Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection Launches New Cruise Product

[57eric]

Any opinions/insights on this?

[57eric]

Oops - forgot the link.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190110005611/en/Berkshire-Hathaway-Travel-Protection-Launches-New-Cruise

 

[klfrodo]

Just looked thru it real fast.

 

Medical is Primary but only at $75K max

Not sure I understand the $500 a day if the ship is disabled for more than 5 hours. Sure, it's happened once or twice over the years but the odds are astronomical that I wouldn't even consider this as a benefit of the policy.

Trip delay is only limited to 5 hours as opposed to some requiring 12 hours

 

I'm sure it will fit some peoples needs. Would have to compare it side by side to see if it is something I would consider.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by klfrodo

[Hlitner]

My issue with the policy is that I cannot find a copy of the actual detailed policy conditions...which is needed to post any kind of accurate assessment.  Without being able to read the specific definitions, limitations, coverages, etc.  the vague stuff posted is just not adequate.  

 

Another big issue for me (having worked in the industry) is to know who actually handles and processes the claims.  Most companies that are not actual medial insurance companies will contract-out all their claims processing.  This is a pet peeve of mine, since these are the folks you must deal with when you have a claim.  Another detail is who are you dealing with if you have to get information at 2am Sunday morning when you are in a hospital in Japan (or anywhere).  With medical and other travel insurance the devil is in the details and we cannot find the details of this policy.

 

Hank

[SG65CB]

18 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

My issue with the policy is that I cannot find a copy of the actual detailed policy conditions...which is needed to post any kind of accurate assessment.  Without being able to read the specific definitions, limitations, coverages, etc.  the vague stuff posted is just not adequate.  

 

 

Here is the policy document for WaveCare:

 

https://docs.bhtp.com/bhtp-descriptions-of-coverage/WaveCare+WAVE+092018/OH.PDF

 

This is the Ohio version, but I think they are all pretty much the same. To get to this document here's what I did: Fill out the details to get a quote. You will see prices listed for each of their policies, including this WaveCare policy. Click "Show All Coverages". Scroll to the bottom and click "Description of Coverages". This will open the policy document for your state.

 

Looks like the claim processor is Travelex.

[SG65CB]

The price for this policy is a lot higher than their non-cruise policies. The main difference is higher medical and transport coverage. Also the $500 payment for a disabled ship. I think I would just go with their regular policy instead of the cruise policy. 

 

Medical is primary, and if prepayment is needed they will make the arrangements. 

 

I like that they don't have restrictions on why your flight is canceled, for example some policies that will only cover you if there is a "complete cessation" of all flights for a certain number of hours. This policy will cover expenses caused by any flight cancelled due to inclement weather. 

 

One thing about their policy that I like is that you specify the cost per person. This makes a lot of sense for cruises since each passenger can have a different price. Two parents and two children can have three different prices, and the children are much less than the parents. Other company's insurance policies that simply take the total cost and divide by four to give a per-person cancellation reimbursement would leave the adults under-covered for cancellation and you would need three separate policies to make sure your entire cost is covered. 

 

In another thread on this board a person was lamenting that they will have to miss their trip because they work for TSA and all vacation time has been canceled and their trip cancellation is not covered by their insurance. This policy specifically will pay if you cancel your trip because you are required by your employer to work.

 

One thing that I don't like in their policy (which is not cruise specific), is if your trip is canceled due to a hurricane making your destination uninhabitable, it will only pay if the damage occurs within 14 days of your trip. So if a hurricane destroys the resort a month before your trip this policy will not cover trip cancellation. 

[Hlitner]

I read through the policy and it is more comprehensive then many travel policies.  Of course the issue, for most, will be cost/benefit.   Just an interesting tidbit about our own recent trip interruption/medical evacuation/medical expense event.  DW has a serious injury to her lower leg while we were in Vietnam.  She was subsequently treated in the ship's medical center and several days later had outpatient surgery at a major hospital in Osaka, Japan.  Based on the recommendation of both the Japanese surgeon and ship's physician, we had her medically evacuated from Tokyo (Narita) to home for continued treatment (which was ongoing for several months).  I described the experience in greater detail in another post.

 

But here is the interesting part.  Although DW's injury was severe (it could have resulted in her losing her leg or worse), she was never admitted to a hospital as an inpatient.  Her Medical Evacuation was from the ship to our home (she did not need to go directly to a hospital).  Under terms of the Berkshire Hathaway policy, DW would not have met the evacuation terms (hospital to hospital).  Just saying.  

 

Hank

[Coral]

On 1/15/2019 at 11:46 PM, SG65CB said:

 

Looks like the claim processor is Travelex.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was Travelex. Berkshire Hathaway is based out of Omaha, NE and so is Travelex's insurance division.

 

While I regularly don't use Travelex (my agent has a better policy that meets my needs) - I have used Travelex and they do have a great reputation for insurance.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Coral

[Coral]

On 1/16/2019 at 11:15 AM, Hlitner said:

I read through the policy and it is more comprehensive then many travel policies.  Of course the issue, for most, will be cost/benefit.   Just an interesting tidbit about our own recent trip interruption/medical evacuation/medical expense event.  DW has a serious injury to her lower leg while we were in Vietnam.  She was subsequently treated in the ship's medical center and several days later had outpatient surgery at a major hospital in Osaka, Japan.  Based on the recommendation of both the Japanese surgeon and ship's physician, we had her medically evacuated from Tokyo (Narita) to home for continued treatment (which was ongoing for several months).  I described the experience in greater detail in another post.

