When to file a claim?

[Buckimion]

I have a trip booked with Carnival for late 2025 but my transplanted kidney just failed after nearly 15 years and I'm headed back to the waiting list. I no longer feel comfortable keeping my cruise but had bought "Cancel for any reason" insurance from Travelex last year when first booked. Do I cancel the trip and then file a claim? Or how do I go about this?

[TheOldBear]

If you have some documentation from a doctor advising against travel - then it's not the 'any reason', it should be one of the directly covered reasons.

 

Check the fine print on your policy and also check with your insurance agent [if no agent, check with the provider].

 

My policy has [under Trip Cancellation]

[quote]

1. a covered Sickness or Injury involving an Insured, Traveling Companion or Business Partner, or Family Member of an Insured or Traveling Companion which necessitates Medical Treatment at the time of cancellation and results in medically imposed restrictions, as certified by a Legally Qualified Physician, which prevents an Insured’s participation in the Covered Trip;

[/quote]

 

If you were to cancel _today_ what are your non-refundable expenses for the trip? 

 

Are you inside the 'final payment' date for the cruise portion?

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, Buckimion said:

I have a trip booked with Carnival for late 2025 but my transplanted kidney just failed after nearly 15 years and I'm headed back to the waiting list. I no longer feel comfortable keeping my cruise but had bought "Cancel for any reason" insurance from Travelex last year when first booked. Do I cancel the trip and then file a claim? Or how do I go about this?

 

First, I am very sorry to hear of your situation and I hope that you speed through the list...

 

Agree with @TheOldBear and if you have a legitimate medical reason ( I believe that you do ) then you get your medical doctors to agree that they advise you don't go, then you cancel for the medical reason and get all your money back except the cost of your insurance.

 

Consider this:

 

Most often, if you have a medical reason to cancel the CFAR is not an option, because most often the CFAR is underwritten by the cruise line, and they would rather the insurance to pay out.  (Most CFAR gives you the option to CFAR, but is most often a credit for future cruise.) Whoever is underwriting the CFAR will ensure that you have exhausted the medical route first.

 

I don't know Travelex and so don't know their program... is that connected to Carnival?

 

Cancelling for medical reasons in your case should be fairly straight forward, but will require you to get doctors reports, etc.

 

Call Ca

[CDNPolar]

Oh, and when?  Do it sooner rather than later.  

[iflyrc5]

If your cruise is not until late 2025 you should be able to cancel with no penalty.

[GeezerCouple]

32 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

Most often, if you have a medical reason to cancel the CFAR is not an option, because most often the CFAR is underwritten by the cruise line, and they would rather the insurance to pay out.  (Most CFAR gives you the option to CFAR, but is most often a credit for future cruise.) Whoever is underwriting the CFAR will ensure that you have exhausted the medical route first.

 

I don't know Travelex and so don't know their program... is that connected to Carnival?

 

Cancelling for medical reasons in your case should be fairly straight forward, but will require you to get doctors reports, etc.

 

Once again, this is probably something that is different in the USA vs in Canada.  [We've never viewed any sort of regular Canadian travel insurance policy, so we can't really make informed comparisons. And much of what we have managed to understand, which admittedly isn't much, is courtesy of @CDNPolar .]

 

However, we do know what many USA-based travel insurance policies do.  And the CFAR is often (usually?) part of the main policy, but the traveler may need to have paid extra for that coverage.

The CFAR may pay 75% in cash back, while some other policies (e.g., through a travel vendor) may only offer a cruise credit and possibly with a time limit.  I think there IS at least one cruise line policy that may offer "money back" (??).

 

So the third-party CFAR coverage would usually not have anything to do with whether one had used "medical coverage" or not, especially if both coverages are from the same insurer/same policy.  (They'd presumably *prefer* to pay 75% for the CFAR, rather than 100% of losses for the regular coverage! Again, this seems to be an Canadia-USA travel insurance difference?)

 

If the cruise line also has some coverage to get the CFAR, I'd think one would have had to also pay for the cruise line coverage, which often has a "lesser" coverage than third-party policies.  I can't imagine many USA-based travelers wanting - or needing - to buy a third party policy AND also paying for a full cruise line police, but there might be times when that is useful and cost-effective (?).

 

And I agree that @Buckimion  should be able to have the physician state that there should be NO travel (or not X far from home, etc.) while on the waiting list.  And that should then be the regular, medical full coverage (meaning 100% of all losses).  This isn't a discretionary, "change of mind" type of cancellation by any means!

Ask the insurer for their medical claim cancellation form.

Do this ASAP, so it is "timely", especially if it is not yet 100% penalty.  The insurer has the right to be able to pay the losses at the time of the known loss, rather than waiting til the very last minute, long after the need to cancel was known, when the losses might be greater.  [If it isn't definite that the trip must be cancelled, that's different.  But that doesn't seem to be the case here.]

 

And Buckimion, GOOD LUCK and hope your place on the list gets you what you need soon and  that you have a comfortable recovery!

 

GC

[iamtrustworthy]

On 8/30/2024 at 1:57 PM, Buckimion said:

I have a trip booked with Carnival for late 2025 but my transplanted kidney just failed after nearly 15 years and I'm headed back to the waiting list. I no longer feel comfortable keeping my cruise but had bought "Cancel for any reason" insurance from Travelex last year when first booked. Do I cancel the trip and then file a claim? Or how do I go about this?

Hi Buckimion,

 

You cancel all your travel arrangements first and then start the Travelex claim.

 

Steve Dasseos