Insurance question please.

[rkmw]

On 5/9/2022 at 3:09 PM, Patois said:

I sent a query of to my local member re query re evac from a cruise ship. After the usual pass the buck between departments, i have been advised that medical evac from an overseas operated cruise ship will be billed to the cruise ship. 

I don’t think the cruise line will pay for a medi vac, that’s why you pay your insurance or better still send the bill to the local member for given out wrong information 

[dillpickle48]

Got a quote from Covermore today. Aged 74 and with pre-existing health problems. This was for a 16 day cruise to NZ. Quote $1548. Yes and there are excess payments for Covid claims. Now I just have to decide if I really want to cruise as a single. Cheapest solo price for a verandah $7500.

[arxcards]

The only thing I ask my local members is when they are going to resign.

 

Not specific to this, but there is a general gap between how the public sector thinks the private sector works, and how it actually works.

 

A decade or so back, Smartraveller, our DFAT operated travel advice page, listed that medical on domestic cruises was covered under Medicare. I challenged it, and they insisted it was correct because there are Australian doctors with Medicare provider numbers aboard domestic cruises. Their incorrect advice remained on Smartraveller for nearly two years.

[Elorac123]

1 hour ago, dillpickle48 said:

Got a quote from Covermore today. Aged 74 and with pre-existing health problems. This was for a 16 day cruise to NZ. Quote $1548. Yes and there are excess payments for Covid claims. Now I just have to decide if I really want to cruise as a single. Cheapest solo price for a verandah $7500.

Have you looked at 1cover I’m sure it’s a better deal

Cheers Carole

 

[valantine80]

20 hours ago, cruisine21 said:

 

Is it difficult to get an ANZ platinum visa when you are a self funded retiree? How about pre existing medical condition coverage? I have quite a few.

We have been denied cover on ANZ platinum credit card because of pre existing conditions, for what I consider less likely to result in a claim than some of the pre existing conditions they cover and they would not discuss reasons with us.

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, valantine80 said:

We have been denied cover on ANZ platinum credit card because of pre existing conditions, for what I consider less likely to result in a claim than some of the pre existing conditions they cover and they would not discuss reasons with us.

Sorry to hear that. ☹️ One possibility to consider is insurance, either paid or complimentary credit card with another bank, that presently doesn't cover COVID. I don't know which cruise line you will be travelling with. Princess has stated clearly that expenses related to COVID on board are free of charge. That includes visits to the medical centre, any treatment required, quarantine, then transport home or to a free quarantine hotel if the person hasn't completed their quarantine period on board. I realise that if ANZ refused to cover your pre-existing conditions it will probably be harder to find another company that will.

[valantine80]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Sorry to hear that. ☹️ One possibility to consider is insurance, either paid or complimentary credit card with another bank, that presently doesn't cover COVID. I don't know which cruise line you will be travelling with. Princess has stated clearly that expenses related to COVID on board are free of charge. That includes visits to the medical centre, any treatment required, quarantine, then transport home or to a free quarantine hotel if the person hasn't completed their quarantine period on board. I realise that if ANZ refused to cover your pre-existing conditions it will probably be harder to find another company that will.

We have had no trouble getting insurance cover for all conditons, and now extra ones, that ANZ wouldn't cover several years ago, with some conditions not even resulting in extra premium. We will be on RCL.

 Thanks for the follow up on medical evacuation for Queenslanders Interesting.

[Patois]

To follow up on my previous post I have received a formal response from Qld Health.

 

The emergency air retrieval services Queensland Health manage are provided at no cost to Queensland residents in situations whereby the service is coordinated or requested via a Queensland Hospital and Health Service or Queensland Ambulance Service. However. I have been advised because cruise ships are operated by private entities, where applicable retrieval services are provided to those entities at a cost which is typically then passed onto the passenger.

 

Acting Deputy Director-General and

Chief Medical Officer, Prevention Division and

Chief Clinical Information Officer

Queensland Health

 

 

[judithann423]

Some destinations eg Bali have a compulsory Travel Insurance policy as a requirement of entry.

 

Are any of the cruise lines insisting on this ??

