Asia trips and coronavirus

[Lemonshark100]

Dive Assure does cover health related things such as pandemics and epidemics as well as mandatory quarantined and travel warnings. However, you need to purchase 30 days in advance before coverage kicks in for that and also before it is a named issue in that country or region with travel warnings and such.

Did you speak with someone at Dive Assure that said their travel insurance policy specifically covers pandemics/epidemics? I was just reading their policy and nothing is specifically stated about "pandemics". It seems to me that if no quarantine is imposed at home or destination, then one wouldn't be covered. Also, 9.2.3.2 seems vague, and it certainly could be argued that a "health situation" has already developed in the SE Asia "region" at this point, so purchasing a policy now might be useless and result in zero refund, even if one's destination is Indonesia, for example, where they claim zero cases of COVID-19.

Under Dive Assure Travel Insurance Cancellation/Curtailment section:
9.2.3.1. Policy must have been purchased at least 30 days prior to travel warning being issued or quarantine imposed. 9.2.3.2. Policy must have been purchased before health situation developed in the region or country of the booked journey that might give concern as to the safety and wellbeing of visitors.
9.2.3.3. Warnings must be specific in nature to the geographic proximity of the booked journey.
9.2.3.4. You must make a claim for refund from all service providers before you make a claim under this policy.
9.2.3.5. If you are offered by any service provider a credit to cover the cost of your cancelled trip or service at a future date, that credit will be deemed as if received and will not be covered.
9.2.3.6. The Insurer has the final authority to review the circumstances and render a decision on coverage which will be deemed as final.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Did you speak with someone at Dive Assure that said their travel insurance policy specifically covers pandemics/epidemics? I was just reading their policy and nothing is specifically stated about "pandemics". It seems to me that if no quarantine is imposed at home or destination, then one wouldn't be covered. Also, 9.2.3.2 seems vague, and it certainly could be argued that a "health situation" has already developed in the SE Asia "region" at this point, so purchasing a policy now might be useless and result in zero refund, even if one's destination is Indonesia, for example, where they claim zero cases of COVID-19.

Under Dive Assure Travel Insurance Cancellation/Curtailment section:
9.2.3.1. Policy must have been purchased at least 30 days prior to travel warning being issued or quarantine imposed. 9.2.3.2. Policy must have been purchased before health situation developed in the region or country of the booked journey that might give concern as to the safety and wellbeing of visitors.
9.2.3.3. Warnings must be specific in nature to the geographic proximity of the booked journey.
9.2.3.4. You must make a claim for refund from all service providers before you make a claim under this policy.
9.2.3.5. If you are offered by any service provider a credit to cover the cost of your cancelled trip or service at a future date, that credit will be deemed as if received and will not be covered.
9.2.3.6. The Insurer has the final authority to review the circumstances and render a decision on coverage which will be deemed as final.

Fear of one or situation isn’t covered but if it does become one or is, depending on when you bought, it is. I’ve confirmed more details in email with them but here’s big picture info on it below. Again, pretty encompassing over many other travel policies that happens to also be dive specific which is why I repeatedly give them my business.

https://diveassure.com/en/corona-virus/

 

[bobfmdc]

Fear of one or situation isn’t covered but if it does become one or is, depending on when you bought, it is. I’ve confirmed more details in email with them but here’s big picture info on it below. Again, pretty encompassing over many other travel policies that happens to also be dive specific which is why I repeatedly give them my business.

https://diveassure.com/en/corona-virus/

I just read your DiveAssure alert link. Sounds like to me that if you get sick before or during your trip, you should get a doctor's certification that you are too sick to go on the trip or continue, but make sure that you get a general flu diagnosis, not a coronavirus diagnosis.

I have talked to several of these company reps on the cancel before/during issue, and they all say that if you haven't bought the "cancel for any reason" alternative, they aren't going to pay if you cancel because you don't want to risk contracting the virus. That is a pretty expensive optional addition to the travel policy.

 

[koobicle]

I was dealing with the Phinisi (aka The Junk) recently on the coronavirus outbreak and the risk of customers travelling from high-risk territories. On a few incidents the staff was unprofessional in their responses and it is showing the company is valuing income more than the health and safety of the customers:
- When I asked about their policy/special measures in response to coronavirus, they copied and pasted language (e.g. wash your hands) that the US CDC posted (because they have "CDC" in their reply). The CDC has nothing to do with the measures in Thailand - they are not even quoting their own local disease("DDC") or heath authorities. That is to say they are not doing anything - their reply is providing less confidence than more confidence in the operator knows what they are doing.
- When the Thailand Health Minister announced a temporarily quarantine measures on travelers from high risk regions, again they won't respond to the risk of customers being stranded in a foreign country.
- When I attempted to continue the conversation about my concerns on the risk and the failure of the operator to acknowledge those risks, the staff simply cut off the conversation (a staff contacted me via whatsapp), referred me to the liveaboard.com agency and concluded with a "cheers" and disappeared - which they should perfectly understood the agency's protocol is always only to send any queries back to the operator. So they are pretty much sending me to a black hole. I couldn't do anything because the staff simply ignored any follow-up messages. I found the experience very rude of the operator.

The whole experience is not inducing confidence that the boat operator - The Phinisi (same operator as The Junk) is taking health and safety seriously. The poor customer service is disappointing - and this has triggered me to follow up with posting this on the forum - so I can inform fellow divers for their future consideration.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Aaaaaand... hijacked.

 

[tursiops]

Aaaaaand... hijacked.

Why do you say that? Seems like koobicle's post is right on topic for this thread.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Why do you say that? Seems like koobicle's post is right on topic for this thread.

Because it sounded more like gripe about a particular provider / boat. It was also a gratuitous repost from another thread.

 

[jale]

Because it sounded more like gripe about a particular provider / boat. It was also a gratuitous repost from another thread.

gripe about a grippe (sorry, could not resist )

 

[Jenlyn]

Hi, I am new to this board. My husband and I just retired and have a dive trip planned to Misool leaving May 7. We are 60 and healthy. We have trip insurance but not cancel for any reason. We also planned to spend 8 days diving in Manado before Misool. We are going back and forth about this decision. Our travel company wants the remaining payment now. ($8000) Has anyone been there recently that may have some input?

 

[tursiops]

Hi, I am new to this board. My husband and I just retired and have a dive trip planned to Misool leaving May 7. We are 60 and healthy. We have trip insurance but not cancel for any reason. We also planned to spend 8 days diving in Manado before Misool. We are going back and forth about this decision. Our travel company wants the remaining payment now. ($8000) Has anyone been there recently that may have some input?

Your only major issue at this time is probably the flight routings, not the destinations. See IATA - International Travel Document News for the latest published restrictions for arriving in Indonesia. Avoid trying to get there though China or anything that sounds like China.....