I think I'm getting ripped off for INSURANCE . . .

[racepoint]

I'"reserved" a cabin for a July '08 cruise on the NCL Star to Alaska in October '07 and plunked down a $500 deposit with a well-known on-line agency. Final payment is not due until the end of April '08. When I made this reservation in October '07, the online application asked if I wanted to purchase travel insurance. I checked "yes." I was a bit surprised when my next credit card statement showed not only the charge for the deposit, but a charge for the full amount of insurance ($154.00.) Due to the health of my elderly parents, it's becoming apparent that I am not in a good position to go through with this booking. I am planning to call the online agency and cancel my booking. I understand I will have to pay their "$100/per cabin cancellation fee", but can anyone explain why I'm being charged $154.00 for insurance that I don't even need yet? Your experiences with this issue, please

[kitty9]

Did you tell the agency about the health of your parents? The reason I ask is because of insurance and pre-existing condtions. Unless you purchase insurance 10 to 14 days of booking a cruise, pre-existing conditions are not covered and that would include the pre-existing of your parents, even if they're not traveling with you.

 

But, even if you didn't tell them of your parent's condition, you did check yes on the form, and therefore you did purchase the insurance, so I don't understand why you're upset. Unless you indicated that you didn't want the insurance to be purchased right away, I don't see why you've got a problem with being charged. Like I said, you checked yes, so the agency purchased the insurance for you. FYI, if you cancel the cruise, you don't get one dime back for the insurance, so if I were you, I would not cancel the cruise. Since you have insurance, and if you can't cruise because of your parent's health, you should be covered. But before this, call the agency and demand that a copy of your insurance be sent to you so you can see what's covered. If you're covered for the illness of a member of your immediate family, even though they are not traveling with you, then you don't have a problem. You can cancel the day before your cruise and get a full refund of your cruise fare.

[cherylandtk]

Insurance purchases are effective immediately, so even though your cruise is still a refundable trip, the insurance is not. Many people choose to wait to purchases their insurance until final payment for just this reason. But many insurance policies (not all) require purchase shortly after your deposit is made in order to cover pre-existing medical conditions. So you will usually have to choose one or the other, but you cannot have your cake and eat it too. By checking that box you agreed to purchase that particular insurance policy on that day; next time you might want to purchase a policy of your choice at a time of your choice.

 

One option to explore is that many insurance companies will allow you to transfer the insurance to a future trip if you have to cancel this early.

 

Many travel agents do not charge cancellation fees, but yours does. You can look into your coverage to see if the insurance will pay for your TA fees.

[RichardK]

Insurance purchases are effective immediately, so even though your cruise is still a refundable trip, the insurance is not.

 

And that about says it all...............

 

Sometimes transferable to a future cruise; however, not refundable.

[janetz]

When you explain to your TA the reason for cancelling they may not charge the 100.00, which by the way seems high. Next time, book with an agency that has NO cancellation fees. There are many. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

That is one reason we never buy the cruise line's insurance. Yes -- they will charge you right away for the insirance -- that is common practice on all cruise lines.

 

Should you cancel that cruise, not only will you be paying the $100 per cabin cancellation fee, you will also lose the insurance money!!

 

Buying 3rd party insurance, we can buy the insurqnce right at the time we make final payment. That way if we we wish to cancel the cruise right before final payment we don't lose the insurance money. Also we deal with a real, live TA and are not charged with cancellation fees.

[mckinna]

Did you know that the TA charged $100 cancellation fee before you booked? There are so many that don't charge any fee at all. This seems extreme to me, but then we always book directly with the cruise line anyway. We have just recently started to get travel insurance, really after reading these boards. Since you did buy the insurance, will they cover the (ridiculous) cancellation fee?

[firefly333]

My friend was upset when the TA told her she didnt need the insurance yet, and she had diabetes. The TA thought diabetes wasnt a pre-existing condition, now its hard to purchase insurance that will cover her. Thats why people purchase insurance when they book and yes, the problem is insurance isnt refundable. Hard lesson to learn sorry you are going to owe so much for a trip not taken.

 

btw Im still a bit bitter for losing over $1000 because my insurance didnt cover me. Insurance you need to read the fine print and know the terms I guess.... unfortunately.

[candydane]

firefly333,

 

There are a couple policies that will cover pre-existing conditions as long as the insurance is purchased within 24 hours of final payment. Have your friend check insuremytrip.com and tripinsurancestore.com to find them.

[RichardK]

Buying 3rd party insurance, we can buy the insurqnce right at the time we make final payment. That way if we we wish to cancel the cruise right before final payment we don't lose the insurance money.

 

All true; however, for most insurances, you will then not be covered for pre-existing conditions for yourself, travel mates, family, etc.

 

I buy travel insurance, principally due to having elder parents. And any ailment that winds up being life threatening to them is probably some sort of pre-existing one.

[candydane]

As a warning, different policies have different restrictions as to the conditions under which they will cover pre-existing conditions. So be sure to check the policy BEFORE you purchase it to be sure any thing applicable to your personal circumstances is covered.

 

For example, they often vary their definition of family members -- with some the family members are lumped together with traveling companions, even if they're not going on the cruise. Another policy will not waive pre-existing conditions depending on the severity of the medical condition.

