Cutoff date for buying travel insurance

[hfdad]

I have a 8 night cruise booked for Feb.17,2018 for my wife and myself and am considering purchasing insurance. The main reason is in case something happens to my 91 year old mother in law or if my wife or I have a health issues right before we go. My question is- how long can I wait before purchasing? Is it possible to buy it a couple weeks before the cruise or do they make you purchase it farther out. I would not buy the insurance from RC but from another company.

[Tee & Chilli]

I believe it can be purchased anytime. Coverage for pre-existing conditions has a cut off date.

[easyboy]

You can request an online quote from http://www.tripinsurancestore.com and it will immediately provide plan comparisons from different insurance companies and its cut-off date.

 

 

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[cruisinfanatic]

I have a 8 night cruise booked for Feb.17,2018 for my wife and myself and am considering purchasing insurance. The main reason is in case something happens to my 91 year old mother in law or if my wife or I have a health issues right before we go. My question is- how long can I wait before purchasing? Is it possible to buy it a couple weeks before the cruise or do they make you purchase it farther out. I would not buy the insurance from RC but from another company.

You can buy it anytime, but preexisting conditions would not be waived in most cases.

[Coralc]

You should really call one of the travel insurance sellers and ask them questions about policies that would cover your MIL and yourselves. If you didn't purchase insurance when you deposited for the cruise, you won't have a pre-existing waiver with most policies. The look back period at time of purchase is usually 60 or 90 days. You can buy it right up until final payment. If your MIL is like my mom, they have lots of pre-existing conditions which could suddenly worsen and probably wouldn't be covered. If she passes away, it might be covered, but you should really talk to the policy sellers at Insure my Trip, Travel Insurance store or others. They are all very responsive to questions. :)

 

And welcome to Cruise Critic! There is a whole discussion board with travel insurance information. Link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=635

[cruisinfanatic]

You should really call one of the travel insurance sellers and ask them questions about policies that would cover your MIL and yourselves. If you didn't purchase insurance when you deposited for the cruise, you won't have a pre-existing waiver with most policies. The look back period at time of purchase is usually 60 or 90 days. You can buy it right up until final payment. If your MIL is like my mom, they have lots of pre-existing conditions which could suddenly worsen and probably wouldn't be covered. If she passes away, it might be covered, but you should really talk to the policy sellers at Insure my Trip, Travel Insurance store or others. They are all very responsive to questions. :)

 

And welcome to Cruise Critic! There is a whole discussion board with travel insurance information. Link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=635

Wrong twice.

You can purchase insurance outside of the cruiseline's after final payment. The type of policy determines how close to sail date

The insurance wants to know about your pre existing conditions if you file a claim. Not others

[handbellplayer]

You should really call one of the travel insurance sellers and ask them questions about policies that would cover your MIL and yourselves. If you didn't purchase insurance when you deposited for the cruise, you won't have a pre-existing waiver with most policies. The look back period at time of purchase is usually 60 or 90 days. You can buy it right up until final Callpayment. If your MIL is like my mom, they have lots of pre-existing conditions which could suddenly worsen and probably wouldn't be covered. If she passes away, it might be covered, but you should really talk to the policy sellers at Insure my Trip, Travel Insurance store or others. They are all very responsive to questions. :)

 

And welcome to Cruise Critic! There is a whole discussion board with travel insurance information. Link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=635

 

Call the insurance company. I had the same concerns when my parents were alive and the person at insuremytrip.com assured me that with the policy I was planning to purchase the pre-existing condition clause applied to the travelers, not family.

[papaflamingo]

In reality, it sounds like you are going to "weigh" her condition right before you sail. If she is doing "ok" you won't buy insurance, if she's not, you will. Actually, and I'm not a fan of insurance companies, but this sounds a bit.. "off." I suspect if your MIL takes a "turn for the worse," and you purchase insurance and 2 days later, cancel, you might run into some difficulty collecting. It's like purchasing car insurance 5 minutes after you have an accident. I suspect the Insurance company will balk at any claim. My advice, if you are concerned, buy the insurance when you make final payment. Then you will be covered if you have to cancel down the road.

[mollyeilis]

There are insurances that would cover if they had to cancel because of a non traveling mother. We've had such insurance.its the kind that has to have the waiver of the pre existing conditions (bc at this point by MIL had s so many conditions even a car accident could be attributed to a PEC), which means we had to buy early and it wasn't cheap.

 

Call around, talk to the insurance experts, read the policies if you want to have cancellation covered in case someone at home has an issue.

 

 

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[SeagoingMom]

I have just done a very brief review of travel insurance policies for myself, as I am preparing to book a cruise. One thing I found is that some policies (maybe most?) have a waiting period before they become active, meaning you CANNOT buy the policy at any time and expect it to pay out. Some policies, for example, have a 14 day waiting period, so if you buy the policy a few days before a 7-night cruise, the insurance would not become active until a week after your cruise!

As other posters have said, you must read the info available/talk to an agent about the coverage each policy provides.

[xxoocruiser]

In order to qualify for a pre-existing condition waiver the Terms & Conditions of most Travel Insurance Policies require that the policy has to be purchased within 10-14 days (varies by policy and insurance company) from the initial booking date. There's one or two polices that the allow the policy to be purchased within 28 days of the initial booking date to have pre-exiting conditions waived. Assuming the OP has already past the time period to have pre-existing conditions waived for most polices.

 

Nationwide Insurance has 2 cruise polices ( Choice Cruise Plan and Luxury Cruise Plan) that will cover pre-existing conditions if the policy is purchased prior to final trip payment and all eligibility requirements are met Here's the link https://travel.nationwide.com/plans-cruise.html

Disclaimer : not affiliated with Nationwide nor an insurance agent.

 

Have yet to find a travel insurance policy that can be purchased days before and or several weeks prior to the cruise date that will include a pre-existing waiver.

 

Following websites allow you to compare insurance plans as well as the requirements to have a pre-existing waiver included in the policy.

• www.insuremytrip.com
  
• www.squaremouth.com
  
• www.quotewright.com
  

[Desert Cruizers]

I wish to add, speaking from personal experience this past September, when my husband suffered a heart attack shortly after dinner. Before buying Travel Insurance ask a lot of questions, for example, should your family member need to be transferred from ship to nearest hospital or back home, make sure what all they will cover and your cost. Are there any up front cost you will need to make before your loved one is transported and do you have the funds.

 

We were stuck in Newfoundland after being transported there by the ship, and to get my husband home the Travel Insurance we had gone with asked for $41,000 which I didn't have the $$$ nor a checkbook. He was transferred home through his own Insurance, United Health Care ( Federal plan ) and no cost to myself.