Travel Insurance (pre-existing condition declaration and equipment coverage)

[daveh0]

I'm going on a bit of an extended, multi-destination trip and am trying to figure out how best to insure it. My understanding is that as long as it's declared ahead of time, SCI is covered as a pre-existing condition. Can anyone confirm this? Is there anything out of the ordinary that needs to happen in order to declare/document it? My other concern is for my chair. I"ll be bringing my super-old backup/travel chair. It cost $8000 20 years ago but probably isn't worth $100 today... except for to me it is... the fact that it's still a chair light enough for me to lift into my car on my own makes it VERY valuable to me. I don't even know how I would go about replacing it if it were lost or damaged beyond repair. And a new wheelchair light enough for m to be able to load into my car by myself would likely still run several thousand dollars today. Any tips for making sure this is somehow covered? I know my primary chair ($14k brand new) is covered under my renter's insurance, which I believe covers it from damage during travel. Should i add the backup chair to the policy as well? I'm kind of getting the feeling I'll be screwed if something happens to this backup chair just because of it depreciated value "on paper". I'm at a bit of a loss here. Any light that can be shed would be amazing.

And then for anyone who has purchased it anytime recently, any favorite carriers? or comparison websites that you used to get a quote? Any other provisions beyond what common sense dictates (medical, trip interruption, etc, etc) that I should be looking for?

[SCI-Nurse]

In order for pre-existing conditions to be covered by travel insurance, you MUST purchase your insurance within 3 days of purchasing your trip tickets (tour, airfare, cruise, etc.). If you wait longer, the insurance company can deny you coverage for medical as well as trip cancellation coverage. Here is a good site for shopping for travel insurance (better than buying it from the tour company, airline or ship): https://travelinsurancecenter.com/

Are you traveling by airplane from/within the USA? If so, there is no longer any limit on the amount the airline must pay if they damage your wheelchair. They are also obligated to get you another wheelchair immediately that is comparable if they damage it beyond usability, although there are many well publicized instances of violations of this rule. Every airline is required to have a compliance officer available 24/7 at each airport it serves, so if something should happen this is who you must ask to speak to.

You might want to take a good look at this document from United Spinal Association: https://www.unitedspinal.org/pdf/Acc...Air_Travel.pdf

(KLD)

[endo_aftermath]

I, and some friends, have been happy with squaremouth.com as a source to compare and select travel insurance.

[SCI-Nurse]

Yes, I have also heard good information about Squaremouth. (KLD)

[daveh0]

I, and some friends, have been happy with squaremouth.com as a source to compare and select travel insurance.

Yup - just bought my policy through them. They were recommended by Forbes.com as well. I was able to get a quote online and then call to ask the million questions I had.

In order for pre-existing conditions to be covered by travel insurance, you MUST purchase your insurance within 3 days of purchasing your trip tickets (tour, airfare, cruise, etc.). If you wait longer, the insurance company can deny you coverage for medical as well as trip cancellation coverage.

I purchased my 1st ticket for this trip back at the end of February. The rep I spoke with on the phone swore i was good, and I didn't see any fine print saying otherwise, but that definitely doesn't mean I didn't miss something. I'll be doing all the "pre-existing condition waiver" stuff today and will report back if there are any. issues.


I'm still not 100% sure what to do about my chair for the 2 flights I have that don't originate or end in USA. Like i said, I'll add it to my renter's insurance policy, but that still won't do me *any* good in the middle of Ecuador... and probably not much more when I get back. Oh well - that thing is a beast... fingers crossed.

Thanks all for the input!!

[daveh0]

Just to circle back on the whole time period within which you must purchase your travel insurance... for my particular policy, Travel Safe Classic, in order for your pre-existing condition to be covered, they require you to purchase your policy within 21 days of payment (in full or deposit) for the first piece of he trip you want to be covered. So for me, we are staying in 3 different destinations with several different flights, rental cars and lodging throughout that we've been piecing together since the end of February (and are still adding to), but the 1st thing we purchased was one of the flights on 2/28. So by purchasing yesterday, we made it in *just* under the wire. But according to what I was told (and what my policy states), that flight and everything else purchased after that will be covered inclusive of my pre-existing condition.

I asked about the 3 day thing and was told that that's the standard for many carriers/policies, but this particular one happened to be 21 days. I asked if I could get that in writing and was told that the language in the policy should be sufficient.

I asked if I needed to provide any documentation of the pre-existing condition or anything like that and was told that it would only be necessary in the case of a claim. That sounded kind of shady to me. I know that some policies are able to certify ahead of time that your specific pre-existing condition will be covered, so maybe that's the price I pay for not getting a policy in that first 3 days... or maybe there's still some fine print I've missed that the customer service agent on the phone neglected to inform me of. Dunno.

With any luck, I won't have to find out. But I'll surely report back on the experience if I do.