 

Do we need to check each country/port  on the itinerary for this or are we being advised of this requirement by the cruise lines,

 

Many thanks

Judy

[Cbtours]

5 minutes ago, judithann423 said:

Some destinations eg Bali have a compulsory Travel Insurance policy as a requirement of entry.

 

Are any of the cruise lines insisting on this ??

 

Do we need to check each country/port  on the itinerary for this or are we being advised of this requirement by the cruise lines,

 

Many thanks

Judy

From the many readings of t & c I’m pretty sure it’s our responsibility to check the requirements of each country we visit 

[Aus Traveller]

6 hours ago, judithann423 said:

Some destinations eg Bali have a compulsory Travel Insurance policy as a requirement of entry.

 

Are any of the cruise lines insisting on this ??

 

Do we need to check each country/port  on the itinerary for this or are we being advised of this requirement by the cruise lines,

 

Many thanks

Judy

Pre-COVID Noumea authorities stated that visitors had to had travel insurance, but no-one checked that passengers did.

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 4/25/2022 at 12:26 PM, Elorac123 said:

Just tried them and the cruise icon won’t work so  looks like they are not covering cruises,,don’t fancy sitting by the phone today

 Cheers Carole

I've just been talking to them about our annual policy that has been on deferral. We chose to use annual policies rather than cruise specific policies as they don't have annual cruise policies and annual policies worked out cheaper. The annual policy covers all we need including onboard medical expenses (which I have claimed in the past). 

 

Their Silver and Gold policies cover Covid.

 

I am very happy as we have around ten months outstanding on our deferred policy. If I reactivate it around 10th June it will cover all our planned travel, including five cruises, through to early April 2023.  

[Cbtours]

46 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I've just been talking to them about our annual policy that has been on deferral. We chose to use annual policies rather than cruise specific policies as they don't have annual cruise policies and annual policies worked out cheaper. The annual policy covers all we need including onboard medical expenses (which I have claimed in the past). 

 

Their Silver and Gold policies cover Covid.

 

I am very happy as we have around ten months outstanding on our deferred policy. If I reactivate it around 10th June it will cover all our planned travel, including five cruises, through to early April 2023.  

I checked annual but don’t over over 80’s.  We have been very spoiled using complimentary insurance gir the last 14 years

[Aus Traveller]

13 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

I checked annual but don’t over over 80’s.  We have been very spoiled using complimentary insurance gir the last 14 years

One annual policy we checked won't cover anyone over 76.

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

One annual policy we checked won't cover anyone over 76.

Thats what I thought 😔

[valantine80]

On 5/19/2022 at 12:03 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

. We chose to use annual policies rather than cruise specific policies as they don't have annual cruise policies and annual policies worked out cheaper. The annual policy covers all we need including onboard medical expenses (which I have claimed in the past). 

 

Their Silver and Gold policies cover Covid.

 

 

I find that interesting that they will cover medical expenses on a cruise without cruise specific cover.

 

What happens if you need to be evacuated off the ship.

 

What are the covers on cruise specific policies that you don't need.

 

 

[Aus Traveller]

11 minutes ago, valantine80 said:

I find that interesting that they will cover medical expenses on a cruise without cruise specific cover.

What happens if you need to be evacuated off the ship.

What are the covers on cruise specific policies that you don't need.

 

 

Are you saying that one particular insurance company doesn't cover medical expenses on a cruise without specific cruise cover? Maybe this is so with some insurers but not all.

 

To be covered for emergency medical evacuation (usually by helicopter) off the ship, this has to be an inclusion in your travel insurance policy. It can also be free for Q'ld residents within territorial waters.

 

I am not sure what you mean with your third question. 🙂

[valantine80]

52 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Are you saying that one particular insurance company doesn't cover medical expenses on a cruise without specific cruise cover? Maybe this is so with some insurers but not all.

 

To be covered for emergency medical evacuation (usually by helicopter) off the ship, this has to be an inclusion in your travel insurance policy. It can also be free for Q'ld residents within territorial waters.

