# VacationGuard Insurance [MVC Insider 10/13]



## enma (Oct 15, 2013)

Love the new travel insurance plan. So glad they went back to yearly plan, not per trip plan!


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## ilene13 (Oct 15, 2013)

I agree with you.  I am calling tomorrow!!  I wonder if it is inclusive of all of a person's timeshares-- whether or not they are Marriotts.


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## Ann in CA (Oct 16, 2013)

We have used the Marriott annual plan in the past, and the one trip plan last year. I am pretty sure it only covers Marriotts, and I think with the old annual plan it only covered owned weeks and exchanges, not Marriotts from Getaways or ACs.  I am also happy this annual plan is back, and with a lower fee than what we paid the first two years we used it. 

I tried to find the details online, but did not want to fill out the forms to get to the complete info, as we don't need to start it yet. We have never had a claim, but it is great to know we'll have major trips already covered for the whole year with one policy!


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## ahdah (Oct 16, 2013)

*Happy to see insurance back*

I was so happy to see that they brought back the insurance.  I think the last time it was for 13 months.  I tried to find more information on line, but will call in the morning.

The last time they had this policy, it was for your Marriott vacation.


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## m61376 (Oct 16, 2013)

*Return of annual travel insurance*

Just received my Insider newsletter and it looks like they are again offering annual coverage, but at a great rate- $119 a year.

Looks like they listened to our complaints!

It appears that it must be purchased for the calendar year (there is verbiage that it is in effect for the period your MF's cover) but I am not sure about that. Looking on VacationGuard's website there was also something about being purchased within 3 days of payment of MF's for waiver of pre-existing condition, but not sure if this refers to Marriott's specific plan or not.

Perhaps as Marriott is contacted and more details are found out, others can post back in this thread so there is one place for the info. After I posted this I noticed that the travel insurance was mentioned in the thread on the NYC hotels, but I think a thread about the travel insurance alone would be worthwhile.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 16, 2013)

Here is a link: http://pages.email1.marriott-vacations.com/owner-insider?loc=HQ59*1-2U1SYX&article=year-vacation&campaign=2013-oct&cid=email-mvc-owners-insider-2013-oct-cb-learnmore-protect-vacations

Interestingly it is through Vacation Guard. The same company many were recommending as a replacement to the old plan. In fact, when you click the link on the MVCI landing page it takes you directly to the Vacation Guard website and shows the Timeshare Plus plan priced at $119. It was recently priced at $119 but now looks to be $159 without going through the MVCI link. When you go through the MVCI link, it adds a location number. Most likely related to MVCI which offers the special pricing.


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## m61376 (Oct 16, 2013)

I noticed that. But it's a big boon for residents of certain states, since unless I am remembering wrong VacationGuard would not underwrite in NY and I am not sure where else.


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## Superchief (Oct 16, 2013)

This appears to be a great deal if it covers maintenance fees, including exchanges. I had to use my Travel Guard twice, but both were for my actual owned weeks. I am curious how they would handle claims for II exchanges or DC points if the MF were paid in a previous year. Two of my trips next year include exchange stays. 

Although cash is a better deal, I have 350 penalty box DC points left, so I may use them for the insurance.


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## m61376 (Oct 16, 2013)

Superchief said:


> Although cash is a better deal, I have 350 penalty box DC points left, so I may use them for the insurance.



Although you're right about the cash price being better, if it turns out it has to be bought anyway for Jan. 1-Jan. 1st, it might be a good use for any points left over at the end of Dec. that would otherwise expire, and Greg's website might be a cheap way to supplement if you're 50 or 100 points short or, on the flip side, want to make a few dollars if you have a 100 or 200 points leftover.

I think many, if not most, point users land up having a small surplus that goes to waste, since it takes a lot of machinations to exactly use your points.


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## jimf41 (Oct 16, 2013)

I just bought the package for 2014. I have a copy of the policy that for some reason you can't see until you actually buy it. I have it in .pdf and I'd like to post it but I have no idea how to do that. It's 16 pages long so a copy and paste would be rather long for a post.

So far it looks pretty good especially since I'm taking two separate trips in 2014 with maybe another if the stars align correctly.

If anyone wants the .pdf PM or Email me.


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## Mr. Vker (Oct 16, 2013)

I assume its $119/pp. I would need two policies to include me and my wife???

Looks like a great deal.

Amex has stopped enrollment in nearly all travel insurance.


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## tiel (Oct 16, 2013)

When you click on the link, it takes you to VG and a form is presented for purchasing the policy. The first box on the form is "Use Year", and the choices are 2013 and 2014.  Then you put in the start date, which is a little confusing, because regardless of when you buy during the year, the policy is effective only for that calendar "use" year, so it may as well default to Jan 1 of the "use" year OR the current date, whichever is later.

What I don't understand is, if I buy a policy for use year 2014, will an exchange of a 2013 week for a 2014 week be covered?  And what about the use of points that are banked into 2014 or borrowed from 2015 into 2014...are those reservations covered by the 2014 policy?  

In other words, I'm not sure what "use year" means.  Anybody know for sure?


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## ahdah (Oct 16, 2013)

*Just talked with Marriott*

I was excited about the insurance plan for the year.  I called this morning to enroll and this is what I discovered.  I can not buy insurance for 2014 because I have already reserved my two 2014 weeks.  You can only buy the insurance when you reserve the week so my exchanges in 2014 would not be covered.  It will cover an exchange using a Marriott Week, because you have paid the maintenance for the Marriott.  I was very disappointed because I have already deposited a 2014 week and would be looking for an exchange in2015. That week would not be covered bacause I did not purchase the insurance when I reserved my 2014 week.  Hope this helps, but it is not as user friendly as the old insurance.


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## ahdah (Oct 16, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> I just bought the package for 2014. I have a copy of the policy that for some reason you can't see until you actually buy it. I have it in .pdf and I'd like to post it but I have no idea how to do that. It's 16 pages long so a copy and paste would be rather long for a post.
> 
> So far it looks pretty good especially since I'm taking two separate trips in 2014 with maybe another if the stars align correctly.
> 
> If anyone wants the .pdf PM or Email me.



Jim, you had better call Marriott, because they told me this morning that I could not buy insurance for 2014 because I had already reserved my 2014 weeks and you can only buy the insurance when you reserve the week.  That's what they just told me, when you call they put you through to someone selling the insurance.


