Purchasing insurance, then canceling trip before final payment. What happens?

[Ideb]

Hello,

If you book a cruise and want the best coverage then you need to purchase the insurance within 15 days of booking. My question is this: if I purchase travel insurance (through a private company-not the cruise line) after putting down a deposit on a cruise, then decide not to go before the final payment date and get a refund of my deposit, what happens with the cruise insurance? Would I still be out the whole amount I paid for the insurance if I decide not to take the trip?

[CDNPolar]

2 minutes ago, Ideb said:

Hello,

If you book a cruise and want the best coverage then you need to purchase the insurance within 15 days of booking. My question is this: if I purchase travel insurance (through a private company-not the cruise line) after putting down a deposit on a cruise, then decide not to go before the final payment date and get a refund of my deposit, what happens with the cruise insurance? Would I still be out the whole amount I paid for the insurance if I decide not to take the trip?

 

 

In my opinion, short answer - Yes.

 

You have to ask this question of the insurance company.  All may have different criteria.

 

Some insurance policies will allow you to cancel the policy and get a refund if you are decide to not travel.  Some don't.

 

An individual trip policy may allow you to cancel the policy and get money back.  An annual policy probably not.

[Suzanne123]

IMG let me change the dates to a different trip after I canceled a cruise.

 

”You can increase your trip cost and / or update your travel dates at any time prior to the departure date listed on the policy, and as long as no claim has been submitted under the policy.   Please note that travel dates cannot be extended past a departure more than 2 years on from the original purchase date.”

Edited August 22 by Suzanne123

[Jersey42]

34 minutes ago, Ideb said:

My question is this: if I purchase travel insurance (through a private company-not the cruise line) after putting down a deposit on a cruise, then decide not to go before the final payment date and get a refund of my deposit, what happens with the cruise insurance? Would I still be out the whole amount I paid for the insurance if I decide not to take the trip?

Just to elaborate on the two answers.

• Yes - you may lose the entire premium.  But some companies will let you apply the premium to a future cruise. In the US, I suspect refunds are rare unless it is within the XX day free look period.
• In the US, many companies will let you insure the deposit (for a relatively small premium).  This meets the pre-existing conditions waiver.  Then you can increase your trip cost as you pay more non-refundable costs.  Doing it this way limits how much insurance premium you have at risk if you end up canceling before final payment.  Tripinsurancestore.com (call them) does this all the time.  I suspect other brokers will do this for you as well.

[Ideb]

6 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Just to elaborate on the two answers.

• Yes - you may lose the entire premium.  But some companies will let you apply the premium to a future cruise. In the US, I suspect refunds are rare unless it is within the XX day free look period.
• In the US, many companies will let you insure the deposit (for a relatively small premium).  This meets the pre-existing conditions waiver.  Then you can increase your trip cost as you pay more non-refundable costs.  Doing it this way limits how much insurance premium you have at risk if you end up canceling before final payment.  Tripinsurancestore.com (call them) does this all the time.  I suspect other brokers will do this for you as well.

I hadn't thought about only insuring the deposit then increasing the coverage later after the final payment. I didn't know this was possible. I will have to check into it.

[GeezerCouple]

5 hours ago, Ideb said:

I hadn't thought about only insuring the deposit then increasing the coverage later after the final payment. I didn't know this was possible. I will have to check into it.

 

This is how many of us do it with 3rd party travel insurance.

 

But double check with the insurer or the agent/broker about that "15 days" criterion you mention.  That could vary by state, and be something between 10 to 20 days, to get the best coverage.

 

You then have that same window for each time you increase the travel costs above the "range" of the current coverage (by $thousands, etc.).

And depending upon insurer and type of coverage, you might need to insure ALL costs, including refundable, or perhaps just non-refundable.  Double check that, too.

 

Our policies give us a chance to change to a different trip, within a time window, if we change plans and there were no losses on the initial trip.

 

We are among those who use and recommend www.TripInsuranceStore.com for travel insurance.

But CALL them to discuss details; there is a lot of fine print!

 

GC

 

[Iamthesea]

I just put $1000 deposit down for a cruise that is not until June.  Final on the cruise is due at the end of December.  The remaining fare is almost $12,000.   In order to be covered under pre-existing conditions,  I need to go ahead and purchase an insurance policy tomorrow.  

 

As I understand from this thread, I can insure only the $1000 deposit at this time, and then add the remaining cost of the cruise closer to final payment.  I use the InsureMyTrip to price out plans.  Once the initial deposit is insured, how do I add additional cost to the policy?  Online, or do I have to call or email the insurance company?

Edited September 7 by Iamthesea

[CDNPolar]

8 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

I just put $1000 deposit down for a cruise that is not until June.  Final on the cruise is due at the end of December.  The remaining fare is almost $12,000.   In order to be covered under pre-existing conditions,  I need to go ahead and purchase an insurance policy tomorrow.  

