Travel Insurance - can travel be refused without it? Medical conditions too expensive

TELLIT01

Nobody can stop you purchasing a very basic policy and lying to Cunard that it provides the necessary cover.  You may get away with it, or one of you may be taken seriously ill and then hit with a massive bill when Cunard discover that your insurance is insufficient to cover the costs.  I suppose it depends on just how much of a risk taker you are.

sheramber

Have you considered worst case scenario- they do happen.
You could be looking ar helicopter evacuation to a shore hospital in a foreign country.
Plus hospital charges for however long
plus repatriation if required or helicopter return to the ship 

No doubt you would want to accompany your husband so you would have your costs as well.

How quickly could you lay hands on all that money?

What percentage of the cost of the holiday is the cost of the insurance?

DullGreyGuy

sheramber said:

Have you considered worst case scenario- they do happen.
You could be looking ar helicopter evacuation to a shore hospital in a foreign country.
Plus hospital charges for however long
plus repatriation if required or helicopter return to the ship 

The case I saw was "2 days" in the ships ICU, redirection of the ship to get into helicopter range, medivac by helicopter to now local island. Subsequent medivac to the USA as treatment beyond their capability. A few months in a specialist US hospital before repatriation to the UK of the body after medical treatment was withdrawn. 

Jools1953

Honestly, buy the policy and enjoy your cruise.  Everybody has made important, valid points.   I cruise myself with 2 declared medical conditions, and I have worldwide cruise cover insurance with Staysure for £250.  Worth every penny. 

pamdd

I have just had a similar thing with P&O. I could get cover for everything on my usual policy apart from breast cancer, which has been under control with targeted chemo for the last 22 months. I tried about 20 companies, half wouldn’t insure me at all, the rest quoted between 1300 and 1800 for two weeks. I found they were all using the same template for medical questions. Question. Has cancer spread anywhere else. Answer Yes, but no facility for saying just to chest wall, not to other organs. Eventually I got insurance with a company suggested by MacMillan for £175 full cover because they asked the right questions. The day before I travelled P&O phoned to say they had given incorrect information, they shouldn’t have said I couldn’t cover that condition myself, I got £100on board credit as part compensation for the new policy I had to take out.

elsien

I had a relative who had Parkinson’s but was otherwise well and considered fit to travel. He had to be airlifted off the cruise, spent a few weeks in intensive care in Portugal, his wife had to get from the cruise to the hospital then pay for food, accommodation and travel to the hospital each day, then the cost of a med-evac flight back to the UK.

When you say you can cover any medical expenses, if you can afford all that lot then you should be able to afford the insurance. 

It is in the terms and conditions for Cunard so you have agreed to have the necessary insurance. 

I don’t recall parent being asked to prove she had cover, but it’s not an argument you want to be having  as you try to board so how much of a chance do you want to take. 

twopenny

I'd shop around a bit more. At least then you'd know whether you are paying over the odds or not.
All clear used to be the go to for difficult cover but I think that may have changed recently.
There is a Travel with disabilities forum on tripadvisor. May be worth an ask.. Or the senior forum.

But answers can be few being global and very specific to case. Worth a try though.
There used to be a member from the industry with great info and the prices quoted for treatment here are right. You need money quickly and assurance before they will treat all when you are upset and dealing across countries.

Then the possibility that you will be blacklisted from cruising or sued for the cruise ship expences if you have not complied with their t&cs.

I remember when insurance was mandatory for any package holiday before they would accept you. It's not a new thing.

NoodleDoodleMan

"I remember when insurance was mandatory for any package holiday before they would accept you. It's not a new thing."

 The TUI online system won't let you proceed to make a resevation without ticking the box to indicate that you have travel insurance cover in place.

katejo

katatedale said:

First of all, I understand the value of travel insurance, have worked in the insurance industry and I have my own travel policy. But my husband has so many pre-existing medical conditions that it is so expensive to cover him - in region of £750 for single trip, or £160 with all existing conditions excluded.  He is 75 and we are going on a cruise with Cunard. Financially I'm in a position to take the risk of additional costs if something should happen, but the cruise company say that he must be insured and all conditions covered. 
Is this legal? Can they refuse travel if he has exclusions or doesn't have a policy?
There is no facility to upload policy certificate, or to confirm cover - proving no exclusions.  I phoned to ask how they check that people have a policy and why isn't there a facility to up load documentation?   The answer was that policy documents would be checked when boarding.  I can't see how they'd have time to read the details of all policies and consider that this is lip service.
In addition, how do they know if a customer has given full disclosure, or that a policy has been appropriately underwritten? There is nothing to stop me buying a policy and not declaring any conditions. I know a claim wouldn't be paid out, but that's not the point.  Cunard have no way of checking this. So what is the point in the company stating a mandatory policy being required when they don't know if the insurance company would even pay out in the event of a claim.?  The cruise company could end up with the same problem with an "insured" passenger as they would with an "uninsured" passenger.
Lastly, much of the travel insurance is doubling up on cover I already have on home insurance and private medical insurance, critical illness and life cover.  So there are only a few extra details that I'd need to insure. I'm also sailing to and from the UK.
I'd really like to know my legal position on this matter, or details of companies that only sell the bits of travel insurance that are necessary to avoid over insuring and doubling up on existing cover.
Thanks

On previous holidays pre Covid which I did with Explore, insurance was always compulsory and we had to provide proof on arrival at the destination. If we couldn't do so, we had to buy one of their policies (or return home).

jimi_man

NoodleDoodleMan said:

"I remember when insurance was mandatory for any package holiday before they would accept you. It's not a new thing."

 The TUI online system won't let you proceed to make a resevation without ticking the box to indicate that you have travel insurance cover in place.

Yeah, that was partly because package companies used to offer discounts, but only if you took up their (usually horrifically priced) insurance. It was a con and as I recall didn't last too long. Do people still do package holidays? I just wouldn't even think about doing one now.

There are countries where it is a requirement to have travel insurance but in general it's not required for Europe if you have an EHIC/GHIC card. Whether it's advisable to take out travel insurance or not depends on your attitude to risk (and to a certain extent the type of person you are - some people are much more prone to being ill/injuring themselves).

In the OPs case, I think they will have to suck it up. If I was them, taking into account the risks, I'd probably go for the cheapest (£160) to satisfy the conditions.