Trip insurance and dying parent— wwyd?

[Anonymous]

We booked a trip to a Carribean all inclusive for February of next war several months ago... At the time my dad had gone through surgery for cancer and he was in remission or so we thought. The cancer is back and my Dad is terminal although going through chemo so his life expectancy could be anywhere fro a few months to a few years at this point.

We bought the standard trip insurance they offered at booking, but give my Dads cancer is “preexisting” I don’t know if they’ll cover canrcellayion if he takes a turn for the worse.

Right now we’ve only paid the initial deposit (about $700) and haven’t booked flights yet but thinking about doing so this week.

Most trip insurance won’t do pre existing waiver or cancel for any reason unless you buy the insurance within a few weeks of the deposit. So here are what I think our options are (unless someone knows of something I’m not thinking of:

Proceed and just hope my Dad doesn’t take a downturn resulting in use cancelling our trip
Cancel trip now, lose the deposit, rebook and buy comprehensive insurance

Thoughts? What would you do?

[Anonymous]

I would proceed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We booked a trip to a Carribean all inclusive for February of next war several months ago... At the time my dad had gone through surgery for cancer and he was in remission or so we thought. The cancer is back and my Dad is terminal although going through chemo so his life expectancy could be anywhere fro a few months to a few years at this point.

We bought the standard trip insurance they offered at booking, but give my Dads cancer is “preexisting” I don’t know if they’ll cover canrcellayion if he takes a turn for the worse.

Right now we’ve only paid the initial deposit (about $700) and haven’t booked flights yet but thinking about doing so this week.

Most trip insurance won’t do pre existing waiver or cancel for any reason unless you buy the insurance within a few weeks of the deposit. So here are what I think our options are (unless someone knows of something I’m not thinking of:

Proceed and just hope my Dad doesn’t take a downturn resulting in use cancelling our trip
Cancel trip now, lose the deposit, rebook and buy comprehensive insurance

Thoughts? What would you do?

It sorry for typos— typing on a phone with a preschooler is hard!

[Anonymous]

You've got to live your life. Regardless of your good intent, it's pretty common to actually not be present when a loved one dies. It happens. It happens whether you are in the same country, same town or in the next room. If he dies when you are away, the talk of funeral arrangements will take in to consideration when you can get back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We booked a trip to a Carribean all inclusive for February of next war several months ago... At the time my dad had gone through surgery for cancer and he was in remission or so we thought. The cancer is back and my Dad is terminal although going through chemo so his life expectancy could be anywhere fro a few months to a few years at this point.

We bought the standard trip insurance they offered at booking, but give my Dads cancer is “preexisting” I don’t know if they’ll cover canrcellayion if he takes a turn for the worse.

Right now we’ve only paid the initial deposit (about $700) and haven’t booked flights yet but thinking about doing so this week.

Most trip insurance won’t do pre existing waiver or cancel for any reason unless you buy the insurance within a few weeks of the deposit. So here are what I think our options are (unless someone knows of something I’m not thinking of:

Proceed and just hope my Dad doesn’t take a downturn resulting in use cancelling our trip
Cancel trip now, lose the deposit, rebook and buy comprehensive insurance

Thoughts? What would you do?

Take a close look at your policy. It's possible that you could cancel and make a claim trying to get deposit back and rebook with the comprehensive insurance. I just had to make a travel insurance claim with our credit card (Chase Sapphire) and the doctor's form asked if there was a preexisting condition and, if so, if it was considered stable at the time the reservations were made. In other words, your Dad's cancer is preexisting, but it was under control and not expected to interfere with travel plans at the time you made the reservation.

And, very sorry to hear about your dad. I hope you get a few more good years with him.

[Anonymous]

This is immediate PP above. I'd also consider how much the $700 is in relation to the cost of the whole trip. I.e. are you going someplace that costs thousands per night for 2 weeks? If your trip will be $25,000 it might be worth it to eat the $700 to have the much larger portion covered by insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We booked a trip to a Carribean all inclusive for February of next war several months ago... At the time my dad had gone through surgery for cancer and he was in remission or so we thought. The cancer is back and my Dad is terminal although going through chemo so his life expectancy could be anywhere fro a few months to a few years at this point.