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## Ann in CA (Oct 16, 2013)

ahdah said:


> I was excited about the insurance plan for the year.  I called this morning to enroll and this is what I discovered.  I can not buy insurance for 2014 because I have already reserved my two 2014 weeks.  You can only buy the insurance when you reserve the week so my exchanges in 2014 would not be covered.  It will cover an exchange using a Marriott Week, because you have paid the maintenance for the Marriott.  I was very disappointed because I have already deposited a 2014 week and would be looking for an exchange in2015. That week would not be covered bacause I did not purchase the insurance when I reserved my 2014 week.  Hope this helps, but it is not as user friendly as the old insurance.



That was also the problem with the "one trip" plan.  The weeks covered had to be from the current use year. So we had one week covered, and one not.  I assumed at least the other coverage (medical, etc) would be until the specific return date, but with a calendar year policy restricted to weeks from the current use year, it probably will only be in effect for those trips using the weeks eligible for that year.  That kind of defeats the reason for an annual policy.


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## BocaBoy (Oct 16, 2013)

Ann in CA said:


> We have used the Marriott annual plan in the past, and the one trip plan last year. I am pretty sure it only covers Marriotts, and* I think with the old annual plan it only covered owned weeks and exchanges, not Marriotts from Getaways or ACs.*



Actually, the old plan covered Marriotts from Getaways, XYZs and ACs also.


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## jimf41 (Oct 16, 2013)

I haven't called Marriott or VacationGuard yet but I have gone through the policy a bit. I did a search for "use year" and the term appears nowhere in the actual policy. This is their explanation of a Covered trip,

"Covered trip means a period of travel away from Home to a destination outside your city of residence and the Covered Trip does not exceed 180 days."

Interesting that I actually had to type that in because they had their .pdf file locked with a password.

Here's another section,

"This plan provides coverage for multiple trips during one year up to 365 days from receipt. Each trip must not exceed 180 days."


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## GrayFal (Oct 16, 2013)

m61376 said:


> I noticed that. But it's a big boon for residents of certain states, since unless I am remembering wrong VacationGuard would not underwrite in NY and I am not sure where else.



I think this might/must have changed. 

I was able to purchase the coverage this July.


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## Fasttr (Oct 16, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> I have a copy of the policy that for some reason you can't see until you actually buy it. I have it in .pdf and I'd like to post it but I have no idea how to do that. It's 16 pages long so a copy and paste would be rather long for a post.



Complements of *jimf41* here is a copy of the VacationGuard Policy.


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## Superchief (Oct 16, 2013)

ahdah said:


> I was excited about the insurance plan for the year.  I called this morning to enroll and this is what I discovered.  I can not buy insurance for 2014 because I have already reserved my two 2014 weeks.  You can only buy the insurance when you reserve the week so my exchanges in 2014 would not be covered.  It will cover an exchange using a Marriott Week, because you have paid the maintenance for the Marriott.  I was very disappointed because I have already deposited a 2014 week and would be looking for an exchange in2015. That week would not be covered bacause I did not purchase the insurance when I reserved my 2014 week.  Hope this helps, but it is not as user friendly as the old insurance.



I hope this isn't the case and you just spoke with an unimformed representative (similar to what often happens when I call II). Otherwise, this would greatly diminish the demand for this insurance for 2014, since I would expect that most of us have already reserved or exchanged for our 2014 weeks, and the insurance is just now being offered. This makes no sense


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## jimf41 (Oct 16, 2013)

ahdah said:


> Jim, you had better call Marriott, because they told me this morning that I could not buy insurance for 2014 because I had already reserved my 2014 weeks and you can only buy the insurance when you reserve the week.  That's what they just told me, when you call they put you through to someone selling the insurance.



Well I just checked my CC activity and they charged me for the policy already. Thanks to FASTRR you can view the .pdf policy. I don't see anything in it that prevents any coverage reference a "use year" or an exchange. I'm sort of waiting for those of us who are good at finding the gotcha's in the fine print to chime in before I make any calls for an explanation.

As I read the policy it's pretty clear as to what is covered and for how much so I don't really have any questions about it. The policy term that they confirmed is for the entire year of 2014.


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## Fasttr (Oct 16, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> Well I just checked my CC activity and they charged me for the policy already.



Jim....I just started a read through, but on page 1, it says you have a 21 Day Free Look Period within which you can get your money back if you decided to cancel.  That said, I'll read on and likely chime in with anything that jumps out to me.


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## tiel (Oct 16, 2013)

Superchief said:


> I hope this isn't the case and you just spoke with an unimformed representative (similar to what often happens when I call II). Otherwise, this would greatly diminish the demand for this insurance for 2014, since I would expect that most of us have already reserved or exchanged for our 2014 weeks, and the insurance is just now being offered. This makes no sense



Agree.  Since many of us make reservations 12-13 months out, they would need to be offering policies for use year 2015 soon, at least in December, and that doesn't seem to be the plan.  If they were going to do that, it seems that would an option now.  

At this point, we have made all of our reservations for all of our weeks for 2014 so this insurance would do us no good.  And the exchanges we have for 2014 are based on deposited 2013 weeks.  

I could be very very wrong, but I have to beleive we are getting bad information about the timing of reservations for coverage under this policy.


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## m61376 (Oct 16, 2013)

I read something about having to take it out by a few days after the MF's are paid, and that it was good for the use year that the MF's covered. Which makes sense- 2014 reservations are covered by the MF's paid in Jan., 2014.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 16, 2013)

ahdah said:


> I was excited about the insurance plan for the year.  I called this morning to enroll and this is what I discovered.  I can not buy insurance for 2014 because I have already reserved my two 2014 weeks.  You can only buy the insurance when you reserve the week so my exchanges in 2014 would not be covered.  It will cover an exchange using a Marriott Week, because you have paid the maintenance for the Marriott.  I was very disappointed because I have already deposited a 2014 week and would be looking for an exchange in2015. That week would not be covered bacause I did not purchase the insurance when I reserved my 2014 week.  Hope this helps, but it is not as user friendly as the old insurance.



I think perhaps you got a rep that wasn't up to speed on the new annual plan? This sounds like what would apply to a per trip plan. I think questions may be better directed to Vacation Guard and not MVC Owner Services with this new plan. It is a plan that Vacation Guard has offered for a long time, it just has special pricing and the option to now use DC points through MVCI.

Last year I called and talked with Vacation Guard and there was no mention that you had to have the insurance before booking your vacation for the Timeshare Plus policy.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 16, 2013)

Mr. Vker said:


> I assume its $119/pp. I would need two policies to include me and my wife???
> 
> Looks like a great deal.
> 
> Amex has stopped enrollment in nearly all travel insurance.



