Travel Insurance cruise cover.

[delgirl]

Have travel insurance with my bank. Just been reading details in travel pack and it states that we are not covered if our hoiday is solely within the UK. As these cruises are in uk waters I presume the same applies. Looked at p and o insurance recommendations on their website and all I can see is being covered for holidays abroad. Don't know how this is going to be resolved. Glad I havn't booked anything but was thinking about it. Cruise companies need to up their game and tell us exactly where we can get this cover.

[terrierjohn]

16 minutes ago, delgirl said:

Have travel insurance with my bank. Just been reading details in travel pack and it states that we are not covered if our hoiday is solely within the UK. As these cruises are in uk waters I presume the same applies. Looked at p and o insurance recommendations on their website and all I can see is being covered for holidays abroad. Don't know how this is going to be resolved. Glad I havn't booked anything but was thinking about it. Cruise companies need to up their game and tell us exactly where we can get this cover.

You are so right, these issues should have been handled by discussions between P&O/Carnival and the travel insurance bodies before they put out the e-mail statement about insurance cover reqts.

[davecttr]

18 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

AllClear ticked all the P&O boxes that I could tell until the question of repatriation from a cruise ship in British waters reared its head. AllClear where not sure on that point and referred to the underwriters although an air lift in international waters is covered! 🤦‍♂️ 

I was on a P&O cruise a few years ago and a lady was taken ill the first evening. She was helicoptered to hospital in Plymouth I believe and we had not yet cleared Lands End!. I don't remember hearing that she had to pay for the rescue. That cruises first port of call was in Portugal and that might be a clue. The insurance companies may have never  been confronted by closed loop cruises before so they say no unless you are on a 'foreign' cruise, either to avoid paying out or they just don't know. If this is not resolved I can see everyone cancelling and demanding their money back.

 

P&O really need to step up to the plate here.

[ann141]

I am sure that in previous years there must have arisen situations onboard  UK cruises(Cruise and Maritime etc) where people have needed treatment onboard or had to be helicoptered off.I wonder if they have been able to claim on insurance.Princess UK cruises usually include Dublin or Le Havre but there have been a lot of cruises that have not left the Uk

[teabear]

On 3/29/2021 at 4:33 PM, teabear said:

Just been on chat with Staysure - reiterated what is stated on their website under exclusions - NO medical coverage or repatriation for these UK based cruises - they have taken my details to pass onto a sister company that is - possibly - going to offer such coverage - will update when I have a conversation with them.

Got a call from the sister company brokers - they referred me to InsureFor Premium policy which appears to provide the cover necessary and will apply to UK based  - have asked for details in writing before I buy - very cheap for a one trip policy so very suspicious.  Decided to just get cover for this cruise and buy a multi trip in the fall when things should be clearer both on the insurance side and whether the Azura cruise will actually sail.

[MX-Drew]

17 minutes ago, teabear said:

Got a call from the sister company brokers - they referred me to InsureFor Premium policy which appears to provide the cover necessary and will apply to UK based  - have asked for details in writing before I buy - very cheap for a one trip policy so very suspicious.  Decided to just get cover for this cruise and buy a multi trip in the fall when things should be clearer both on the insurance side and whether the Azura cruise will actually sail.

Be careful, after a glance at their policy wording it mentions "outside your home country" for medical expense and repatriation.

And yes it looks cheap, way too cheap.

[MX-Drew]

2 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Be careful, after a glance at their policy wording it mentions "outside your home country" for medical expense and repatriation.

And yes it looks cheap, way too cheap.

Just on InsureFor's chat and they confirm they will cover an airlift in UK waters but you have to have the cruise cover and I don't recall seeing that option online.

Edited March 30, 2021 by MX-Drew

[L751]

3 hours ago, delgirl said:

Have travel insurance with my bank. Just been reading details in travel pack and it states that we are not covered if our hoiday is solely within the UK. As these cruises are in uk waters I presume the same applies. Looked at p and o insurance recommendations on their website and all I can see is being covered for holidays abroad. Don't know how this is going to be resolved. Glad I havn't booked anything but was thinking about it. Cruise companies need to up their game and tell us exactly where we can get this cover.

