We do not have medjet or amex or other overseas medical insurance; therefore, we purchase insurance trip by trip. Although we have collected for delayed baggage or trip interruption in the past, these have been minor expense. The main purpose of our buying the insurance has been medical and evacuation.

Reimbursement for trip cancellation is nice but not overly critical; after all, the expense is limited to cost of trip. Therefore, I am wondering about limiting insurance cost by not insuring for full cost of trip. So, some questions.

1. Are you allowed to put a lower number than total trip cost on insurance application?

2. If so, can you still collect up to amount insured if you do have to cancel in advance? If you do cancel, for example, during 50% penalty period, can you get the full amount back (assuming you insured for at least 50%) or do they limit you to 50% of total that insured for?

3. Can you collect for non-refundable air even if you didn't insure for whole cost plus air (again assuming the total is less than the amount of insurance)?

4. To take this to an extreme, can I insure for just $1000 to get mininal trip interruption, delay, and baggage coverage but still maintain medical for entire trip?

thanks,

Marc

I would highly recommend you give medjet another thought. My experience when getting Carol home from Maui last May was priceless. Do not know what I would have done without it. If for no other reason it gives piece of mind when traveling.

Marc, I can't answer all of your questions, but I can tell you that with regard to #1, we have been only insuring about half the total cost of the last two very expensive and long cruises: LLAMA and KANGAROO. We self-insure the rest. I would think that if you had to cancel during the 50 percent penalty period, you would get up to the amount of the insurance not 50 percent of it.

I agree with Ralph, we obtained a 5-year Medjet policy a couple of years ago because they had a pretty good deal, and as you know, we had a fairly close call in Taijin during PANDA. Too many uncertainties.

-------------

Eugene

You can buy what they call zero band insurance. This is what it sounds like you want.

NO COVERAGE for cancellation but coverage for everything else the insurance covers it is VERY cheap. Lisa can give you a quote for the prices if you email her but the big risk for the insurance companies is the cancellation coverage they really throw the rest in free.

I had a $1400 bill on the Mariner in November from the doctor. My regular insurance did not cover me as I had not met my deductible. The insurance paid me the full $1400. I had zero band coverage for a cost of about $60 I believe. I also bought Med Jet about 3 years ago for a 10 year period. Not planning on slowing down my travel for the next 7 years.

Zero band is probably what you should be buying Marc based on your post. I think all travel insurance companies have it they just do not talk about it as it is so inexpensive and they do not get the big premiums.

Ngaire, thanks. I will definitely need to consider this for CANADA. I will email Lisa.

I have never heard of zero band insurance. Thanks for the information, Ngaire, and for starting this thread, Marc. Very interesting.

Marc, Thank you.
This something we need to look into.

Doug

Ngaire, does this apply to all insurance companies? Those which are American?
All?
This looks great for short cruises.
We also have MedJet.

I do not know about ALL insurance companies you would just have to check each insurer. MOST people buy insurance for the cancellation coverage so do understand not a penny is refunded if you cancel.

This is only good for lost luggage (after any reimbursement received from the airlines) travel delays, medical not covered by your own insurance and other small miscellaneous things. The biggie would be sending you home if you became ill. So the be aware this is not that much coverage that is why the risk of the insurance company is so low and the premium so low.

Most people ask for cancellation coverage but NOT all the other items and they dont sell it that way as all these incidental things are really thrown in free or for this lower charge for the "everything but cancellation coverage"

You must realise the limitation of what you are buying but if you do not want any cancellation coverage then this may be the right thing for someone.

I know Travelex and CSA have it I really do not know about any other companies as this is what we handle the most.

Ngaire, does Eugene's plan work? Can I self insure just half the cruise and get full reimbursement if in 50% penalty period; or, would they prorate it?

You can definitely underinsure.

Personally I would imagine they would prorate it if full coverage was prorated and Lisa will have to ask that question. I honestly do not know.

It may depend on underwriting and not always be treated the same way. The one thing about insurance is if there is any way ANY company can avoid paying they will find it.

I will get Lisa to check this out and email you directly.

If I undertand the issue correctly: I insure a $10,000 cruise for only $5,000, but I cancel at a time where I am only going to lose $5,000. I think that they will pay the $5,000.

I'll be very surprised if Lisa finds out that is not true. You are not insuring for a percentage of your losses, you are insuring for a given amount of dollars.

-------------

Eugene

Ngaire - can you have her post what she finds out here? I think many of us might like to at least have that option to think about in certain situations.

Interesting conversation. It prompted me to call CSA , which is the insurance company I usually use.

