Thread: Travel Insurance - Do You Need It?

I just got this email from a client that I wanted to share with you;

Pete,

I don't need anything from you at this point, just wanted to pass along some information to you that might be useful in upping your ability to sell your Travel Insurance. My Aunt and Uncle set sail on their first ever cruise on Saturday from Norfolk to Bermuda and less then 12 hours after setting sail my Uncle had a heart attack on the ship. He spent the remaining day and a half as they sailed to Bermuda in the sick bay undergoing tests and such before being moved to the Hospital in Bermuda when they arrived there. A Leer Jet was then sent from the States to pick he and his wife up and take them back to Memphis last night at the cost of roughly $20,000. That combined with his medical expenses from his time on the ship and few hours in the hospital total over $36,000.

I don't know how much of that the insurance you offer would have helped off set, but I remember specifically when buying on previous cruises you mentioning being airlifted off the ship for medical reasons. Needless to say, I haven't had the heart to say, "If you used my cruise guy, he could have sold you travel insurance to cover this."

Hope all is well with you and we're still looking forward to our Cruise in Sept '11 and hopefully a Disney Cruise in the Summer of '12.

Michael

For the record, had his aunt and uncle purchased travel insurance, it would have covered all of their expenses in this situation. Now they're stuck with a $36,000 bill that could be catastrophic to them.

As I always say, you hope buying travel insurance is a waste of your money, because if you need it, it's usually not for a good reason. But if you need it, you're damn glad you've got it.

I always recommend travel insurance, but I always HIGHLY recommend travel insurance when you're traveling with seniors, traveling with small children, traveling during hurricane season or Winter, or traveling out of the country. Those are times when the percentage of need grows.

Nancy and I are leaving on Monday for a month-long trip to Europe and the Baltics, and we purchased the travel insurance - wouldn't travel without it. Just never know when you're going to need it. It's a small price to pay for the peace of mind.

Pete

A few years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of taking out travel insurance. As I got older I see friends cancelling trips because of Kidney stones, bad backs etc and glad they had insurance. Since I started cruising 3 years ago and all air trips planned way ahead of time I now take travel insurance. Never know and as the saying goes rather have it and not need it then the reverse.

Everyone in the UK has Travel Insurance, in fact I doubt you can even travel without it.

Personally, I would never travel out of the country without travel insurance and buy it for every trip. Fortunately we have never had a claim but you never know. Most people's personal insurance does not cover them outside the country and I seriously doubt few, if any, would pay for airlift back to the country. I don't buy it so much for the cancellation protection but in case of accident or serious illness while gone. Having said that I most always buy it within the time frame allowing for pre-existing condition waivers just in case, which is usually 10-15 days after the initial deposit date.

A friend of mine had to be airlifted back to the states after breaking her sternum during a cliff dive in Jamaica! Yes, she had the travel insurance thank goodness and no, she will never cliff dive again, lol.

I read an article in our local paper about a couple who thought their medical insurance covered them in foreign countries ... and it did. In every country they were visiting. But it didn't cover an illness that occurred "on the high seas". And it didn't cover emergency transportation, or even transportation of a body should one of them die on board.

We buy travel insurance now; its a small price to pay for the reassurance.

Great post Pete. We had a simlar incident involving one of our own at an agency where I previously worked. He HAD travel insurance which covered ALL his expenses from the time he was injured shortly after getting off the plane in Russia all the way back home. It even paid for the doctor and nurse that had to travel with him.

I always strongly recommend it. Personally never go without it.

I have a client who had been planning their 2 week Alaskan cruise tour for a year. She is a substitute teacher at a high school. On the last day of school, which was 3 days before their trip was to begin, she was teaching at a high school and the last bell rung for the last class, and naturally all the kids ran out the door excited that school was out for the Summer. A big kid ran in front of her and step on her foot breaking it! The doctor told her she had to lay up for a couple of weeks otherwise it would require major surgery. Needless to say, they were extremely disappointed. Luckily, that had purchased the travel insurance and every penny of their $8000 cruise tour will be reimbursed. They are very glad they purchased the insurance and are now planning to rebook the cruise tour for next year.