I don't believe so. When I spoke with VG last year about this, I think it covered everyone traveling with the insured. It of course only covers up to the maximums. So if you have 5 people on the coverage, trip delay would only pay up to $1000 total even if it cost you $500 pp in expenses due to the delay.


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## Fasttr (Oct 16, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> I don't believe so. When I spoke with VG last year about this, I think it covered everyone traveling with the insured. It of course only covers up to the maximums. So if you have 5 people on the coverage, trip delay would only pay up to $1000 total even if it cost you $500 pp in expenses due to the delay.



Correct....Per the coverage description, it covers you and up to 12 persons traveling with you....and you are also correct, you all share the benefit maximums listed in the policy.


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## Fasttr (Oct 16, 2013)

After a read through of the plan coverage, it really does not specifically address many of the questions asked above.  That said, the coverage does appear to be very robust.  Through a link found in that document however, I did stumble across some FAQ's that seem to address the majority of the questions being asked above.

Click HERE for the VacationGuard FAQ's.  

It does appear that all owned/exchanged and points based stays during the year of coverage (presumably chosen when you buy the plan) would be covered.  It does not appear that additional stays like Getaways, AC's etc would be covered, at least that is my read from the FAQ's.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 16, 2013)

When I spoke with VG a while back they made it sound like coverage was based on use year. So if you were using a 2014 week to stay in 2013, you would need to purchase coverage for 2014. If you had banked weeks from past years, you were out of luck since you couldn't purchase coverage for past years.

Of course this was based on talking with a Vacation Guard rep and really what matters is what is in the policy, which does seem pretty silent on how "use year" is defined.


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## Fasttr (Oct 16, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> When I spoke with VG a while back they made it sound like coverage was based on use year. So if you were using a 2014 week to stay in 2013, you would need to purchase coverage for 2014. If you had banked weeks from past years, you were out of luck since you couldn't purchase coverage for past years.
> 
> Of course this was based on talking with a Vacation Guard rep and really what matters is what is in the policy, which does seem pretty silent on how "use year" is defined.



It seems to me a use year would be the year within which any particular trip(s) occurred.  Think about Trust-only point owners.  What if I banked some of my points from 2013 into 2014 and borrowed some of my 2015 points back into 2014 and took a trip in 2014 with a combination of all of those points.  It seems logical to me that if I purchased coverage for 2014 which included my trip, I would be good to go.  How would they handle it based on what the VG rep told you for a person in this case?


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## Ann in CA (Oct 16, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> When I spoke with VG a while back they made it sound like coverage was based on use year. So if you were using a 2014 week to stay in 2013, you would need to purchase coverage for 2014. If you had banked weeks from past years, you were out of luck since you couldn't purchase coverage for past years.
> 
> Of course this was based on talking with a Vacation Guard rep and really what matters is what is in the policy, which does seem pretty silent on how "use year" is defined.




We used the "one trip" Marriott VG policy this year in September 2013, and at that time, they would only cover our 2013 week.  We had a 2012 and a 2014 week that would not be covered. However, our 2013 week had long ago been booked, and there was no mention of having to get the insurance at the time of reservation. 

Of course, this was the "old" one trip policy (last month!) Also, in the older annual policy, our only claim would have been on a Getaway, when we left 4 days early due to my mom breaking her hip. We had been told that Getaways were not covered, and we never bothered to double check that, but I would definitely get some solid answers if one is counting on having ACs, Getaways and XYZs covered. That would be great policy!  We thought the old annual policy was pretty great even without the "extra" bonus weeks coverage.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 16, 2013)

Getaways are definitly not covered. Not sure if XYZs would fall under bonus time or not.



> *10. What about “Bonus time”, “Getaways”, and other low-cost trips I get offered as a member?*
> This plan applies only to trips where your annual Timeshare usage by points or dues is allocated and used for that trip during the use-year you insured. Discount trips that you can access via your membership, yet pay extra for beyond annual dues, are not covered under our Timeshare Plus plan. You can affordably cover these discount trips and getaways under our Leisure Plan.


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## ahdah (Oct 16, 2013)

I'll try again tomorrow and see if I speak to another rep. that knows more than this one did.


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## ahdah (Oct 16, 2013)

*Completely different information this time.*

I just called the Marriott 800 number and this time I spoke to a woman and her story was different from the man this morning.  She said the insurance only covered me when I was at my home resort or when I used destination points.  She said my week in February would not be covered because it was not my home resort.  Maybe others will get a different spin when they call.  It is getting very confusing, because they all have a different story.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 16, 2013)

ahdah said:


> I just called the Marriott 800 number and this time I spoke to a woman and her story was different from the man this morning.  She said the insurance only covered me when I was at my home resort or when I used destination points.  She said my week in February would not be covered because it was not my home resort.  Maybe others will get a different spin when they call.  It is getting very confusing, because they all have a different story.



I think for the best answers you need to contact Vacation Guard. They are the ones providing the policy and coverage. It seems that Owner Services is woefully inept in answering questions about the new plan. Vacation Guard has offered this same plan for many years, it appears to be identical to their Timeshare Plus plan that they sell on the site for a higher price.

Here is the contact information from the site when you go directly to vacationguard.com. You can't access this when you go through the link in the Insiders Newsletter.

Contact Information
Customer Service
Phone: 866-314-9480
(8:00am to 5:00pm CST, Monday - Friday)
Service@VacationGuard.com


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## Fasttr (Oct 16, 2013)

ahdah said:


> I just called the Marriott 800 number and this time I spoke to a woman and her story was different from the man this morning.  She said the insurance only covered me when I was at my home resort or when I used destination points.  She said my week in February would not be covered because it was not my home resort.  Maybe others will get a different spin when they call.  It is getting very confusing, because they all have a different story.



I think as Dioxide45 suggested in post 25 (ETA...and now obviously was making the same suggestion just above  ), probably best to call VacationGuard directly, rather than hope Marriott VOA's are up to speed on the new annual plan.  This VacationGuard number for policy questions listed on the last page of the Coverage Description is... 1-866-314-9480 M-F 8a-5p CST.


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## BocaBoy (Oct 17, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> Getaways are definitly not covered. Not sure if XYZs would fall under bonus time or not.



I would interpret this to include XYZs as covered weeks.


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## Mr. Vker (Oct 17, 2013)

Jim sent me the PDF-which I appreciate. Haven't read the whole thing yet. 

