travel insurance

[cruisincaroline]

Don’t buy insurance from AON TRAVEL fighting them to get refund or transfer to another cruise. Sad part RCL recommends this. (living in NY this is who was recommend. )

[Rose City Cruiser]

What is the reason they are denying your claim?  Are they going against their terms and conditions?

[therealbigredrules]

On 7/2/2020 at 4:58 PM, cruisincaroline said:

Don’t buy insurance from AON TRAVEL fighting them to get refund or transfer to another cruise. Sad part RCL recommends this. (living in NY this is who was recommend. )

I have been trying to get an acceptable resolution for over4 months.  RCCL sends you to AON.  AON sends you to RCCL.  Circular logic is their game.  They point to the other guy and hope you will go away.  For my policy, AON is just the administrator - Arch Insurance appears to be the underwriter.  At this point, getting an acceptable resolution has become nothing more than my hobby. I kill them with kindness and just drag it out.  I do this with both RCCL and AON.  I've clearly been screwed, so it makes it easy.

Righteous Indignation is probably the best way to sum this one up for me.

If I cannot get money or credit back, I will take as much of their time as possible to wear them out and drag it on to add expenses to their overhead.  I had a 35 minute call with AON last week while in the car..... so had some time to kill.  I do that whenever I have a few minutes.  Add a few emails every week along with a snail mail letter referencing my emails and calls and it just bogs them down.  Adds to their overhead expenses - so I will just keep doing it until I get my money, credit, or think I have taken enough of their time to recover some of my cost.

Response time has improved over the past few months - but it usually takes about 5 days for them to respond.  Wait a few days and send a follow up.  Get some names off their website and sprinkle a few extra people on distribution and it just expands over time.

  

[AshleyDillo]

I don't think this is specific to AON.  While I believe most travel insurance carriers will allow for the transfer of the policy to another cruise, I don't feel a full refund of travel insurance premiums is warranted in most cases.  A pro-rated refund sure, but the travel insurance company provided coverage to you from when you purchased the policy until the cruise was canceled.  Just because you didn't have to use it, doesn't mean that you shouldn't have to pay for the time you were covered.  Asking for a full refund is like expecting to be refunded for a full year's worth of auto insurance premiums when you are months into your coverage.  

[therealbigredrules]

On 7/14/2020 at 10:32 AM, AshleyDillo said:

I don't think this is specific to AON.  While I believe most travel insurance carriers will allow for the transfer of the policy to another cruise, I don't feel a full refund of travel insurance premiums is warranted in most cases.  A pro-rated refund sure, but the travel insurance company provided coverage to you from when you purchased the policy until the cruise was canceled.  Just because you didn't have to use it, doesn't mean that you shouldn't have to pay for the time you were covered.  Asking for a full refund is like expecting to be refunded for a full year's worth of auto insurance premiums when you are months into your coverage.  

Unfortunately neither RCCL nor AON is willing, up to this point, to even give a partial / prorated refund via a cash reimbursement or even an FCC.  Neither group is moving on this item in my case.   And as mentioned before, they both point to the other guy.

But let’s dig in a little deeper on the topic of a prorated refund.  First, I would respectfully submit that this is not at all like auto insurance.  With auto insurance you have an asset that is being covered day one along with related covered liabilities on day one.  All of which could incur a full massive claim the second you purchased the vehicle and entered into an insurance policy.  Second, the guy you purchased the car from cannot cancel the purchase after you have taken ownership.

With cruise coverage, the potential losses exposure to the carrier changes over time.  That is, you make your deposit at time of booking, you make your full payment 90 days before the sail date, you then actually take your cruise which then, and only then, opens up additional items that are covered by the policy.

These are two vastly different things.

For my case, the concept of a prorated refund seems somewhat palatable to this consumer as a method to recoup some of my funds.  I’m reasonable, and understand that you have to give and take in these situations.  However, when you look deeper, even this is somewhat questionable and could lead to problems for the cruise line and AON.  Three simple things that cannot be disputed are (1) I paid $500 for cruise insurance. (2) My out of pocket (deposit) was $1,000.  (3) No cruise took place.

Using the logic of “just prorate” – Let’s then ask the question - what was RCCL / AON real exposer to a loss during this prorated time period?  Well, you can argue all day long that I purchased a market basket of covered for various allowable claims / coverage.  However, if RCCL / AON is going to place their argument on the concept of prorated coverage (which they have not to this point), there certainly could not be any actual cruise related claims.  That is, no lost luggage, no medical claims while traveling, no transportation back home, and other items covered due to the actual cruise taking place. 

So in this example, what was their real exposure in my case?  I could be wrong – but I’m thinking it is no more $1,000.   What did I pay for this coverage? $500.  No rational individual would pay a 50% coverage rate.  Plus regulators would deem this rate abusive – and that opens up an entirely different problem for RCCL and AON.

[AshleyDillo]

2 hours ago, therealbigredrules said:

Using the logic of “just prorate” – Let’s then ask the question - what was RCCL / AON real exposer to a loss during this prorated time period?  Well, you can argue all day long that I purchased a market basket of covered for various allowable claims / coverage.  However, if RCCL / AON is going to place their argument on the concept of prorated coverage (which they have not to this point), there certainly could not be any actual cruise related claims.  That is, no lost luggage, no medical claims while traveling, no transportation back home, and other items covered due to the actual cruise taking place. 

I am totally with you here.  The pro rated amount would be very small relative to the entire cost of coverage before the trip is taken since the actual exposure to the insurance company is if you cancel before the trip for a covered reason and the insurance has to indemnify you for the non-refundable portion of your trip.  That exposure definitely is a lot less the further you are from your trip as the cruise line has a tiered cancellation penalty.  

AON is much less transparent than the other travel insurer carriers out there it appears.  Other companies address your situation specifically (https://www.travelinsure.com/resources/covid-19-info/).  

Reading the coverage for the Aon insurance it says that you could cancel the policy at any time and get a pro-rated refund.  But it also says that the coverage period for the policy ends either once the trip has been taken, or when the trip is canceled.

Quote

Cancellation by Insured: You may cancel this policy at any time by written notice delivered or mailed to Us, effective upon receipt of such notice or on such later date as may be specified in such notice. In the event of cancellation or death of the insured, We will promptly return the unearned portion of any premium paid on a short rate basis. Cancellation will be without prejudice to any claim originating prior to the effective date of the cancellation.

Quote

All Other Coverages: Your coverage automatically ends on the earlier of: 1) the date the Trip is completed; 2) the Scheduled Return Date; 3) Your arrival at the return destination on a round-trip, or the destination on a one-way trip; 4) cancellation of the Trip covered by the policy; 5) the expiration of the Policy.

The rates established for travel insurance are partially dictated by the total trip costs, which if you purchase a third-party travel insurance policy you can increase this amount as you have a greater out of pocket exposure once final payment is due.  I don't think you have this option when you take the bundled insurance product that Royal offers.

I took the above quotes from this document (https://coverage.archinsurancesolutions.com/description-of-coverage/f513340d-278c-e711-8107-1418776a18cb) which may not be reflective of your actual policy documents.  If you continue to get nowhere with the insurance company or Royal you may want to look into filing a complaint with the state insurance regulators and see if they can assist in getting the right people to listen.

[Rose City Cruiser]

@therealbigredrules Did you try to escalate your case to the underwriting company's ombudsman?  I hope you will find some form a resolution.  

[twangster]

Insurance varies greatly between states since that is where a lot of legal framework that controls insurance providers is set in the US.  What insurers are required or not required to do in cases like this may be set by your state of residence so be careful taking what occured for one person and thinking the same will occur for you.