Cat amongst the Pigeons?

[pete14]

48 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

They should allow a secure upload of a copy of your Travel Insurance when you pay you final invoice, that way they will have plenty of time to check whether meets criteria or not. 
 

I wonder if other land based travel companies will be taking a similar approach?

I don’t disagree but does anybody know whether the policies that cover an individual cruise actually give coverage from the date the balance is paid i.e. 3 months before sailing (if bought as soon as the balance is paid) or do they only cover once the passenger is actually onboard? Presumably those bought 3 months before departure, as would appear to be sensible, are more expensive because they give greater cover and for longer.

[royallondon]

Whilst I would never dream of not taking out travel cover, the inspection of documents either paper or electronic for 5000 PX at boarding I would suggest  is unmanageable.  Other then giving the relevant provider, policy number and phone number at time of booking (as we do now) I find it hard to comprehend how this would work.

 

With regard to the letter, the final paragraph reads:

 

Your travel insurance documents will be checked at the terminal and must be valid for the entire duration of your holiday. Unfortunately you will be denied boarding, at your own expense, if you don’t have appropriate cover. You can find out more here.
 

I clicked on “You can find out more here” and was transferred to a notice telling me (amongst other things) that P&O have teamed up with Holiday Extras to provide Travel Insurance and a link/phone number and ref.  The stark warning in this paragraph may well encourage many others to “find out more”  and possibly result in cover being taken out.🤔

 

 

 

[Josy1953]

2 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

It does make you wonder how many people either didn't have adequate cover because they never checked, or took a chance and had no cover at all.

I can't understand why anyone would travel without insurance.  Do they think that every other country is like the UK and will treat them free of charge, ?  Have they never read the stories in the newspapers where people have travelled to the UK just to get free treatment because it cost less to travel here than it does to have treatment in their home country ?

[jeanlyon]

2 hours ago, pete14 said:

I don’t disagree but does anybody know whether the policies that cover an individual cruise actually give coverage from the date the balance is paid i.e. 3 months before sailing (if bought as soon as the balance is paid) or do they only cover once the passenger is actually onboard? Presumably those bought 3 months before departure, as would appear to be sensible, are more expensive because they give greater cover and for longer.

Pete you are covered from the date you take out the insurance.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, pete14 said:

I don’t disagree but does anybody know whether the policies that cover an individual cruise actually give coverage from the date the balance is paid i.e. 3 months before sailing (if bought as soon as the balance is paid) or do they only cover once the passenger is actually onboard? Presumably those bought 3 months before departure, as would appear to be sensible, are more expensive because they give greater cover and for longer.

When you buy a single trip insurance policy, you are covered from the moment you purchase the policy until the day your holiday ends. No difference in the price if you buy 6 months or 6 weeks before you travel, afaik.

 

[suekay]

23 hours ago, ann141 said:

Someone on another site says that if you have worked for the Civil Service or Local Authority you can usually get annual travel insurance for £295 with no questions about medical conditions. I think you have to join the Civil Service Sports club at a cost of about £40 but sounds good for those of us with medical problems.As I have previously worked for the Civil Service and as a teacher I shall look into it in July when the balance is due for our October cruise.The deposit is very low so I would sooner risk losing that then have to start annual insurance now when the cruise may not go ahead

I took out the Civil Service Sports Club annual travel policy so we didn't have to declare my (late) husband's   health conditions. You get full cover providing you aren't travelling against medical advice, so it was reassuring that in the event of a claim they wouldn't try to wriggle out of paying. A couple of things to be aware of........

1.Everybody's policy runs from 1st April regardless of when you contact them to start the policy

2.  They will only cover those under 79 unless the policy starts before that age in which case they will cover you indefinitely

It's certainly worth looking into if you have ever been in government service eg. teaching, nursing, Civil Service and others

[P&O SUE]

I don’t see this as a major problem, most insurance covers for at least that amount. You have to put on your Personaliser who you are insured with so people should have it anyway.

[ann141]

12 minutes ago, suekay said:

I took out the Civil Service Sports Club annual travel policy so we didn't have to declare my (late) husband's   health conditions. You get full cover providing you aren't travelling against medical advice, so it was reassuring that in the event of a claim they wouldn't try to wriggle out of paying. A couple of things to be aware of........

1.Everybody's policy runs from 1st April regardless of when you contact them to start the policy

2.  They will only cover those under 79 unless the policy starts before that age in which case they will cover you indefinitely

It's certainly worth looking into if you have ever been in government service eg. teaching, nursing, Civil Service and others

Thank you.I shall certainly look into it nearer the time of the cruise.At the moment I am still covered by my bank if we had to cancel for any reason

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, suekay said:

I took out the Civil Service Sports Club annual travel policy so we didn't have to declare my (late) husband's   health conditions. You get full cover providing you aren't travelling against medical advice, so it was reassuring that in the event of a claim they wouldn't try to wriggle out of paying. A couple of things to be aware of........

