Sharing this in hopes is helps someone in a similar position.
As has happened to many people I had to cancel my vacations plans this year due to Covid. It’s my wife and I’s 10 year anniversary so we decided to do a big trip to a tropical location in April. Obviously the trip was canceled and thankfully I had purchased travel insurance.
As we used a big chunk of credit card points we used the travel agent suggested by our credit card and purchased insurance through the travel agency’s suggested insurance agency (which gives them commission).
We had booked and paid for everything by early February and We cancelled the trip in mid-March, just after the March 13th announcement for Canadians to return home from abroad. We promptly submitted our insurance claim and waited patiently for any information. I’d check online, made an initial phone call but was told things were heavily delayed due to all the cancelations, and the was completely understandable. They were looking at 120 timeframe for cases.
I then waited until June/July, and having heard nothing I started to make further inquiries. I spoke with someone at the company my insurer used to settle their claims and asked for an update or any information. They couldn’t give me any timelines, of course. But not soon after I made the phone call I receive an email asking for proper documentation. Fine, no problem, make a few phone calls get get my travel agent and travel provider to send in the proper paperwork... and hear nothing for almost another month.
In August I start to call into the phone line again, am basically told the onus is on me to provide the proper paperwork or my claim gets denied. I told them I was going my best and I have to rely on my travel agent and travel provider to give me those documents as I don’t have them. This was my first request to speak to a supervisors I was now worried they were going to deny my claim. I was told a supervisor would contact me within three days. I then made calls to my travel agent to straight out the documentation.
Four days later I call back in, putting a second request to speak to a supervisor and confirming my first request was noted. I also confirmed that my phone calls were being recorded and could be referenced if needed and I wanted to receive a copy of the notes on my file, if possible, so that I would see work was being done as it was now over 150+ days since I made my claim. After a lot of discussion I was told that a supervisor would contact me.
Later that day, once I returned from work, I received a letter from my travel insurance provider stating that my claim had been conditionally denied and I needed to submit my documentation to their claims appeal division. To say I was furious was an understatement as I was actively attempting to deal with my claim.
So the next day I call the support number again and talk to yet another front line phone agent. I ask why I had received the letter when I was actively attempting to get the proper paperwork and was still, for over a week, waiting to receive a call back from a supervisor. I demanded to speak to a supervisor immediately but was told that wasn’t possible. So after a lengthy period of time of me politely but firmly chewing out this poor lady on the phone over being provided a denial letter I was told I would be getting a phone call from a supervisor.
So finally a supervisor does call me and happily informs me that they will be paying my insurance claim. This was great news, but hadn’t gotten any new documentation to them so so asked why they were now covering my claim. They never bothered to look at the paperwork provided in July..... WTF. I had just wasted hours of my time, along with my travel agent and travel provider’s time because they couldn’t be bothered to actually look at my documents. But at least my claim got paid, either only my airfare purchased with credit card points remaining to be sorted out.
So if you are getting the run-around from your travel insurance agency keep at them. I have no doubt that if I did not push this matter I would have not received any insurance coverage.
As has happened to many people I had to cancel my vacations plans this year due to Covid. It’s my wife and I’s 10 year anniversary so we decided to do a big trip to a tropical location in April. Obviously the trip was canceled and thankfully I had purchased travel insurance.
As we used a big chunk of credit card points we used the travel agent suggested by our credit card and purchased insurance through the travel agency’s suggested insurance agency (which gives them commission).
We had booked and paid for everything by early February and We cancelled the trip in mid-March, just after the March 13th announcement for Canadians to return home from abroad. We promptly submitted our insurance claim and waited patiently for any information. I’d check online, made an initial phone call but was told things were heavily delayed due to all the cancelations, and the was completely understandable. They were looking at 120 timeframe for cases.
I then waited until June/July, and having heard nothing I started to make further inquiries. I spoke with someone at the company my insurer used to settle their claims and asked for an update or any information. They couldn’t give me any timelines, of course. But not soon after I made the phone call I receive an email asking for proper documentation. Fine, no problem, make a few phone calls get get my travel agent and travel provider to send in the proper paperwork... and hear nothing for almost another month.
In August I start to call into the phone line again, am basically told the onus is on me to provide the proper paperwork or my claim gets denied. I told them I was going my best and I have to rely on my travel agent and travel provider to give me those documents as I don’t have them. This was my first request to speak to a supervisors I was now worried they were going to deny my claim. I was told a supervisor would contact me within three days. I then made calls to my travel agent to straight out the documentation.
Four days later I call back in, putting a second request to speak to a supervisor and confirming my first request was noted. I also confirmed that my phone calls were being recorded and could be referenced if needed and I wanted to receive a copy of the notes on my file, if possible, so that I would see work was being done as it was now over 150+ days since I made my claim. After a lot of discussion I was told that a supervisor would contact me.
Later that day, once I returned from work, I received a letter from my travel insurance provider stating that my claim had been conditionally denied and I needed to submit my documentation to their claims appeal division. To say I was furious was an understatement as I was actively attempting to deal with my claim.
So the next day I call the support number again and talk to yet another front line phone agent. I ask why I had received the letter when I was actively attempting to get the proper paperwork and was still, for over a week, waiting to receive a call back from a supervisor. I demanded to speak to a supervisor immediately but was told that wasn’t possible. So after a lengthy period of time of me politely but firmly chewing out this poor lady on the phone over being provided a denial letter I was told I would be getting a phone call from a supervisor.
So finally a supervisor does call me and happily informs me that they will be paying my insurance claim. This was great news, but hadn’t gotten any new documentation to them so so asked why they were now covering my claim. They never bothered to look at the paperwork provided in July..... WTF. I had just wasted hours of my time, along with my travel agent and travel provider’s time because they couldn’t be bothered to actually look at my documents. But at least my claim got paid, either only my airfare purchased with credit card points remaining to be sorted out.
So if you are getting the run-around from your travel insurance agency keep at them. I have no doubt that if I did not push this matter I would have not received any insurance coverage.
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