Sunday, September 30, 2012
I agree with you. Knowing how insurance companies speak and write contracts, I would say that they
Puskaric and his wife were vacationing in Oregon when they received the sad news that his mother-in-law had died. They had to fly back to Pennsylvania immediately, and they assumed that since they d purchased an Allianz policy through Delta Air Lines, the claims process would be little more than a formality.
It wasn t. Instead, his claim for a return of his lost airline miles, rental car and hotel bills, was summarily rejected by Allianz. Not only had his two-week vacation been reduced to two days, but he now had $3,468 canadian cruise travel companies in additional expenses that Allianz canadian cruise travel companies refused to cover.
What s more, there s a precedent for refunding miles lost as a result of an insurance claim, and the fact that the policy was purchased through Delta s site would give the average traveler canadian cruise travel companies the impression that they d be covered.
Under the terms of Mr. Puskaric s travel insurance policy, he was covered for the unused part of his prepaid travel expenses and the extra out of pocket costs for reasonable canadian cruise travel companies transportation expenses to return canadian cruise travel companies home if he needed to interrupt his trip.
As the additional hotel and meal expenses he claimed were not prepaid expenses, we re not able to reimburse him for those costs. Our review also shows that the rental car company charged him only for the days he was driving the car.
Had Mr. Puskaric canadian cruise travel companies called us before he changed his plans, we would have advised him to pay for his flight canadian cruise travel companies change. We would have been happy to reimburse him for that out of pocket cost as well as the fee the airline might charge him to redeposit his frequent flyer miles.
canadian cruise travel companies When you think you have to make a travel insurance claim, talk with the insurance company first. When possible, get any promises made by phone in writing so that there s no possibility of a misunderstanding.
Regarding this case, I think Allianz missed an opportunity to show that even though canadian cruise travel companies the contract can be interpreted in a way that allows it to deny a claim (which all contracts canadian cruise travel companies do, inevitably) that it understands good customer service.
Stories like this give consumers a reason to believe travel insurance isn t worth the paper it s printed on, which is unfortunate. I believe there are times when an honest travel insurance policy can protect you from unexpected events when you travel.
There are no facts or innuendos to support even a musing that he say his mother in laws death as an opportunity to make money, especially as the claim is for the return of miles, not the cash value of the miles.
It is highly unlikely that the insurance company is going to pay 3 1/2 cents for miles. That s the, for lack of a better word, retail amount. As a merchant, it would purchase miles at a substantively lower price.
It seems like Tony was actually questioning a comment made by pradcliffe. It appears to me to be a reasonable question particularly since Delta doesn t seem involved in this transaction except tangentially.
But that s a red herring. The OP wasn t denied because he didn t call the insurance company. The insurance company canadian cruise travel companies denied his claim because it simply wasn t coverable under the contract. Nowhere does it suggest that he needed preapproval to pay cash for this return ticket.
canadian cruise travel companies I agree with you. Knowing how insurance companies speak and write contracts, I would say that they aren t requiring preapproval, but rather that the OP was not aware of the contractual requirements, i.e. cash is reimburseable, miles are not, and they would have advised him to use cash so that he would have received a cash reimbursement as well as the redeposit fee for the miles which would fully compensated the OP.
Yet you can t show that the contract has any such requirement. What entitles you to impose your own external demands on insurance customers to go above and beyond the one-sided contract they already face?
Delta sold the insurance and presumably earned a commission. It s reasonable to expect them to understand the terms of the insurance they sold as well as the implications when their client needs to make changes to their insured itinerary for a covered reason. And it s reasonable to ask them to advocate on behalf of their client.
I saw that too, and it makes me wonder: if you purchase travel insurance through Delta, is that not visible to any Delta ticket agent? Is there not some expectation that they are aware of and understand the terms of the insurance that they sold? And that they give the passenger proper advice once they are contacted and notified that a trip is being interrupted for a likely covered reason?
