WARNING : WOW QFF Plat card insurance + epic fail..

[tgh]

Just a quick heads up for anyone currently travelling or about to travel; who plans/is relying on the travel insurance on this card.
I'm currently on the road and have an injury that makes continuing my trip difficult.
Ace insurance , as the underwriter, confirmed some matters prior to departure and I left 'Oz assuming that the current published t&c's applied.

Contacting the emergency assist number from SCL , I was told that they could not help and was given another number .
This number connected me to a person who said that they could not help.
The emergency contact numbers and the group that manage this process are no longer used by wow.

I called my wife in 'Oz, and during au business hours she made several calls that produced no functional result at all.

The inescapable conclusion is that I am functionally uninsured !

CAVEAT EMPTOR !!!!!

mods .. please move this to the wow thread if inappropriate here .. just wanted to get the message out

 

[Isochronous]

WOW service is truly horrendous.

 

[N860CR]

I really sympathize. Credit card insurance has always been a worry for me... CBA actually issue insurance certificates when you go overseas and use their platinum insurance. I'm actually paying the annual fee for a card I otherwise don't use purely for that benefit

 

[Pleb Status]

Even though all of my cards offer TI, I still pay $317pa for a QBE annual multi trip policy, as the T&C on some CC policies are very unclear at best and it gives you far more freedom to open and close CC accounts, use multiple cards, change plans etc.

If possible, could the OP explain exactly why the insurer is refusing their claim?

 

[Buzzard]

WOW, that's amazing!
Hopefully it all works out for you tgh. Thankfully I have never had to use travel insurance as I do tend to rely on my CC insurance for cover.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Even though all of my cards offer TI, I still pay $317pa for a QBE annual multi trip policy, as the T&C on some CC policies are very unclear at best and it gives you far more freedom to open and close CC accounts, use multiple cards, change plans etc.

If possible, could the OP explain exactly why the insurer is refusing their claim?

i don't think any claim has been refused... just the emergency service provider supposedly there to help is no longer associated with the credit card.

 

[harvyk]

Time to get insurance ombudsman involved me thinks. Lodge a claim against your CC company, as ultimately they where the ones whom sold you the dud insurance, and regardless of any other factor, they are the ones whom are ultimately responsible for getting you out of a jam.

If a claimable event happens, it's not up to you to know the inner workings of your insurance company and whom their underwriters are.

Also have you considered getting the AU embassy involved? Whilst they don't tend to have much sympathy for uninsured people, your case may be different as you did try and do the right thing are are been screwed over by your insurance provider.

 

[moa999]

What do you mean by "could not help"???

Couldn't provide assistance, unwilling to provide advice or claiming you weren't covered

 

[Pushka]

I think you have to pay up for the expenses and then claim back after the event. Insurance CC is very different from purchased Travel Insurance, the latter want to manage the process from the get go.

They haven't been screwed yet. There hasn't been a claim. The OP needs to get together all the relevant info, including Doctors reports saying they can no longer travel, (and not just dont want to travel - big difference) and then valid copies of all expenses plus proof that the credit card is still valid and that enough spend has been made on it to start the insurance. They will also want to see copies of all cancelled expenses, showing they are non refundable.

I know all this because I am currently going through a similar process.

All that has happened here is that assistance during the process hasn't been provided.

 

[love_the_life]

It sounds like it was complicated from the beginning. My reading of the OP's post (though I may be wrong) is that they had a pre-existing injury which has now flared up and made continuing the trip difficult. They checked some details on on this with the insurance company before leaving.
Perhaps the OP can clarify for me and also answer the questions above as to what assistance was not available.

 

[Pushka]

It sounds like it was complicated from the beginning. My reading of the OP's post (though I may be wrong) is that they had a pre-existing injury which has now flared up and made continuing the trip difficult. They checked some details on on this with the insurance company before leaving.
Perhaps the OP can clarify for me and also answer the questions above as to what assistance was not available.

If it was pre-existing then I know it would not have been covered at all.

 

[love_the_life]

Does anyone else read the OP as I have?

The part that leads me to think this is an existing injury is that the OP says "I have an injury that...." not "I have sustained an injury" or "have been injured" for example. As well they say they confirmed some aspects with ACE before leaving for the trip so it sounded to me like this is more complex. They could have been assured that they would be covered - certainly though they would need doctors' certificates to prove that continuing the trip is not recommended. If they don't have these, they wouldn't be able to claim at all. I checked a couple of CC insurance policies and they are all pretty much the same on this.
I'm happy to be corrected but that was my reading of the post.

 

[moa999]

I think we hold fire until the OP provides more info.

 

[love_the_life]

I agree; I was simply asking if I people thought that my understanding of the post was correct or not. I asked the OP to clarify but obviously there is a time difference at play as well as the fact that they are probably busy sorting this out.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Does anyone else read the OP as I have?

The part that leads me to think this is an existing injury is that the OP says "I have an injury that...." not "I have sustained an injury" or "have been injured" for example. As well they say they confirmed some aspects with ACE before leaving for the trip so it sounded to me like this is more complex. They could have been assured that they would be covered - certainly though they would need doctors' certificates to prove that continuing the trip is not recommended. If they don't have these, they wouldn't be able to claim at all. I checked a couple of CC insurance policies and they are all pretty much the same on this.
I'm happy to be corrected but that was my reading of the post.

I didn't read that the OP had a pre-existing injury, but that the OP was evidencing previous contact had been made with the underwriter prior to travel - that could have simply been to ask 'did I meet the eligibility criteria?' (I have done that before to confirm a domestic sector on a separate ticket counts towards minimum spend for example.)

Now however they couldn't establish contact with the underwriter.

 

[love_the_life]

Happy to be correct, MEL_Traveller, if this is the case. There are loads of variables that could be in play but based on the OP's highly negative post, it would be good to find out what has actually occurred.

 

[Pushka]

I think maybe there was a pre existing query. Otherwise why contact them before travel? They require so much documentation to prove the card was valid and used for travel purchase that this could not have been established over the phone. Currently I have provided 18 separate documents in my claim.

 

[tgh]

Sorry everyone , I am still moving and have limited time.
No pre existing condition.
Contact with the underwriter was to confirm coverage for specific activities.
The underwriters emergency contact number worked ok , but they are no longer acting for wow.
The alternate contact number was unable to assist..ie it was someone with very limited knowledge/understanding/interest.
I then rang my wife in brisvegas , who spent several fruitless hours attempting to find someone who could help, and gave up.

I repeat, my conclusion remains that I am functionally uninsured , make of that what you will.
Others are welcome to speculate/discuss/etc etc etc... and form their own conclusions.

 

[love_the_life]

Thanks for the clarification, tgh. I misunderstood your original post and apologise for that. Hope you manage to find a contact for the company.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I repeat, my conclusion remains that I am functionally uninsured , make of that what you will.

In a way I guess it is lucky you are still moving. Had this been a serious injury requiring hospitalisation or repatriation you would have been in a difficult position.