What do you do (re: insurance) if one of the travelers changes?

[S.A.M.J.R.]

We're planning a cruise for 2024.  Haven't done our booking yet, so no deposit.  We will get insurance to cover everyone on the trip.  BUT, what happens if "Person X" decides not to go, but "Person Y" is willing to take their place.  The cruise line won't care, you just change the name.  Airline would probably care, but what if the change happens before you buy your air?  You're not technically out any money, so there's no insurance claim. 

 

BUT, how do you change the name on the insurance?  I tried this on our cruise last year, but was told we'd need to purchase a separate policy for "Person Y" (which we did).   Does any insurance company offer a complimentary name change? 

 

Is there another way to handle this?  It's equally possible we won't know at the time of booking who that person will be (friend of DD, but which friend).  

[Benthayer Gonbak]

7 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

We're planning a cruise for 2024.  Haven't done our booking yet, so no deposit.  We will get insurance to cover everyone on the trip.  BUT, what happens if "Person X" decides not to go, but "Person Y" is willing to take their place.  The cruise line won't care, you just change the name.  Airline would probably care, but what if the change happens before you buy your air?  You're not technically out any money, so there's no insurance claim. 

 

BUT, how do you change the name on the insurance?  I tried this on our cruise last year, but was told we'd need to purchase a separate policy for "Person Y" (which we did).   Does any insurance company offer a complimentary name change? 

 

Is there another way to handle this?  It's equally possible we won't know at the time of booking who that person will be (friend of DD, but which friend).  

 

Most insurance we’ve had is based age which would make a change a bit tough.  However, when we had a cruise canceled we were given a refund on the insurance. Who knows what happens when you cancel!  

[GeezerCouple]

22 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

We're planning a cruise for 2024.  Haven't done our booking yet, so no deposit.  We will get insurance to cover everyone on the trip.  BUT, what happens if "Person X" decides not to go, but "Person Y" is willing to take their place.  The cruise line won't care, you just change the name.  Airline would probably care, but what if the change happens before you buy your air?  You're not technically out any money, so there's no insurance claim. 

 

BUT, how do you change the name on the insurance?  I tried this on our cruise last year, but was told we'd need to purchase a separate policy for "Person Y" (which we did).   Does any insurance company offer a complimentary name change? 

 

Is there another way to handle this?  It's equally possible we won't know at the time of booking who that person will be (friend of DD, but which friend).  

 

You would need to read the terms and conditions of your specific policy.  Also ask in advance about this if you think this is a real possibility, so that IF there are any such policies, you'd get the right one.

 

But you've made quite an assumption when you wrote: "The cruise line won't care, you just change the name."  That would depend upon the cruise line and, again, their terms and conditions.  How late is a change in passenger allowed?  And also, will there be extra costs incurred due to a change in name (again, this might be date specific)?

 

And writing: "Airline would probably care, but what if the change happens before you buy your air?" doesn't make much sense. That's like: "... what if the name change happens before you buy your cruise?"

 

As for the insurance name change again, this could be a non-trivial issue.  What if there are no pre-existing conditions for the first passenger, but the replacement passenger *did* have one or more of those?  Does the replacement passenger live in the same household?  In the same state? 

LOTS of things might come into play even IF it were allowed, and these same issues might be why it is not allowed.

 

GC

[S.A.M.J.R.]

12 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

You would need to read the terms and conditions of your specific policy.  Also ask in advance about this if you think this is a real possibility, so that IF there are any such policies, you'd get the right one.

 

But you've made quite an assumption when you wrote: "The cruise line won't care, you just change the name."  That would depend upon the cruise line and, again, their terms and conditions.  How late is a change in passenger allowed?  And also, will there be extra costs incurred due to a change in name (again, this might be date specific)?

 

And writing: "Airline would probably care, but what if the change happens before you buy your air?" doesn't make much sense. That's like: "... what if the name change happens before you buy your cruise?"

 

As for the insurance name change again, this could be a non-trivial issue.  What if there are no pre-existing conditions for the first passenger, but the replacement passenger *did* have one or more of those?  Does the replacement passenger live in the same household?  In the same state? 

LOTS of things might come into play even IF it were allowed, and these same issues might be why it is not allowed.

 

GC

Well,

A) we don't have a policy yet.  The same thing happened on our last cruise, and the insurance company made us purchase a new policy for the new traveler, and didn't offer any refund for the traveler who can no longer go.

B) We know what cruise line we're going with (Royal), and it would be changing one person out of a three person cabin.  I know what Royal's policy is, so that's why I didn't ask about that.

C) If the name change happens before purchasing insurance/cruise, it's not an issue.  We know airlines don't allow ticket transfers to other people, so that's why I didn't ask about that.

D) So my specific question is how insurance handles changes.  If they are like all airlines (no changes allowed), that's one thing.  If some allow name changes, it would help to know which ones.

 

If it's not allowed (is that what you're saying?), then simply say that.  Instead you want to parse every part of my post.  Thanks for your help. 🤪

[klfrodo]

I would try to help just as GC attempted to parse out a very complicated question and provide possible clear answers to those questions. However, if you're just looking for 1 blanket Yes or No, I'd have to say No in very general terms.

The real answer is Maybe. Just as GC tried to say. Very kindly I might add.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

I'm sorry if I misinterpreted @GeezerCouple's response.  

 

To me, it's not a complicated question...

AFTER you purchase trip insurance for a party, if one of the party members can not go on the trip, but someone else takes their place, what are the options?

A) Does any insurance allow a name to be changed?

B) Do you have to sacrifice what you've paid for the first person and purchase new for the replacement?

C) Another option?

[InsureMyTrip]