One thing that made me LAUGH OUT LOUD. Yugos are included in the list of exotic cars.


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## ahdah (Oct 17, 2013)

I'll give Vacation Guard a call.  Thanks for the number.


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## skyequeen (Oct 17, 2013)

Yesterday purchased 2013 and 2014.  This is why.  Have a points vacation at Crystal Shores in December plus a few vacations on banked 2013 points in 2014.  The way it was explained to me, and seems to be true reading the documents, the policies cover point vacations by year of the points not year of their use, plus cover use of your own weeks in their use year.  Interval Getaways at Marriott properties are not covered.  The rep was uncertain about exchanges.  So now I needed to buy both years but going forward a year at a time.  Also, only one person owns the policy but up to 12 people can be traveling together and covered, although there are coverage limits that would come into play.  Also, FYI you can only have one beneficiary so in my case I chose our oldest child.  Hope this information is helpful.


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## jimf41 (Oct 17, 2013)

Did you talk to a Vacation Guard rep or a Marriott rep? Also where in the policy does it say anything about use year, used year or anything related to the year the MFs were paid?


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## skyequeen (Oct 18, 2013)

Purchased after talking with a vacation club rep who seemed to know her business.  Then was sent emails with policies that specify term of contract and has attached Confirmation of Coverage plus a link to a Description of Coverage.


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## Ann in CA (Oct 18, 2013)

Just spoke with a Vacation Guard rep at 866-314-9480.  The terms are a bit confusing as the "annual" policy does not mean a calendar year long policy, but is based on the "use year" of your week. Yes, you can insure 2014 weeks, and they can be used witout regard to the calendar date, as the insurance follows the week. So if I have two 2014 weeks, the insurance will be good for those weeks until I use them, and they will be insured for separate trips for each week no matter in which year they are actually used.

On the other hand, i can not insure my 2012 week, even though I still could use it next year.  

When I first mentioned the $119 price, she said that would depend on coverage chosen as you filled out the online form, and I do remember that with the old "annual" Marriott plan, there was a choice of coverage and I think ours ended up being about $175. 

So if you have multiple weeks each year, it is really good, however if some of those are not the same use year, it takes the cost up to buy the individual trip policy, or another "follow the use year" policy

As far as getaways, ACs and XYZs, she said one could buy a "leisure Plan, or Vacation Pro" plan online to insure those, but they would not be covered under the Marriott plan.  

She did have to check on whether I could insure my 2012 week, but everything else she seemed sure about.  It did take a few rounds to be sure we both agreed on what "use year" meant, but having just purchased the one trip policy for our Hawaii trip last month, it sounded pretty close to what that rep had told me, with the difference being the annual policy follows that week until it is used.  (Assuming we understood each other!)

Did not ask about points as I have no points to use as examples, but assume it could be the same?  Would check that out.  They were very helpful.  But giving concrete examples helped to clarify.


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## jimf41 (Oct 18, 2013)

The term "annual" appears once in the policy. It refers to maintenance fees, taxes and management fees. I'm getting closer to calling but it's good to have as much ammo as you can carry before engaging in the discussion.


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## Fasttr (Oct 18, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> The term "annual" appears once in the policy. It refers to maintenance fees, taxes and management fees. I'm getting closer to calling but it's good to have as much ammo as you can carry before engaging in the discussion.



Jim...on page 15 of 16 of the document, right hand side, 2nd full paragraph, it states.... "This is a brief Description of Coverage, which outlines benefits and amounts of coverage available to you.  To view your state-filed form, please visit www.vacationguard.com/sbplans.aspx"  

Perhaps it you go there and fill in your appropriate info, there are additional documents that can be viewed.  If what they provided to you so far is only a "brief Description of Coverage", it might be worth seeing what the full description of coverage is specific to your state laws.


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## curbysplace (Oct 19, 2013)

Ann in CA said:


> It did take a few rounds to be sure we both agreed on what "use year" meant, but having just purchased the one trip policy for our Hawaii trip last month, it sounded pretty close to what that rep had told me, with the difference being the annual policy follows that week until it is used.  (Assuming we understood each other!)



I am glad you and the rep agreed on what the term "use year" meant. Aren't you the least bit curious how that agreement between you and the rep will hold up when you have to make a claim?


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## Ann in CA (Oct 19, 2013)

curbysplace said:


> I am glad you and the rep agreed on what the term "use year" meant. Aren't you the least bit curious how that agreement between you and the rep will hold up when you have to make a claim?



Haven't bought anything yet. Have already used the 2013 week, and have not booked the 2014 II weeks yet. Still in fact finding mode. That's why TUG is so great. By the time we compare all the VG rep's' responses, and the policy wording defined,  we may actually get the facts straight!


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## dioxide45 (Oct 19, 2013)

I have a question. Does buying a travel insurance plan that covers medical disqualify ones HSA (Health Savings Account)? I could see that it shouldn't if you use it for out of country medical, but what about filing a medical claim against travel insurance while inside the USA.

As you may or may not know. Being covered under another unqualified non HDHP can disqualify the tax advantages of an HSA.


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## jimf41 (Oct 19, 2013)

Fasttr said:


> Jim...on page 15 of 16 of the document, right hand side, 2nd full paragraph, it states.... "This is a brief Description of Coverage, which outlines benefits and amounts of coverage available to you.  To view your state-filed form, please visit www.vacationguard.com/sbplans.aspx"
> 
> Perhaps it you go there and fill in your appropriate info, there are additional documents that can be viewed.  If what they provided to you so far is only a "brief Description of Coverage", it might be worth seeing what the full description of coverage is specific to your state laws.



OK, I did that. This is the message;

"We apologize, your individual policy/group certificates isn’t available online at this time. Please provide your email address and your documents will be sent to the email address provided within 7 business days."

I'll post back when I get it.


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## Bnov (Oct 20, 2013)

*Which Use Year Applies?*



Ann in CA said:


> Just spoke with a Vacation Guard rep at 866-314-9480.  The terms are a bit confusing as the "annual" policy does not mean a calendar year long policy, but is based on the "use year" of your week. Yes, you can insure 2014 weeks, and they can be used witout regard to the calendar date, as the insurance follows the week. So if I have two 2014 weeks, the insurance will be good for those weeks until I use them, and they will be insured for separate trips for each week no matter in which year they are actually used.



Since we have both trust points and points from our week at MountainSide (and the two sources have different use years), which "use year" would apply if we reserved a week using points from both sources?  Since it's possible to combine multiple "use years" with points from both buckets, how would they determine which use year applies?