1.Everybody's policy runs from 1st April regardless of when you contact them to start the policy

2.  They will only cover those under 79 unless the policy starts before that age in which case they will cover you indefinitely

It's certainly worth looking into if you have ever been in government service eg. teaching, nursing, Civil Service and others

Trouble is, unless I am doing something wrong, cannot find any information about travel insurance policy and conditions until you have actually joined so no idea what is covered and at what cost. Having said that if it runs from April to April and is the same price whenever you join it would mean for me paying a full years premium for only 7 months as my renewal is September.

[suekay]

43 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Trouble is, unless I am doing something wrong, cannot find any information about travel insurance policy and conditions until you have actually joined so no idea what is covered and at what cost. Having said that if it runs from April to April and is the same price whenever you join it would mean for me paying a full years premium for only 7 months as my renewal is September.

Maybe this link will help?      

https://www.cssc.co.uk/benefits/view/travel-50plus-insurance

 

[tring]

3 hours ago, suekay said:

I took out the Civil Service Sports Club annual travel policy so we didn't have to declare my (late) husband's   health conditions. You get full cover providing you aren't travelling against medical advice, so it was reassuring that in the event of a claim they wouldn't try to wriggle out of paying. A couple of things to be aware of........

1.Everybody's policy runs from 1st April regardless of when you contact them to start the policy

2.  They will only cover those under 79 unless the policy starts before that age in which case they will cover you indefinitely

It's certainly worth looking into if you have ever been in government service eg. teaching, nursing, Civil Service and others

 

Thank you for this and the subsequent link, though perhaps I can mention that the link says it covers ages 50 to 74 (not 79), so does not leave long for us as already 71, but would be very useful this year as we have both had health issues, though non likely to be big problems.

 

EDIT

 

Looking into it and looks like it would be £375 for a couple for the year and once you join you can carry on irrespective of age.  We both have public sector experience with pensions to prove it.  Looks like COVID is fully covered as well, but need to check small print.  Also seem to get free English Heritage membership and other benefits too.  Not looked into cruises yet though, so need to check they are covered.

 

We have free insurance from our bank, but feel insurance extra cost for health conditions is more than extra price with paid for policies.

Edited March 12, 2021 by tring

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, suekay said:

Maybe this link will help?      

https://www.cssc.co.uk/benefits/view/travel-50plus-insurance

 

Many thanks

[suekay]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

Thank you for this and the subsequent link, though perhaps I can mention that the link says it covers ages 50 to 74 (not 79), so does not leave long for us as already 71, but would be very useful this year as we have both had health issues, though non likely to be big problems.

 

EDIT

 

Looking into it and looks like it would be £375 for a couple for the year and once you join you can carry on irrespective of age.  We both have public sector experience with pensions to prove it.  Looks like COVID is fully covered as well, but need to check small print.  Also seem to get free English Heritage membership and other benefits too.  Not looked into cruises yet though, so need to check they are covered.

 

We have free insurance from our bank, but feel insurance extra cost for health conditions is more than extra price with paid for policies.

I didn't realise the age limit has changed since we started the insurance two years ago. I'm not renewing with them this year as my only medical condition is osteoarthritis, but I'll probably look at rejoining before I'm 75 "just in case" of any health problems

[pete14]

4 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Pete you are covered from the date you take out the insurance.

Thanks Jean. Just wondered.

I wonder if you pay less if you take out the insurance the day before you sail? Not that I would dream of doing so, we have an annual policy.

[pete14]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

When you buy a single trip insurance policy, you are covered from the moment you purchase the policy until the day your holiday ends. No difference in the price if you buy 6 months or 6 weeks before you travel, afaik.

 

Thanks Wowzz and any others who have answered my question

[Denarius]

A further thought on this topic. Most travel insurance companies offer a range of policies each with its own fixed benefits. You chose the one which provides the benefits which suit your needs. Each policy will cover a variety of regions. You choose the region which covers all the countries which you intend to visit. My annual policy is, for example, an AllClear Gold Plus policy covering Region 10, which provides world wide cover. It is quite feasable for P&O to set up a register of such policies including an assesment as to whether each one meets their criteria. So all they need to do is check the type of policy I hold and look it up in their system, no need to go through the individual benefits and much quicker.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Denarius

[jeanlyon]

wouldn't be any good for us.  I am 74 and other half is 82.

[tring]

2 hours ago, suekay said:

I didn't realise the age limit has changed since we started the insurance two years ago. I'm not renewing with them this year as my only medical condition is osteoarthritis, but I'll probably look at rejoining before I'm 75 "just in case" of any health problems

 

Sounds a good idea.  The one fall down from our perspective is that is does not include disruption cover.  Not a problem if you go on a package from the UK (or a round trip cruise), but we have had taken to doing trips of a few weeks in the winter, which include a cruise and land stay or two, perhaps with a private tour as well (e.g. with car and driver or in different locations with short flights between bases and some elements are best booked independently to get  are better choice of travel times, exact locations and flexibility regards amount of time in each hotel.  Last year we booked a lot with Kuoni for tour and stays in Sri Lanka, but good to be able to choose hotels we wanted for certain locations that were not on their books and which were cheaper, but good hotels - particularly in Colombo and Dubai, where Kuoni only offer 5 star.  They did arrange the package with flights around our other plans though leaving gaps and we could have booked the cruise with them.