 

But here is the interesting part.  Although DW's injury was severe (it could have resulted in her losing her leg or worse), she was never admitted to a hospital as an inpatient.  Her Medical Evacuation was from the ship to our home (she did not need to go directly to a hospital).  Under terms of the Berkshire Hathaway policy, DW would not have met the evacuation terms (hospital to hospital).  Just saying.  

 

Hank

I had no idea. I see your posts all the time and did not realize this. I hope your wife is recovering well. Medical evacuation is so confusing as I think most will take you to the closest hospital and then I have no clue from there. I am ok if it will take me from hospital in Osaka to my home hospital (even if it for formalities to be checked out before released). 

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, Coral said:

I had no idea. I see your posts all the time and did not realize this. I hope your wife is recovering well. Medical evacuation is so confusing as I think most will take you to the closest hospital and then I have no clue from there. I am ok if it will take me from hospital in Osaka to my home hospital (even if it for formalities to be checked out before released). 

Thanks for your kind thoughts and DW made a 100% recovery after nearly 4 months of extensive medical treatment (and two more trips to the Operating room).   I think that having over thirty years working in the medical insurance industry (government) helped me deal with the insurance company on their own terms.  While our situation was somewhat unique, in the medical insurance world there are unique cases every day.  Getting to a nurse case manager, who grasped the situation, was key in getting some compromise from the insurance carrier.  In a simple sense it was a win-win for them to pay for DW's medical evacuation since it may have saved them a much larger bill (for medical care in Japan).  It also benefited DW who was able to get home and go under the care of her regular  Orthopedic Surgeon who had some unique skills for dealing with DW's medical situation.

 

Dealing with the medical world is made easier if the patient (or their representative) keeps their cool, works with physicians and the insurers for the best solution, and continues to communicate in a reasonable manner.  In our case, I did not argue with the insurer who was willing (and almost begging) to pay DW's expensive one-way last minute business class fare from Japan to home....but would not even think about paying for Business Class for me (I paid that out of my own pocket).  This was all about compromise and doing what was best for the patient.  We were also fortunate to have a ship's physician who was very helpful (he spent significant time on the phone with our insurance company) and able to convince the insurance company that getting DW home was advisable...from a medical point of view.

 

When I read some posts here on CC, I find it interesting that many cruisers are willing to pay an awful lot of money for lots of insurance that might not even meet their needs.   That is why we always suggest that folks first assess their own needs and personal risk tolerance and then shop for a policy that best fits that profile.   Buying policies that assume all risks and should (in theory) cover 100% of losses is often not a very good deal.  There is a lot to support the idea of self-insuring the smaller risks while loading up on insurance that will cover the big risks.  For cruisers, the biggest risk is medical (and related evacuation) and not cancellation.  But read these boards and folks are mostly worried about cancellation.  Even if one were to lose every penny of the cruise cost they will be no worse off (financially) then if they had taken the cruise.  But your potential liability for medical and related costs is darn near unlimited!  Losing the cost of your cruise might be nasty, but the cost of uncovered medical can easily bankrupt just about anyone.  And yet we have cruisers worrying about covering a couple of thousand dollars in travel expenses but not concerned that the policy they purchase might only cover $10,000 of medical in a world where $50,000+ medical issues are not unusual.

 

Hank

[Coral]

20 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Thanks for your kind thoughts and DW made a 100% recovery after nearly 4 months of extensive medical treatment (and two more trips to the Operating room).  

So glad to hear this. I did find your original post and am glad I read it.

 

I agree completely with you - most are concerned about cancelling and insuring their trip. IMO - I can afford to lose the cost of the cruise but could go bankrupt if I had a medical emergency outside of the country as my work insurance only pays 50% outside of the country.

 

I traveled with a parent who had a ton of pre-existing conditions. So my concern was always covering those (and with enough coverage). She was also visually impaired and had a Seeing Eye dog. So then I often bought a cancel for any reason to cover incase the dog got sick and my Mom wouldn't travel. Then, the policy I was buying started covering situations when Service dogs can't travel so I no longer had to buy 2 policies. They are both gone now but I am probably on the opposite end where I probably over insure myself.

 

I was on a trip 30 years ago where someone in our group had an appendix issue in the Soviet Union. Doctor did not speak English, roommate spoke German and my friend spoke some German. So all translations were through the roommate. Not a situation that I want. Again, that was a long time ago.

 

Your post made me read my evacuation coverage. It is impossible to predict every situation. Hopefully a comprehensive policy will cover me for most situations I may encounter.

[pileosnafu]

On 1/20/2019 at 2:04 PM, Coral said:

It wouldn't surprise me if it was Travelex. Berkshire Hathaway is based out of Omaha, NE and so is Travelex's insurance division.

 

While I regularly don't use Travelex (my agent has a better policy that meets my needs) - I have used Travelex and they do have a great reputation for insurance.

 

Berkshire Hathaway also owns Travelex Insurance, and BH underwrites the Travelex Polices.

[Coral]

58 minutes ago, pileosnafu said:

Berkshire Hathaway also owns Travelex Insurance, and BH underwrites the Travelex Polices.

I didn't know that. Sort of surprised I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know. I bought Travelex about 10 years ago for a cruise that Allianz wouldn't cover for financial default - it was AMA Waterways. I haven't looked at them since but follow Berkshire Hathaway.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Coral