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## dioxide45 (Oct 20, 2013)

Bnov said:


> Since we have both trust points and points from our week at MountainSide (and the two sources have different use years), which "use year" would apply if we reserved a week using points from both sources?  Since it's possible to combine multiple "use years" with points from both buckets, how would they determine which use year applies?



If you are truly insuring use years, then you would need to buy two policies, one for each year.


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## jimf41 (Oct 20, 2013)

The more I think about the "use year" premiss the more I think it's an untenable possibly an illegal policy. In 2014 I'm going to the Caribbean for five weeks in Jan-Feb. I've used a combination of 2014 owned weeks, 2014 DC points and 2013 DC points all for the same trip. From what has been posted I would have to buy a 2013 and a 2014 policy to cover this trip.

If I had to cancel for a covered reason which policy would I put the claim in under. If I have to make a claim under each which one do I put the airfare under? I'm not well versed in the legalities of insurance but this seems like a real problem when it comes time to submit a claim. I'm not even sure which days I booked with what years points anymore. I suppose I cold figure it out but it seems like an unwieldy nut roll to me.

Looking ahead to 2015 and beyond I will probably buy the policy every year so the "use year" issue becomes mute, except for the double coverage issue.

I'm still waiting for the NY version of this policy to arrive. Maybe that will explain it. One can only hope.


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## Fasttr (Oct 20, 2013)

Bnov said:


> Since we have both trust points and points from our week at MountainSide (and the two sources have different use years), which "use year" would apply if we reserved a week using points from both sources?  Since it's possible to combine multiple "use years" with points from both buckets, how would they determine which use year applies?



And to further complicate things, try this one on for size....perhaps you booked a ressie with some of each of the following or at least a good smattering of points from several of these buckets.... 

Banked Trust points
Current use year Trust points
Borrowed Trust points 
Transferred Trust points from another member
Transferred Legacy points from another member
Banked Legacy Points
Current use year Legacy points
Borrowed Legacy points 

As you say, Trust points can have a different use year than Legacy points, and even two batches of Trust points that you purchased at different times could have different use years, so if you were booking one large trip, a trip to the Galapagos Islands or an African Safari (trips you would definitely want to insure) and needed to accumulate points from various sources to pull it off, it makes you ponder how many policies you would need to cover that.  Perhaps VacationGuard has a different policy that would be more appropriate than the Timeshare Plus plan for this type of multi-bucket usage.  

I also wonder if the policy would cover your costs of rented points from places like vacationpointexchange at all. 

After reading through the summary description of benefits, it is very unclear how such a usage would be treated.  I had sent an email to VacationGuard last Wednesday asking them a lot of these questions, but have yet to hear back from them.  I will post the info if they respond.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 20, 2013)

Fasttr said:


> And to further complicate things, try this one on for size....perhaps you booked a ressie with some of each of the following or at least a good smattering of points from several of these buckets....
> 
> Banked Trust points
> Current use year Trust points
> ...



I would think that you would need to insure three use years. The ones from the use year that you banked from, the current use year, and the year that you borrowed from. So for example, you are going on vacation in 2014 with 2013, 2014 and 2015 use year points. You would need to pay $360 to insure the whole lot. Depending on the number of travelers, you would probably be cheaper to buy a per trip plan somewhere else.

Now of course, I wouldn't try to speculate on how transferred points would be handled. But it seems that owned points are pretty easy as long as we can properly define "use year".


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## m61376 (Oct 20, 2013)

At least for me the bigger issue would be the ancillary coverage. While the MF's  are nice to recoup in case of a trip interruption/ cancellation, other costs can be the bigger issue.. Airfare, etc., can quickly exceed the MF'S, esp. when dealing with several people. And perhaps one of the most importent considerations would be the inurance coverage.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 20, 2013)

m61376 said:


> At least for me the bigger issue would be the ancillary coverage. While the MF's  are nice to recoup in case of a trip interruption/ cancellation, other costs can be the bigger issue.. Airfare, etc., can quickly exceed the MF'S, ESP. When dealing with several people. And perhaps one of the most I portent considerations would be the I durance coverage.



These are really only covered up to the coverage limits. So if you have a lot of people traveling with you (it covers up to 12), then you may need to get a per trip plan. Though it could be a lot more expensive that way. I am really not as concerned with ancillary coverage except for medial and medical evacuation. Those are my main concerns when traveling out of the country. The loss of airfare and MFs expenses is truly secondary.


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## m61376 (Oct 20, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> I am really not as concerned with ancillary coverage except for medial and medical evacuation. Those are my main concerns when traveling out of the country. The loss of airfare and MFs expenses is truly secondary.



That's what I was referencing. Esp. if you have older family members (or are yourselves in that age range) it becomes more important. In reality, stuff happens at any age, and esp. if overseas if you need a MedJet the cost can be prohibitive.

ps- sorry for the lousy spelling in the prior post- spell check/auto correct at it's "best" on my Ipad. It's amazing sometimes what words/spellings it comes up with.


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## BocaBoy (Oct 21, 2013)

I am still not convinced that "use year" in the policy does not mean the year you actually use your week or points by traveling.  These other interpretations make no sense.  I have not looked at the policy language but I suspect that the authors of the insurance policy were not using the term in the same way we think of "use year" in our ownership.  We are looking at what we own and they are probably looking at when we travel.


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## indyhorizons (Oct 21, 2013)

QUOTE=BocaBoy;1544198]I am still not convinced that "use year" in the policy does not mean the year you actually use your week or points by traveling.  These other interpretations make no sense.  I have not looked at the policy language but I suspect that the authors of the insurance policy were not using the term in the same way we think of "use year" in our ownership.  We are looking at what we own and they are probably looking at when we travel.[/QUOTE]

Bocaboy, I have been leaning in this direction also.  Jim posted in an earlier post: 

This plan provides coverage for multiple trips during one year up to 365 days from receipt. Each trip must not exceed 180 days." 

The coverage begins after purchase/receipt. I think the use year is tied to the use year of the coverage not maintenance fees or banked weeks or points. Just my two cents.


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## Fasttr (Oct 21, 2013)

Here is an interesting link....  http://www.vacationguard.com/Static/VGTP-0411_0202_00000.pdf

This discription of coverage from VacationGuard seems to be written specifically for annual plans, where the PDF that I posted for jimf41 in post #19 (that they provided to him when he purchased the insurance) does not give the appearance that it was written as an annual plan desciption.  

