Cruise passengers have been urged to check their travel insurance after reports that a third do not have adequate cover.

A survey by insurance company All Clear has shown that around 34% of cruise passengers would not be fully covered by their travel insurance policy if they were taken ill at sea.

These passengers would also not be covered for pre-booked excursions that were cancelled due to ill-health, bad weather or changes to the itinerary.

Chris Blackman, head of product development at All Clear, said: ” A surprising number of people seem to rely on the basic medical provision on board ships. However, in all but fairly minor emergencies, this will not be sufficient.

“If you are taken ill on board and need to be airlifted to shore, without insurance you will end up paying for it.”

He added: “Insurance gives you the peace of mind that if you are ill or injured on board, or on a shore visit, you’ll have no problems; anything that needs hospital treatment will be covered.

“There have been a few cases recently where a number of passengers have fallen ill while on a cruise, and have had to be quarantined in their room for days on end. But without a policy that is tailored specifically to a cruise, you may never be compensated.”

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has also urged cruise passengers to make sure they are adequately covered, since different countries they visit on tour are unlikely to have exactly the same approach when it comes to healthcare.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Insurance, Travel Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.