Appendicitis (really?!)

[Jersey42]

28 minutes ago, drbeamer said:

@venussuzWe FINALLY got our reimbursement after filing complaint with the state insurance commission. What an ordeal. I hope you get yours soon

Glad yours was resolved.

 

Did you have a similar situation to the OP?  i.e. you used Carnival Vacation Protection (or another cruise line policy) and had claim issues with the non-insurance portion of the policy.  If so, I am pleasantly surprised that any state insurance commission would intervene. 

[drbeamer]

28 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Glad yours was resolved.

 

Did you have a similar situation to the OP?  i.e. you used Carnival Vacation Protection (or another cruise line policy) and had claim issues with the non-insurance portion of the policy.  If so, I am pleasantly surprised that any state insurance commission would intervene. 

No….mine was medical. But AON impossible to deal with

[klfrodo]

6 hours ago, HardestyHouse said:

 Is this type of "insurance" unique to Carnival? I've only cruised twice. The other was Royal Caribbean and all went smoothly, so no claim.

 

Almost all the cruise lines sell this same policy.

Insurance is regulated by each state. The cruise lines have to sell a policy that is legal in all 50 States and most of Canada. Therefore, these AON policies are watered down so they comply. 

[venussuz]

1 hour ago, drbeamer said:

@venussuzWe FINALLY got our reimbursement after filing complaint with the state insurance commission. What an ordeal. I hope you get yours soon

SO glad to hear, err read it! We just filed complaints with the state insurance commission last week. Sounds like it will be two to four weeks to get a response, which is Miles better than the nine months we've waited thus far.

Advice much appreciated as I never would have thought to file a complaint with the state - add the Better Business Bureau and the Michigan state AG as well because my sister is nothing if not thorough. 

[HardestyHouse]

UPDATE: From information gleaned thru reading the fine print, scrolling endlessly thru this forum, and long phone conversations with AON and Carnival I was able to discern what went wrong...AND I am very happy to report that the travel agency will be making up the difference for me 🙂

With CARNIVAL, when you must cancel a cruise, TAKE the refund offered. Claim the penalties from AON (claims processor). Your cabin mate(s) PAY the increased rate for change of occupancy right away. Then they claim the increased payment on the Carnival Vacation Protection. This also works for the increase in single supplement if your cruise buddy has to cancel.

I mistakenly and without support (travel agent) did not take the refund thinking it would come thru the "insurance." My friends sailed on my share. It isn't in Carnival's best interest to tell you to take the refund and follow these steps because it's all IN HOUSE! God forbid they give up the dime. But because I didn't take the refund, my friends couldn't say they PAID EXTRA, therefore they have nothing to claim. Carnival ate my share.

Of course, for all of this to work the cancellation must be based on one of eight reasons listed in the Program "fine print" which is found by clicking thru on the Carnival Vacation Protection Plan page on their website. It's a shame on CARNIVAL that it took three hours on the phone to find someone who could interpret and explain the product they sell the hell out of everyday. Not one single front-line customer service agent could explain the product fully.

 

Two things: This was a giant cluster you-know-what made worse by not having my wits about me (hello, pain meds). And secondly, there are kind and worthy travel agencies out there who step-up when inexperience and confusion short changes a customer. 

[HardestyHouse]

On 3/25/2023 at 2:41 PM, klfrodo said:

Almost all the cruise lines sell this same policy.

Insurance is regulated by each state. The cruise lines have to sell a policy that is legal in all 50 States and most of Canada. Therefore, these AON policies are watered down so they comply. 

From reading I did on this forum, this particular method of refund is unique to Carnival. Read the fine print every time! It really wasn't that fine once I found it! Very straightforward. 

[GeezerCouple]

5 minutes ago, HardestyHouse said:

UPDATE: From information gleaned thru reading the fine print, scrolling endlessly thru this forum, and long phone conversations with AON and Carnival I was able to discern what went wrong...AND I am very happy to report that the travel agency will be making up the difference for me 🙂

With CARNIVAL, when you must cancel a cruise, TAKE the refund offered. Claim the penalties from AON (claims processor). Your cabin mate(s) PAY the increased rate for change of occupancy right away. Then they claim the increased payment on the Carnival Vacation Protection. This also works for the increase in single supplement if your cruise buddy has to cancel.