I also want to point out that the date on the linked description of benefits is April '11 and the date on Jim's PDF is Sept '13.

Regardless, much of the wording in the linked description seems to better follow what a few folks have been told when they called VacationGuard.  Specifically the wording on page 2 right after the definitions.

Here is the excerpt that I am referring to.  



> PART B – PLAN COST AND TERM OF COVERAGE
> 1. This Annual Timeshare Protection Plan must be paid for no later than 30 days before Your Timeshare Trip, or the booking date confirmation of Your first Timeshare Trip, whichever is later. The Protection Plan ends 365 days after the inception of Your Plan, but will only apply to Maintenance Charges You may incur.
> 2. Timeshare Cancellation/Interruption benefit is only afforded for Timeshare Trips that occur in the calendar year to which Your Maintenance Charges or dues value of Timeshare Points are applied, once payment is received by the Plan Administrator, and subject to the terms and conditions outlined in this Description of Coverage. During the first policy year, any Maintenance Charges or dues value of Timeshare Points accumulated or deposited from previous years prior to purchase of the Plan are not covered.
> 3. Timeshare Cancellation/Interruption coverage is afforded for Timeshare Trips taken within 24 months from the date premium was paid for the plan. The Timeshare Cancellation benefit expires the earlier of: (a) Your cancellation of the Timeshare Trip; (b) upon departure for Your Scheduled Timeshare Trip or (c) 24 months from the date payment is received by the Plan Administrator.
> ...



So that begs the question, are the VacationGuard reps spouting facts about the the specific plan that Marriott is pitching to us, or spouting facts based on this older annual plan, or are they one in the same and the newer description of benefits simply does not explain things very well?  

I am still trying to find written proof to support what people are being told, as I agree with a previous post that what we feel is logically the way it should be... or what we have been told by Marriott VOA's or VacationGuard reps won't necessarily hold up if we have a claim.  I would like to know what I am buying before I buy it and have written proof to support it.


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## tschwa2 (Oct 21, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> If you are truly insuring use years, then you would need to buy two policies, one for each year.



I don't think any of the documentation that has been linked is very clear.  I own elsewhere that offers the annual vacation guard plan.  After exhaustive questioning the answer I got was that use year was within 365 days of when MF's were due.  So even though it claimed to cover exchanges it only did so if you used your 2014 unit sometime in 2014 whether at your home resort or elsewhere.  Buying a 2015 policy wouldn't cover your 2014 unit used in 2015 only your 2015 unit.  So if you plan ahead it didn't cover anything and you had to buy individual trip coverage.

Hopefully Vacation Guard will provide documentation if this is or is not the case so people don't buy multiple year coverage just to find out nothing is covered.


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## Fasttr (Oct 21, 2013)

tschwa2 said:


> I don't think any of the documentation that has been linked is very clear.  I own elsewhere that offers the annual vacation guard plan.  After exhaustive questioning the answer I got was that use year was within 365 days of when MF's were due.  So even though it claimed to cover exchanges it only did so if you used your 2014 unit sometime in 2014 whether at your home resort or elsewhere.  Buying a 2015 policy wouldn't cover your 2014 unit used in 2015 only your 2015 unit.  So if you plan ahead it didn't cover anything and you had to buy individual trip coverage.
> 
> Hopefully Vacation Guard will provide documentation if this is or is not the case so people don't buy multiple year coverage just to find out nothing is covered.



What you are discribing is exactly as explained in the April '11 link listed above....specifically this excerpt.



> 2. Timeshare Cancellation/Interruption benefit is only afforded for Timeshare Trips that occur in the calendar year to which Your Maintenance Charges or dues value of Timeshare Points are applied, once payment is received by the Plan Administrator, and subject to the terms and conditions outlined in this Description of Coverage.



And I totally agree with you, thier description of coverages really suck as they explain very little!!


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## tschwa2 (Oct 21, 2013)

The coverage is good if you have multiple weeks that you own and use at your home resort and/or just plan on using your points to extend your owned weeks a couple of days but it doesn't help most exchangers who either use their weeks to exchange for weeks in the future or save weeks and book after their regular use year is past.


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## jimf41 (Oct 21, 2013)

Fastrr,

The link you provided refers to policy # VGTP 0411. The policy I bought is policy # SVTP 1013. I don't know that you can compare the two. Still waiting for them to Email the details of the NY version of SVTP 1013.


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## Fasttr (Oct 21, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> Fastrr,
> 
> The link you provided refers to policy # VGTP 0411. The policy I bought is policy # SVTP 1013. I don't know that you can compare the two. Still waiting for them to Email the details of the NY version of SVTP 1013.



I'm not really trying to compare the two, or say what you purchased was the April '11 version.  I am just looking for as much information as I can to try to find wording that seems to follow what some of the VOA's and VacationGuard reps are telling people when they call.  I'm just looking for anything to help understand what the product really is.  

Nowhere in the Sept '13 version they provided you does it seem to explain use year, or how they would reimburse MF's, or allocate them if a point user used multiple years points to book a ressie, but in the older version, it does a little better of a job of explaining it (but as you pointed out, who knows if the old one still applies).  Again, I am just gathering info from as many sources as possilble.  

From what people are being told by VOA's and VacationGuard, basically that you have to have insurance coverage for your maintenance fee use year, and then that coverage will follow the week whenever you may use it (which could be a different year altogether), is not consistent with anything I have read so far (on the Sept '13 description, on the VacationGuard FAQ's as posted in post #28 or on the April '11 version) which certainly raises an eyebrow.  Because I have not seen anything supporting that, I keep looking.  

The leap you have to make from what people are being told, is that as long as you continue to purchase the coverage annually, you will be covered if you use your week in the year after your covered MF's were insured for (sounds like an annuity for them in my opinion).  For me, that's a big leap if I don't see it in writing.  Its is also contra to what tschwa2's experience has been.  

As of now, I am still looking.  Hopefully the email they send you with the policy specific to your state will help.


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## tschwa2 (Oct 21, 2013)

My experience was not with the Marriott plan and maybe it is different but like Fastrr I don't see the answer anywhere in the terms provided for the non NY # SVTP 1013 linked in an earlier post.


