Travel Insurance For Very Expensive Trip

[iloveglee]

We are considering a long, and probably very expensive trip for our golden wedding. probably will include a cruise. I have looked at travel insurance, and got some quotes from the comparison websites. we can get a policy for a longer stay, which will cover our medical conditions, which are not too serious, but the cancellation cover is poor. The most we seem to be able to get is £5000, which will not even cover half of the cost of the trip. There must be many people out there who, for example, take a world cruise, lasting 3 months or more, and probably costing best part of £25 to £30,000. How on earth do they go about getting insurance. I see that most of the cruise lines don't charge you the full price until about a month before departure, but what if something disastrous happens just before departure. It's almost making me think it isn't worthwhile even thinking about it.

[Flonska]

Cancellation Cover @ £5000 pp appears to be fairly standard across a range of travel policies. If you contact the Company concerned and tell them how much the trip is going to cost, they will usually refer it to their underwriters and may well provide you with additional cover - but you will incur an additional premium charge.

[237SJ]

Have you tried Insure and Go? https://www.insureandgo.com/Content/downloads/IAG_MF_PW_BLK_0417.pdf

[woofgang]

I saw a thing on TV about this recently which I hadn't known because I don't travel. In order to be covered if anything prevents you embarking on the trip, you need to start the cover from the day you book. The couple on TV had only bought cover for the actual duration of the hol. She was ill before they left and they lost everything.

[New Judge]

Don't forget to consider your home insurance. Most policies only cover you for absences of about 30 days in one go.

[Peter Pedant]

I am uninsurable ( ca and recurrence )
and I just go

I imagine anyone doing a buckeet list is in the same category

[iloveglee]

Yes there are many issues to consider, i have done some comparison website searches, and indeed £5000 does seem to be the maximum on a straightforward search. I guess it might be worth while contacting the individual companies. i had thought of contacting an insurance broker, a friend who lives in new zealand, does that when she comes here because they underwrite her personally she finds it comes cheaper which surprised me. Good point about house insurance, i think ours allows us to be away for 40 days, but i think there is the facility to increase that. it's due around the time we would be going, so could do it just for that year. We have taken extended trips before, so i am pretty sure it was do-able. As far as buying a policy as soon as you are booked, yes definitely you have to do that, even if you are booking many months in advance. we went to brazil this year, and booked it 10 months in advance, but had to get the insurance policy organised straight away, very important if you have any medical conditions, as anything can happen at any time. I can imagine how frustrating it must be to be unable to get insurance, but having experienced two medical interludes with a relative, in the USA, one situation requiring a triple bypass, and the other surgery and intensive care for a burst appendix, i shudder to think what would have happened had they not had insurance. they would have lost their house for sure. They don't travel abroad now because the one who had the bypass has become un-insurable. Also, even if you have no medical conditions, anyone can be in an accident, we do know someone who was and ended in intensive care also for 2 months, in the USA. Its very scary. We do have some bucket list places, but i wouldn't want to risk my house.

[237SJ]

On the link I posted, the cancellation cover is £10,000 per person

[Flonska]

Have you checked with your bank? Some banks offer current accounts that include travel insurance. You may be eligible to upgrade to one of these packaged accounts - albeit that you may incur additional charges for doing so.

[twix123]

Travel Insurance via a bank account won't give you the level of cover you require, it is normally a very basic policy. You need to speak to an Insurance Broker who can approach the market with your specific needs.
People who go on very expensive Round the World cruises, there was one advertised in the paper recently for 3 months over Christmas and the New Year top suite priced at £125,000, tend not to bother with insurance, as they can afford to to pay out of their own pockets if necessary, rather than paying out a similar sum as a premium for cover that may not be utilised.

[woofgang]

twix, the issue is probably not so much the medical care (although OP may well want this too) as covering the price of the holiday if you need to cut it short or not go at all.

[iloveglee]

its is about the medical care, but definitely also about the cancellation. I do know people who have risked it, but money would literally have to be no object because you can end up with a seriously enormous bill for medical care, especially in the USA. I have used insure and go many times before, but for less expensive trips. i have looked this time, but they wouldn't quote me online for a trip of 8 weeks, possibly our ages as well. they said to call them which i will do at some stage. just at the moment we are at the thinking about it stage, not got as far as planning yet. when we find out how much its actually going to cost, that will concentrate the mind

[woofgang]

My sis travels a lot but shorter trips, usually 2 or 3 a year. She finds that often, an annual policy costs her less per trip than insuring each time she goes.....maybe you have already done this or its ruled out by a cap on travel days or maximum payout but maybe worth a look?

[iloveglee]

an annual policy is definitely worth a look, especially as we would probably take another trip, to europe, later in the year. normally for europe we just take the EHIC top up. problem is, once we have booked and committed to something, we have to take the policy immediately, which may not cover other trips. what we are considering booking now, is not for travel until maybe january 2019!! crazy but leave it, and what we want may not be available. travel insurance is a complete nightmare, especially as you get older.