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Cruise travel insurance

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lilacben | 15:59 Sun 14th Dec 2008 | Insurance
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Just to worn other people going on a cruise. Make sure you are covered if the ship is delayed..! As we have found out the hard way. We went on a cruise that had to turn back to land to let two very ill people off to go to hospital. This made us 24hours late into dock. Our flights had already been booked but we couldnt change them.So after hours on the phone in the middle of the Pacific ocean we managed to get flights but four days later. So then we had to pay for the flight for return. Three nights in hotel plus other expensives.At home extra days for dogs kennels and coach trip home all had to be paid extra for. Put in a claim when we got home only to find out it was us that was insured for delays not the ship.! It was the ships medical emergency ,they said, and not ours.!! So �1500 down after everything we had to pay for. I am so annoyed as we now have to find this money for the credit card bill. So please make sure you are covered for this as well as everything else.!!
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Thats terrible! Surely they are fobbing you off, it might have been the ship's delay but you were affected!
I would take the matter further that is what you pay insurance for really isn't it?
As bad as this might sound - it is always up to the person to check and fully understand their Insurance policy. After all you wouldn't normally sign contracts without reading all of the policy, would you?

Unfortunatley so ,many poeple buy Insurance policy thinking that they must be covered without actually checking.

Although this is terrible, the Insurance Company can't be held accountable for you not reading the literature which they supplied which will have advised specifically what you were and were not covered for.
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I realise that Adam28, but I must say if it states "Delayed Departure" how are we supposed to know it has clauses.? when we didnt read any.!!We was delayed , through no fault of our own, so therefore we missed the flight. . So we was delayed.Other than swimming to shore how else was we supposed to get to the airport on time.
Whilst I understand that you could not have got your flight it still doesn't change the fact that you didn't read your policy documentation. If you had you would then have realised that the policy does not cover you for this. Simple.

If what your actually saying is that your broker mis-sold this to you and did not give you your policy documentation etc then you can, quite rightly, seek compensation from the broker under their Errors and Omissions Insurance.

I can understand that you were/are annoyed when you found out that you could not make a claim on your Travel Insurance but this is not your Insurance Companies fault and they can't be blamed for something which they do not provide coverage for. Next time I would suggest that you read the documentation before purchasing.
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Adam,Thankyou once again. from the way I read your reply you have a great knowledge of insurances and how they work. But once again I must say it didnt say anything in the document about delays on the return journey not being covered. It just says "Delayed Journey" but no notes on anything that wasnt covered.i.e delayed flights home. So really how is anyone supposed to know it means if the transport you are on makes you miss a flight then you are not covered. Sorry it really doesn't make snese to me.Also we had to return to UK. Would "Repatration" be the way to claim for flights at least.?
Difficult one to answer! Adam is right in as much as everyone should read the contract but hardly anyone does! www.extrasureonline.co.uk distributes quality insurance products and may have been able to claim under the missed departure section. Fundamentally, the cruise company should be offering compensation of some sort as its them which have caused the delay by turning backl even though it was for good reasons.

In my job, I spend a lot of time helping get claims paid. If I could be of any use, just let me know!
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titusadrum, many thanks for your reply. I would like to take you up on your offer if I may but just to let you know at the moment I am waiting for reply from the cruise line. As I sent them all the paper work to see if they could help.Just had a note to say they was looking into it. So if you dont mind I will just wait for their reply first.
I did claim at first for missed departure but have also sent the insurance company a letter saying that I thought they should maybe have considered Repatriation if they thought missed departure didnt apply.
Please keep in touch as I will let you know as soon as I hear something. Merry Christmas
During my miss-spent youth, I regularly holidayed in the Greek islands � many thousands still do. Back then (as is no doubt still the case) you just bought a return flight to Athens, got yourself to the port and caught a ferry to your chosen island.
Although I had holiday insurance for each trip, I realised that I was not covered should the ferry back to Athens not run for any reason. On more than one occasion it was a close run thing, but luckily I never missed my flight. I searched for an insurance company that would cover such an eventuality � but could not find one.

Your situation would appear to me to be completely different to that set out above, your travel delay was outside your control (importantly, it was part of your fixed itinerary, it�s not like you could have caught an earlier ferry) � and I would expect most (if not all) insurance policies to payout.

I would agree with tigwig that you are being fobbed off. Sadly this seems to be all too common with many types of insurance.

My advice would be to go through your insurance companies complaint procedure and then to the insurance ombudsman (you have nothing to loose � and possibly �1,500 to gain). I would also seek the advice of the Daily Telegraph�s travel agony aunt Gill Charlton � if she says that you have no claim, then you have no claim.
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Hymie. I found your reply very helpful, many thanks. I have still not heard from the travel insurance company yet after saying I would like to take it further, have sent two emails no reply, so I am about to send one more and then phone them again. I will then go to the Ombudsmen , as you mentioned as I hadnt thought of them. Also it may be worth dropping a line to the paper agony aunt as well. Please watch this space as I will let you know what happens next. many thanks and a Happy New Year.!
Of course, just because I think you have a good case, does not necessarily mean it to be so.

To give your claim the best chance of success you need to have documented evidence of your losses (additional expenses incurred). If you send the insurance company original documentation, ensure that you keep a copy (better still, send a copy and keep the original).
I believe that you should be entitled to the cost of your flights, additional accommodation and transport. I don�t think you can expect payment for the additional kennel fees or any loss of earnings � there will also be the policy excess to deduct.

I never like trying to resolve things by phone (it is all too easy for one party to deny what was said) � if you do contact the insurance company by phone, keep a written record of the salient points discussed plus time, date and with whom you spoke.

Be prepared for a long haul � it took my mother over 6 months to get a disputed payout from her travel insurance policy.

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