Cancellation Insurance with Insurance Provider and Credit Card - Can you submit to both?

[CDNPolar]

This is specifically a question to see if anyone knows whether in Canada, we can claim a cancellation or interruption through both a purchased insurance policy from someone like Manulife, AND then any residual through the Credit Card, which in this case is a TD Infinite Privilege Visa?

 

Why we are asking this is that when we have 2+ trips in a year, it is significantly cheaper to purchase cancellation / interruption insurance on an annual plan.  Our challenge is that we are hedging our bets here because most of the annual plans available to us only pay max $5,000.00 CDN per person.  Our trips are often significantly higher or even double that per person.

 

We recently just got a new Credit Card (TD Infinite Provilege) that offers cancellation of $2,500.00 per person and in the process of applying, we asked our banking person, if we can do this and her response was that we MUST submit the cancel/interruption claim to the Credit Card FIRST, and then anything they don't pay to the insurance company after.  We have not verified this further as this was a Branch employee and we must contact the CC division)

 

She said that if we submit to the insurance company first, the credit card will not accept a claim for the residual amount.

 

Anyone know anything about this?

 

Our first experience with cancelling was just a month ago where we had to cancel a complete trip for a covered reason and it was a smooth experience, but the one policy covered the entire amount paid out and we did not go to the credit card.

[broberts]

You need to read the actual policies. Each should outline how it determines coverage when there are multiple policies covering the claim.

[Travelexpert35]

We have a TD Infinite Visa that covers $2500 per person as well but we always do a top up with TD to cover our insured amounts. I did use TD for a claim under Trip Interruption and it worked very smoothly but then again I didn’t have another separate policy. You would have to check with Manulife to see what they say.

[cmaleblanc]

@broberts, is correct OP. You'll need to read your Dec page for both policies to confirm priority. Yes, you should be able to claim on both, as long as one doesn't cover the whole loss. (You can't get back more than you paid in insurance). But in some cases they have an order that needs to be applied, In your case, the branch told you they need to be informed first. Your stand-alone may also want to be first, in that case, you'll need to find out from both who is going to own the loss. It's also important to remember, that with CC coverage in many cases, you need to pay for the whole trip on the same CC to qualify for the travel insurance. While a stand-alone policy they don't normally care for. 

[CDNPolar]

As broberts mentioned, I have to read the policy.

 

I spent an entertaining hour yesterday reading and highlighting the policy from TD that is attached to the credit card.

 

Interesting that our bank representative was insistent that the credit card had to be the first engaged, and in reality they only cover excess that is not covered by other insurance, so if there is other insurance, it has to be engaged first.

 

Now it comes down to what we buy above the CC or do we apply for increased coverage on the credit card and forget the other insurance.

[mariners]

CDNPolar, I would also recommend checking to see what is covered and under what circumstances for each policy.  In the past, we used our insurance that came with our credit card.  Because we took longer trips, we bought extended coverage through the same bank/credit card.  The extended coverage had different wording and did not cover everything that the original policy covered.  

 

That being said, our credit card was not the TD Infinite Visa.

 

 

[CDNPolar]

21 hours ago, mariners said:

CDNPolar, I would also recommend checking to see what is covered and under what circumstances for each policy.  In the past, we used our insurance that came with our credit card.  Because we took longer trips, we bought extended coverage through the same bank/credit card.  The extended coverage had different wording and did not cover everything that the original policy covered.  

 

That being said, our credit card was not the TD Infinite Visa.

 

 

 

Thanks for this.  

 

We are at a bit of a standstill now because our next booked travel is November of this year, but we are also dealing with the fact that we both now have pre-existing conditions and we don't have all the details yet on the newest condition to ask the right questions.

 

What I really would like to do is be able to top up the credit card - assuming that because it includes coverage already that the top up would be less than buying direct a separate policy???  

 

Good to know however that the extended policy does not cover everything... I have studied that coverage and that means more study and more questions.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

What I really would like to do is be able to top up the credit card - assuming that because it includes coverage already that the top up would be less than buying direct a separate policy???

I would be very careful to look at the pre-existing conditions requirements on the credit card coverage. I think that you will find that they are fairly restrictive and that you might not have any coverage at all.

[CDNPolar]

22 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I would be very careful to look at the pre-existing conditions requirements on the credit card coverage. I think that you will find that they are fairly restrictive and that you might not have any coverage at all.

 

That is our main concern now....

 

I mean, our understanding is that we would still have coverage if a limb was broken or there was some kind of other freak accident, but if to do with the pre-existing, then perhaps not.

 

I also find it confusing reading discussions that are largely US based as it seems that the US based insurance is more specific about many of these things and CDN insurance is more vague in their language.

 

We mostly book our own air, and mostly book fares that have a cancel policy that is only a small fee.  We had to cancel a trip last month where the air was $6,500.00 and we only lost $400.00 CDN cancelling that.  Full refund minus the $400.00

 

I am more interested now in potentially buying CFAR insurance at the point of booking and then it does not matter the reason.

