Question about Travel Guard Insurance

[66Tink]

Hello everyone. I hope I am posting this question in the correct spot. We are renting points for a trip to VB and SSR in May. The person we are renting from sent me our paperwork and including was a flyer about vacation insurance. I called Travel Guard and they said I could make the arrangements for the insurance. I ran this by the DVC member that I am renting the points from and he called member services and they said he needed to make the insurance arrangements since he is the member. He suggested I call Travel Guard back to confirm. Well I did that this morning and an agent told me that since we are the ones traveling that we could make the insurance arrangements and that any points lost from our vacation due to leaving for the emergency reasons that the agent mentioned would result in the points being converted into cash and being refunded to us. Does this make any sense? Normally, I do not bother with travel insurance, but there are some health issues with my Dad and I thought it may not be a bad idea. What do you all think? TIA

Joanne

 

[CarolAnnC]

Travel Guard's policy has always been to sell the insurance to the DVC owner. They also only cover $5 per point with many restrictions. You may want to check out other insurance possibilities, such as AAA. Good luck!

 

[66Tink]

Thank you so very much. I am a AAA member and it never crossed my mind. Thanks again

 

[disneynutz]

You can still use Travel Guard, but don't buy through the DVC, buy direct. Your entire point rental can be treated as a reimbursable expense should you need to file a claim.

 

[Anal Annie]

I tried to insure our points last summer thru other travel insurance companies but nobody else would insure timeshare points. We were cruising in July & I thought it would be a good idea but nobody would do it just based on the cash value of the cruises. (I checked various ones thru insuremytrip.com) We ended up just saying "screw it" going thru Travel Guard. I am planning to insure our August trip again this summer too since we're going the end of August which is just almost the height of hurricane season.

It's not that expensive to insure just the points. I actually just calculated it today...we used 159 points for a studio at BCV for 7 n + 36 pts for an OVIR at VB for a total of 159 points. It will only cost $40.94 to insure just the points. I am not messing with any other coverage for this trip...but figure SOME reimbursement is better than nothing if something happens & we hit delays or get displaced or something. They charge $30 pp for airfare cancellation coverage...I had found flights for $129 RT less a credit we had coming to us so our flights only came to $311 for all of us - we'll eat that if we have to. Now, for the cruises last year I added medical evacuations etc. and it was only a few dollars more pp. It's just a piece of mind thing for some of us to have it. But I couldn't find anyone else to insure timeshare points. Good luck with that.

 

[JimMIA]

You can still use Travel Guard, but don't buy through the DVC, buy direct. Your entire point rental can be treated as a reimbursable expense should you need to file a claim.

This is exactly correct. Not only your rental fees, but also airfare, etc, etc. ANY non-reimbursable covered loss will be paid, and you can buy direct through Travel Guard. Many other insurers will NOT insure timeshare rentals, but Travel Guard will.

(The DVC points insurance, which is what the owner would have to arrange through MS, only covers $5 per point, and no owner in their right mind would agree to that. You are both much better off if you purchase directly from Travel Guard.)

Travel Guard is probably the biggest travel insurance company. They are knowledgeable about DVC and they approach it the same way as if you'd rented a condo from a private owner for a ski trip. You paid $X, they reimburse you if you have to cancel because of a covered risk. I've used Travel Guard a number of times and had to file two claims -- no problems whatsoever with either claim. (Neither claim was DVC related -- one was a Mexico trip and the other was a ski trip.)

Just be sure you understand what they cover and what they do not. Illness (either yours or an immediate family member) causing complete or partial cancelation is the most common type of claim. Changing your mind, or someone losing their job, is not covered. So be sure you know what you're buying.

 

[66Tink]

Thanks so very much for all of your replies...you all have been most helpful

 

[dis2cruise]

does aaa cover everything?? I am a member of aaa and would they also cover my kids friends that are coming with us too??