How a Galveston ladies’ journey highlighted key errors to keep away from

GALVESTON, Texas – For years, Helen Reddy dreamed of taking a cruise. Now 89 years previous, wheelchair-bound and reliant on oxygen, the journey she longed for turned a logo of hope and friendship, a ladies weekend getaway with shut associates from their nation membership in Galveston, Texas.

But what ought to have been a festivity become a irritating ordeal that has dragged on for greater than a yr, leaving Helen and her good friend out hundreds of {dollars} and caught in a complicated net of journey insurance coverage claims and denials.

Denise Roller, a detailed good friend of Helen’s, shared the story of their plans.

“Helen has been talking for years, years and years, about taking a cruise,” Roller mentioned. “One of the last things on her bucket list was to go on a cruise.”

When the women at their nation membership determined to make Helen’s dream come true, they bought tickets on a Princess Cruises voyage aboard the Regal Princess, scheduled to depart Galveston on Oct. 27, 2024.

Denise paid a complete of $8,633.32 for the cruise and a trip safety insurance coverage plan, together with Helen’s ticket.

“We were ready to go and do a girls weekend,” Roller mentioned. “Helen is wheelchair-bound and on an oxygen concentrator. We knew that, but we had the doctor’s okay.”

But as destiny would have it, Helen’s well being took a flip for the more serious.

Diagnosed with most cancers and power obstructive pulmonary illness (COPD), her situation deteriorated. Her physician in the end suggested towards touring.

“The doctor said, ‘I’m just not comfortable with this. We really need to go ahead and not do it. Let’s just back out,’” Roller recalled.

The group canceled the journey, assured their journey insurance coverage would cowl the associated fee.

“We didn’t really worry about it because we had the insurance to cover it,” Roller mentioned.

A Fight For Her Money

However, what adopted was a yr and 4 months of frustration, delays, and denials.

“The insurance company has pushed us around,” Roller mentioned. “They kept asking for different medical records and information. We gave them everything they asked for, but then they asked for more. It’s been a constant back and forth.”

Roller described the issue of offering the insurer with the requested documentation.

Helen is now underneath hospice care, the place conventional physician visits and medical information are restricted.

“Once you’re on hospice, you no longer see doctors outside of hospice care,” Roller defined. “There are no medical records from doctor’s offices, hospitals, labs, or x-rays. There’s only one doctor, and she’s very busy.”

The insurer additionally requested direct communication with Helen’s physician, which proved difficult.

“They tried to call her, she tried to call them back, but they never connected,” Roller mentioned. “The doctor said she had too many other things to do, like taking care of sick people.”

Despite their efforts, the insurance coverage firm has but to approve the declare.

“They’re still saying, ‘We’re sorry, we can’t do anything for you,’” Roller mentioned.

The cancellation discover from Princess Cruises confirms the group was charged $8,366.84 in cancellation charges after onboard credit, almost the complete quantity paid for the cruise and insurance coverage mixed.

Roller mentioned the insurance coverage firm refunded the few hundred {dollars} paid for the insurance coverage itself nothing towards the cruise value.

“We never even saw the boat,” Roller mentioned. “And here’s the ironic part: Princess Cruises ended up canceling that cruise.”

The journey insurance coverage coverage, offered by United States Fire Insurance Company and administered via Aon Affinity, features a “Cancellation Fee Waiver Program” supplied by Princess Cruises.

This program just isn’t insurance coverage however a waiver of cancellation charges underneath particular situations reminiscent of illness, harm, or dying of the traveler or rapid members of the family.

However, the coverage accommodates a 60-day pre-existing situation exclusion that disqualifies protection if a medical situation worsens or presents signs inside 60 days earlier than buying the waiver.

Roller admitted she didn’t learn the complete 48-page insurance coverage doc earlier than shopping for, counting on recommendation from a journey agent that it was a typical coverage.

“If I were to do this again, I would read it from start to finish,” she mentioned.

So how will you journey with peace of thoughts? Here’s the highest 5 suggestions:

Do be sure to are shopping for precise journey insurance coverage, not a cancellation waiver or add on.

Don’t assume a “travel protection plan” robotically means insurance coverage. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners says journey safety is commonly bundled with non insurance coverage merchandise, together with cancellation payment waivers and journey help companies, and solely the insurance coverage portion is overseen by state insurance coverage departments.

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Do learn the exclusions first, earlier than you examine costs or plan ranges.

Don’t purchase a coverage with out checking what it won’t cowl, as a result of exclusions might be the distinction between a payout and a denial. NAIC lists widespread exclusions that may embrace pre present well being situations, pandemics, civil or political unrest, being pregnant and childbirth, and sure dangerous actions.

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Do prioritize medical protection and medical evacuation in case you are cruising or touring internationally.

Don’t get tunnel imaginative and prescient on baggage protection and assume your common well being plan will defend you in all places. NAIC lists journey medical and medical evacuation as key sorts of journey insurance coverage protection, together with journey cancellation and baggage loss or delay.

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Do get crystal clear on what qualifies for journey cancellation or interruption protection and what proof you have to to submit.

Don’t assume “the trip got canceled” robotically equals a full refund, as a result of reimbursement is usually tied to coated occasions, documentation necessities and deadlines. NAIC describes journey cancellation, interruption and delay insurance coverage as protection that reimburses pay as you go and non refundable journey bills when a traveler is prevented from taking all or a part of a visit.

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Do take into account Cancel for Any Reason provided that you want most flexibility, and browse the tremendous print on timing and reimbursement.

Don’t count on one hundred pc again, as a result of NAIC says Cancel for Any Reason protection usually supplies a partial refund, about 50 % to 75 %, and sometimes requires you to fulfill standards reminiscent of shopping for inside a specified time-frame, insuring the complete journey value and canceling at the least 48 hours earlier than departure. Some insurers additionally spell out related deadlines, reminiscent of shopping for inside 15 days of preliminary journey fee and canceling no later than 48 hours earlier than departure.

A Lesson Learned

Princess Cruises and Aon Affinity have been requested for remark however mentioned they might not meet the deadline for the story’s airing.

Roller mentioned a Princess Cruises consultant was unaware of the continued dispute when she contacted them.

“This is not the way to do business, especially not with an 89-year-old woman who is wheelchair-bound and on oxygen,” Roller mentioned.

For Helen and her associates, the ordeal has been about greater than cash.

“It’s less about the money now and more about the principle,” Roller mentioned. “Don’t treat people like this if you want them to do business with you.”