Long cruise travel insurance

[gsmt47471015]

I have been looking into cruise insurance for the 2024 world cruise and am having difficulty receiving quotes for any more than ninety day's which is also the limit my current insurer covers with a paid extension.

I have tried some comparison sites but they too appear to have time restrictions  which will not be sufficient to cover the cruise.

I am sure many previous world cruisers have overcome this issue and would be pleased if they would point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance🙂   

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, gsmt47471015 said:

I have been looking into cruise insurance for the 2024 world cruise and am having difficulty receiving quotes for any more than ninety day's which is also the limit my current insurer covers with a paid extension.

I have tried some comparison sites but they too appear to have time restrictions  which will not be sufficient to cover the cruise.

I am sure many previous world cruisers have overcome this issue and would be pleased if they would point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance🙂   

I presume you are actually phoning the companies as they do not offer this on the websites. 

[Waju]

We have a Nationwide Flex Plus current account (with a monthly fee) and travel insurance is included.  The insurers are UK Insurance Ltd and you can buy extensions for the number of days, also an upgrade for the likely cost of a world cruise and an age extension if you are over 70.  They are SUPER helpful if you call them.

[gsmt47471015]

1 hour ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I presume you are actually phoning the companies as they do not offer this on the websites. 

Thanks , no I have not called any of the companies, but may have to as some of the websites are very contradictory 😔

[gsmt47471015]

22 minutes ago, Waju said:

We have a Nationwide Flex Plus current account (with a monthly fee) and travel insurance is included.  The insurers are UK Insurance Ltd and you can buy extensions for the number of days, also an upgrade for the likely cost of a world cruise and an age extension if you are over 70.  They are SUPER helpful if you call them.

Thanks , I have tried to find info on this account on line ,but the insurance information states that no more than 90 nights can be covered , I believe this to be incorrect and have managed to obtain a contact telephone number which I will try in the morning 👍

[Mickb]

We have health issues and have found Staysure very helpful 

[Gettingwarmer]

4 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Thanks , no I have not called any of the companies, but may have to as some of the websites are very contradictory 😔

Yes phone the companies. Then you will get some quotes for long cruises. They have nothing on line except quotes for shorter cruises. 

[Denarius]

AllClear are very good at accepting risks which others decline.

 

[Megabear2]

Hi. There was a thread on the Cunard boards in November last year about the difficulties with purchasing world cruise cover.  The problem there was the value of the booking - I recall around £40,000 for a QG room. 

 

The problem was also highlighted by Radio 4 Moneybox.  Previously a family member did world cruises and used this company - no problem with length as up to 6 months cover - but again a ceiling of £20,000.

 

https://www.cruiseinsurance.co.uk/

 

Regarding AllClear I can concur that they are good - currently I am dealing with two claims with them for family members - but be aware their claims handling company CSAL are quite difficult to contact and deal with.  It took me 10 days to speak to them for a simple question and submit a cancellation claim online.

 

Good luck in your search.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Megabear2

[mk-ray]

I have spent most of the day trying to arrange travel insurance (with declared medical conditions) for a P & O cruise around the UK, which includes a call in Ireland (which added £90 to the premium), a P&O trip to Canada and the 2024 P & O circumnavigation.

 

I was unable to find anyone to cover all three on one policy and have had to settle for doing the UK & Canada trips individually.

 

The World cruise appears to be a non-starter partly because of the trip's length.

[Waju]

18 minutes ago, mk-ray said:

I have spent most of the day trying to arrange travel insurance (with declared medical conditions) for a P & O cruise around the UK, which includes a call in Ireland (which added £90 to the premium), a P&O trip to Canada and the 2024 P & O circumnavigation.

 

I was unable to find anyone to cover all three on one policy and have had to settle for doing the UK & Canada trips individually.

 

The World cruise appears to be a non-starter partly because of the trip's length.

There are lots of passengers who do the World Cruise year after year and I imagine due to the average age of them there must be lots with 'declarable' medical conditions.  

 

Hopefully someone will come along soon and tell us who they use for these very long trips.

 

Have you tried UK Insurance Ltd through the Nationwide Flex Plus account?

[mk-ray]

1 hour ago, Waju said:

Have you tried UK Insurance Ltd through the Nationwide Flex Plus account?

Indeed, they were the first port of call so to speak. They'd insure me but not cover the two existing conditions - Lymphoma and a heart attack/stent now 18 yearsago.

[Waju]

2 hours ago, mk-ray said:

Indeed, they were the first port of call so to speak. They'd insure me but not cover the two existing conditions - Lymphoma and a heart attack/stent now 18 yearsago.

I think it's bad they won't insure something that happened 18 years ago 😲

 

My friends Dad wanted to go to his nieces wedding in New York a few years ago and they wanted £5000 to insure him for 3 days because he'd had a stroke some years before - scandalous

[Waju]

We've seen severely disabled people on long cruises, I hate to think how much they have to pay in insurance.

[mk-ray]

Some companies have a limit on the length of the cruise, something not necessarily obvious when trying to take out cover or (possibly) when scanning quickly through the received/issued policy documentation.

