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Give Me Liberty, or ...not. An Insurance Claim Live Blog


twangster

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1 hour ago, Sweety said:

Did he like the convention? He was not to far from me. I live in Hyde Park. I heard it was crowded. My neighbor was on his bike.

He loved it.  He said it's one check off the bucket list.  I have my Star Class, and he has his Star Wars.  Now he just needs the Leafs to win the Cup. ?

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13 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

He loved it.  He said it's one check off the bucket list.  I have my Star Class, and he has his Star Wars.  Now he just needs the Leafs to win the Cup. ?

He's young - might still happen in his lifetime - just remind him to not hold his breath.

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37 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Caps fan? We can’t be friends anymore.

Let’s Go Pens! (Just not this year...lol)

I think Crosby thought you said Let’s Go... on vacation and started a few days early. Yeah, big caps fans. Last week my daughter was one of the selections for Jersey off our Backs and got to hang out with Evgeny Kuznetsov. 

06E1616E-9985-4487-A98E-4EE3C63BD0D7.png

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On 4/15/2019 at 5:51 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

He loved it.  He said it's one check off the bucket list.  I have my Star Class, and he has his Star Wars.  Now he just needs the Leafs to win the Cup. ?

Was going to make a joke at the Leafs expense, but then again I'm a Blues fan, so I don't have much room to talk on the Cup front...

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9 minutes ago, betatke1480 said:

Was going to make a joke at the Leafs expense, but then again I'm a Blues fan, so I don't have much room to talk on the Cup front...

Yeah, but great turnaround after the Blues Entered the January game with the Caps dead last in the league in points. 

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On 4/16/2019 at 3:03 PM, twangster said:
On 4/16/2019 at 2:25 PM, HeWhoWaits said:

He's young - might still happen in his lifetime - just remind him to not hold his breath.

That's what they said in 1968.  And 1969.  And 1970.  Any 1971...

As a Cubs fan, I can vouch that things like this can happen! Like we used to say...anyone can have a bad century

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Staus Update:

Now they want another letter from Royal Caribbean on top of the letter below they requested.

On 4/14/2019 at 6:52 AM, twangster said:

 

1516199127_Royalcanclletterliberty.thumb.jpg.1251391c778068be60afca1c3ba2a520.jpg

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 18, 2019

1st Request
Re: Claim Number: 

Dear    ,

Thank you for submitting your claim with Allianz Global Assistance. We’re sorry that things didn’t go as planned.

While reviewing your claim, we found that additional information is required to accurately process your claim. The required documentation to process your claim is listed below:

  • Verification from travel supplier on their letterhead regarding any refunds received.
  • Verification of travel supplier's penalties or copy of literature describing penalties.

 

Of I go back to my travel agent asking for more documentation.

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40 minutes ago, twangster said:

Staus Update:

Now they want another letter from Royal Caribbean on top of the letter below they requested.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 18, 2019

1st Request
Re: Claim Number: 

Dear    ,

Thank you for submitting your claim with Allianz Global Assistance. We’re sorry that things didn’t go as planned.

While reviewing your claim, we found that additional information is required to accurately process your claim. The required documentation to process your claim is listed below:

  • Verification from travel supplier on their letterhead regarding any refunds received.
  • Verification of travel supplier's penalties or copy of literature describing penalties.

 

Of I go back to my travel agent asking for more documentation.

GRRRRRRR....

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12 minutes ago, twangster said:

Just received a text message: 

allianz quiz.jpeg

Hmmm...  how to respond?

See if you can make the automated system explode, just respond with things that confuse the system, after all it never said integers only, so maybe try the first ten thousand digits of pi? 

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Status Update - Claimed Denied

 

Thank you for choosing Allianz Global Assistance to protect your recent travel investment. We are sorry that your travel experience did not go as planned.

We have completed our review of your claim, and unfortunately are unable to provide benefits under the coverage you purchased because:

Your insuring agreement provides coverage if Your airline, cruise line, or tour operator stops offering all services for at least 24 consecutive hours from where you are departing, arriving or making a connection for specific reasons. Unfortunately, we have no evidence of a 24 consecutive hour cessation of services.

Based on the claim documents you submitted, we regret that we are unable to honor your claim.

Please refer to your copy of the Certificate of Insurance/Policy and Letter of Confirmation for more information on the specifics of the policy that you purchased.

If you have additional questions, please call us at 1-866-884-3556. Sincerely,

Claims Department Allianz Global Assistance

Encl:

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I spoke with a claims examiner.  The claim was denied based on "the 24 hour rule".

Basically she stated the Allianz perspective is this - When an airline cancels a flight, Allianz allows them up to 24 hours to get you to your original destination before you have a valid claim.  The fact that if Southwest had flown me to Houston the next day after the ship had departed, that's not their problem, no coverage for that.  As long as your air carrier could deliver you within 24 hours of your original flight there is no valid claim.