Eugene's understanding is correct, they would pay up to the total amount insured. The only policy where they require that you insure 100% of your travel costs is the one where you can cancel for any reason.

I misunderstood Marc's question. I meant if any payment was prorated with full coverage it would be prorated the same with half coverage. THat said not much if anything is prorated on insurance coverage. Just reading and working too fast "as usual"

Eugene is 100% correct on a cancellation they will pay you UP TO THE AMOUNT insured. You have a trip costing $10,000 and insure for $5000

To be really clear.

Have a loss of $4000 you get $4000
Have a loss of $5000 you get $5000
Have a loss of $10000 you get $5000

It is a personal decision but if you buy insurance you are trying to cover yourself for the amount you paid. That is still a lot to lose if you underinsure and have to be out $5000.

For me I would insure it all OR I would do the zero insurance with the benefits without cancellation coverage.

Of course you pay half the premium this way and the big reason would be if you felt that you would cancel for sure at the 50% penalty stage but THINGS happen unexpectly at the end and you are stuck with a 50% loss. When that happens that premium looks small in comparision to the loss.

Again - everyone's decison.

Not to confuse anyone, but I have had to use cancellation insurance twice. It was a godsend for me and my traveling companion.

Well, I do believe a real look at this is required.
After all, at almost 10% of the trip for the insurance, one can self-insure in almost no time (given how much we all travel)

I think we need a better picture of what is included in the "non-cancel" policy.

Any and all help will be welcomed.

Doug

Everything that is normally included in a policy EXCEPT any cancellation coverage. Baggage, trip delay, missed connection, non covered medical, emergency medical transportation.

I'm in the Diane camp. At my age, I never know when a medical "thing", or death in the family or whatever is going to descend upon me, and I need to cancel or cut a cruise short. I've got Medjet Assist, too. Lots of money going out, but I feel comfortable with this, whereas others are willing to take the risk nothing will go wrong on land before a cruise, or on the ship. Might not have felt this way in my 50's!

Funny story. When we started cruising back in the early 90's I was under the impression that trip cancellation was covered by my Visa card, so I never took any out with the TA. About 10 years or so later I found out it only covered about $4000.00.
Needless to say, cruises were a lot more than that.
Guess it's true, someone up there watches over fools!
We now take out cancellation insurance on every trip.

I'm in my 50s and have used it!

thanks for the above post - i was under the same impression about my VISA - our advisor at the bank told us we're covered with our card too, but i better check this week for exactly how much coverage - i do know that the entire cost of the cruise must be paid on the same card for any coverage to be in place -

Medical and medical evacuation costs are not known in advance of trip and are unlimited. Amount lost due to cancellation is fixed and already spent. To many, it makes sense to isnure against the unlimited risks while self insuring against the limited risks. As for insuring for "half value;" there may be limits on how much we want to self insure.

Marcie, I am interested in your input. ;)

We have never traveled without insurance since 2005 BUT we both have health issues and need the peace of mind insurance provides....

Marc, what you're saying makes good sense to me. We never insure and KNOCK ON WOOD, we've never regretted it. If we were to cancel at the last minute and lose 100%, we'd still be way $$$ ahead. The high premiums for our WC's alone would have paid for a very nice cruise!

In our case, we've canceled many cruises and never even lost the admin fee Regent charges as we have always rolled it into another cruise.

I know many want the peace of mind, individual choices, no right or wrong...guess we've just lived on the edge. We do have emergency medical coverage out of the country and Med Jet, wouldn't be without that. Have never needed either but this does give us peace of mind.

we insure always, although I will say those premiums are tons. We always worry that something will happen with our parents, or kids, and have to cancel. I wish i had the "guts" to not do it. We also have Med Jet now as well. In the scheme of things Med Jet isn't so bad...

Cindy, the one time I had to use MedJet, even though I had not followed the proper protocol in calling them first and booked my own flight home when I was hospitalized in England, they honored their commitment to me and reimbursed me for the change fees, etc., amounting to over $600. I've been committed to them ever since!

As well, I always insure for the reasons (and others) you stated.

Knock on wood we have not had medical/family issues before or during a cruise BUT issues have arisen and it is the reason we have to have insurance - yes it is $$$$$ but I see no way around it.

Just a caution; after age 75 MedJetAssist gets extremely expensive. We carried it for many years, but did not renew last year due to the cost.

Everything insurance wise gets expensive once you reach 70 and above Doug, thats for sure!! :eek: Its very frustrating trying to find something that will cover possible issues and yet not cost the farm. Sigh......