 

I want to say that it gets hard with these things when you get old, but it is not just those of us that are aging that have pre-existing conditions to be concerned with.

[mariners]

We sailed with family and friends in November/December.  Two of the people had pre-existing conditions, after they had booked the cruise but before the sailing, that required them to purchase individualized insurance policies.  One of the individuals received a "final" diagnosis a month before the sailing and was able to purchase a separate policy that covered medical as he had been "stable" for the required period of time.  The policy was expensive but not nearly as expensive as losing the trip or having a medical issue that meant that he had to pay out of pocket for medical care.

 

Pre-existing is open to interpretation by travel insurance companies.  A few years back, my DH was diagnosed (just a few days before we were to sail)  with a  "congenital" condition that required emergency surgery.  Despite the fact that he had received multiple tests and a variety of diagnoses (none that would preclude him from travelling and no treatment was suggested or offered), our insurance refused the claim based on it being a "congenital" condition; hence pre-existing which made the insurance we had purchased void. Lesson learned!

 

How I wish that CSA that used to provide insurance to Canadians was still permitted to sell their policies in Canada!  We always bought the insurance, despite having coverage through work/credit cards/etc., as we knew they provided, at that time, excellent coverage.  We also used the services of a US insurance broker (?) who explained everything in detail to us and gave us different options.  Now, we have to rely on Canadian insurance companies for travel and choose to book our trips/cruises differently.

 

We try and book all of our oversea flights through Aeroplan where getting points reinstated is, typically, not an issue.  (The issue is finding future flights through Aeroplan that work for us given their change to dynamic pricing.).  If we don't book through Aeroplan, we check out different options that will allow us flexibility.  For example, we might book business to a "hub" overseas through points or for less money than booking the whole flight using cash.  We then pay for the ongoing portion of the flight knowing that we might lose that money.

 

We have booked our future cruises through cruise lines based on their cancellation policies rather than "non-refundable" cruise fares that appear to be a better bargain (still based on the ships and itineraries  that we want to sail). 

 

We book our accommodations based on the cancellation policy in effect at the time of booking the accommodations through the hotel or other booking sites used.  

 

We check all of the cancellation fees we might have to pay against what we might get refunded for using a cancel for any reason policy.  

 

Everyone has to figure out what works best for him/her/them. 

 

Note:  I'm not an insurance agent, have no background in insurance, and cannot provide you with answers other than what my experience has been with travel insurance. 

 

Wishing you wonderful travels and a positive outcome to any health issues. 

 

 

 

 

[daisy-mae]

On 2/11/2024 at 6:57 AM, CDNPolar said:

 

That is our main concern now....

 

I mean, our understanding is that we would still have coverage if a limb was broken or there was some kind of other freak accident, but if to do with the pre-existing, then perhaps not.

 

I

I remember reading an article a few years ago about a young woman who injured her foot on some coral while snorkeling in the Caribbean. Although she had purchased travel insurance, her claim was denied because she had not declared her asthma, which was deemed to be a "pre-existing condition", even though it had nothing to do with her injury. Insurance companies are experts when it comes to exploiting loopholes.

 

 

[CDNPolar]

25 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

I remember reading an article a few years ago about a young woman who injured her foot on some coral while snorkeling in the Caribbean. Although she had purchased travel insurance, her claim was denied because she had not declared her asthma, which was deemed to be a "pre-existing condition", even though it had nothing to do with her injury. Insurance companies are experts when it comes to exploiting loopholes.

 

 

 

Although hearing something like this is not a surprise, I have asked insurance companies if an injury was not in anyway related to a pre-existing would they pay and their answer was yes.

 

My Mother was a SnowBird for many years and bought Medipac insurance annually for her time in the USA.  She had a very bad pneumonia and had to see doctors for it's treatment.  Not hospitalization, but a few doctors visits, tests, and medications.  Medipac contacted her and informed her that if she was fearful of any further treatment necessary for the pneumonia or if there was possibility of a recurrence, that they would not cover her, but she would be covered for any other ailment that was not related.  They suggested she go back to Canada if the pneumonia was a concern.

[daisy-mae]

8 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Although hearing something like this is not a surprise, I have asked insurance companies if an injury was not in anyway related to a pre-existing would they pay and their answer was yes.

 

 

I think in the example that I gave the insured was being "disqualified" for not being truthful in her application. I have supplementary health and travel insurance that does not require me to complete a health questionnaire. Even so, as my doctor has told me, the insurance companies can request an insured's health records and apparently the consent is implied somewhere in the policy.

[CDNPolar]

14 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

I think in the example that I gave the insured was being "disqualified" for not being truthful in her application. I have supplementary health and travel insurance that does not require me to complete a health questionnaire. Even so, as my doctor has told me, the insurance companies can request an insured's health records and apparently the consent is implied somewhere in the policy.

 

Yes, it is complicated and the truth is that until you have a claim - even if you do a health question - you don't know if your are covered or not.  As consumers we should demand more specific language from these insurers.