About to test trip cancellation insurance

[LSuzQ]

Well, our first O cruise on Marina from Tarragona to Trieste will have to wait.  My husband’s back decided now was not a good time to go. Will dive into the process of cancellation insurance claims tomorrow, and happy to share the experience if there is interest.
 

I don’t consider my months of pouring over the (mostly) relevant, informative, and often amusing boards and sort of getting to know many of you a wasted effort. I have appreciated the insight. We do have an Insignia Bermuda cruise scheduled next fall, and hopefully will replace the just cancelled cruise with another O adventure, so I’ll continue to lurk in the background.

 

Happy cruises to all of you!

[ORV]

25 minutes ago, LSuzQ said:

Well, our first O cruise on Marina from Tarragona to Trieste will have to wait.  My husband’s back decided now was not a good time to go. Will dive into the process of cancellation insurance claims tomorrow, and happy to share the experience if there is interest.
 

I don’t consider my months of pouring over the (mostly) relevant, informative, and often amusing boards and sort of getting to know many of you a wasted effort. I have appreciated the insight. We do have an Insignia Bermuda cruise scheduled next fall, and hopefully will replace the just cancelled cruise with another O adventure, so I’ll continue to lurk in the background.

 

Happy cruises to all of you!

Sorry to hear about this. Make sure that he has seen a Dr, unless you have cancel for any reason insurance. 

[Sny]

Gather all your documentation together before you file and be ready to jump through a few hoops before you get your payment,  Persevere!!!

[LHT28]

53 minutes ago, LSuzQ said:

Well, our first O cruise on Marina from Tarragona to Trieste will have to wait.  My husband’s back decided now was not a good time to go. Will dive into the process of cancellation insurance claims tomorrow, and happy to share the experience if there is interest.
 

 

Sorry  to hear  about  the trip

Hope in the future  you will be able  to sail again

 

[LSuzQ]

32 minutes ago, ORV said:

Sorry to hear about this. Make sure that he has seen a Dr, unless you have cancel for any reason insurance. 

Thanks, ORV. Letter from orthopedist obtained during today’s visit.

[NYAS]

Sorry that you had to cancel, and hope your husband is better soon. I faced the same situation in May, when my husband fell and broke his hip two days before we were to leave for Europe, with days in Lisbon, then a Marina cruise Lisbon-Amsterdam, followed by some days in Amsterdam.
 

I filed our insurance claim in June and received full payment 6 weeks later, at the end of July. It was my first time filing such a claim, and I was quite satisfied at the end, but there were some frustrating moments. Part of our claim were some prepaid expenses made in Euros. I learned that the best way to provide backup for those was to submit copies of the relevant credit card statements, where the expenses are shown in USD and well as in Euros. Perhaps that info will save you some time during the process. Good luck!

[GeezerCouple]

Sorry you had to cancel.

We've had to do that a couple of times for medical emergencies, on very short notice.  Once for DH, and once for very elderly MIL.  Several other claims were for assorted expenses along the way, including almost a week in a luxury hotel when we should have been visiting dear friends, alas), plus some smaller claims.

 

We had third party travel insurance, and each time, we received a check within about 2-3 weeks.

 

As mentioned above, for any claim involving medical issues, make *sure* you have a physician's statement about the medical problem as well as any travel restrictions, etc.

And receipts for all claimed expenses, whether they are for pre-paid non-refundable costs, or extra costs incurred due to <event>.

 

You might also want to browse (or post questions) on the CC travel insurance sub-forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

Hope your husband is feeling better soon!

 

GC

[DOJO466]

14 hours ago, NYAS said:

Sorry that you had to cancel, and hope your husband is better soon. I faced the same situation in May, when my husband fell and broke his hip two days before we were to leave for Europe, with days in Lisbon, then a Marina cruise Lisbon-Amsterdam, followed by some days in Amsterdam.
 

I filed our insurance claim in June and received full payment 6 weeks later, at the end of July. It was my first time filing such a claim, and I was quite satisfied at the end, but there were some frustrating moments. Part of our claim were some prepaid expenses made in Euros. I learned that the best way to provide backup for those was to submit copies of the relevant credit card statements, where the expenses are shown in USD and well as in Euros. Perhaps that info will save you some time during the process. Good luck!

