Insurance claim stories

[sirwired]

For a flight delay or cancellation, they will require a note from the airline documenting that the delay occurred, and list the reason. When I was delayed on Southwest, all I had to do was ask the gate agent, and she gladly filled out a form from a stack behind the podium.

 

For a baggage problem, they will probably give you a claim number and form. This is what the insurance company would need.

 

SirWired

[cruiseco]

Hi

 

To those that have filed claims, when your luggage is lost of delayed and other claims what kind of proof does the insurance company require, like how do they verify that it was indeed lost, does the plane carrier give you a case number or something to give to the insurance company, same could be said with flight delay etc...Please advise

 

Thanks

 

When you buy your policy you will be given a phone number to call if there are any circumstances during your trip that might involve a claim against the policy. The minute you think you might have a claim give them a call (it's toll free or you can call collect) and ask them what documentation you will need. There is no excuse for finding out later that you didn't get what you needed at the place and time the loss occurred. I some cases, getting the proper info after getting back home can be impossible.

[Kathie44]

DH and I booked our 9th cruise for 1/09 while on our 8th cruise in 1/08. After we got home I purchased insurance with a company I had booked several times before. I will call this company by its initials, AA, in case I shouldn't name names.

Sadly DH passed away in Aug. '08. His sister took me up on my invitation to take his place on the cruise. Celebrity changed the reservation with no problem, Delta gave me a refund on DH's airfare with no problem and booked SIL's--all over the phone. Neither needed a death certificate or any other kind of documentation.

When I called the insurance co. I told them the situation with DH and that I needed a refund of what I had paid for his policy. They couldn't just change the name, but had to issue a new policy for SIL at a higher price because the policies we had no longer existed for new clients. OK, I could live with that.

The person I talked to told me to file a claim to get the refund. I downloaded forms off their website, sent them a death certificate, proof of the airline refund in early September and heard nothing for a month. Then I got a mailing wanting more forms from me. Nothing happened and then they wanted proof of refund of the cruise!!! I told them that he NEVER WENT ON THE CRUISE and the deposit had been transferred to his sister. WHICH I had told the first person.

Eventually, the light dawned and the next person told me I shouldn't have filed a claim--the sales dept would handle it. After several Emails and conversations, I thought I had finally gotten through to them, but 3 days before the cruise, an E-mail arrived for DH wishing HIM a Bon Voyage. :eek: :eek:

I hit the ceiling and fired off a very angry, scathing answer and got an abject apology from the head of InsureMyTrip, who knew nothing of the fiasco. When I got back from the cruise the money still hadn't been refunded.

They kept giving me the runaround until I called them and used the magic words I should have used in the first place--MY ATTORNEY. :D The refund showed up on my credit card statement in 2 days. It took about 7 months to resolve--unacceptable. :(

Needless to say, I will NEVER use that company again and I distrust others under the same "umbrella". I just use the cruiseline insurance.

If anything like this happens again, I will use the magic words right away and save months of frustration.

[cruiseco]

They kept giving me the runaround until I called them and used the magic words I should have used in the first place--MY ATTORNEY. :D The refund showed up on my credit card statement in 2 days. It took about 7 months to resolve--unacceptable. :(

Needless to say, I will NEVER use that company again and I distrust others under the same "umbrella". I just use the cruiseline insurance.

If anything like this happens again, I will use the magic words right away and save months of frustration.

 

I'm glad you got a refund of the premium given the unfortunate circumstances but nothing was really ever owed to you. That's why it was handled through their sales department instead of as a claim -- Access America absorbed the loss, not their underwriter. It was charged off to "customer goodwill" or some other account. They would never want to establish a precedent of offering refunds outside their stated policies and procedures.

 

In general, travel insurance premiums are non-refundable past a "free look period" of normally 10 to 14 days from the date of purchase. After that, the insurers consider the premium to be fully-earned. For instance, even though you may not have been in the cruise line's penalty period if the policy had a financial default or bankruptcy benefit (AA's do) they had their money at risk from the date of purchase. Money at risk = fully-earned premium.

 

They will usually make this type of refund considering the circumstances, but they don't have to. Your lawyer, if it went to court, would have lost.

 

This is one circumstance where it's better to have bought the policy through your travel agent or through a company like insuremytrip or one of the other comparison sites. When I was a TA we used to get these types of refunds for clients outside the free look period because the sales department of the insurer wanted to keep us happy -- we sent them lots of business. And I'm sure they want to keep insuremytrip even happier. But, again, they don't have to.