GB insurance requirements for US residents

[txt4]

Wondering whether any US residents have any suggestions on Cunard's GB insurance requirement.

 

Situation:

Family trip (multi-national family) to Alaska; the whole thing was booked though Cunard UK. Cunard are requiring GBP2.5m medical/repatriation insurance.

 

According to Cunard's customer service, because the trip was booked in the UK, all guests need to meet the same insurance requirement despite some of us being resident in the US. If it had been booked in the US, the requirement would not be applied. They advised us to use Holiday Extras, despite Holiday Extras policies being limited to UK residents -- so I don't have any confidence in Cunard's customer service knowing what they are doing.

 

Putting aside the issue of GBP2.5m being absurdly high for repatriation from Alaska to the US (where our permanent insurance would kick in ... and yes, I realize Alaska is part of the US, that's the point), let's try to entertain the requirement. A GBP2.5m policy would pretty much equate to a USD3.5m policy, and I can't find anybody offering something like that for travel within the US and Canada. We usually cruise with a USD1m policy.

 

Surely this is not all that unusual, what have other people done?

[Mary229]

Is that per person?!  That seems unreasonable.  Have you considered rebooking or is it too late?  

[WantedOnVoyage]

Yikes.  If you book in the US, there is no insurance requirement.... booked in the UK, I think you're stuck. It's not your nationality, it's where the cruise was booked that counts.  And why I will never book a cruise "in the UK."  I always buy my OWN insurance of MY choosing but don't want to be ordered to do so by a third party i.e. the supplier. It's actually against the law to do so in the US I believe. 

[D&N]

In practice you will be asked to give details of your insurer on My Cunard, which amounts to giving the Insurance Company Name, the Emergency Assistance Company Name, and contact number. You will not be asked for details of the actual insurance at that stage.

 

When boarding at Southampton we were not asked to present insurance details. I'm not aware of anyone having been asked to show that type of document. I don't know if things are different at other boarding locations.

Typically in Europe rather than the UK, policies will state "actual cost" for repatriation rather than an upper limit, and many non Brits booking through Cunard UK will have that type of cover rather than specifying an £xx million limit.

Bottom line, as long as you have a decent travel policy for your region it will most likely be ok, and Cunard are unlikely to want to see the detail of the policy.

[david63]

1 hour ago, D&N said:

I'm not aware of anyone having been asked to show that type of document.

It has been known especially straight after Covid - although how detailed it was read is another matter.