Insurance

[sweetipie]

I would like to know the insurance options  people at 80 are choosing.

 

[TxCityKat]

Howdy Sweetipie!

 

I suggest you repost your question on the correct forum. Try the Cruise/Travel Insurance forum.

 

This forum titled Need Help Using the Forums? is forum assistance such as questions and answers relating to technical assistance in using the Cruise Critic message board.

 

Hope this information will be helpful!

[GeezerCouple]

5 hours ago, sweetipie said:

I would like to know the insurance options  people at 80 are choosing.

 

 

It doesn't really matter what *other* people (at any age) are using.

What matters is what YOUR travel insurance needs are.  Different people may have very different desires/needs regarding insurance, including whether they need/want medical coverage, trip cancellation coverage, trip interruption coverage, etc.

 

I'd suggest that you contact a travel insurance broker who can describe several different policies to you, and also ask you about your particular concerns/needs.

We use

 

www.TripInsuranceStore.com

 

But CALL them, don't rely upon "online policy summaries", as the fine print can REALLY matter.

 

We happen to get policies through TIS from Travel Insured.  Unfortunately, because we've had several claims, we can state that TI pays their claims promptly and without any nonsense.

 

GC

[SempreMare]

Great advice from @GeezerCouple

 

I took @GeezerCouple's advice,  phoned the Trip Insurance Store's phone number at 7pm central time, long after anyone 'should' have been there.

 

Steve the owner answered the phone.  Even though he clearly had a cold and was 'under the weather', he thoroughly answered my 3 "what-if" questions, told me things I had not thought of, and promptly followed up with an email about his recommendations.   I felt guilty for taking his time at night when he was sick, but very appreciative for his help as I was approaching the 14 day and 21 day deadline for getting the pre-existing condition clause.  (I don't think I have any pre-existing conditions, but I like the idea of having it because I don't trust insurance companies and I might as well make the decision before the deadline)

 

Steve's recommendations cost less than what I thought I needed.

Not sure I have ever met a business owner who actually tries to  talk me into spending LESS than I had planned.

 

2 days later I decided to take his advice on the policy he recommended. 

I phoned his office again, gave my info to Deanna who was also extremely knowledgeable, and within 30 minutes received my docs and all the info via email.   I printed them out, skimmed them,  put the in my trip folder.  I have since emailed Steve 1 more question which he promptly answered.

 

They are subject-matter-expert rockstar brainiacs at that office.  Moreover, based on all the testimonials here, if anything happens and there are issues with a claim, they will go to bat for the client.   

To me, this is HUGE
Usually, I want to purchase whatever I buy directly from the seller.

However, in this case, when someone like Trip Insurance Store, who I hope does a ton of business because they deserve it, goes to bat for me with an insurance company,  the insurance company will take more notice than if only I, one individual consumer, argue with them.  An insurance company knows this seller has sway.

 

[SempreMare]

I think differently on 1 point from @GeezerCouple re: 

>> What matters is what YOUR travel insurance needs are.  

 

Before I had read a LOT of posts on this forum about people's individual situations and the costs they encountered, I would have totally underestimated what I thought I needed to have "good travel medical coverage".  In other words, I had no clue what my travel insurance needs really were vs what I thought they were.  It's hugely valuable to hear what we geeks call "use case" discussions.

 

i.e.,   "My situation is X and therefore I picked a policy with Y and Z attributes."

 

Therefore, I think this is a great topic question:

>> I would like to know the insurance options  people at 80 are choosing.

 

From a market research standpoint, if 13 people at 80-ish posted what insurance policy they chose and why, @sweetipie would have an excellent basis from which to consider their own needs and have a discussion with Steve at The Trip Insurance Store.

[cherylandtk]

On 5/24/2019 at 3:04 PM, sweetipie said:

I would like to know the insurance options  people at 80 are choosing.

 

Most people I know of Medicare age or older opt for cruiseline insurance since its cost is not based on age as third party insurance is.  

 

Depending on the cruiseline, several include CFAR coverage as a cruise credit, which can be invaluable to anyone who has to cancel unexpectedly. 

 

The drawback to the cruiseline policies is that their medical coverage is usually too low and has a PEC lookback.  To supplement that, many people also buy an annual travel medical only policy such as Geo Blue to cover them while out of the country in addition to the cruiseline limited policy.

 

There are many other individual situations that apply, some of which could include:

-using premium credit card cancel coverage

-self insuring cancelation costs and just purchasing medical coverage

-partially insuring cancel costs

-some Medicare supplement policies include international coverage