Virgin Money High Flyer credit card travel insurance - WARNING

[flightaway]

I thought members should be aware of a dispute I am having concerning the interpretation of the complimentary travel insurance policy connected to the Virgin Money High Flyer credit card. I have always used international travel insurance policies connected to credit cards for myself and my family and until now have never had to make a claim.

The Virgin Money policy is with Zurich. I made a small claim as I got stuck in the polar vortex in January coming back from the USA. To qualify for the international travel insurance you have to obtain your overseas return ticket 'by the total cost being charged to a cardholder's Virgin High Flyer credit card account'. I purchased a multi city ticket all on Virgin Aust and its partner airlines- SYD - EWR, YUL - SYD via HNL. The total cost of the return tickets for the 3 of us was around $7,500 all charged to my High Flyer credit card. One part of our outward leg SYD - LAX for 2 of us was on points earned through the High Flyer credit card. Zurich have denied my claim interpreting 'total cost' as meaning the total cost to the airline and not the total cost of the ticket charged to the purchaser. This may also mean that velocity members who upgrade with points may also be denied insurance. The policy has 4 pages of exclusions and there is no written exclusion that says cover is not provided if points are used for part of a leg or in fact any exclusion with reference to frequent flyer points.

I have lodged a dispute with Zurich's internal dispute resolution process so watch this space. However until this is resolved one way or the other I will not be using my High Flyer card again to get the travel insurance if any part of my ticket or upgrade is with points. I am lucky it was just a small claim and that none of us got seriously sick or injured.

I would also like to hear if any members had similar issues or had claims paid in my situation.

 

[eastwest101]

I thought members ....[SNIP]

I would also like to hear if any members had similar issues or had claims paid in my situation.

These two threads below sort of touch on some of the same topics and were discussed here, but I haven't seen anything directly comparable to your situation, keep fighting it and come back and report how you are going as I expect quite a few people may be interested in this one!


http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nsurance-covers-missed-connections-52148.html

http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../current-best-option-annual-travel-49714.html

 

[AdMEL]

My understanding is that 'total cost' has always meant that flights obtained either partly or fully with points do not trigger cover, unless the t & c's say otherwise. A significant limitation of cards with that requirement.

Having said that, most cards I've seen state 'total cost of return flights' or similar, to make it clearer.

To be honest, I hadn't given any thought to flights upgraded on points, but the card I rely on for travel insurance (Westpac Black Altitude) no longer requires this - it only requires a min of $500 of prepaid trip expenses to be paid on card. Much better in most cases! Though cheap flights to NZ for myself and a mate recently proved challenging to trigger the cover!

 

[lovestotravel]

Unfortunately you didn't charge all flights at per the T&C's of the insurance and as such you were not covered

Pretty clear and simple to me I am afraid

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I thought members should be aware of a dispute I am having concerning the interpretation of the complimentary travel insurance policy connected to the Virgin Money High Flyer credit card. I have always used international travel insurance policies connected to credit cards for myself and my family and until now have never had to make a claim.

The Virgin Money policy is with Zurich. I made a small claim as I got stuck in the polar vortex in January coming back from the USA. To qualify for the international travel insurance you have to obtain your overseas return ticket 'by the total cost being charged to a cardholder's Virgin High Flyer credit card account'. I purchased a multi city ticket all on Virgin Aust and its partner airlines- SYD - EWR, YUL - SYD via HNL. The total cost of the return tickets for the 3 of us was around $7,500 all charged to my High Flyer credit card. One part of our outward leg SYD - LAX for 2 of us was on points earned through the High Flyer credit card. Zurich have denied my claim interpreting 'total cost' as meaning the total cost to the airline and not the total cost of the ticket charged to the purchaser. This may also mean that velocity members who upgrade with points may also be denied insurance. The policy has 4 pages of exclusions and there is no written exclusion that says cover is not provided if points are used for part of a leg or in fact any exclusion with reference to frequent flyer points.

I have lodged a dispute with Zurich's internal dispute resolution process so watch this space. However until this is resolved one way or the other I will not be using my High Flyer card again to get the travel insurance if any part of my ticket or upgrade is with points. I am lucky it was just a small claim and that none of us got seriously sick or injured.

I would also like to hear if any members had similar issues or had claims paid in my situation.

my bolding...

with reference to the bolded part I think it is just the clumsy way of Zurich restating the 'full cost of the ticket' requirement.

What i think they mean by 'total airline costs' is that there can be no free component in the cost breakdown. So the whole airfare must be paid, not only part of it (with the rest made up by 'points'.

