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I just spoke to ACE again and it sounds like they've finally given their staff some support in understanding the changes and how ACE would likely act on them in certain circumstances.
The person I spoke to conversed with more confidence than the last one I spoke to and almost sounded like he was reading from a script (which is a good thing when it comes to insurance as you want consistency and predictability!!).
He had this to say in terms of activating the insurance...
If you pay for your flights out of and into Australia on your card you will have done enough to activate the travel insurance. This also activates the TAC for that portion of the trip.
However if you were to go on any side trips using a common carrier conveyance and these are paid for using other means, you will not be covered for the TAC however you will still be covered for medical expenses and the like.
He also explained the use of frequent flyer points and what would be required if you were claiming when you had paid for your ticket using QFF points for instance.
The explanation given here was that you need to be able to show that you have transferred enough MR points to cover the ticket purchase, and this can be over any period of time.
When making a claim, they would expect you to show the following
1) that you paid for your ticket using frequent flyer points eg QFF (which I would expect would show on your ticket which they would ask for anyway)
2) that you paid any other costs for that ticket (eg taxes) on your Amex Card
3) that you have transferred enough MR points over time into said FF program to cover the cost of the ticket
They would not expect you to do some kind of complex points reconciliation etc so it doesn't matter if you've been earning and burning with QFF, just that the same amount of points out for your ticket have gone in via Amex MR...
I must say that this does give me more confidence in this insurance cover, however I'll still be looking at all of the excess amounts they have introduced and will make sure that despite being young and healthy, none of their pre-existing conditions might trip me up
If you pay for your flights out of and into Australia on your card you will have done enough to activate the travel insurance. This also activates the TAC for that portion of the trip.
This may well be the intent of the policy, but that's the problem that everyone on here has with this new policy - that intent is not 100% clear and indisputable in the wording of the PDS! I feel no comfort from the fact you talked to a more confident rep, because the vague wording of the policy remains unchanged. And if the policy doesn't explicitly and unambiguously state that it's activated with flights into and out of Australia only, then the uncertainty makes the insurance worthless.
If Amex could learn only one thing from the hundreds of complaints they've no doubt received, it should be that the policy needs amending to clarify basic descriptions of what activates this coverage, such as 'full fare'.
This may well be the intent of the policy, but that's the problem that everyone on here has with this new policy - that intent is not 100% clear and indisputable in the wording of the PDS! I feel no comfort from the fact you talked to a more confident rep, because the vague wording of the policy remains unchanged. And if the policy doesn't explicitly and unambiguously state that it's activated with flights into and out of Australia only, then the uncertainty makes the insurance worthless.
If Amex could learn only one thing from the hundreds of complaints they've no doubt received, it should be that the policy needs amending to clarify basic descriptions of what activates this coverage, such as 'full fare'.
Can anyone confirm whether the change affects the Platinum Business card as well? I saw in another thread someone mentioned that it wasn't affected, but can't seem to find any information and the insurance T&Cs I found are from 2010...
These are the T&Cs I could find:What Ts & Cs are currently mentioned on the website?
These are the T&Cs I could find:
https://secure.cmax.americanexpress.com/Internet/International/japa/AU_en/Small%20Business/shared/Pdfs/NEEDHELP/Getassistance/Cardtermsandconditions/SBSPlatinum/THEPLATINUM_v1.pdf
Was just wondering if anyone who has the card got the same letter about the change in insurance?
I have spoken to a "SBS Business Development Executive" in recent weeks about any possible changes to the Platinum Business insurance policy.
He has confirmed that there are no changes planned. During briefings with his managers they went through the changes to the personal card, but it was specifically noted at that time that nothing was planned for the business card...
however... things can always change... but there is nothing planned.
It might be time for me to switch over to the Business Card then. $1200 instead of $900 for access to the old policy is still worthwhile for me.
So what insurance policies are the soon to be ex Plat Charge customers going to??? I'm now looking for a good high end one....
But beware, they'll stop the business card at the drop of a hat, plus they wanted all sorts of financial records. I cancelled mine after 6 weeks