That is a very good idea about the credit card statements. After many claims for both my husband and myself, it is important to gather all your info. Make sure to have your TA send you a copy of your itinerary/invoice and notice of cancellation from O. Fortunately, you were not on the trip incurring medical expenses as that can be a nightmare.

  Very sorry that you had to miss your trip.

[judi666]

It isn’t easy, but we received full payment about 2 months later. As someone said, perserver.  In the end I needed 3 doctors letters and countless other emails concerning itineraries and expenses, cancellations.  They have to be worded very specifically.  I had a helpful adjuster re: wording or I don’t think the claim would have gone thru.

[LSuzQ]

21 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Sorry you had to cancel.

We've had to do that a couple of times for medical emergencies, on very short notice.  Once for DH, and once for very elderly MIL.  Several other claims were for assorted expenses along the way, including almost a week in a luxury hotel when we should have been visiting dear friends, alas), plus some smaller claims.

 

We had third party travel insurance, and each time, we received a check within about 2-3 weeks.

 

As mentioned above, for any claim involving medical issues, make *sure* you have a physician's statement about the medical problem as well as any travel restrictions, etc.

And receipts for all claimed expenses, whether they are for pre-paid non-refundable costs, or extra costs incurred due to <event>.

 

You might also want to browse (or post questions) on the CC travel insurance sub-forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

Hope your husband is feeling better soon!

 

GC

Good suggestion! Will search the Boards for sure. Thanks for the good wishes.

[Tr1v1alCru1ser]

Keep an eye on the website to see if your cabin becomes available again and is resold!  Just in case you have a problem with the insurance - and I sincerely hope you don’t, but if you can prove it’s been resold, then O can’t say they’ve made a loss if your insurance company don’t pay up.  

[GeezerCouple]

2 minutes ago, Tr1v1alCru1ser said:

Keep an eye on the website to see if your cabin becomes available again and is resold!  Just in case you have a problem with the insurance - and I sincerely hope you don’t, but if you can prove it’s been resold, then O can’t say they’ve made a loss if your insurance company don’t pay up.  

There may or may not have been a verifiable "loss", but I'm pretty sure that most (all?) cruise reservations [and travel insurance policies] are written such that this is *not* a factor.

 

Also, just because that one specific cabin/suite was "re-sold", that doesn't mean that the person who reserved it might not have reserved a different one, and perhaps a higher priced one.  In other words, unless all of the accommodations are sold, one can't know if there are any "empties" that might be due to the cancellation.  -->> Further, it might be that some were purchased at a discount due to being nearer the sailing date... in which case there *might* have been a partial loss....

It's very complicated, and because it's unlikely to be relevant due to the terms of the passenger contract, it's not worth trying to track.

 

When we (twice) cancelled a cruise very shortly before the sailing date, we joked that someone probably got a nice discount (it can be difficult to fill a suite or cabin, say, one week before sailing date).  IF they did sell it at a discount, it would "show" (IF one could see it at that late date) as "sold", but there'd still be a loss.

OTOH, one one occasion, we probably got a really good deal on a top suite that had previously been sold out, but a few weeks before sailing, it suddenly showed up again, at a wonderful price.  We pounced!  🙂   I'm sure the cruise line would not have considered there was "no loss".

 

GC

[Tr1v1alCru1ser]

I know in the UK people have challenged the cruise company when something unexpected happened and they had to cancel, and their insurance company (or they may not have had insurance, I can’t remember) didn’t pay up.  It was proved the cruise company did not make a loss as they resold the cabin, so the original passenger was refunded.  

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Tr1v1alCru1ser said:

Keep an eye on the website to see if your cabin becomes available again and is resold!  Just in case you have a problem with the insurance - and I sincerely hope you don’t, but if you can prove it’s been resold, then O can’t say they’ve made a loss if your insurance company don’t pay up.  