I mistakenly and without support (travel agent) did not take the refund thinking it would come thru the "insurance." My friends sailed on my share. It isn't in Carnival's best interest to tell you to take the refund and follow these steps because it's all IN HOUSE! God forbid they give up the dime. But because I didn't take the refund, my friends couldn't say they PAID EXTRA, therefore they have nothing to claim. Carnival ate my share.

Of course, for all of this to work the cancellation must be based on one of eight reasons listed in the Program "fine print" which is found by clicking thru on the Carnival Vacation Protection Plan page on their website. It's a shame on CARNIVAL that it took three hours on the phone to find someone who could interpret and explain the product they sell the hell out of everyday. Not one single front-line customer service agent could explain the product fully.

 

Two things: This was a giant cluster you-know-what made worse by not having my wits about me (hello, pain meds). And secondly, there are kind and worthy travel agencies out there who step-up when inexperience and confusion short changes a customer. 

 

VERY glad it got sorted out!

 

In the future, I'd suggest getting separate, 3rd party travel insurance.

And also, contact them or your insurance agent broker (NOT the travel agent or cruise line) to find out how to proceed should some problem arise and it isn't clear what should be done.  They will help with instructions that meet the policy "methods", etc.

This is where a good agent and good insurance make a difference!

Thanks for the update!

GC

[HardestyHouse]

On 3/24/2023 at 10:49 AM, klfrodo said:

Part of the problem could be who and where you purchased the policy from.

2nd could be this: The cruise cost is (for example) the first 2 passengers pay $500 each. The 3rd pays a reduced rate (let's say $200). Now, let's say you all split the price evenly amongst yourselves (that would be $400 a piece),,, the insurance (especially if you went thru Carnival) is going to reimburse you at the 3rd person rate of $200 because there are still 2 people in the party. (How you each individually split the costs is between you 3, not the insurance company)

 

With a 3rd party insurance policy, YOU would have set your costs and filed your claim for your losses.

 

Lesson learned the hard way.

The refund which I was offered originally by Carnival but did not take was my portion of payment based. The records for the cabin showed who paid for what. In our case it was divided evenly between the three of us. In that same email it was explained that my two remaining friends then make up the cost of what I am refunded. In the end the fares had no bearing at all.

 

Did I take the original refund? No. Because I very mistakenly assumed that I simply claimed for my loss and the my friends didn't have to pay more money at the last minute. I am coming back to explain that the ONLY way for everyone to be made whole is to take the cash refund offered, have your traveling companions pay and then THEY claim for the change which resulted in extra cost. Of course AON has the last word as they determine the legitimacy of the claim. I had no problem getting a doctor note!

[HardestyHouse]

5 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

VERY glad it got sorted out!

 

In the future, I'd suggest getting separate, 3rd party travel insurance.

And also, contact them or your insurance agent broker (NOT the travel agent or cruise line) to find out how to proceed should some problem arise and it isn't clear what should be done.  They will help with instructions that meet the policy "methods", etc.

This is where a good agent and good insurance make a difference!

Thanks for the update!

GC

Thanks! I'm not unhappy with the product I bought. It just wasn't in Carnival's best interest to explain it fully, was it?! Normally reading anything legal makes me queasy, but once I found and printed the plan (the Carnival Vacation Protection, NOT the insurance portion (with the medical, evac, etc.) it was ONLY TWO PAGES! Even I could see how it should have all gone down. Carnival had the opportunity to make this clear to me and they did not. Stinkers!

[GeezerCouple]

1 minute ago, HardestyHouse said:

Thanks! I'm not unhappy with the product I bought. It just wasn't in Carnival's best interest to explain it fully, was it?! Normally reading anything legal makes me queasy, but once I found and printed the plan (the Carnival Vacation Protection, NOT the insurance portion (with the medical, evac, etc.) it was ONLY TWO PAGES! Even I could see how it should have all gone down. Carnival had the opportunity to make this clear to me and they did not. Stinkers!

 

For us, the sentences I've bolded make it clear... for us, anyway.

 

Our experiences (with several claims, unfortunately; insurance is one thing we'd rather pay for and *not* use... except for the security of knowing we have it, etc.) are that the vendor is *helpful*.

(That's separate from the issue you faced.  There have been quite a few complaints about the same situation over the years:  Getting coverage when one person cancels, and the costs were not equally shared by each name from the start, etc.  There have been a few "ways" described to handle it...)