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## Fasttr (Oct 21, 2013)

Ok, I called "VacationGuard" (yes, in parentheses for a reason) at 866-314-9480 and hit the lady with a barrage of questions.  She was trying hard to answer them, but got very confused as nothing she was looking at was providing written proof (which is what I was demanding).  So she put me on hold several times trying to get answers and one time came back on and said "I am online with VacationGuard" to which I responded "Don't you work for VacationGuard because that is who I thought I was calling" to which she replied "We work for VacationGuard".  After a bit more prodding, I found she works for Travelex, who apparently provides services to a number of these types of insurers.  Anyhow, it was bad enough thinking we were getting answers from Marriott second hand, and by calling VacationGuard, it was first hand, but now Marriott is 3rd hand, and Travelex (diguised at VacationGuard) is apparently second hand info and they really don't know the facts either.  So much for calling the number to get real answers.    

Anyhow, while on the phone she indicated to me she has many, many different plans (Marriott, Disney, etc) and the one she was showing on her computer for Marriott was SVTP 0812, and not the SVTP 1013 that was provided to Jim.  That said, I am not real confident in anything I was told.  The 0812 one could be the per trip plan they had been using.  Was that also with VacationGuard??

She did start quoting from some Q&A cheat sheet that she was provided, and I asked her if she could send those to me.  She again put me on hold (likely asking a supervisor) and came back and took my email address and indicated they would put together as much factual info in writing as they could for the Marriott plan and send it my way.

More info to follow if and when I get the email, but I figured others may find this exchange interesting.


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## jeff76543 (Oct 21, 2013)

I think that it may be time for someone (perhaps someone who has purchased the policy, but I'm not sure that this is necessary) to contact Customer Advocacy about the new policy and the inability to get clear answers regarding "use year" and other aspects of the coverage.


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## jimf41 (Oct 21, 2013)

jeff76543 said:


> I think that it may be time for someone (perhaps someone who has purchased the policy, but I'm not sure that this is necessary) to contact Customer Advocacy about the new policy and the inability to get clear answers regarding "use year" and other aspects of the coverage.



That could be me but I'm waiting for some additional info about the plan to be Emailed to me.


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## Fasttr (Oct 21, 2013)

OK, here is the wonderful definition of Use Year that the Travelex Insurance rep emailed to me.



> The ownership or Use Year rights are extended to the owner/member for the year in which dues are paid. This often operates on a “use it or lose it” basis, meaning if they don’t use or bank their ownership, they would lose the Use Year rights they paid for. Use Year is usually on a Calendar year (1/1 to 12/31), but can also be a purchase year (when they bought). Use years can be bi-annual or EOY (every other year) or even tri-annual. Our plans cover the dues for the Use Year in which they are bought, i.e. If they buy a 2012 plan, we’re covering 2012 Use Year.


A wonderful definition, but it stops just short of providing any useful information whatsoever.  

Needless to say, I fired back more questions to her.

More to follow if I hear more.


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## jimf41 (Oct 21, 2013)

Fasttr said:


> OK, here is the wonderful definition of Use Year that the Travelex Insurance rep emailed to me.
> 
> 
> A wonderful definition, but it stops just short of providing any useful information whatsoever.



:hysterical::rofl::hysterical:


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## m61376 (Oct 21, 2013)

Another question which warrants an answer is even if the coverage for the dues only covers the year the MF's were paid, will the other coverages apply during a year in which a Marriott exchange occurred? For example- if I use a deposit from a 2013 week for an exchange in 2014, and I buy coverage for 2014, will coverage other than dues reimbursement apply? I can understand that they won't reimburse for MF's paid in a prior year, but I'd think the other aspects of the trip coverage should apply (or at least I hope they would, since it would simplify matters a lot).


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## Fasttr (Oct 21, 2013)

m61376 said:


> Another question which warrants an answer is even if the coverage for the dues only covers the year the MF's were paid, will the other coverages apply during a year in which a Marriott exchange occurred? For example- if I use a deposit from a 2013 week for an exchange in 2014, and I buy coverage for 2014, will coverage other than dues reimbursement apply? I can understand that they won't reimburse for MF's paid in a prior year, but I'd think the other aspects of the trip coverage should apply (or at least I hope they would, since it would simplify matters a lot).



That was one of the questions on my list, using your example, would a medical issue on your 2014 trip be covered by your 2013 policy (assuming you bought one), your 2014 policy (assuming you bought one), either or neither? 

So far they have not been able or willing to provide me with a clearly explained answer.


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## taxare (Oct 23, 2013)

I just completed a survey from MVC on a recent call and the survey included this question. Based on the above thread I found it interesting.

Did the vacation counselor explain to you the benefits of protecting your upcoming vacation with our Travel Protection policy?


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## Fasttr (Oct 23, 2013)

Here's the latest on my efforts.

After harassing just about every email address and phone number I could find on the VacationGuard and Travelex sites, I finally received an email from Brian Rock who is the National Director for VacationGuard (sometimes being a PITA pays off).  Here is the guts of his email to me.....



> As you can well appreciate, Vacation Ownership is a complex product; especially when you bring in a combination of Points, fixed, and float ownership, much less an ability to convert into another Point (Rewards) currency; however, VacationGuard actually designed what is now known and bought as “Timeshare Travel Insurance.”
> 
> Insurance is a complex business too, and only a certain amount of customization is approved by regulators.  Use-Year is not defined in the policy but is a selling process we had to develop for clarity, and yes, ease.
> 
> ...



He too seemed reluctant to provide me with any additional documentation other than providing me a copy of the benefits summary version SVTP 1013, which jimf41 had already provided for us.  

That said, I have a nice list of questions to go through when he calls me tomorrow.  If you have specifics you would like answered, pop them my way and I will add them to my list if I have not captured the question already.  

Will fill everybody in after that call.


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## Superchief (Oct 23, 2013)

Fasttr,
Thanks for doing all of the legwork for something that many of us are interested in. Hopefully, he will be receptive to your feedback because I don't see how many MVC owners will sign up when there are so many questions. These are my thoughts regarding what would be a reasonable expectation for coverage:

1. All travel and trip related expenses should be covered in the year the trip is taken, regardless of the source of the MF/Points.
2. The simplest solution for everyone is that the insurance would cover the related MF for the year that travel occurs, regardless of when the MF fees were paid. The DC program really makes it virtually impossible to 'enforce' the when paid approach.
3. If they insist that the policy only covers the MF fees in the year they are incurred (rather than when travel occurs), will they actually pay for MF for an exchange from a 2014 week to a trip in 2016 (assuming the person purchased the policy in all three years.)
4. If there is any truth to needing to purchase the policy when the reservations are booked, they will not get many takers in 2014 since many of us have already booked our trips for the year. 

