Insurance Claim refused - spoiled our trip

[susieh]

I am posting this to warn anyone else who is planning to go on a cruise in the US or take any trips after you arrive in WDW.

We had a brilliant trip to WDW in June with the exception of the middle weekend when my husband had sickness and diarrhoea.

Unfortunately the very day he was ill was the day we were supposed to travel to Port Canaveral to get on a RCCL 3 night cruise to the Bahamas. Instead of doing that we ended up taking him to the doctor's and then paying out $1012 to stay in the resort for the extra 3 nights.

I didn't worry too much because I tought we had travel insurance which covered it all and I had done the things it said I had to do at the time (ie call the emergency travel assist line and get their agreement to what we did at the time).

When we got home the travel claim form was on the mat so we filled in it and send it off - and waited.....

The claim was refused! We were paid the cost of the medication but they refused the cost of the cruise (stated it was an excursion and not covered) and the extra accommodation (stated they had no record of me calling them from the US and as that was a condition of the policy they would not pay up).

I was able to prove the phone call had been made as it appeared on my Vodafone bill but then they argued that the whole of that part of our holiday wasnt covered as it didnt start and end in the UK.

After more arguing they have paid the $1012 but still refuxe to cover the cruise.

We have made a formal complaint but dont know if we will win.

 

[tony64]

Sorry to hear this. Can I ask which insurance company you used?

 

[Merylj]

That is terrible - who was your insurer? We always book our accomodation etc seperately and usually with American TA`s and last year that included two cruises. I never thought for a minute they might be considered an excursion
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[susieh]

Our insurance is an HSBC Annual Travel policy which is underwritten by Norwich Union.

We usually do more than one separately booked stop on a trip to the US so I will be pushing this claim as far as I can as the principle they are quoting at me means we will never be covered in the future. I wish I could find out how other insurance companies treat this situation.

 

[Disney owl]

Sorry to hear this

Hope you can sort it out further

 

[jns]

Thanks for sharing and please let us know how you get on

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I am just a little confused how it spoiled your trip when the claim refusal was after you had returned from WDW?

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

I am just a little confused how it spoiled your trip when the claim refusal was after you had returned from WDW?

Probably because for most of us the whole holiday is an experience, with a start and an end. The ending here being the refused insurance claim. It's bad enough being ill on holiday when you think you're covered by insurance, and this type of thing leaves a bad memory for the whole experience.

Anyway Susie, I hope you get it all sorted out, and its a good reminder to all of us to ensure we follow the insurer's processes to the letter.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

SOrry about the illness - sounds horrible

After more arguing they have paid the $1012 but still refuxe to cover the cruise.

Out of interest, what was more expensive - the cruise or the hotel (the $1012)? I would expect an insurance claim to refund one, but not the other - if that makes sense? I hope that your cruise cost was less than $1012, then you wont have lost anything/much financially.

It is nasty that you did everything required, though, and they STILL argued and tried to riggle out of the claim... . I had COMPLETELY the opposite experience a few months ago: I couldn't go on a trip to Austria because of medical reasons (ear infection - advised not to fly by doctor). I phoned the insurance company as soon as I knew that I couldn't fly and they settled over the phone! I had a cheque for just under £200 (the cost of my trip - the £50 excess) in under 5 days. Didn't have to fill out a claim form or submit receipts. Was absolutely AMAZED!!! That was on the LloydsTSB annual insurance policy.

Boo

 

[Gonz Of Lancashire]

I am posting this to warn anyone else who is planning to go on a cruise in the US or take any trips after you arrive in WDW.

We had a brilliant trip to WDW in June with the exception of the middle weekend when my husband had sickness and diarrhoea.

Unfortunately the very day he was ill was the day we were supposed to travel to Port Canaveral to get on a RCCL 3 night cruise to the Bahamas. Instead of doing that we ended up taking him to the doctor's and then paying out $1012 to stay in the resort for the extra 3 nights.

I didn't worry too much because I tought we had travel insurance which covered it all and I had done the things it said I had to do at the time (ie call the emergency travel assist line and get their agreement to what we did at the time).

When we got home the travel claim form was on the mat so we filled in it and send it off - and waited.....

The claim was refused! We were paid the cost of the medication but they refused the cost of the cruise (stated it was an excursion and not covered) and the extra accommodation (stated they had no record of me calling them from the US and as that was a condition of the policy they would not pay up).

I was able to prove the phone call had been made as it appeared on my Vodafone bill but then they argued that the whole of that part of our holiday wasnt covered as it didnt start and end in the UK.

After more arguing they have paid the $1012 but still refuxe to cover the cruise.

We have made a formal complaint but dont know if we will win.

The insurance will only pay out for the extra costs of missing the cruise or the cruise itself, but not both. In effect, if they paid for the cruise and the hotel you would be recieving 3 free nights in a hotel and therefore making money out of the claim. Wether the cruise or the hotel gets paid will be in the terms of the policy, it may just be a case of the cheaper gets paid.

 

[susieh]

In answer to some people's questions - the cost of the cruise was more than the extra 3 nights accommodation we had to pay. That is because we had booked a junior suite on the cruise and the cost also included all our food and entertainment for the duration of it.

We are not trying to claim for both - because we agree with many of you that it would not be fair to be paid for the 3 nights 'twice' - even though we ended up with 3 days when we did very little because DH was ill.