In my case I did capture screen shots of flights available.  No Southwest flight was available that would get me into Houston within 24hours of my original scheduled arrival.  

Note - I was never asked to prove this 24 hour rule.  It was never mentioned before.  It's come up out of the blue. 

I have appealed my denial with proof that Southwest could not get to me my destination within 24 hours of my originally scheduled arrival.   Being an optimist this is a very small glimmer of hope that my claim might, just maybe continue.

First take away - Even if you fly the day before, if your arrival time + 24 hours is not enough time to make the ship, you have no coverage.  Realistically this means you must plan your flight to arrive more than 24 hours before the ship's stated departure time.  Government regulations require you check in 90 mins prior to ship departure, it takes time to reach the port, there is time spent waiting for luggage to come off the plane.  For a port like Port Canaveral that means your flight should arrive no later around noon the day before the ship departs if you want to be ensure insurance coverage. 

If you had a flight that arrives anytime after noon and something happens, your airline has 24 hours to get your there before insurance coverage applies.  If your original flight lands at 4pm the day before, your airline has up to 4pm the next day to get you there before the 24 hour rule is waived.  In Orlando with a 4pm arrival now on the day of the cruise then add 2 hours to claim bags and hop in a taxi, you arrive just in time to take pictures of the ship leaving you behind.  No insurance coverage, the airline did it's job, 24 hour rule satisfied.  

Second take away - Document stuff you don't even know you need.  If my case I captured flights available on the day (none were available) plus I captured flights available the next day.  This capture proves that Southwest could not satisfy the 24 hour rule.  The best they could do was an arrival 28 1/2 hours later arriving at 2:45pm the next day.

I don't know why I captured this screen shot but I'm very glad I did.  Its very hard to go back in time and document flights that might have been available weeks ago at a moment in time.

  1466925854_WNDENHOU4-8-19.thumb.jpeg.c84b7c000b81856e975cc11f4203907e.jpeg

 

Time will tell if this capture saves the day or if there are more hurdles coming my way.

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28 minutes ago, hisfuzziness said:

Just for clarification, is this claim strictly looking at an airfare claim, or both airfare and cruisefare?  Thanks for doing this, never gotten travel insurance so an interesting look into one example of the process.

Good question. 

In my mind I bought the policy assuming it would cover both.  Assuming is never good.  

I haven't tried to claim airfare - it was refunded when Southwest cancelled my flight.  

If I pass the airline hurdle, I'm not sure where the claim will proceed next.  I don't imagine the path forward will be absent of more hurdles, if it proceeds at all.

In theory the insurance was for the "trip".  In theory a trip starts when your leave your home until your return.  In theory... but I'm not sure what their perspective will be, or what the policy once decoded by the magic insurance verbiage decoder ring would reveal.

One outcome I fear is that they validate I have a claim but then state that since Southwest refunded my airfare when they cancelled the flight, my claim, while valid, is zero.  

At this point I have little faith I'll see any money but since I'm here for the ride I'm going to continue posting this journey.

This claim is for under $900.  I really bought this policy to cover medical transportation and out of country medical expenses.  I hate to lose $900 but I can absorb that and survive.  I am left wondering how a claim for a $20k emergency medical helicopter ride would go, or $45k in a foreign hospital.  

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8 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

This whole thread has been eye opening.

To say the least...   I have bought trip insurance from Allianz for our previous cruises but don't think I will the next time.  (thought they probably are all the same).   Thanks again @twangster for posting this information.  

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Just now, ellcee said:

@twangsterThank you for detailing everything. This is the most ridiculous thing- you think you're covered which is why you buy it to begin with. Not sure if someone else has asked you this or if you've provided the info  - Will you change your insurance or the type of policy you buy for the future?

I've already acquired additional policies for my 2019 sailings where I could.   One is too close and too expensive given the short time frame involved.  Fingers crossed.

If my appeal is successful my annual coverage limits will reduce my potential coverage for any future qualifying events.  While I continue to have emergency medical transportation and health coverage through Allianz I question how a valid claim for that coverage would proceed. 

That's not to say another insurance company won't be any better, I may be out of the frying pan and into the fire, but I have to give another company a chance and hope they are better. 

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17 minutes ago, twangster said:

I've already acquired additional policies for my 2019 sailings where I could.   One is too close and too expensive given the short time frame involved.  Fingers crossed.

If my appeal is successful my annual coverage limits will reduce my potential coverage for any future qualifying events.  While I continue to have emergency medical transportation and health coverage through Allianz I question how a valid claim for that coverage would proceed. 

That's not to say another insurance company won't be any better, I may be out of the frying pan and into the fire, but I have to give another company a chance and hope they are better. 

 

Sorry to hear about all of your issues.  I was hoping to be able to read good news about your claim today (just disembarked off Anthem this AM).

