Bad news on the travel insurance front.

We were told by CSA insurance about two weeks ago that they were changing their insurance to just two products. Freestyle and Freestyle Lux. The Freestyle Lux was going to be the policy with the pre-existing condition waiver. Well this happened mid last week and we are still confused on all the details of coverage but are sorting through that. HOWEVER, what we did not know or expect was the large premium increase on both policies. From first glance it appears that CSA is not a good option now. I am just back from MUSH so still have to look at all of this but it appears to be the case on the little work I did on the new premiums yesterday.

I am going to do some research in the next few days and try to find another insurer to recommend. It may be we will be back to buying pre-existing insurance coverage within the time frame limits such as Travelex we used to sell before CSA offered this option at final payment.

There are a few insurers that cover cancellation for ANY reason at all, but it is expensive. We have sold that type of coverage a few times and I need to research that further and investigate the conditions of that coverage.

What made CSA special was the ability to get pre-existing condition coverage at final payment time with a premium close to all the other insurers such as Travelex, Access America etc.

Now CSA is more expensive than buying any of the others in the time frame required for pre-existing coverage that normally ranges from one week to three weeks after deposit.

Any of you out there that buy insurance independently that have any suggestions I would appreciate your insight.

I am certainly no expert on the subject, but have used Travel Guard many times and collected once or twice. I like their basic policy where you add in what you want. I am interested in the cruise portion and personally take it early and do not include the pre-existing. We thankfully at this time do not need it. You can take or not take the pre-existing part. Why could you not do that at the last payment time??? You might look into "My Travel Guard " under Travel Guard International. Seemed much more reasonable than the big all encompassing policy.

Jan

Thanks for the heads-up, Ngaire, especially since I just told Susan yesterday to go ahead and do the CSA coverage for my Monday final payment. I have no idea what to choose--I was actually toying with no insurance, since I have travel medical already, and with this low-cost cruise, I thought I might wing it, but I am a bit superstitious I guess, and don't want to have the gods rain on me.

I always use Travel Guard as well and have had no problem with them but I have never had to collect. Since we have no pre existing conditions, that is of no concern to me but the preexisiting conditions of our parents are. Their basic plan does not include preexisting for family members at home but the next plan up does.

I did call them from the ship when our post cruise got cancelled and they told me to just keep my reservation receipts for anything that was cancelled and they would take care of it as soon as we arrived home. They were very easy to get ahold of while on the ship and I really appreciated talking to REAL people as soon as I called.

Right! So now you get to collect something. Welcome back, Karen! Travel Guard looks interesting, I'll try it next time maybe, but I don't have that option now, since you have to buy it within 48 hours of booking.

Our CSA frestyle policy premium, according to the VISA charge made, was comparable to what we paid earlier this year for the SA cruise legs; ie, 23 days was @ $1400 and 30 days for the first leg of the 2007 WC is $ 1833. If you're looking for another ins provider you might want to look at Travel Insured Int'l. Their premium is a bit higher than CSA was, but their coverage is much better and automatically covers pre-existing conditions. We used to use them, but switched to CSA, because of the expense and the fact that we have no pre-existing conditions.

Doug, according, to www.insuremytrip.com, Travel Insured (Worldwide Trip Protector Gold) does not cover pre-existing conditions unless purchased within 10 days of original booking.

Ngaire, only options I can find on www.insuremytrip.com except CSA freestyle luxe that cover pre-existing at final payment is HTH Worldwide. Otherwise, I think you are going to need to find a company (can't tell from insure my trip) that lets you assign premium to future trip if you cancel between deposit and final payment. This isn't the best of all possible worlds but it will be most cost effective for those with pre-existing conditions.

Thanks Doug, no we don't really care about the pre-existing conditions (yet!)

Wendy, you can buy the policy anytime you want. I always wait til final payment on the trip is due before I buy mine.

I think the 48 hours comes into play only for preexisting conditions?

This is really only a big issue for those wanting pre-existing coverage.

When I last did my research Travel Guard did not compare to CSA for the benefits offered for the price charged. Remember the paramaters are hard to compare. It all depends on your age, the cost of the trip etc so personal circumstances can change what is best for each person.

CSA Custom plan with pre-existing coverage at time of final payment for those that wanted this was a "no brainer". Reasonable and just simply the best option.

The problem with buying ahead of time to cover pre-existing is exactly what Marc pointed out. We need a policy that is transferable because purchasing a policy that is non refundable far in advance is not a good option. Also it is nice to have family members covered for pre-existing even if the travellers are not. Regent does cover family members, CSA does not and Travelex does not unless you buy it with pre-existing for the travellers as well.

Next week I will do some more research. I have to pick the one that is best for the normal cruise, most common age and make a choice.

We have older parents and insurance with pre-exisiting for family members is a must for us. Ngaire, thanks for researching this issue so that we will have an alternative.

