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A friend of mine was scheduled to go on a cruise last year, but missed the boat when his flight was cancelled due to a snow storm. He was not able to get a new flight for two days because of the huge backlog of travelers. By then the seven night cruise would already be 1000 miles away from port.
He called the Travel Insurance Company and explained his situation. They told him that they would pay for a hotel as part of his trip delay coverage. He told them he was at home and that would not be helpful, because he could sleep in his own bed until he could get a flight in a few days. The travel insurance company told him they could pay him $150 a day for expenses related to the delay. The cost of a last minute flight to Saint Thomas, the next port of call where he could fly to meet the ship, would be $600 a piece. So the $150 a day would not pay for the Airfare. In frustration, he had to cancel his planned vacation and lose thousands of dollars. The highly rated Travel Insurance was basically worthless.
Any advice on what he could have done differently.
Welcome to the world of insurance. All insurance is worthless. Unfortunatly it is required by law if you have a mortgage or drive a car. They will do everything they can to avoid paying a claim. They have high paid Lawyers to write these policies with built-in loop holes where they can wiggle out of paying almost any claim.
Oh but if you are just one day late paying your monthly premium you already have threat letters in your mail box.
Here is a little trick you can do. Not sure if it works in all places. In most big cities where insurance companies call home, just drive along the Interstate Highways and look at all the big tall pretty buildings. The most glamorous, the most breath taking architecture, the biggest and the best buildings are always Insurance Companies. I know....Banks are a close second.
Welcome to the world of insurance. All insurance is worthless. Unfortunatly it is required by law if you have a mortgage or drive a car. They will do everything they can to avoid paying a claim. They have high paid Lawyers to write these policies with built-in loop holes where they can wiggle out of paying almost any claim.
Oh but if you are just one day late paying your monthly premium you already have threat letters in your mail box.
Here is a little trick you can do. Not sure if it works in all places. In most big cities where insurance companies call home, just drive along the Interstate Highways and look at all the big tall pretty buildings. The most glamorous, the most breath taking architecture, the biggest and the best buildings are always Insurance Companies. I know....Banks are a close second.
Now ask yourself where your premiums are going.
Yes yes yes and YES, desertsun -- AND our premiums are also going to pay the massive, gargantuan salaries, bonuses and perks of the very top executives.
Insurance companies are in business to make money for the stockholders and the executives. They are not in business to be helpful to people who encounter problems. The insurance business is a fantasy then, you say? Mostly yes, with the exception of some aspects of insurance against various catastrophies. But even in those types of situations, the insurance companies are in business to make money for the stockholders and the executives, not to be helpful to people. It's critical that we, as premium-payers, understand that. They will pay out as little as they can get away with, then they will drop the customer, who has to look elsewhere to find what is usually a much more expensive alternative.
desertsun is spot on -- it's a fact that the wording of policies is deliberately and carefully constructed to avoid the possibility of the insurance company having to pay out much at the end of the road. Since most folks who buy insurance don't have the time, interest, education or money to read every word and employ legal counsel in order to understand the wording, we who purchase insurance are largely throwing our money down the drain and don't realize it.
Perfect example: do you remember when Katrina hit? Do you remember afterward a huge majority of the insurance claims were simply denied by the insurance companies, the most notorious case being that of Nationwide which apparently flat-out refused to pay claims in most, if not all, of Louisiana and Mississippi. THAT is the true business of insurance companies -- KEEPING the money paid to them in premiums.
Your travel-frustrated friend has only one recourse: to hire a lawyer to interpret and explain what the wording means and help your friend decide if there is any chance of getting any additional compensation.
Last edited by allforcats; 01-17-2008 at 01:00 PM..
I have had to make a few claims on travel insurance and they have always been paid promptly and without fuss. I would never dream of going anywhere without it. Especially the US where a twisted ankle can make you bankrupt !
Yes yes yes and YES, desertsun -- AND our premiums are also going to pay the massive, gargantuan salaries, bonuses and perks of the very top executives.
Insurance companies are in business to make money for the stockholders and the executives. They are not in business to be helpful to people who encounter problems. The insurance business is a fantasy then, you say? Mostly yes, with the exception of some aspects of insurance against various catastrophies. But even in those types of situations, the insurance companies are in business to make money for the stockholders and the executives, not to be helpful to people. It's critical that we, as premium-payers, understand that. They will pay out as little as they can get away with, then they will drop the customer, who has to look elsewhere to find what is usually a much more expensive alternative.
desertsun is spot on -- it's a fact that the wording of policies is deliberately and carefully constructed to avoid the possibility of the insurance company having to pay out much at the end of the road. Since most folks who buy insurance don't have the time, interest, education or money to read every word and employ legal counsel in order to understand the wording, we who purchase insurance are largely throwing our money down the drain and don't realize it.
Perfect example: do you remember when Katrina hit? Do you remember afterward a huge majority of the insurance claims were simply denied by the insurance companies, the most notorious case being that of Nationwide which apparently flat-out refused to pay claims in most, if not all, of Louisiana and Mississippi. THAT is the true business of insurance companies -- KEEPING the money paid to them in premiums.
Your travel-frustrated friend has only one recourse: to hire a lawyer to interpret and explain what the wording means and help your friend decide if there is any chance of getting any additional compensation.