GC

[hbbae]

HardestyHouse, I’m just writing to express sympathy about the “appy” and then subsequent travel insurance issues. I’m really sorry.  My emergency appy occurred last summer, 4 days before departure on a river cruise - and ironically I just received denial of my trip cancellation claim today, by a third party insurer - professional incompetence, I believe - so I’m pretty steamed, and started looking for travel insurance threads on CC for ideas for alternative companies for the future - which is how I found this conversation .  Sounds like consultation with an insurance broker might be the way to go.  I am appealing this truly stupid claims decision, and will take it to the state insurance commission if necessary - not giving up.  In any event, I hope all goes more smoothly for you from here.

[jclinard]

5 minutes ago, hbbae said:

HardestyHouse, I’m just writing to express sympathy about the “appy” and then subsequent travel insurance issues. I’m really sorry.  My emergency appy occurred last summer, 4 days before departure on a river cruise - and ironically I just received denial of my trip cancellation claim today, by a third party insurer - professional incompetence, I believe - so I’m pretty steamed, and started looking for travel insurance threads on CC for ideas for alternative companies for the future - which is how I found this conversation .  Sounds like consultation with an insurance broker might be the way to go.  I am appealing this truly stupid claims decision, and will take it to the state insurance commission if necessary - not giving up.  In any event, I hope all goes more smoothly for you from here.

 

Can you name your insurer, and give the reason for the denial?  People need to be warned who to look out for, and the conditions on which they won't pay.

[hbbae]

AIG Travelguard

 

I’d prefer not to go into the specifics of the rejection, other than to say it’s quite clear that there is a need for additional training of some of their claims personnel, so that they understand the forms that they are evaluating. 
 

I have consistently used Travelguard for over a decade, but this is the first time I’ve ever made a claim.  I read terms and conditions, I don’t go into these matters blind.

[jclinard]

Fair enough on the privacy issue.  

 

AIG Travel Guard also refused my claim. 

[venussuz]

On 3/25/2023 at 4:16 PM, drbeamer said:

@venussuzWe FINALLY got our reimbursement after filing complaint with the state insurance commission. What an ordeal. I hope you get yours soon

Less than a week after filing complaint, my cabin mate's claim was denied while mine was finally put through for a total of $361.61 reimbursement, which didn't even include the $500 for food during 5 days in quarantine in London. They (Aon) reimbursed me $209.72 for food, which is less than the receipts I submitted. They reimbursed me for one of three lost nights. Because I only have paperwork stating I was quarantined onboard for two nights, I'll have to settle for two. I'd like to know what happened to the 150% trip interruption prominently displayed on the schedule of benefits on the Aon policy. Oh wait, that shows "Maximum benefit" which leaves them wiggle room to pay anything UP TO that amount. 

I've already appealed the decision, but I find it highly suspicious that I couldn't get any response until I involved a government watchdog organization.

[drbeamer]

23 minutes ago, venussuz said:

Less than a week after filing complaint, my cabin mate's claim was denied while mine was finally put through for a total of $361.61 reimbursement, which didn't even include the $500 for food during 5 days in quarantine in London. They (Aon) reimbursed me $209.72 for food, which is less than the receipts I submitted. They reimbursed me for one of three lost nights. Because I only have paperwork stating I was quarantined onboard for two nights, I'll have to settle for two. I'd like to know what happened to the 150% trip interruption prominently displayed on the schedule of benefits on the Aon policy. Oh wait, that shows "Maximum benefit" which leaves them wiggle room to pay anything UP TO that amount. 

I've already appealed the decision, but I find it highly suspicious that I couldn't get any response until I involved a government watchdog organization.

Yup, I felt the same. 

[hbbae]

An update regarding earlier issues with Travel Guard - after I sent them a painstakingly detailed letter of appeal pointing out the errors in how my appendicitis-related claim had been evaluated, Travel Guard eventually made good, and I received payment yesterday.  So in the end, they did the right thing.  But it never should have come to this, it was a simple illness-related claim that was properly documented and within all of the parameters.  Their staff (and supervisors) need much better training - it was appalling how ill-informed they were.  Travel Guard has lost a long-time regular customer over this incident.  

[jclinard]

I think they followed their training exactly.  They didn't want to pay, so they issued a check for a pittance and hoped you'd go away.