I've never had to submit a travel insurance claim, so I can't say if any other insurance companies are better.  But I can say that I've been happy buying travel insurance from a travel insurance broker:  https://tripinsurancestore.com/

What I like about them is that you tell them all the information about our trip, and anything in particular you want to make sure you are insured against.  They will run the numbers for all of the various policies they sell from multiple vendors, and will make their recommendation.  

They also say that they will give you advice on the claims process in case you do need to submit a claim.

I kinda figure that similar to how it's better to use a travel agent then booking directly with the cruise line, it can't hurt to use an insurance broker instead of booking directly with the insurance company.  At minimum they would be able to give some advice on what to do if I run into issues during a claim.

Their website looks terrible, but they have been around forever.  Back when they started most websites looked like this ?  

 

 

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I am also rethinking my Allianz annual policy.  I've never had to file a claim but seeing what a difficult time you've had (and you're WAAAY more squared away than I am....I would be in a big time hum if I ever needed all of that documentation !) has me questioning what I have.  My annual is due for renewal in the next few weeks.  Might have to go back into investigative mode.

I do recall reading something about an airport needing to be closed down for a minimum of 24 hours in order for some of the coverage to be eligible.  I am terrible at reading fine print.

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Just now, WAAAYTOOO said:

I do recall reading something about an airport needing to be closed down for a minimum of 24 hours in order for some of the coverage to be eligible.  I am terrible at reading fine print.

I fear that will be their response...  "Your airline did not cease operations for 24 consecutive hours" (even though all flight were sold out).  

I rarely fly in the day of a cruise.  I couldn't make it work this time.  In the future I just won't book a cruise if my schedule doesn't allow me to fly in the day before.  

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I've said this before but thank you for blogging this for us.  This is a real eye opener.  I would have assumed that if my flight is cancelled, I could get the rest of the trip refunded.  We do fly in the night before but not 24 hours before as taking another full day off of work/school gets to be hard.  Between the Boeing Max problems and weather delays so many flights have been  canceled recently that I wonder if this a way for the insurance to not pay out.  I think it would be rare to have your flight cancelled and then the airline can book you immediately.  My experience is that the airline (SW) can get you to your destination 2 days later if you are lucky since most of their flights are full.

It makes me wonder what we would do if we had to deal with canceled flights.  The Max 8 planes were grounded 2 days before our spring break cruise so I was thinking through all the possibilities in case that happened. Rent a SUV and drive one way?  It would be a long miserable 16+ hour drive but we could do it.  Purchase on another airline?  Its spring break so many flights are flying full.  I wonder if I'd have been covered.  Time to break out the fine print and see what my policy says.

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This has prompted me to read the fine print on my policy.  I had another question about my insurance so I called and asked what happens if my flight is canceled. This is a lesson learned as my assumptions were wrong and thankful for the opportunity to learn through others.  I thought I'd share what I learned about my policy for education purposes.   I buy my trip insurance from C&F Travel insured through USAA and so your results might be different. 

If my flight is delayed by 3+ hours and I miss the cruise, it is considered a "Missed Connection" (look that up in your policy).  I will be reimbursed up to $500 per person to join the trip plus $200 per day for hotels, etc.  

If I am delayed by 6+ hours, then it is considered "Travel Delay" (once again in your policy with different amounts).  Reimbursement is up to $1000 per person.

The bottom line is that insurance expects me to meet the cruise at a port.  However, if I am unable to get there with at least 50% of the cruise left, then and only then, will I be reimbursed the cost of the cruise.  I wonder what RC would say if I tried to meet the ship at a port?  What is the process for that?  We also have passports so this is possible but if you traveled on birth certificates there is no way to meet the ship.    

Go Preds!

 

 

 

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We no longer buy travel insurance since we got the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Your report made me go through the details of their travel protection you get automatically when you use the card to pay for travel, and I found nothing about a 24 hour rule for airport closure.

This is probably open to wild interpretation though:

20190420_151623.thumb.jpg.1165fd5d39439a3c97e5189f979298eb.jpg

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23 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

We no longer buy travel insurance since we got the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Your report made me go through the details of their travel protection you get automatically when you use the card to pay for travel, and I found nothing about a 24 hour rule for airport closure.

This is probably open to wild interpretation though:

My concern with the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel insurance is that it doesn't seem to cover any airline delays other then weather (and strike).  It doesn't appear to cover any other reason why you wouldn't be able to fly... involuntary bumping, mechanical issue, 737-MAX grounding, etc:

https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/sapphirereserve/travel

What’s Not Covered

This is not an exhaustive list. Examples include:

  • Travel arrangements canceled or changed by a common carrier, tour operator, or any travel agency unless the cancellation is the result of severe weather or an organized strike affecting public transportation

 

I feel it's enough coverage when am I driving to the port, but it seems lacking for flying.

 

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