[sail7seas]

Originally Posted by Krazy Kruizers

Buying 3rd party insurance, we can buy the insurqnce right at the time we make final payment. That way if we we wish to cancel the cruise right before final payment we don't lose the insurance money.

 

All true; however, for most insurances, you will then not be covered for pre-existing conditions for yourself, travel mates, family, etc.

 

I buy travel insurance, principally due to having elder parents. And any ailment that winds up being life threatening to them is probably some sort of pre-existing one.

 

 

Which one do you use, KK? I have been searching for the best one for us and I think our needs are quite similar to yours? I would really appreciate your help.

 

 

You may wish to look at CSA Luxe policy. There may be one which covers for pre-existing condition though it is purchased at time of final payment. Another is something like "HTH" I think.

 

[sail7seas]

Originally Posted by Krazy Kruizers

Buying 3rd party insurance, we can buy the insurqnce right at the time we make final payment. That way if we we wish to cancel the cruise right before final payment we don't lose the insurance money.

 

All true; however, for most insurances, you will then not be covered for pre-existing conditions for yourself, travel mates, family, etc.

 

I buy travel insurance, principally due to having elder parents. And any ailment that winds up being life threatening to them is probably some sort of pre-existing one.

 

 

Which one do you use, KK? I have been searching for the best one for us and I think our needs are quite similar to yours? I would really appreciate your help.

 

 

You may wish to look at CSA Luxe policy. There may be one which covers for pre-existing condition though it is purchased at time of final payment. Another is something like "HTH" I think.

 

[blindrid]

My take is that one should not get the insurance premium back since you are virtually covered for any losses (even though may be minimal before final payment) immediately. I know a lot of people wait and buy the insurance at time of final payment but I prefer to get everything out of the way ahead of time knowing it may cost me a little bit of money.

[kitty9]

I believe the issue for the OP is not that she'll lose the premium for the insurance if she cancels the cruise, but rather she's angry that she was charged for the insurance in the first place, right at the time of booking. I don't think the OP understands that once she checked the YES box for insurance, that gave the travel agency the right to sign her up for insurance and therefore had to pay for it immediately. That's one of the many problems for inexperienced cruisers who choose to book via online agencies. There's no way for them to find out the little ins and outs of booking that way, and unless they're vigilant with knowing the small print, such as the cancellations fees, they can feel they're being ripped off. That's why I'll continue with my trusted TA, whom I've worked with for more than 20 years.

[sail7seas]

I'm a very experienced cruiser at this point so it's okay but .....

 

 

In this day and age, not every small community has a trusted, reliable TA that new cruisers (and more experienced cruisers) can rely upon. The small brick and mortars are a dying breed.

 

I used the same down the street, round the corner TA for at least 30+ cruises and they are now out of business. There used to be at least 20 decent agencies in our near area. I think there may be 3 or 4 now.

 

[Jeanne B]

You're going to pay for insurance as soon as you purchase a policy, whether it's through the cruiseline or on your own. The advantage of buying insurance on your own is that you can purchase it at any time but if you want pre-existing conditions covered (and airline bankruptcies, I believe) you generally have to buy it within 14 or 21 days of making your initial trip deposit.

 

Trip insurance doesn't always have to be purchased at final payment. We always buy ours from TravelGuard and I know they allow you to purchase it right up until your departure date (or maybe a week before, I don't remember the exact details).

[cruiseco]

If you're covered for the illness of a member of your immediate family, even though they are not traveling with you, then you don't have a problem. You can cancel the day before your cruise and get a full refund of your cruise fare.

 

That can get real tricky so be careful. The insurance will cover your penalties in effect at the time the situation arose that caused you to cancel. So, if the health situation has deteriorated to the point where you need to cancel now that's what they will go by. If you wait until the penalties kick in and the situation hasn't changed from what it is now the insurer would be justified in declining the claim or limiting the claim amount to whatever the penalties were at the time it became obvious you needed to cancel.

 

With many policies the penalties charged by a TA can also be claimed as long as you are cancelling for a covered reason. But again, be careful as most plan premiums can be moved to a future trip. If you've got $150 invested in the plan premium you'd probably be better off NOT making a claim for the $100 TA penalty as the better use for the $150 would be to use it on a future trip.

[NCTribeFan]

I've been paying car insurance premiums for decades and have never had a claim. How dare they charge me for it when I haven't used it! Think of all the money I could've saved if I didn't have to actually pay the premiums! :rolleyes:

 

Anyway, yes, you have to pay for it when you get it, as has been pointed out. I'm researching policies right now. I've always gotten insurance directly from whomever I booked with, but I'm going to get my own because, thanks to Cruise Critic, I'm now aware that there are many other options. :D

[WEELYNCRUZER]

Do you get your money back if you buy auto insurance and don't get in an accident or buy healh insurance and don;t get sick or injured? That's why they call it insurance.Somebody has to pay for the people who use it. I would be more upset about the $100 cancel fee. Best reason to use a T/A.

[Louise22]

I encountered a problem I wasn't prepared for last year when a cruise I booked was cancelled because of the sale of a ship. The problem I had was with the air my travel agent booked for me which was nonrefundable and noncancellable (is that a word?). My insurance would not reimburse me for the air - the cruise/tour company refunded their part. I was losing approximately $1,000. Thankfully, my travel agent pleaded with the airline and I got my air back with one airline but was unable to do anything with the smaller amount involving the second flight. Moral - read that policy. Who would have thought?