallow if we lose these funds were we to cancel the trip before final payment. For those reading this post, please be aware that not all policies allow you to purchase additional insurance as more up front costs happen, read the policy about this, and any other fine print in the certificate of coverage.

We do EXACTLY the same thing, probably with the same insurer. Not all allow you to "layer" the payments. We always purchase CFAR and prefer to eliminate any uncertainty whatsoever with pre-ex by purchasing within the allowed window.