We bought the standard trip insurance they offered at booking, but give my Dads cancer is “preexisting” I don’t know if they’ll cover canrcellayion if he takes a turn for the worse.

Right now we’ve only paid the initial deposit (about $700) and haven’t booked flights yet but thinking about doing so this week.

Most trip insurance won’t do pre existing waiver or cancel for any reason unless you buy the insurance within a few weeks of the deposit. So here are what I think our options are (unless someone knows of something I’m not thinking of:

Proceed and just hope my Dad doesn’t take a downturn resulting in use cancelling our trip
Cancel trip now, lose the deposit, rebook and buy comprehensive insurance

Thoughts? What would you do?

Just after I got married in 1998, my mom was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. My DH and I were planning on spending a month in new zealand. So of course we were ready to upend everything. My mom insisted that I go; she said that if it didn't work out for her, we've seen her, and if it did work out, she'd need me when I got back. It was very important to her that we took our trip. BTW she's still alive and well and in remission.

So, I'm not sure what you should do here, OP, but you might want to talk to your dad about it and see how he feels. I know from experience (with my now 92 y.o. mom, and my stepfather, and my father-in-law) that with modern medicine, the idea of impending death can linger for YEARS, so at a minimum you need to find out from the doctor how grave the condition is.

[Anonymous]

you have to buy insurance within 10 days of purchasing your trip and then pre existing conditions are covered. I have cancer so i know

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you have to buy insurance within 10 days of purchasing your trip and then pre existing conditions are covered. I have cancer so i know

Doesn't this vary by policy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We booked a trip to a Carribean all inclusive for February of next war several months ago... At the time my dad had gone through surgery for cancer and he was in remission or so we thought. The cancer is back and my Dad is terminal although going through chemo so his life expectancy could be anywhere fro a few months to a few years at this point.

We bought the standard trip insurance they offered at booking, but give my Dads cancer is “preexisting” I don’t know if they’ll cover canrcellayion if he takes a turn for the worse.

Right now we’ve only paid the initial deposit (about $700) and haven’t booked flights yet but thinking about doing so this week.

Most trip insurance won’t do pre existing waiver or cancel for any reason unless you buy the insurance within a few weeks of the deposit. So here are what I think our options are (unless someone knows of something I’m not thinking of:

Proceed and just hope my Dad doesn’t take a downturn resulting in use cancelling our trip
Cancel trip now, lose the deposit, rebook and buy comprehensive insurance

Thoughts? What would you do?

Have you tried to call the company that issued the policy and ask? Seems like that would be the best way to get specific information about your options.

[Anonymous]

This is for most policies you have to to do with in a certain time frameI always h\\get my insurance the same day i book my vaction

[Anonymous]

OP--sick or not, anything can happen to anyone. Make your plans and live your life.

[Anonymous]

Omg. This is a thread about travel insurance or not. Not about not living her life or going on the trip.
I would call. I would imagine that even a pre-existing condition that results in significant loss might be covered since you are not the person sick. Could be wrong. My last policy covered ore existing

Also is 700 just your flight or would everyone come back at the same time? You could just cancel your ticket and rebook with insurance if your husband and kids would stay to complete the trip before returning.

[Anonymous]

Can you clarify whether this is a trip you're planning on taking with your dad, or with your family (spouse/kids) only?

I'm not sure either way whether the trip insurance would cover the cost of the trip if all of you canceled -- because the cancer is your dad's illness, not yours. If your theory is that the insurance will cover it should you cancel the entire family trip to be with your dad in the hospital or hospice or whatever -- then I wouldn't bet on it.

[Anonymous]

Watch the wording of the insurance closely or consult a travel agent for clarification. If your father is not traveling with you and he has a pre-existing condition, you are going to need very specific coverage to have your potential cancellation covered. Are you a primary caregiver?