As I said, you hope that purchasing travel insurance is a waste of your money because if you need it, it's usually not for a good reason. But if you need it, your damn glad you've got it!

Just remember one major point; make sure you are purchasing travel insurance and not travel protection. There is a huge difference between the two.

Pete

Even if you aren't travelling with seniors or children, you may have family in that category. I used to think that travel insurance was in case you couldn't make it to the ship due to weather, but now I get it so I can be more flexible in case a family emergency comes up.

Back to my original idea, if you are flying to a cruise during hurricane season or during the winter, you need trip insurance if you don't use the cruiseline's air. Even if it doesn't snow near you, winter snows or any bad weather can hold up planes going to your airport.

Originally Posted by MCcruiser

Even if you aren't travelling with seniors or children, you may have family in that category. I used to think that travel insurance was in case you couldn't make it to the ship due to weather, but now I get it so I can be more flexible in case a family emergency comes up.

Back to my original idea, if you are flying to a cruise during hurricane season or during the winter, you need trip insurance if you don't use the cruiseline's air. Even if it doesn't snow near you, winter snows or any bad weather can hold up planes going to your airport.

I think this is a common misconception. As far as I know, cruise lines do not guarantee anything when they provide air travel bookings (at least, Disney, Princess and NCL don't). They do it as a convenience, without any other warranty. So if you are weather delayed you are still responsible for the cost of getting to the next port or fighting with the airline for reimbursement (good luck with that). Trip insurance is still needed to reimburse you even if the cruise line handles the air fare purchase for you.

A question for some of the agents who have had customers file claims: do they get reimbursement up to the limits of the policy quickly and easily, or do the insurance companies try to get out of paying? I know there are some "gotchas" that you have to be aware of, such as missing the sail away doesn't mean you get a full refund of the trip; you get reimbursed the cost of joining the ship at the next port. But beyond the technicalities, do the travel insurance people act in good faith on the claims? Are there companies we should avoid?

Originally Posted by fshagan

I think this is a common misconception. As far as I know, cruise lines do not guarantee anything when they provide air travel bookings (at least, Disney, Princess and NCL don't). They do it as a convenience, without any other warranty. So if you are weather delayed you are still responsible for the cost of getting to the next port or fighting with the airline for reimbursement (good luck with that). Trip insurance is still needed to reimburse you even if the cruise line handles the air fare purchase for you.

A question for some of the agents who have had customers file claims: do they get reimbursement up to the limits of the policy quickly and easily, or do the insurance companies try to get out of paying? I know there are some "gotchas" that you have to be aware of, such as missing the sail away doesn't mean you get a full refund of the trip; you get reimbursed the cost of joining the ship at the next port. But beyond the technicalities, do the travel insurance people act in good faith on the claims? Are there companies we should avoid?

On average, I have about 3 claims a year. And over the last 8 years that I've had my own business, I've not had any complaints from my clients concerning the length of time the process took, the process itself, or the amount paid.

I would like to take the credit and say it's because I let them know how to file the claim, but in reality it has to do with the companies we use. They are very good.

Cruise Planners use to sell travel insurance offered by 5 different companies, but because of bad customer service, they fired 2 of them, both of which were big players in the game. I only do business with those companies that treat my clients well - if my clients were to have any problems, then I would refuse to use that company because customer service is the most important part of the job.

With that said, many people like to use insuremytrip.com as a way to compare travel insurance policies and prices. But it's tough to beat the individual agent and their relationship with insurance companies since the agent is the one in the middle and hears both sides.

But as I've mentioned before, and it's important enough to bare repeating, make sure when purchasing insurance that you are getting travel insurance and not travel protection. There is a big difference that can cost you alot if you make the wrong choice.

And I don't mean to sound like a salesman, but this is one of the biggest reason why you should always book with a reputable agent and not with an online site or the cruise line. An agent will look after you because hey have your best interest at heart. An online site or the cruise line will only look after themselves and this usually includes the travel protection they sell.

Pete