The Delta ticket AGENT has nothing to do with the travel insurance. These kind of peripheral add-ons are not part of a reservation. (Note: a hotel,car, canadian cruise travel companies and even cruise reservation can be part of a PNR.)
A trained brick and mortar agent will probably do more for the customer. First, they can help you choose. Then, if you have to file a claim, they can help you DOCUMENT the claim. There s a ton of paperwork involved in a claim that goes beyond a simple e-ticket receipt (assuming canadian cruise travel companies the passenger even bothered to print that and keep a copy somewhere).
Mike, I went to sleep last night thinking of this case. I woke this morning still thinking of this case. The sad reality (which this case brings to light) is we must be ready to SELF INSURE a big chunk of our travel canadian cruise travel companies plan. In my opinion, canadian cruise travel companies many of these travel insurance sold like candy on a checkout counter are not worth it. If you buy travel insurance, you need to do a lot of homework. THIS IS NOT A PLUG, but if you use those links (sponsors) on the side of Elliott s blog, you will be a lot better off. Squaremouth s FAQs section is excellent.
Why wow? The OP purchased canadian cruise travel companies insurance to cover his travels just like you purchase canadian cruise travel companies insurance to cover your home. Both are a business deal and both have the same steps for being utitlized. A loss to either is emotional but you don t proceed to use the coverage without making a call to the company. Pretty straight forward.
Carver, canadian cruise travel companies you don t go out and book a suite at a 5 star hotel if you have to evacuate your home and expect the insurance canadian cruise travel companies company to cover it, do you? They have resources canadian cruise travel companies for getting a lower rate and you call them first to find out what you need to do. Often the insurance company handles the needed emergency return flight, so yes, his claim appears to be denied because he assumed something that possibly he shoulnd t have. Bottom line is that he took out the coverage and the insurance company should have been immediately called. I just traveled out of the country. I contacted my medical insurance company and they won t pay for just any thing without a call to them first. Common insurance practice.
With insurance companies, one should never assume something is covered. The OP made the decision to purchase canadian cruise travel companies the travel coverage, why wouldn t he have called to see how to proceed with his emergency return?
Indeed. canadian cruise travel companies We don t need to provide any proof, the OP is responsible for finding out BEFORE making return plans to know what he could or couldn t do. Interesting that details of the plan and a breakdown of the extra costs were not provided for the article.
With regard to phone calls, without a recording a phone conversation is hearsay. We ve seen numerous canadian cruise travel companies cases where customers cited what they were told in phone conversations, and I don t believe you generally give much weight to that.
If would be nice if he was able to recoup some costs, but not sure he will as he basically screwed up by not calling and assuming which my point here is, NEVER assume canadian cruise travel companies anything with insurance companies. They don t want to pay out.
Knowing that the insurance companies don t want to pay out, even when there is no clear contract language to support their position, why would you defend the insurance company and blame and disparage the customer?
canadian cruise travel companies I assume the OP made a huge claim for $3,468 (or something like that). To fully understand what he is claiming, can you please fill in the blanks for us. Here s the relevant part of the Allianz claim form:
I think I remember canadian cruise travel companies Allianz telling canadian cruise travel companies me they would reimburse the redeposit fees to put the mileage back into my account. Did he incur that, or did delta tell him he could not due that since that can only be done more than 72 hours before the flight. If delta wont reinstate the miles, not even an insurance company can force their hand.
Don t purchase travel insurance from the travel provider. Purchasing travel insurance from an independent source like squaremouth doesn t guarantee that the travel policy will cover everything or your claim will be paid but you will know that the policy was written for a travel provider and is going to favor the travel provider.
canadian cruise travel companies What s your problem? If you're having trouble with a business - any business - and you've reached a dead end, maybe I can help. Send me an email and I'll investigate. canadian cruise travel companies (I can't promise a fix, but I take every request seriously.) If you want to connect with other consumers, why not sign up for my free weekly newsletter , RSS feed or free daily email updates ?
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