 

I am not sure what you mean with your third question. 🙂

It was in relation to post by AusKiwiJJ who stated that they take standard travel insurance only as they cosidered cruise extra policies were  not worth it.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, valantine80 said:

I find that interesting that they will cover medical expenses on a cruise without cruise specific cover.

 

What happens if you need to be evacuated off the ship.

 

What are the covers on cruise specific policies that you don't need.

 

 

The standard policy includes medical evacuations.

 

I can't remember all the cruise policy differences as it's a long time since we used a cruise policy.  For 2017 -2019 we used annual policies as we were doing 2-3 cruises a year and usually one of those included land travel. To have insured those cruise trips separately would have cost several hundred dollars more for very little benefit.

 

We've only had to claim once when I had a minor health issue on a cruise that required treatment for a few days. The insurance company paid up fairly quickly.

 

I think you could claim for missed ports. That's possibly useful if you tend to book private excursions.

Edited May 20, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[Patois]

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The standard policy includes medical evacuations.

 

I can't remember all the cruise policy differences as it's a long time since we used a cruise policy.  For 2017 -2019 we used annual policies as we were doing 2-3 cruises a year and usually one of those included land travel. To have insured those cruise trips separately would have cost several hundred dollars more for very little benefit.

 

We've only had to claim once when I had a minor health issue on a cruise that required treatment for a few days. The insurance company paid up fairly quickly.

 

I think you could claim for missed ports. That's possibly useful if you tend to book private excursions.

I had a look at Insure and Go as your idea seems sensible, but their PDS says

You are not covered for any Any claim relating to travel via a commercial cruise ship.

This is on their latest PDS. Although it looks like there have been multiple PDS before and after 20/3/20 so maybe there have been changes made to the T&C's.

 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Patois said:

I had a look at Insure and Go as your idea seems sensible, but their PDS says

You are not covered for any Any claim relating to travel via a commercial cruise ship.

This is on their latest PDS. Although it looks like there have been multiple PDS before and after 20/3/20 so maybe there have been changes made to the T&C's.

 

 

 

Possibly. The policy I will be reactivating does not have that exclusion. I save the various documents that are current when I take out a policy.

 

However we are unlikely to take out more annual policies after the reactivated one runs out so will evaluate the situation then. 

[valantine80]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The standard policy includes medical evacuations.

 

I can't remember all the cruise policy differences as it's a long time since we used a cruise policy.  For 2017 -2019 we used annual policies as we were doing 2-3 cruises a year and usually one of those included land travel. To have insured those cruise trips separately would have cost several hundred dollars more for very little benefit.

 

We've only had to claim once when I had a minor health issue on a cruise that required treatment for a few days. The insurance company paid up fairly quickly.

 

I think you could claim for missed ports. That's possibly useful if you tend to book private excursions.

About 7or 8years ago we had an annual policy that covered us for numerous cruises but maybe things have changed

[OzKiwiJJ]

16 minutes ago, valantine80 said:

About 7or 8years ago we had an annual policy that covered us for numerous cruises but maybe things have changed

Quite possibly. Up until the pandemic started it was definitely the most cost effective way to insure but now it's a whole new ballgame.

 

However insurance companies are competitive and those that read the market incorrectly will lose business.

[joejoe 59]

On 5/11/2022 at 2:54 PM, dillpickle48 said:

Got a quote from Covermore today. Aged 74 and with pre-existing health problems. This was for a 16 day cruise to NZ. Quote $1548. Yes and there are excess payments for Covid claims. Now I just have to decide if I really want to cruise as a single. Cheapest solo price for a verandah $7500.

Wow that is a lot of money. Have you tried Southern Cross travel insurance, they cover covid & pre-existing medical. Good luck.

[joejoe 59]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:19 PM, judithann423 said:

Some destinations eg Bali have a compulsory Travel Insurance policy as a requirement of entry.

 

Are any of the cruise lines insisting on this ??

 

Do we need to check each country/port  on the itinerary for this or are we being advised of this requirement by the cruise lines,

 

Many thanks

Judy

We fly to Fiji next week for a cruise & have to prove we have travel insurance before flying. It is a country requirement as well as a cruise requirement.