I know one of the major banks has a similar policy, but will provide cover if you have used points which were accrued through the card (and not via other means such as actually flying).

i know there are a couple of cards like the ANZ one - but for me ANZ seems a good choice... just $250 of anything for the whole trip in order to be covered. That includes a domestic connection ticket - or the taxes and fees on an award booking, or just a hotel or car hire.

 

[flightaway]

Thanks for your post. I too thought it was pretty clear and simple to me. I had to obtain my return ticket by the total cost being charged to my card. These are the actual words used. I thought it meant that I couldn't pay part of the total cost on B pay and the balance on my card. Or split the bill between two cards. So I paid the total cost on the high flyer and the claim was still denied! If the tcs and cs had said 'you need to pay for your return ticket by the use of your credit card' then that is pretty clear to me and I would know that I was not covered. But it uses the word 'obtain' and not pay. It may well be Zurich's policy under this card that any part of a leg on a return flight acquired on points negates travel insurance but the policy doesn't say this. I accept a return ticket paid on points wouldn't be covered as there would be zero cost but a ticket that still costs $$ excluding taxes and charges etc or a ticket that is discounted by the airline through the use of points ie upgrades surely would be covered under the policy wording!

What am I missing?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for your post. I too thought it was pretty clear and simple to me. I had to obtain my return ticket by the total cost being charged to my card. These are the actual words used. I thought it meant that I couldn't pay part of the total cost on B pay and the balance on my card. Or split the bill between two cards. So I paid the total cost on the high flyer and the claim was still denied! If the tcs and cs had said 'you need to pay for your return ticket by the use of your credit card' then that is pretty clear to me and I would know that I was not covered. But it uses the word 'obtain' and not pay. It may well be Zurich's policy under this card that any part of a leg on a return flight acquired on points negates travel insurance but the policy doesn't say this. I accept a return ticket paid on points wouldn't be covered as there would be zero cost but a ticket that still costs $$ excluding taxes and charges etc or a ticket that is discounted by the airline through the use of points ie upgrades surely would be covered under the policy wording!

What am I missing?

you have kind of answered your own question here... the issue is the cost of the ticket.

If you had obtained your ticket outright on points, there would still be fees taxes and charges. There would still be a 'total cost to passenger' (ie the fees taxes and charges).

If you take your view, then the total cost given to the passenger (fees taxes and charges) would be sufficient for coverage.

However - as Zurich has said... they will not accept the 'total cost to passenger' - they want the 'total cost to the airline'

So even if part of your flight was paid for on points, (ie a discount) - then the total cost to the airline has not been paid to the passenger. All you have paid is the 'total cost to passenger'. In essence it is the same as using points for the whole ticket (and the passenger paying the 'total cost to the passenger').

Points upgrades are different. The total cost of the flight itself has been paid. Just the class of service will be different because you have upgraded.

 

[flightaway]

Hi MEL_Traveller

Yes I understand what you're saying but the policy wording actually excludes taxes or airport or travel agents charges in its definition of the use of the card. So you can't argue that you're covered if you use points but put the taxes, fees etc on the card. You are correct re the 2nd part - Zurich want confirmation that the total cost to the airline needs to be paid before they will cover you. And that is where I am taking issue with them as I don't think the reasonable person would understand that from the policy wording.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi MEL_Traveller

Yes I understand what you're saying but the policy wording actually excludes taxes or airport or travel agents charges in its definition of the use of the card. So you can't argue that you're covered if you use points but put the taxes, fees etc on the card. You are correct re the 2nd part - Zurich want confirmation that the total cost to the airline needs to be paid before they will cover you. And that is where I am taking issue with them as I don't think the reasonable person would understand that from the policy wording.

sorry - didn't appreciate taxes fees and charges were excluded anyway. (I only had a brief 10 minute read of the policy last night!!)

 

[flightaway]

Thanks MEL_Traveller for taking the time and effort to read the policy and to reply! I too read the policy before I bought my tickets and thought I was covered. Now I wished I had used my Westpac Black card instead

 

[medhead]

Interesting argument about total cost to the airline. Given airlines generally try to include some kind of profit or margin in the price of a ticket above their costs. Would it be a fair and simple argument to say that the cost to the passenger will usually be higher than the cost to the airline.

I would also suggest that an upgraded class of service will impose extra costs on the airline, with the food and beverage for a start.

 

[kennyboi]

Mind if I ask what was the outcome on this?

 

[flightaway]

Sorry for the delayed response. Claim denied as per original post. Although Allianz has replaced Zurich the wording of the policy re the post appears to be the same. I stopped using the card for insurance for overseas trips and now use either amex velocity platinum (which allows points to be used) or Westpac black

 

[Renato1]

What a dud card.
Regards,
Renato