Travel Insurance Conundrum

[david63]

I don't know what the answer to this is - if there is an answer.

We all know the necessity of having travel insurance and that ideally you should take out insurance the minute that you hand over your hard earned cash but this is starting to become a problem where you have the situation of booking cruises two years in advance.

There are two options with insurance (actually there are three - but I will come to that later):

• Annual policy. My understanding with annual policies is that if you have a "rolling" policy then, with most companies, you are covered for all future holidays/cruises. The problem with annual policies is that they have an upper age limit after which you cannot have one.
• Single trip policy. This you buy for each holiday/cruise but, in general, you cannot buy one of these for travel more than 12 months in advance.

So if you are over the age limit for an annual policy you are between a rock and a hard place.

None of this used to be a problem when holidays only went on sale after Christmas for the following year but now that lead times have increased there is a void and the insurance companies don't appear to me moving with the times (nothing new there then!)

So you either have to take a chance of loosing your deposit or to delay booking a holiday until you can get insurance - which probably means that you will not get the best price and almost certainly not the accommodation that you want.

I said earlier that there was a third option for insurance and that is to take out a Bespoke policy but that comes at a [high] price.

[towny44]

You have hit the nail right on the head on this one David, although even with an annual policy rate there can be a catch if you currently have only European cover but your new holiday requires worldwide. In this case if you want cancellation cover straight away then you need to upgrade your policy immediately, and with age and pre existing conditions worldwide cover is generally double that of Europe only.

[Meg 50]

we have managed to take out insurance for a cruise 18 months hence.

BUT another problem is that in the meantime, things change:
1) We had to alter the dates of the trip - admin charge ...
2) our medical conditions changed - luckily not different enough to change the premium, so no admin charge - but there could have been...

and these things mount up too

[Manoverboard]

Couple of points ...

Regarding Single Holiday Insurance with those folk with pre-conditions it can pay to pay the deposit on a Credit Card and to only apply for the insurance policy when the balance date approaches. Why, because the risk period ( and cost to cover ) for cancellation will be considerably less.

Bespoke with ' http://www.insurancewith.com/about-us/ ' can work out cheaper but there will be a pile of questions, the first being about your height and weight !!

[Stephen]

Looks like a case of the single trip policy David. My suggestion would be to talk to your travel insurance company explaining the situation and see if they can give you a projected quote for the same holiday for in a years time. They or you can then roughly add on a percentage for what the policy may be in two years time when you travel to give an idea of cost allowing you to book your holiday now. Of course there are no guarantees in life, but at least you should get a pretty good idea of costs.

Just a thought.

[david63]

... it can pay to pay the deposit on a Credit Card and to only apply for the insurance policy when the balance date approaches

But the credit card would only "kick in" if the travel company went bust and could not fulfil the holiday - it would not give you protection against cancellation. Equally travel insurance I doubt would cove the company going bust.

@Stephen - it is not a problem for us at the moment, but will be in a few years time.

[towny44]

Couple of points ...

Regarding Single Holiday Insurance with those folk with pre-conditions it can pay to pay the deposit on a Credit Card and to only apply for the insurance policy when the balance date approaches. Why, because the risk period ( and cost to cover ) for cancellation will be considerably less.

Bespoke with ' http://www.insurancewith.com/about-us/ ' can work out cheaper but there will be a pile of questions, the first being about your height and weight !!

Interesting comment Moby, are you certain that using a credit card to pay your cruise deposit would enable you to claim it back from the credit card provider if you need to cancel the cruise?
I did a trial quote with these people just in case we have a problem with our Feb 35 nt Caribbean round trip cruise when our annual policy comes up for renewal, and you are right their quote was well below any others I have tried, and they were most helpful on the phone as well. Unfortunately they were not prepared to offer us an annual policy due to my wife's stroke conditions, so not an option until we are over 75.

[allatc]

I pay minimum deposit and then get insurance just before the final payment is due.

Yes I might lose the deposit but typically this is less than the insurance premium anyway.

[Manoverboard]

Couple of points ...

Regarding Single Holiday Insurance with those folk with pre-conditions it can pay to pay the deposit on a Credit Card and to only apply for the insurance policy when the balance date approaches. Why, because the risk period ( and cost to cover ) for cancellation will be considerably less.

Bespoke with ' http://www.insurancewith.com/about-us/ ' can work out cheaper but there will be a pile of questions, the first being about your height and weight !!

Interesting comment Moby, are you certain that using a credit card to pay your cruise deposit would enable you to claim it back from the credit card provider if you need to cancel the cruise?
I did a trial quote with these people just in case we have a problem with our Feb 35 nt Caribbean round trip cruise when our annual policy comes up for renewal, and you are right their quote was well below any others I have tried, and they were most helpful on the phone as well. Unfortunately they were not prepared to offer us an annual policy due to my wife's stroke conditions, so not an option until we are over 75.

... it can pay to pay the deposit on a Credit Card and to only apply for the insurance policy when the balance date approaches

But the credit card would only "kick in" if the travel company went bust and could not fulfil the holiday - it would not give you protection against cancellation. Equally travel insurance I doubt would cove the company going bust.

@Stephen - it is not a problem for us at the moment, but will be in a few years time.

Insurance, to me, is about the ' Management of Risk ' but not just ' Risk ' for the Insurance Company.

It all depends on personal circumstances of course and the likelihood or otherwise of one's pre-condition(s) making an untimely return.

It is a known fact, allegedly, that the largest percentage of claims are on the basis of cancelation rather than illness during the actual holiday, it is also a fact, allegedly, that the cost to cover the risk of cancelation decreases significantly if the time gap between the Policy date and the holiday is minimalized.

With these thoughts in mind we pay the Deposit by Credit Card and accept the risk of losing it through cancelation, our last but one holiday company however went bust and we were reimbursed. It suits us these days to make late, rather than early, bookings albeit in the knowledge that our deals will not be as good as they once were.

Hope that helps.

[towny44]

Have just completed our annual travel insurance renewal and am very pleased to report that we managed to obtain worldwide cover (incl. USA and Caribbean) for less than £550, this included the additional cover for the extra 4 days our 35 nighter has against the limit of 31 days in the policy, and included all our pre existing conditions.
No one else would offer an annual policy and the best single trip to USA and Caribbean for 35 nights was nearly £700 with Insurancewith.

[JoanneB]

Found this article from 2013, so it looks like specialist brokers could get single trip insurance for stays/cruises more than 12 months in advance

A while ago, I booked a river cruise 14 months in advance of the departure. I tried six travel insurers online, but every one refused to give me a quote so far ahead. In the end I gave up and waited a few months until it was within 12 months of the departure date. If for some reason I had to cancel my booking in those first few months then I would not have had cover and would have lost my fairly large deposit. Why is this?

Nick Trend, consumer expert, replies
Most single-trip travel insurance policies sold online will set a 12-month limit on forward bookings; such policies tend to be sold in bulk and so are not very flexible. However, some more specialist policies will be set up on a “certificate issued” basis rather than a “departure date” basis. This means that your trip would be covered. This is the case with Travel Plus and Free Spirit policies offered by PJ Hayman (0845 230 0631; pjhayman.com) for example, when they are bought by telephone rather than online – mention the timing of your trip if you buy one. Hayman’s 24/7 cruise insurance currently covers trips up to March 31 2014, which soon will be extended to 2015.

An alternative is to buy an annual multi-trip policy; cover should be provided for the deposit paid even if the trip start date is beyond the expiry of the policy. Provided you renew, the cover will be continuous. However, you should explicitly confirm this with the insurer before you buy, since exact terms and conditions vary. You may also have to declare any changes in health.