 

Towards the end of my search yesterday, their maximum trip length was the first question that I asked with more than 50% saying they wouldn't cover a 99 day trip.

[Fionboard]

I cannot get insurance for worldwide travel due to mild liver damage. Am quoted premiums in the £2000 range! Annual Europe only is about £400! Annoying thing is that I do not know if I have it as two scans showed different results! It is on my record though so have to declare it. Wonder if it is possible to get insurance which excludes certain conditions? I often wonder how many people travel with insurance for which they have not declared conditions. I would not dream of doing this though, too risky!

[mk-ray]

Yes, you can get insurance that excludes cover for declared medical conditions. I've done that in the past.

[Bill Y]

1 hour ago, Fionboard said:

I cannot get insurance for worldwide travel due to mild liver damage. Am quoted premiums in the £2000 range! Annual Europe only is about £400! Annoying thing is that I do not know if I have it as two scans showed different results! It is on my record though so have to declare it. Wonder if it is possible to get insurance which excludes certain conditions? I often wonder how many people travel with insurance for which they have not declared conditions. I would not dream of doing this though, too risky!

It’s interesting that no one that partakes in full world cruises has come forward with their secret regarding insurance, perhaps world cruiser do not use this forum. It does make you wonder about peoples cover. It would be ill advised not to full declare as this would no doubt be used to invalidate any claim even for a non connected matter. I am aware that some people with a history of cancer etc in the distant past declare it and opt for insurance that excludes that on the basis that it’s not going to suddenly result in hospitalisation during a two week holiday, but 99 days is a different kettle of fish.

 

Interestingly while at an on board sales presentation some years ago it was asked why the upcoming world cruised were now 99days whereas before they were 100 plus, The answer was it was due to insurance difficulties.  

Edited April 5, 2023 by Bill Y

[Fionboard]

4 hours ago, mk-ray said:

Yes, you can get insurance that excludes cover for declared medical conditions. I've done that in the past.

Thank you. May try that if I want to do a cruise outside Europe before my next scan (which is not due until January next year!) Meanwhile I have four cruises in Europe booked for this year to keep me going! 

[Waju]

3 hours ago, Bill Y said:

It’s interesting that no one that partakes in full world cruises has come forward with their secret regarding insurance, perhaps world cruiser do not use this forum. It does make you wonder about peoples cover. It would be ill advised not to full declare as this would no doubt be used to invalidate any claim even for a non connected matter. I am aware that some people with a history of cancer etc in the distant past declare it and opt for insurance that excludes that on the basis that it’s not going to suddenly result in hospitalisation during a two week holiday, but 99 days is a different kettle of fish.

 

Interestingly while at an on board sales presentation some years ago it was asked why the upcoming world cruised were now 99days whereas before they were 100 plus, The answer was it was due to insurance difficulties.  

I've seen another UK based cruise line recently offer a 120 day world cruise - I wonder what their passengers do?

[Fionboard]

Also, don't forget if you are going away for a long spell you may have to inform your home insurer.

[Angel57]

32 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Also, don't forget if you are going away for a long spell you may have to inform your home insurer.

When I did my world cruises in 2012 and 2013 my insurer was happy for me to leave the house empty providing someone went in to check on it once a week and the boiler was left on (at 10c I think). I was away for around 110 days both years.

You also have to put everything onto direct debit so nothing went unpaid.

I had no medical conditions apart from high BP and was in my 50s so getting covered was not an issue altho I did have to phone around various insurance companies to get quotes for the length of time away. I seem to recall I couldn’t get the full cost of the cruise covered, but it was near enough.

 

It was a truly wonderful adventure on the lovely Aurora.

[gsmt47471015]

Thank you to all the lovely people who responded to my original question, I have spoken to a few companies and have opened an account with Nationwide ( been meaning to do it for a long time) and they have confirmed that their insurance can be extended to cover the world cruise, they were also the most helpful and informative when speaking to them. As others have suggested to this post speaking to companies gets more response and information than online searching, hopefully that's another item dealt with so once again many thanks and shows the value of using these boards to utilize other peoples knowledge 😊👍  

[gsmt47471015]

20 hours ago, Angel57 said:

When I did my world cruises in 2012 and 2013 my insurer was happy for me to leave the house empty providing someone went in to check on it once a week and the boiler was left on (at 10c I think). I was away for around 110 days both years.

You also have to put everything onto direct debit so nothing went unpaid.

I had no medical conditions apart from high BP and was in my 50s so getting covered was not an issue altho I did have to phone around various insurance companies to get quotes for the length of time away. I seem to recall I couldn’t get the full cost of the cruise covered, but it was near enough.

 

It was a truly wonderful adventure on the lovely Aurora.

Yes Aurora would have been our preferred ship for the worldie.

[mk-ray]

I've just received an email from P&O relating to the Canadian cruise we've now booked. The following clause caught my eye:

 

"Declare any pre-existing medical conditions and read each policy thoroughly to make sure you have the cover you need"

 

I had always thought that P&O insisted that cover had to be provided for all medical conditions whereas the above clause seems to imply that pre-existing conditions only need to be declared (and not necessarily covered).

 

Do others interpret the clause the same way?