Insurance Question

[Cruiser-66]

Where do I get the best coverage for the money. We are both in our early 60's. The insurance I used to use really jumps in price after age 60. I would appreciate your help if you've done any research on this. Thanks!

[Host Caroline]

Where do I get the best coverage for the money. We are both in our early 60's. The insurance I used to use really jumps in price after age 60. I would appreciate your help if you've done any research on this. Thanks!

 

I would go to www.insuremytrip.com and check out the companies there.. if not cruising Princess I usually get "Travelguard Essential" or Access America... we drive to a lot of cruises so the cost isn't as much.. Just be sure if you have a preexisting condition to take into consideration that you look carefully at what companies offer this and when you have to take out coverage.. usually within a 7-14 days

[iamtrustworthy]

Where do I get the best coverage for the money. We are both in our early 60's. The insurance I used to use really jumps in price after age 60. I would appreciate your help if you've done any research on this. Thanks!

 

I'm curious to know what company you are referring to that jumps up in price. Most travel insurance plans gradually increase with age although there's one company that actually has lower prices for people up to age 75 than most of the other leading travel insurance companies.

 

If you are concerned about pre-existing conditions, you need to be a little careful. There are a few plans that charge more to cover pre-existing conditions.

[Hlitner]

I tried to answer this question on another post but will deal with it here again. When you buy insurance its always a trade-off between risk and benefit. Trip cancellation insurance basically refunds most of the cost you paid for a trip, which in the end leaves you no better off or worse off than you would have been had you taken the trip. Medical insurance, on the other hand, it a virtually unlimited risk. This is particularly true as we age and increase the chances of a major medical problem. So, if you want to keep down the cost of insurance, simply ignore the trip cancellation (assume this risk yourself) and buy supplemental medical insurance, which happens to be quite cheap if you already have primary insurance. You can find $100,000 major med policies for less than $200 per couple, and those policies will cover all your trips for one year. American Express even offers a supplemental travel policy for which we pay $135 a year (for two people) that covers $100,000 medical plus high limit medical evacutation coverage (very important since none of this is covered by primary medical insurance). We travel over 6 months a year and if we took trip cancellation insurance we would be spending more than $7000 per year which is nutz. By the way, the supplemental medical policies generally do cover pre-exisiting conditions...the key being that you must have your own primary insurance. HostCaroline's link is a good place to start, but thought I would mention the AMEX policy which is not included on that site and which is cheaper than medical-only policy from HTH World which is shown on that web site.

 

Hank

[iamtrustworthy]

...if you want to keep down the cost of insurance, simply ignore the trip cancellation (assume this risk yourself) and buy supplemental medical insurance, which happens to be quite cheap if you already have primary insurance. You can find $100,000 major med policies for less than $200 per couple, and those policies will cover all your trips for one year. American Express even offers a supplemental travel policy for which we pay $135 a year (for two people) that covers $100,000 medical plus high limit medical evacutation coverage (very important since none of this is covered by primary medical insurance). We travel over 6 months a year and if we took trip cancellation insurance we would be spending more than $7000 per year which is nutz.

 

Hank

 

Hank,

 

Does that American Express policy have a limit on the number of days you can travel per trip?

[Hlitner]

Yes. It only covers 45 days per trip. What we found interesting about the AMEX policy (besides the low price) is that the coverage is for any trip more than 150 miles from your residence. Manyother policies do not generally extend coverage inside the the USA. I believe the HTH policy covers up to 60 days per trip. But, you certainly would need to check the fine print! :) With AMEX if you give them a call they do answer any specific question on the phone and than send you the policy in the mail. They also give you the option to cancel within 30 days (I guess this is to give you enough time to read the policy) with a total refund.

[smeyer418]

interesting article on travel insurance...especially for seniors....

and it has more sites than I have seen before.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/travel/21QNA.html?_r=1&ref=travel&oref=slogin

 

 

yes you have to register it is free...its the NY times...

 

the older you get the less expensive the cruise lines insurance becomes(comparatively). It is not age rated like most of the direct buys!!!!