In a few days I will purchase from Travel Guard for our Jan. 9th cruise on Mariner. I have a rate of $723 for $10,000 of trip cancellation,etc. and the usual medical stuff which we don't need but must take. I went to www.insuremytrip.com and they had the best cost.

Ngaire, do you think RSSC will ever offer a plan like Silversea's reassurance program (I am not even sure if SS still offers it)? I like the way you can cancel for any reason and receive a future cruise credit.

In addition to getting travel/med insurance I have the travel insurance thru AMEX. Seemed like a great deal since it covers you always when you are 100 miles away from home. Which costs about $100 a year ( varies due to age I believe)..only thing it does not cover is lost luggage.
anyone have thoughts on it?

Claudia, my insurance company covers me anywhere in the world at 100% including emergency evacuation so I have never thought about it. What does your own ins. company cover for you? This is a stupid question but have you called and asked them if you are covered overseas?

Insurance --- not my favorite subject. Since 9.00 am this morning I have been reviewing all the plans, downloading all the fine print on each company.

The outcome of my investigation is that Travel Guard is by far the cheapest for basic coverage. Those that want that should just buy Travel Guard themselves. Something that most of you know already.

However, many people want pre-existing coverage. Not just because they have pre-existing issues but if you have a claim they dont dig around into your background trying to find a reason to deny the claim. It just makes it all easier. Buying months or years early is not a good option.

Regent offers pre-existing coverage if purchased in 72 hours of deposit and it is refundable as a normal cruise fare would be if you cancel. However, their premium is high and their coverages are low and some people on certain policies need more medical coverage than they offer if their primary coverage does not work overseas.

I am going to switch to HTH Worldwide. They offer pre-existing waiver plans if paid within 24 hours of FINAL payment. Their basic plan has good coverage but they have an enhanced plan for those that want it. This is the best option overall for the majority of my clients. the premiums in most cases are not that much higher than the regular plans which require purchase within a short time period of deposit. I even found a few instances that HTH was less. The cost is very similiar to the old CSA Comfort Plan. They also did not seem to be really excessive with older participants. Still a higher cost but not as bad as some plans.

Too complicated to try to sell multiple plans. I can still do the Travelex Lite or the CSA Freestyle for those that want no pre-existing coverage.

I am so tired of insurances now - cant wait to put this project behind me and move on. Lets hope HTH does not figure out they are a good deal for late purchase for pre-existing coverage and go up also.

Just to add a little to this discussion, it has now been 10 wks since CSA confirmed receipt of our claim (only after I called a week after mailing and asked).

~10 days ago we received a check for $159 covering emergency phone calls from the ship, and an airport meal on the way home, but nothing was mentioned about the other $12K+ (prorated cruise days lost, pre-paid post-cruise land stay, pre-paid return air and incremental air to get home...that their agent booked for us.) I immediately called and they said the claim had been split into two parts, and the 'bigger' part was with a supervisor for review.

A couple of weeks after the initial filing I sent an email asking the status, and was informed it normally takes 4-6 wks for them to process a claim. I hope we're the exception and not the new 'rule'.

Meanwhile the $159 check sits on our desk waiting for its big brother before being deposited.

Steve

CalBerry - Hope that all comes through for you.

Ufortunately all insurance companies seem to take forever but on the positive side CSA has always come through with payment. Graywolf had a serious heart attack on the world cruise and CSA was great with that claim.

I am dropping CSA now as the premiums have risen so dramtically but I did have a confidence in their claims payment record so be patient and I am sure it will all come to fruition.

It is frustrating I know. I have never understood why things take SO LONG. Insurance is one of those necessary things we must do and yet it is also one of the most frustrating things to deal with.

Would someone please look at the following company and give me your thoughts.

www.accessamerica.com

They have an ANNUAL policy instead of individual trip.
Does this work for you??

Jim,
It looks like the immediate problem with that Annual policy is that it covers nothing or $1000 (depending on policy type) for trip cancellation or interruption. Basically, it doesn't cover the cost of the trip if something goes wrong and some of the other coverages look low.

One other caveat. We once insured a bad trip through Access America and were not happy with their handling. We never even got them to mail us claim forms. (It was for a back-to-back river cruise through Europe during a drought and there was no boat in the departure city for either of the 2 cruises. We bought air and a pre-cruise package through the cruiseline and they flew us to Amsterdam without telling us that the boats were almost all stranded somewhere and NOT cruising. Anyway, finally got home with 4 or so days of cruising in the Main/Danube canal only and contacted Access America for claim forms since the cruiseline called it an 'act of God' and that was covered. Fraud was not. Access America required a letter from both the cruiseline and the TA that the cruises had not taken place. Both refused to send such a letter. I offered to provide Access America other proof that the ships were high and dry, like news stories on press websites, etc. But, they refused. We finally got our refund from the CC company.) I would not ever buy Access America again.
Debbie

Thank you Debbie.
That was just the kind of information I was looking for.

ngaire,
thank you for all the work you did on the insurance coverage. Your website page on it is phenominal!
Lynn