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Travel insurance claim ... am getting the run around ... is this normal?
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LONG POST ... sorry!
OK, so my husband and I both have Platinum AMEX cards and instead of getting seperate travel insurance for our recent 5 week trip decided to use the insurance that we get 'free' with our cards (despite the fact we pay $295 a year each to have the cards).
Anyway, in LA having lunch and my handbag falls into a water fountain without us noticing until finishing lunch (approx 15 mins later) at which point we discovered my handbag, mobile phone, digital camera and husband's wallet were all soaked & ruined.
We got back, reported to AXA (AMEX insurance providers) and they said to send in the form. Which we did, along with evidence that the goods belonged to us so we ran around getting insurance quotes for the wallet & handbag and sent in receipts for the camera and mobile.
The 1 week later they asked us to send in the damaged goods. Luckily we hadn't thrown them out, so $10 postage later and the goods were posted to the insurance company. Were a bit ****ty that they didn't ask for them straights up, but nonetheless sent them off.
Then today, we received the camera and mobile phone back in the post saying that they could see no evidence of water damage and that we had to go to Nokia and Canon and get them assessed as to whether they could be repaired or had to be replaced. Now am getting really ****ty because it is obvious to us that the items do not work.
So, I took the phone into Nokia who charged me $35 to look at the phone and could quite obviously see that the chip was water damaged and it will take 3-5 days for them to get the assessment back to me. I haven't yet taken the camera in as the service centre is out of my way and I'm meant to do this during business hours.
The insurance claim was for approx $2k worth of goods before depreciation so I guess about $1,500, less approx $250 excess, but all this running around is driving me insane. We are both considering cancelling our AMEX cards due to this experience. Also, we have never ever made a travel insurance claim in our life and we are being treated like scam artists!
Has anyone else ever had the run around from a travel insurance company or is this just normal?
Should've sent the goods to them in a container of water.Originally Posted by poppet
Sorry, bad joke.That sounds bad, but I guess at least they're giving you the "privilege" of giving you the runaround, rather than flat-out denying the claim.
I've only ever had one travel insurance claim (for suitcase damage) which went through our work insurer (underwritten by Chubb). It was amazingly painless.
Cheers,
- Febs.
While it does sound like a lot of running around and maybe unnecessary, I don't believe the Insurance company is particularly out of line.
Any electronic item that doesn't work and has no obvious water stains on it cannot be determined as failed for water damage easily. The only real way is when someone opens the item up and sees the corrosion/stains/chemical marks that water leaves when the item is dunked in water and dried.
There is nothing to say (to the insurance company) that the item didn't stop working for another reason not covered by the insurance.
Similar issue for the repairs - while water damaged electronics are pretty much not repairable, the insurance company still wants to see that they can't be repaired for less than the value.
Perhaps they could have handled it better by getting the assessment done themselves rather than making you do the run-around, or could have informed you earlier?
Unfortunately Insurance has a high level of fraud and even valid claims are often put under the microscope to check the full validity and to ensure that the correct value is paid out for a claim.
I have made a few travel insurance claims in the past (a couple of theft, car accident), although not via my Amex card. My recommendation is to persist - there appears to be so much fraud in insurance claims that everyone gets put through the nth degree to be sure. But on a positive note I have never had a claim turned down - my sense is that honesty will always prevail....
Yeah insurance is a pain in the backside. In many cases I don't even bother making claims and only get insurance incase I'm hit by a tuk-tuk in Bangkok.
Only time I have made a claim was when United tore the handles off a Louis Vuitton bag which was worth a small fortune. Went through the same dramas you did, insurance company (QBE) kept giving me the run-around, took forever to do things, didn't return calls etc. In the end I just had to keep on them and it came through.
It shouldn't be so hard... but unfortunatley it is.
I've made 2 travel insurance claims this year and both were paid up within days. One was through my company's travel insurance when my laptop got damaged when in the overhead locker on a QF flight. I filled form in, together with details of the cost of repairs and the money was credited with about 3 days
The second claim was with Columbus for delayed luggage. My luggage was delayed 3 days, so sent them the receipts for the purchases plus itemising what I purchased up to $500 and they sent me a cheque for $500 within a week.
It does seem that AMEX are being rather difficult
Dave
This is exactly why they do it. The honest people that do not have the time to pursue it are the ones that would drop the claim, however your scammer will persist because they probably make a living out of it.
As you may have guessed, I too have been given the run around. As mentioned in this thread, hopefully honesty will prevail, just keep an eye on any deadlines they give to have items assessed/repaired... time flies when your having fun and deadlines can be over looked.
Persist, and if you haven't done so already, try and get one contact within the claims department that you can speak to rather than any Joe that answers the phone. More with honey than vinegar to that person.....
I guess persistence is your best bet here.
Here's the PDS for the Platinum insurance: Amex Plat Insurance ...
Basically, it depends how much leverage you have over the insurance claim - company schemes are pretty well administered, as are paying customers. CC freebies are down near the bottom...
I have one point to add to all the other helpful posts: you should claim the repair assessment costs from the insurer in the claim. These are legitimate expenses in evaluating and settling the claim.
Phones, iPods and cameras are high-risk claims, so if your bags had gone missing you probably wouldn't be having this hassle.
Doesn't Amex Plat have a concierge service that does running around for you?
It would be impossible for them to refuse doing the run around for you to get repair estimates, etc for an amex travel insurance claim.
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