The difference in price between the cruise and the hotel is about £400. And it is the principle I am bothered about too because we would like to get to do the cruise sometime in the future and I want to ensure we have a policy that covers us 'just in case'.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

In answer to some people's questions - the cost of the cruise was more than the extra 3 nights accommodation we had to pay. That is because we had booked a junior suite on the cruise and the cost also included all our food and entertainment for the duration of it.

We are not trying to claim for both - because we agree with many of you that it would not be fair to be paid for the 3 nights 'twice' - even though we ended up with 3 days when we did very little because DH was ill.

The difference in price between the cruise and the hotel is about £400. And it is the principle I am bothered about too because we would like to get to do the cruise sometime in the future and I want to ensure we have a policy that covers us 'just in case'.

How many of you were there travelling? Two or a family of more?

I would hope that you would have been compensated for the cruise instead of the hotel (assuming the cruise cost was greater) - I am very surprised that they compensated you for the hotel instead. Presumably, since you were claiming for the cruise and not the hotel, you wouldn't have submitted the cost of the hotel and receipts for it?

Boo

 

[susieh]

There were 2 of us trravelling and the cruise cost £900 for the 2 of us. The hotel cost £500.

We had to submit receipts for everything to prove that we did have to pay for extra accommodation when we didn't go on the cruise. So the insurance company can see how much we spent both before we left the UK and while we were in Florida.

We had a doctor's letter to say he wasnt to travel, we had the cancellation cost receipt from RCCL, we had the receipts for the extra accommodation, we had the original holiday reservation documents - there was nothing we didnt send.

We had to claim from HSBC once before - when we cancelled a holiday because my father in law died suddenly 3 days before we were to travel. They made it really hard that time too - think we will be paying for someone else's policy next time even though we get HSBC's as part of our bank account.

 

[Minniespal]

Shame about the insurance.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

That is not good - horrible to be "out of pocket"...

The only thing I can think of re this claim is not check the Ts and Cs of your policy: did the travel company fulfil them? If they didn't, then it may be worth pursuing through the small claims court (after sending your insurers a letter pointing out where they don't meet their policies and that you intend to escalate your claim through the small claims court). If they did, then you DEFINITELY need a new policy.

Think that you may want to change insurers anyway... My travel insurance is through my bank account (Lloyds) and so far they have been very good (as detailed above).

Boo

There were 2 of us trravelling and the cruise cost £900 for the 2 of us. The hotel cost £500.

We had to submit receipts for everything to prove that we did have to pay for extra accommodation when we didn't go on the cruise. So the insurance company can see how much we spent both before we left the UK and while we were in Florida.

We had a doctor's letter to say he wasnt to travel, we had the cancellation cost receipt from RCCL, we had the receipts for the extra accommodation, we had the original holiday reservation documents - there was nothing we didnt send.

We had to claim from HSBC once before - when we cancelled a holiday because my father in law died suddenly 3 days before we were to travel. They made it really hard that time too - think we will be paying for someone else's policy next time even though we get HSBC's as part of our bank account.

 

[tink too]

I had the unfortunate incident of having to visit hospital in Celebration several years ago. My mum called the UK insurers, they gave her a contact number for their Florida representative, our hotel faxed all the requested documents to them and a copy of our insurance to the hospital and we were promised that everything was going to be settled.

Well over a year after the event, I was still battling it out with the insurance company to settle my hospital bills!

They disputed the fact that we'd ever called. However, they couldn't explain how I knew the name of a UK claims rep or how I managed to get the phone and fax number of their Florida contact!

Eventually, my claim was sorted out (I think) only after many calls to the US from my own phone! I was told that several people lost their jobs over this issue as paperwork was found many months down the line but hadn't been processed.

Seems that many companies are happy to take your money but very reluctant to pay out if necessary. I must state that we did not receive any money - I absorbed many of the costs myself (additional taxis, etc) - I only wanted them to pay my hospital bills as they had promised when we first contacted them!

 

[angel659]

Outragous. I must admit I have never ever thought about claim problems. I always look out for the best deal. This makes me think twice.

Any recommendations I am thinking of purchasing an annual insurance policy as we maybe returning back to France next yr for camping as well as WDW.

Good luck with your claim and hope it all works out well. Its a pity it leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

 

[Pootle]

I hope you get this sorted out, it sounds most unfair.

We have First Direct Annual insurance (owned by HSBC) also as part of our bank account and when I needed to cancel a trip to Florida earlier this year when my travelling companion broke her arm the week before we were due to leave, they paid in full and very quickly too.

Good luck with it

 

[carolfoy]

Unfortunately you can never tell how good an insurance company is until you need to claim with then, I've used loads of different ones usually going by the best coverage for the best price but have yet (luckily) had to make a claim. As a t/a though I do handle an awful lot of insurance claims and I must admit that lloyds tsb do a good job and so do fortis (there are others too but these stick in my mind as being quick to sort claims)

 

[Pootle]

I've just re-read your post and saw something familiar about the cruise not originating or ending in the UK, and I remembered a train journey with Amtrak which went wrong in the USA and we didn't take it (this was a 3 day trip).

I phoned the insurance company when it happened (we were with BA and their insurers at that time) and were told we were not covered for the same reason. It didn't really surprise me as I'd read the small print, and we, with the help of Trailfinders who were brilliant, successfully pursued Amtrak for the additional costs incurred.

I know it's not exactly the same, but the phrase about not originating or ending in the UK was used.

BA's insurers were excellent a year later when my sister-in-law died whilst we were in Florida and had to come back early. They completely took over and arranged everything and paid up promptly.

Again I wish you luck with it. It's times like this when organising a holiday independently can cause hassle.