It does not matter if they resold your cabin or not

You agreed to the  T & C when you made the deposit

Cancellations penalties apply    ..been there done that 

Had insurance that covered  us

[susiesan]

Be prepared to have your first try at your claim being paid to be denied. That's how insurance companies operate. Then you will have to go to battle with them to get your legitimate claim paid no matter how accurate your documentation is. They always say "no" at first, hoping people will just give up and won't pursue their claim. Be firm, don't roll over and accept their outcome.

[Tr1v1alCru1ser]

51 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

It does not matter if they resold your cabin or not

You agreed to the  T & C when you made the deposit

Cancellations penalties apply    ..been there done that 

Had insurance that covered  us

Actually, we enquired about cancelling a cruise a while back with O because something came up, despite it being very close to sailing, they actually offered us 50% refund against another cruise, despite their terms and conditions.  We ultimately didn’t need to cancel, but they were prepared to be flexible because they had a wait list and knew they could easily sell the cabin again. 

[GeezerCouple]

28 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Be prepared to have your first try at your claim being paid to be denied. That's how insurance companies operate. Then you will have to go to battle with them to get your legitimate claim paid no matter how accurate your documentation is. They always say "no" at first, hoping people will just give up and won't pursue their claim. Be firm, don't roll over and accept their outcome.

 

This would depend upon the specific travel insurance vendor and also on how complete the first claim is.

We've had quite a few claims (unfortunately), including some large ones.

And we've almost always had the claims paid within about 2 weeks.  Once it was a bit longer; it happened to be during a rough hurricane season.  Although our claim had nothing to do with any weather, the travel insurers were pretty overwhelmed.  [So I contacted our travel insurance broker, Steve (owner of TripInsuranceStore), and he must have contacted our insurer because in a short time, the check arrived in the mail.]

 

So the above description is *not* always "how insurance companies operate".

 

Also, it's been clear from some complaints here on CC and elsewhere that some of the denials are because the reason for the claim was an event/circumstance that was *not* covered from the very start.  For example, if someone has an excluded pre-existing condition and didn't get a policy that waives that exclusion, then... there will be a denial, full stop.  But it's not the "fault" of the travel insurer.  And likewise if there aren't appropriate receipts; the claim forms state that receipts must be included.  (A travel insurer - and any business - has the right to make sure there isn't any fraud, etc.)

 

I'm sure there are some travel insurers that are, er, more squirrelly about paying claims.  So double check on the history and recommendations of the insurers before buying the policy.  And then make sure you understand the terms and conditions.

 

GC

[GeezerCouple]

2 minutes ago, Tr1v1alCru1ser said:

Actually, we enquired about cancelling a cruise a while back with O because something came up, despite it being very close to sailing, they actually offered us 50% refund against another cruise, despite their terms and conditions.  We ultimately didn’t need to cancel, but they were prepared to be flexible because they had a wait list and knew they could easily sell the cabin again. 

 

Any business can make exceptions when they feel it is appropriate.

That is quite different from what the traveler can - or should - expect or is entitled to.

 

In the case you describe, it doesn't seem to be surprising that they would consider offering a 50% refund as a credit... they would keep 50% and know they have the accommodations re-sold.
That's a win/win/win!  🙂 

 

GC

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Tr1v1alCru1ser said:

Actually, we enquired about cancelling a cruise a while back with O because something came up, despite it being very close to sailing, they actually offered us 50% refund against another cruise, despite their terms and conditions.  We ultimately didn’t need to cancel, but they were prepared to be flexible because they had a wait list and knew they could easily sell the cabin again. 

I would say you were lucky

We had to cancel the day before  the cruise   so no offer for us

I know the cabin was used by someone else

YMMV

 

[1985rz1]

3 hours ago, susiesan said:

Be prepared to have your first try at your claim being paid to be denied. That's how insurance companies operate. Then you will have to go to battle with them to get your legitimate claim paid no matter how accurate your documentation is. They always say "no" at first, hoping people will just give up and won't pursue their claim. Be firm, don't roll over and accept their outcome.

Actually we have made 2 insurance claims in the past 3 years.  One was using cc insurance , one using our annual travel insurance.  The word "no" never came up, and we were reimbursed without a hitch.