Thanks allforcats. Finally a genius like myself speaks out. May I add to your example of the Katrina problem?
Many of those home owners had hurricane insurance. But since it was the flood waters that destroyed their homes, the insurance cos denied the claim because they did not have flood insurance. Oh but the hurricane caused the flooding hollar the home owners and we are covered for hurricanes.
Sorry say the insurance cos. you are SOOL ! But when are you going to send in the next premium? It is due.
Same thing happened in Homestead, Florida after Andrew. Remember Allstate did not want to pay the claims so they tried to cease business in Florida and move away? The government stepped in and forced them to pay and remain in Florida.
Fast foward to today. Few claims to date in New Orleans have ever been paid. No one is stepping in to make them pay like they did after Hurricane Andrew.
Do you know that right as we speak there are savy investors who are paying pittance amounts to home owners, now land owners to buy their land in New Orleans? These guys are handing people $2000 cash for the deed to their land. The home owners realize that they will never collect one thin dime from insurance so they are taking this money with a smile on their face. Now some day when N.O. starts to rebuild, these investors will be selling these lots for 20 times what they paid.
How said. How disgusting this is happening in America.
if you read Frommers travel site there is a link just for travel insurance health and safety and you can read what people have to say about their travel policy experiences--
also the slowtrav site and some forums on trip advisor
from what I have read I think it matters WHAT and WHEN you buy travel insurance--some events are not covered just because you think they are--you need to read what you bought in the policy--sometimes calling the company and asking for information about certain problems that might occur gets a response that is not accurate when the policy is read thoroughly...
there are people on the Frommers site and slow trav that have used trip cancellation and travel insurance and say they are happy with their service...
Yes yes yes and YES, desertsun -- AND our premiums are also going to pay the massive, gargantuan salaries, bonuses and perks of the very top executives.
Insurance companies are in business to make money for the stockholders and the executives. They are not in business to be helpful to people who encounter problems. The insurance business is a fantasy then, you say? Mostly yes, with the exception of some aspects of insurance against various catastrophies. But even in those types of situations, the insurance companies are in business to make money for the stockholders and the executives, not to be helpful to people. It's critical that we, as premium-payers, understand that. They will pay out as little as they can get away with, then they will drop the customer, who has to look elsewhere to find what is usually a much more expensive alternative.
desertsun is spot on -- it's a fact that the wording of policies is deliberately and carefully constructed to avoid the possibility of the insurance company having to pay out much at the end of the road. Since most folks who buy insurance don't have the time, interest, education or money to read every word and employ legal counsel in order to understand the wording, we who purchase insurance are largely throwing our money down the drain and don't realize it.
Perfect example: do you remember when Katrina hit? Do you remember afterward a huge majority of the insurance claims were simply denied by the insurance companies, the most notorious case being that of Nationwide which apparently flat-out refused to pay claims in most, if not all, of Louisiana and Mississippi. THAT is the true business of insurance companies -- KEEPING the money paid to them in premiums.
Your travel-frustrated friend has only one recourse: to hire a lawyer to interpret and explain what the wording means and help your friend decide if there is any chance of getting any additional compensation.
This is really funny since most major insurance companies are mutual companies meaning that the 'stockholders' are the policy holders, but whatever you want to think is fine. As for claims from Katerina being flat out denied, that simply isn't true. Most of the claims that were denied were FLOOD claims and those are NOT covered under a homeowners policy. The Flood insurance is through the federal government and they set the limits on coverage not the insurance companies.
The VAST majority of problems people have with insurance companies come from the own lack of understanding what is covered and what is not.
As for the original issue--what did the policy he buy cover? Did it cover storm delays with the flight? If not, he should have read the policy better or asked for clarification when he bought the policy. If he bought the policy on the cruise itself, the flight most likely isn't covered. Without knowing what the coverage was it is impossible to know if he has any recourse or not.
QUESTION: As for the original issue--what did the policy he buy cover? Did it cover storm delays with the flight? If not, he should have read the policy better or asked for clarification when he bought the policy. If he bought the policy on the cruise itself, the flight most likely isn't covered. Without knowing what the coverage was it is impossible to know if he has any recourse or not.
ANSWER: It was a standard travel insurance policy that assumed the airline was going to get him and his wife to the final destination within a day or two. Trouble is the destination you need to get to with a cruise is always changing. The next port of call was Belize City and that would be about $600 a person for a last minute flight. The travel insurance would only pay $150 for hotels and food if the flight was delayed or cancelled, so if he wanted to meet the ship, it had to come out of his own pocket.
I am sure that trip cancellation insurance might be a consideration for many people. And perhaps luggage-loss insurance?
I have bought travel insurance one time in all my travels.
Never bought it again.
I could never shake the thought that it was a rip-off. We already have all kinds of homeowner's and health insurance. How insured can or should a person be?
I am sure that carefully (VERY carefully) reading the fine print is essential.
Moose, I am glad to see that you had success with travel insurance.
We travel extensively. We always buy travel insurance. Why? Well on one trip planned, I had a heart attack 3 days before our cruise departure. We were reimbursed 100% for the cruise and the air fare. We only had to show a doctors note. Took about 4 weeks to receive check.
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