 

As I understand from this thread, I can insure only the $1000 deposit at this time, and then add the remaining cost of the cruise closer to final payment.  I use the InsureMyTrip to price out plans.  Once the initial deposit is insured, how do I add additional cost to the policy?  Online, or do I have to call or email the insurance company?

 

I don't know with this specific company, but when placing the insurance on the first $1,000.00 then ask how you increase it.  The main thing is getting the purchase done within the timeframe to cover your pre-existing conditions.  

 

If you were planning to do the first purchase online, I would suggest calling instead and talk to a live agent so you have the real story.

[Iamthesea]

Thanks!  Has anyone from this thread (Jersey42?) actually only insured their deposit and then added the remainder later on?  If so, what insurance company did you use?   I tend to like Trawick, or others that are Primary payers versus Secondary.  

[GeezerCouple]

3 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Thanks!  Has anyone from this thread (Jersey42?) actually only insured their deposit and then added the remainder later on?  If so, what insurance company did you use?   I tend to like Trawick, or others that are Primary payers versus Secondary.  

 

(Why are you only asking "anyone from this thread"?  If we hadn't already answered above, I think our information would be just as relevant. 😉 ) 

 

We ALWAYS start by insuring only the very first payment, whatever it is (it might not be an official "deposit" for something, but for a cruise trip, it usually is).

 

And then as we add other payments, we call and update the coverage.

We are always very careful also to make *any* payments within the 10-20 days [varies by state] each time so we are covered for any pre-existing conditions. So we usually call the same day of any relevant payment, or first thing next day so we don't, er, forget!

 

We also *always* use www.TripInsurance.Store.com after learning about it here on CC >10 u\years ago (wow, time flies!).

In our case, TIS has recommended policies from Travel Insured (the actual insurer), but they work with several good insurers.  Someone else might have specific circumstances or preferences such that they'd recommend a different insurer or policy, etc.

 

And YES, we make sure it is PRIMARY coverage for medical!  (I think we might pay $25 extra per policy for that.  Now we usually just ask something like, "Do you still recommend the same policy for us?" and all but once the answer was "Yes". 🙂 )

 

GC

[GeezerCouple]

15 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

If you were planning to do the first purchase online, I would suggest calling instead and talk to a live agent so you have the real story.

 

Yes. I would ALWAYS suggest *calling*.

And especially when you have a question! 😉 

 

Why rely upon some arbitrary people here on the internet [including us!] when you can ask the primary source?  It's fine to start here on CC, but don't rely upon any information that might be critical (affecting deadlines or coverages, etc.).  That's because we may not quite understand "your" situation, or because insurance in your state (or country!) may be different.

Always keep in mind that others may have actual experiences that differ from your situation in some unknown way, so what is a "correct answer" for them might *not* be what is correct for your situation.

 

And IF it is a company that is "on line only", then I'd get use a different company.  What happens if you have some sort of problem? That's when being able to call and speak to someone can make all the difference! Also, *discussing* the trip with an agent/broker can sometimes elicit information such that they recommend considering a different policy (to save money or to get more appropriate coverage, etc.).

 

Note:  We are among those who recommend www.TripInsuranceStore.com

And here's a very recent experience... from just *yesterday* (!)

 

We took out a very small policy in June to get the pre-existing converage started.  We also wanted the overseas medical "just in case", of course.  But we were going to be staying with friends in Italy (not a cruise this time) and using points for airfare, so very little out of pocket. Again, it was mostly for the medical coverage this time (most of our claims have been for expensive trip costs lost... thus far).

This was to be our first post-Covid trip, on Monday. (This was on Friday.) And we never added any additional coverage.

I called TIS yesterday afternoon....

We have ALWAYS gotten CFAR (Cancel For Any Reason), but I had forgotten that we did NOT get it for this trip, for the very first time.  The reason, I belated remembered, was it was a new type of policy, VERY inexpensive but without CFAR, and with so little at stake, why pay the extra, etc.) 

So of *course*... I forgot we didn't have CFAR and called TIS yesterday to start a very small claim - but we paid for the insurance, so we should make the claim, right? 😉

 

Ooops!  I was reminded that we did NOT have CFAR this time!

Okay, no big deal.  The "loss" was only 3 figures (unlike other very large claims).

A very short time later, TIS called me back:  "Because you didn't file a claim, you can appy the premium to another trip within 2 years, so should I have a voucher sent to you?"

Me: "Yes, please." 🙂 

Because it was a different policy from our usual policy, and *very* inexpensive, I hadn't even thought about this.

[It had been "my fault" for saying "thanks and g'bye" and hanging up too soon once I was reminded we didn't get CFAR.  And I would never have given this a second thought if they hadn't called me back.  And we very likely *will* use the very small voucher!]

 

As always, the customer service at TIS is really special.

 

GC