Travel Insurance is it necessary?

As part of our discussions with customers when they are booking a cruise, we always ask that they have suitable travel insurance cover and if appropriate give them a competitive quote.

However here is a cautionary tale.
I booked a couple onto a Caribbean cruise for next year, and asked the usual Insurance question and was told ' I have a policy and my insurers are aware of my conditions so I don't think it will be a problem.' Once a booking is confirmed it is subject to the terms and conditions of the cruise line on cancellations and if you need to cancel you will lose the deposit.

The passengers existing insurers wants a premium for this cruise, at £2000 - more than the cruise and he considered cancelling, but the deposit would be lost irrespective of the circumstances! I have to say the customer was less than happy.

So, what did he do. As you can guess he tried the usual places of alternative insurance companies without success but then found British Insurance Brokers' Association, a quick phone call and they gave him the name of a specialist broker who arranged  him cover for the cruise.

Now I have also used this a couple of other times for people who have an existing health problem or other issues and they have been able to find a quote for their holiday.

So the moral of the story is check out first, and if you have a problem ask because I might be able to point you in the right direction to get insurance sorted.