Insurance now or later?

[junglecat]

We have a cruise booked for the 12th of September.  We just bought our flights so I hadn't bough insurance yet.  The insurance is telling me that if I'm at least concerned about the virus we must buy "cancel for any reason."  This doubles the cost of the policy.  Should I wait and see what summer brings and buy closer to sail date?  Or do I chance it?  It's also in the back of my mind the fact that the cruise line and the airline will go belly up and if I wait, I may be out now or even later.  Any thoughts?  

[klfrodo]

What do you want to insure against? What's your biggest concern from a financial standpoint that you want to insure against?

The flights? If you purchased fully refundable, then there is nothing to insure. If you cancel the flights, they will issue you a credit to be used in the future. So, nothing lost other than the change ticket fee.

You want to insure against the airline or the cruiseline going belly up? You're probably covered by your credit card for that scenario.

Cruise line cancels the cruise due to the Covid-19? Besides the fact that if we are still having Covid-19 issues in September we are in a world of hurt that mankind hasn't seen EVER,,,,, the cruiseline will issue future cruise credit, so nothing to insure.

[Joe817]

This is my opinion: If you can possibly afford it, do it. At this point, I believe it would be a mistake NOT to get CFAR. This world we live in seems to be changing daily. And IMO, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Looking back, I wish we would have purchased a policy that had CFAR clause, but we didn't. We sail Sept. 13 out of Galveston. Who knows how things will be then? 

[JaxsMama]

Price on insuremytrip.com I pay about $50 more to add cfar.

[TechDiva]

I believe that there is a time limit to purchase insurance with CFAR.  It may be 14 days from the time that you made the initial payment for your cruise.

[boatclub1]

I have heard you must buy trip insurance so many days out from when booked or you can't buy it.

 

 

[klfrodo]

30 minutes ago, boatclub1 said:

I have heard you must buy trip insurance so many days out from when booked or you can't buy it.

 

 

As a general rule, Yes. There are some exceptions though. There are even exceptions based on your country of residence and even your home State of residence.

In the US, insurance is regulated at the State level. Until Covid-19 came about, NY residents couldn't buy CFAR because they didn't consider a CFAR rider as "insurance".

Edited March 17, 2020 by klfrodo

[Illbcruzn4life]

32 minutes ago, boatclub1 said:

I have heard you must buy trip insurance so many days out from when booked or you can't buy it.

 

 

 

You can buy trip insurance at any time. If you wait past  you can't get pre existing conditions covered or CFAR. At least that was what the rules were before the virus.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Illbcruzn4life

[terry&mike]

Travelex announced yesterday that they are suspending the option to purchase CFAR, other companies may follow suit -- 

In the wake of the rapidly changing and escalating global impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Travelex Insurance Services and Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company are announcing a suspension of the Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) coverage on all Travelex plans with effect on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. No CFAR coverage will be accepted from Wednesday, March 18, 2020 forward.