Allianz "Trip Insurance" - Merry Xmas & Screw you

[Lorenzoid]

Like others here, for risks like so-called trip cancellation/interruption, I usually just take the risk, er, I mean, "self-insure." The odds are in my favor, which is why the insurance companies are so profitable. I have probably spent tens of thousands on dive trips for my wife and me and not yet incurred a loss. It's gambling, no question. If I ever have to eat a few thousand dollars worth of expenses, I can feel slightly better knowing that over the years I have forgone that much in insurance premiums--money that is theoretically still in my investment account and available to pad the loss.

 

[jgttrey]

What I meant by "self-insure unless you have some special reason to think you might need it" is that insurers are the business of making money. There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself as long as they honor the deal you strike with them. I'm talking trip insurance here.

Travel insurance has a high likelihood of claims for an insurer as opposed to, say, homeowners. If you are insuring a 10K trip and want to be "fully" covered (meaning full or close to full reimbursement for losses triggered by "normal" occurances - not just something like an asteroid strike), you should expect a significant premium. If you're getting trip insurance on a significant trip and not paying a lot for it, then you're probably not getting coverage for much.

That's only part of why I say it isn't usually worth it. Insurance is like betting at a casino - their actuaries have figured it out and the odds are on the house. If you can stomach the loss, you're better off going bare and saving insurance for catastrophic losses that you couldn't stomach. It would stink to have to cancel a trip, but it won't break me. My house burning down, different story - that, I'll insure against. Life insurance to take care of my family, yes. Those are things where I'm "risk averse." Stuff that I can handle without insuring, I don't insure because I'm just betting against the house and lose in the long run. Making it concrete, I've saved way more than the cost of my next trip by not buying trip insurance on my last 20.

DAN dive insurance? Yes, every time. That's worth every penny. The DAN travel insurance, which when I priced it for 8K in coverage for the trip and the included medical was something like $600. That I'll do without.

 

[BRT]

There is an additional thing that no doubt affects the travel insurance price. That is the fact that nobody asks about your health before selling you the insurance. No doubt more people buy the insurance when they think it is likely they may have to cancel. That makes it a worse deal for those who do not think it likely to have to cancel.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@jgttrey , I couldn't have said it better! Insure for losses that would really set you back in life, not those that simply hurt the wallet for a little bit. Major medical and diving incidents, one's house being destroyed, etc., could be hugely costly, so insure for those. A dive trip costing a couple of thousand dollars--maybe not.

 

[Jersey]

There is an additional thing that no doubt affects the travel insurance price. That is the fact that nobody asks about your health before selling you the insurance. No doubt more people buy the insurance when they think it is likely they may have to cancel. That makes it a worse deal for those who do not think it likely to have to cancel.

They may not ask you, but there are clauses or reference to pre-existing conditions buried in the fine print Kharon mentions. In the event you cancel, you may be asked to provide medical records in which coding will indicate if it's acute or chronic condition. Going through this with mom now - she has a mild gastro issue. Was hospitalized the week she was to leave for Italy with a totally unrelated issue - a wonky gallbladder that was removed. The travel company is fighting the payout.

I've had to change a planned trip once. Delta returned my FF miles and let me rebook - of course charging fees to return the miles, and pony up the difference because we were booking closer to departure. All told I think it cost us about $400 + 20,000 FF miles to change tickets. The resort requested a letter from my Doctor that travel during our original dates would be too dangerous and diving was certainly off the table. They rebooked us for 8 weeks later. No difference in cost.

 

[Hoag]

... Somehow, after being screwed by Allianz I have little faith in the kindness, good heartedness, and fairness of the travel industry. Opps, you had a medical emergency that required cardiac surgery. So sad, but too bad - you're screwed.

My posts were based on what actually happened last summer when my brother was suddenly hospitalized. I am sorry for your illness, and I have already said that but I was simply trying to give you other options. What have you got to lose by contacting the airline or the hotel ? Or don't contact them. It's your call.

 

[Altamira]

The biggest problem with trip insurance policies is that most of us do not take the time to thoroughly read the actual Terms & Conditions of the policy. A second major problem is most of the time our trip goes as planned and the trip insurance was a waste of money. However, as a friend found out the hard way, if you have a major medical event overseas, not dive related (assuming DAN dive insurance), and you do not have a good trip insurance policy, you can be financially crippled in a very short period of time.

 

[tridacna]

@Kharon

How much was the premium? For how much insurance? Which plan?

 

[dberry]

The Allianz policy was advertised as "trip insurance", and not "flight insurance"? Whenever I purchase a ticket on American Airlines they try to push flight insurance, but that would never cover anything but the cost of the flights.

 

[Kharon]

My posts were based on what actually happened last summer when my brother was suddenly hospitalized. I am sorry for your illness, and I have already said that but I was simply trying to give you other options. What have you got to lose by contacting the airline or the hotel ? Or don't contact them. It's your call.

I did contact all parties with mixed results. Flight to Bonaire was covered - though the check's still in the mail. Acomodations & vehicle on Bonaire a total loss. Flight Bon ==> Aru, still unsure, probable loss. Deposit on Aruba apartment can be applied to future rental. Vehicle on Aruba, miles reinstated for a fee of $65 - so a loss. Flight home was refundable. Oh yeah, the fee for the "trip" insurance was a loss as well since they didn't pay crap.

My take away - refundable flights and cancellable accomodations, and no more scam insurance.