Use Avalon trip insurance or arrange our own?

[KathyK13]

We are planning an Avalon cruise for 2019 and are wondering whether to buy trip insurance through them or arrange our own.  They use Trip Mate and the cost is reasonable.  I've reviewed the plan, which seems very comprehensive.  One benefit is that they do offer a 'cancel for any reason' waiver which would be useful if the current river level nightmares occur next year.  I have seen posts on this board discouraging people from using the cruise line's insurance but don't remember the reasons for this.   I'd appreciate hearing from people who used Avalon's insurance or reasons why we shouldn't!

[gnome12]

One reason is that I believe they only cover Avalon's arrangements. If you have independent arrangements pre- and/or post-cruise you will need to insure them separately or do without.

[Host Jazzbeau]

There are two questions to ask about this policy:  (1) what does the 'any reason' coverage give you? – it is almost never 100% and when bought through the cruise line is almost never cash [the 'almost' is just my CYA, by the way...]; (2) does it include provider default coverage [I have never heard of coverage bought through a cruise line that does] - not that I have any reason to suspect that Avalon will be out of business, but nobody expected Renaissance to do so either...  

[KathyK13]

5 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

There are two questions to ask about this policy:  (1) what does the 'any reason' coverage give you? – it is almost never 100% and when bought through the cruise line is almost never cash [the 'almost' is just my CYA, by the way...]; (2) does it include provider default coverage [I have never heard of coverage bought through a cruise line that does] - not that I have any reason to suspect that Avalon will be out of business, but nobody expected Renaissance to do so either...  

1)The cancel for any reason coverage gives you a combination of Globus vouchers and credit card credit; it didn't give specifics of how that's decided.  I would be ok with the vouchers since they can be applied to any Globus packages.  I don't know the price, which may be prohibitive.

2) Good point! From their website: 'Avalon, as an Active Member of USTOA, is required to post $1 million with USTOA to be used to reimburse, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the USTOA Travelers Assistance Program, the advance payments of Avalon customers in the unlikely event of Avalon bankruptcy, insolvency, or cessation of business.'  As you said, there's no reason to expect that Avalon would go out of business, but cruise lines have to have taken a hit with the extended low water situation in Europe this year.  I'm going to do some price comparisons.  Thanks for the pointers!

 

[KathyK13]

30 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

One reason is that I believe they only cover Avalon's arrangements. If you have independent arrangements pre- and/or post-cruise you will need to insure them separately or do without.

True.  We will be doing pre and post cruise travel on our own.  We will definitely insure flights, but probably not our other plans.  Except maybe Medical.  Will look into it, thanks!

[westcoastcruiser]

My only addition to the existing comments is Avalon’s use of Trip Mate as their claims administrator.  I purchased two different policies not knowing, at the time, that Trip Mate did the claims processing.  In my opinion, they are extremely challenging to work with.  In the trip insurance section on CC you may want to do a search and read past comments..a couple of which may be mine.

 

i had to file two significant claims with them and it was gruelling with the process lasting longer than 3 months.  There is no way to contact them by phone; it is done only by email and that is never with the person handling your claim.  Multiple repeat requests for information previously submitted were made.  I could go on and on.

 

maybe others have had better experiences with them but I vowed to never purchase a policy that includes them.

 

 

[KathyK13]

7 hours ago, westcoastcruiser said:

My only addition to the existing comments is Avalon’s use of Trip Mate as their claims administrator.  I purchased two different policies not knowing, at the time, that Trip Mate did the claims processing.  In my opinion, they are extremely challenging to work with.  In the trip insurance section on CC you may want to do a search and read past comments..a couple of which may be mine.

 

i had to file two significant claims with them and it was gruelling with the process lasting longer than 3 months.  There is no way to contact them by phone; it is done only by email and that is never with the person handling your claim.  Multiple repeat requests for information previously submitted were made.  I could go on and on.

 

maybe others have had better experiences with them but I vowed to never purchase a policy that includes them.

 

 

Thanks for the feedback.  

[FuelScience]

7 hours ago, westcoastcruiser said:

My only addition to the existing comments is Avalon’s use of Trip Mate as their claims administrator.  I purchased two different policies not knowing, at the time, that Trip Mate did the claims processing.  In my opinion, they are extremely challenging to work with.  In the trip insurance section on CC you may want to do a search and read past comments..a couple of which may be mine.

 

i had to file two significant claims with them and it was gruelling with the process lasting longer than 3 months.  There is no way to contact them by phone; it is done only by email and that is never with the person handling your claim.  Multiple repeat requests for information previously submitted were made.  I could go on and on.

 

maybe others have had better experiences with them but I vowed to never purchase a policy that includes them.

 

 

I recently submitted a claim with Trip Mate. They weren't extremely fast, but they did pay in full. I actually preferred contact by email since I had records of all the "conversations."

[KathyK13]

9 hours ago, FuelScience said:

I recently submitted a claim with Trip Mate. They weren't extremely fast, but they did pay in full. I actually preferred contact by email since I had records of all the "conversations."

I remember your post about your Trip Mate claim.  I was pleased that Avalon uses Trip Mate based on your review.  We decided to arrange our own trip insurance mainly because we are doing pre and post travel and it would be easier to have only one policy.  BTW, we just put a down payment on Avalon's Canals Vineyards and Castles for June 2019.  I think I read that you took this cruise and enjoyed it!

[westcoastcruiser]

16 hours ago, FuelScience said:

I recently submitted a claim with Trip Mate. They weren't extremely fast, but they did pay in full. I actually preferred contact by email since I had records of all the "conversations."

Yes, that is a good point.  However, in my case, the claim was complicated and to be able to explain certain facts over the phone would have facilitated the process.  Instead the examiner kept asking for things already submitted or that did not exist.  Glad to hear that my situations may not represent the norm and  that you were successful working with them.  Just the same, after two frustrating, exhausting and lengthy claims, I will chose an insurance company that does not employ Trip Mate.