What bank was that, we have cover with a bank as well

[downsmead]

Just been talking to InsureandGo, with whom I usually have an annual multi trip policy. Under their policy you are not covered for medical expenses on board if in U.K. waters. I didn’t get a clear answer re an air lift 🤦‍♀️.

Since it is due for renewal now (last year’s one having been completely redundant, and updated to worldwide to accommodate our planned trips!), I have decided not to renew and probably buy a single trip insurance from who ever seems to meet the requirements for the U.K. sailings. I can then start a new annual one when things are more straightforward.

[MX-Drew]

26 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Just on InsureFor's chat and they confirm they will cover an airlift in UK waters but you have to have the cruise cover and I don't recall seeing that option online.

UPDATE: After a 2nd question I was told as in British waters an air lift would not be covered by  InsureFor. 

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

UPDATE: After a 2nd question I was told as in British waters an air lift would not be covered by  InsureFor. 

This beggars the question, if you are in British waters and need to be evacuated by helicopter who provides the helicopter, the Coast Guard or the Navy, and do they bill the insurance company for the service?

 

If they do what has happened to ALL THOSE PASSENGERS who had to be evacuated to a UK NHS hospital, and it probably runs to many hundreds over the years. Have they all been made bankrupt and why have we not seen any of them complaining about it.

 

This is getting sillier by the day 😠

[delgirl]

3 hours ago, L751 said:

What bank was that, we have cover with a bank as well

Barclays travel plus

[delgirl]

just done another check says I am covered for uk holidays in a hotel or rental. Nothing about being at sea. Also says only pays for emergency treatment outside of the UK.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

This beggars the question, if you are in British waters and need to be evacuated by helicopter who provides the helicopter, the Coast Guard or the Navy, and do they bill the insurance company for the service?

 

If they do what has happened to ALL THOSE PASSENGERS who had to be evacuated to a UK NHS hospital, and it probably runs to many hundreds over the years. Have they all been made bankrupt and why have we not seen any of them complaining about it.

 

This is getting sillier by the day 😠

I think the difference Dave is that most cruises have a foreign port of call in their itinerary, so even if the medivac is from UK territorial waters, it probably still counts as from an international holiday.  But I am only guessing.

However it really has become a silly argument that P&O ought to have identified before they sent out that officious e-mail, and sorted out it out with the travel insurance companies, who themselves are being rather stupid about the issue, because I doubt the premiums they want are no cheaper than for a European cruise of the same length.

[davecttr]

Thinks, I will look at this from another direction. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency run all this including helicopters chartered by them to provide the rescue service. So I ask the simple question. Do the MCA attempt to recoup the cost of maritime evacuation flights? If they don't (the taxpayer pays) the insurance company not covering the cost is irrelevant as it won't cost the individual a fortune anyway. So I ask the question online. Can I find an answer? NO. First try to filter out the thousands of references to the USA, that does not work, the search engines still list the USA entries and don't provide the answer anyway.

 

Someone out there must have the definitive answer, who do we ask, Nigel Calder?

 

Just think of all those hundreds of thousands of UK cruisers happily leaving British ports ignorant of the knowledge that if they should need medical treatment aboard the ship before it leaves UK waters they will be changed for it and CAN'T CLAIM on their insurance. As soon as the ship leaves the territorial waters they CAN CLAIM. Can you see how ridiculous that is. 'We will change you for the doctors consultation and writing the prescription, Oh wait, we have just left UK territorial waters so you can claim for cost of the tablets we just prescribed for you.

 

QUE hysterical laughter 😵

[Splice the mainbrace]

We did a round UK + Dublin and Guernsey 8 years ago and didn't give travel insurance another thought. As people have said what about the first and last day of a typical international cruise when it is likely that we could be in UK waters.

 

To me UK waters is not the same as being on UK land, you can't exactly walk off and get to a hospital. But I guess that some Insurance companies will see it differently. I fear that many passengers will  be caught out at check in with policies not meeting the cruise line requirements, most will not be on forums like this and will just have booked and thought that their travel insurance will be OK.

[L751]

12 hours ago, delgirl said:

Barclays travel plus

Thats who we are with.

[MX-Drew]

9 hours ago, davecttr said:

 

Someone out there must have the definitive answer, who do we ask, Nigel Calder?

Or even Simon Calder? 😉

 

TBH I don't think P&O are to blame for this mess as we should have all had insurance cover with or without P&O saying they will check the paperwork.

 

Someone (sorry can't remember who) said the Holiday Extras insurance covers everything if I recall correctly, so who underwrites that policy? 🤔 

[MX-Drew]

I have just found this Link

 

Take a look at the highlighted section.

 

My interpretation is, insurance don't cover the cost of an air lift as they don't have to pay for it. It would be nice if they confirmed that bit in their communications. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by MX-Drew

[Harry Peterson]

34 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Or even Simon Calder? 😉

 

TBH I don't think P&O are to blame for this mess as we should have all had insurance cover with or without P&O saying they will check the paperwork.

 

Someone (sorry can't remember who) said the Holiday Extras insurance covers everything if I recall correctly, so who underwrites that policy? 🤔 

 

22 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

I have just found this Link

 

Take a look at the highlighted section.

 

My interpretation is, insurance don't cover the cost of an air lift as they don't have to pay for it. It would be nice if they confirmed that bit in their communications. 

I’d agree with you about P&O not being to blame. All they’re doing is making it a requirement to produce proof of insurance (which I suspect will be a very cursory check, on the assumption that all the warnings have been heeded). The rest is betwen passengers and insurers, as it always is. This thread has simply raised issues which have always been there, but perhaps not fully discussed.

 

It’s probably still the case that air lifts aren’t charged for, but that’s a 2004 article, and things do change, particularly when governments are trying to save money. There are charges now for road accidents, for example, which would once have been unthinkable.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, MX-Drew said:

Or even Simon Calder? 😉

 

TBH I don't think P&O are to blame for this mess as we should have all had insurance cover with or without P&O saying they will check the paperwork.

 

Someone (sorry can't remember who) said the Holiday Extras insurance covers everything if I recall correctly, so who underwrites that policy? 🤔 

Nigel Calder is Simon Calder's father.

[MX-Drew]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

 

I’d agree with you about P&O not being to blame. All they’re doing is making it a requirement to produce proof of insurance (which I suspect will be a very cursory check, on the assumption that all the warnings have been heeded). The rest is betwen passengers and insurers, as it always is. This thread has simply raised issues which have always been there, but perhaps not fully discussed.

 

It’s probably still the case that air lifts aren’t charged for, but that’s a 2004 article, and things do change, particularly when governments are trying to save money. There are charges now for road accidents, for example, which would once have been unthinkable.

I agree it is an old article but gives a clue. Also RTCs had charges back in 1988 just don’t ask how I know as it still hurts.

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

I have just found this Link

 

Take a look at the highlighted section.

 

My interpretation is, insurance don't cover the cost of an air lift as they don't have to pay for it. It would be nice if they confirmed that bit in their communications. 

If that can be confirmed as true now it will remove a lot of unnecessary worry and we can concentrate on having a policy that meets P&O's PUBLISHED minimum requirements. As Harry says P&O are just going to give the policy a superficial check because if they went into detail it could take days for everyone to board the ship.

[MX-Drew]

I'm working on this problem of cost of air lift and have found this statement on an American website.

"By international convention, rescue on the seas is not charged for"

 

Still more work required to find a quotable source but found this of interest.

[miniyorkie]

4 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

I'm working on this problem of cost of air lift and have found this statement on an American website.

"By international convention, rescue on the seas is not charged for"

 

Still more work required to find a quotable source but found this of interest.

Thank you for the link. I hope the insurance issue can be resolved for the benefit of all. Surely some of the most reputable insurance companies should be now putting together a suitable policy for these, albeit new, staycation sailings especially as various cruise lines are making this decision. They would have the monopoly and a perfect target market. I think personally that most of us would purchase a policy just for the staycation cruise and then purchase annual insurance at a later date if that is their usual purchase preferences due to number of cruises.