I purchased the MVC partner policy a few years ago and had to file a claim. The trip included an II exchange using a week from the previous year. I think it was with TravelGuard, but can't recall. I had no problem having my MF reimbursed even though it was an exchange week.

Good luck with your call. We all look forward to learning more. This rollout reminds me of the recent healthcare fiasco, since nobobdy appears to know anything about the policy they are trying to sell. There is never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.


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## Fasttr (Oct 23, 2013)

Superchief said:


> This rollout reminds me of the recent healthcare fiasco, since nobobdy appears to know anything about the policy they are trying to sell. There is never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.



How true!!!

I've added your comments/questions to the pile.


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## jimf41 (Oct 23, 2013)

I don't have any questions to add as yet. I haven't spoken with an agent either at MVCI or TG. It seems that the agents are causing the questions. The policy itself is quite clear IMO as far as it relates to MVCI stays, they are all covered if you reserve your week or use DC points.

Folks that trade in from another chain, use II with their MVCI week, XYZ's or getaways might have an issue to be settled.


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## m61376 (Oct 24, 2013)

What I'd like to know is even IF they only cover the MF's for an exchanged week (assuming it is an exchange in II and a Marriott to Marriott exchange) if you were insured the year the MF's were paid for the week, will the current year policy provide the other coverage for the trip (air, medical, etc.)? For ex.- if I banked a week in 2013, but use an exchange in 2014, will I have full coverage under my 2014 policy, or will I at least have coverage except for the MF's, since they were paid in 2013?

Also- if I exchange my Marriott week for another week (Starwood, Royals, etc.) would that trip be covered if it was during the use year and the exchange emanated from a Marriott week?


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## Fasttr (Oct 24, 2013)

*Notes from call with Brian Rock, National Director, VacationGuard, Inc.*

First, let me say that Brian was very pleasant to talk to, called me right on time, and certainly took all the time that I needed to get my questions answered (55 minutes total) and was genuinely concerned to make sure that I was comfortable with my understanding of the plan before we wrapped up the call.  Kudo’s to him for that.  Brian has been with VacationGuard since 2004 and is currently responsible for daily operations and sales for VacationGuard.

As for obtaining information in writing, the Description of Coverage for plan SVTP 1013 is the best there is according to Brian.  It was posted by me earlier, compliments of jimf41, but here is the LINK again for easy reference.  The additional information specific to certain states (that jimf41 is waiting to get) merely contains additional restrictions that may be imposed by certain states due to their individual insurance laws and regulations.  Therefore the SVTP 1013 summary is the best document to explain the full plan and coverages.  That said, as Brian pointed out, timeshare vacation ownership is very specialized and as such, they cannot cover every possible nuance in a summary of coverage and he fully admits that the summary is lacking in any clarity regarding Use Year, which is why he took the time to answer my questions, and as I said earlier, I did find him very upfront and open.  That said, in the end, all of his clarifications are merely verbal representations, so take that for what it’s worth.

He did indicate that they would be providing additional clarifying information in the November MVC Insider to hopefully further clarify some of these questions.  

To keep this post to a reasonable length, I have attached my notes from the call on the PDF below….


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## jimf41 (Oct 24, 2013)

Great job FASTTR! Thanks to your persistence I now fully understand this use year issue. Now I just have to decide whether or not to purchase a 2013 policy for another $119. For me it's only a one time thing after that my usage will be covered by buying the annual plan

Again, good work FASTRR.


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## bluestar4 (Oct 24, 2013)

Thanks for the complete notes.  So here's my next Marriott booking:

In Dec 2013, I will borrow points from the 2016 Use Year to book Maui in Jan 2015.

Based on my understanding of your conversation, I would have to call Vacation Guard and buy coverage for the 2016 use year.   Correct?   

How would buying 2016 coverage in Dec 2013 affect pre-existing conditions?


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## Fasttr (Oct 24, 2013)

bluestar4 said:


> Thanks for the complete notes.  So here's my next Marriott booking:
> 
> In Dec 2013, I will borrow points from the 2016 Use Year to book Maui in Jan 2015.
> 
> ...



You are correct based on my understanding.  I also believe, based on what I was told, that you could actually wait and buy the 2016 Use Year coverage sometime in 2014 as long as it was before your trip in 2015.  I was told that you don't need to buy it at the same time as your booking of the 2015 week.  

As for pre-existing conditions, we did not specifically discuss how your situation would be handled (using borrowed points from a future use year, in that the policy was purchased long before the MF's would be paid), but seemingly, they would either apply the 60 day lookback from the date you purchased the policy, or they would be very generous and exactly follow the wording in the summary description which says as long as you buy the policy before 3 days after paying those 2016 MF's (which you would have), they would waive it.  Sorry, I don't have a specific for you on that one.  I will send Brian a follow up email in a day or so to clarify any specifics I don't have a clear answer for, like this one, and report back.


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## Superchief (Oct 24, 2013)

Fastrr,
This is very helpful information. Just to clarify, it appears that DC points stays that use banked points for the previous year would be convered since they are within the 1 year carryover window. Would II trades for a 2013 week traded to a 2014 week week be covered with a 2014 policy?

One other clarification, if the MF fees aren't covered in the insured year, does that also eliminate the ability to have the other travel expenses covered during that year? Thanks for your help.


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## Fasttr (Oct 24, 2013)

Superchief said:


> Fastrr,
> This is very helpful information. Just to clarify, it appears that DC points stays that use banked points for the previous year would be convered since they are within the 1 year carryover window. Would II trades for a 2013 week traded to a 2014 week week be covered with a 2014 policy?
> 
> One other clarification, if the MF fees aren't covered in the insured year, does that also eliminate the ability to have the other travel expenses covered during that year? Thanks for your help.



DC points from 2013 banked and used in 2014 would be covered by a 2013 Use Year policy.  Again, you have to insure the base year where the points originated, and then that policy covers you forward until you use the points in a week in 2014 in your example.

Same for II weeks, if your original base week came from 2013, and you traded via II for a week in 2014, as long as you purchased a 2013 Use Year policy, your week in 2014 would be covered.

I am not 100% certain I understand your last question, but in the examples above, as long as you purchased a 2013 Use Year policy, if a covered event happened on your 2014 week (allowing you to recoup MF's, or medical costs, etc), you would be covered even if you did not ever purchase a 2014 policy.

Hope that helps.


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## Superchief (Oct 25, 2013)

Fasttr said:


> .
> 
> I am not 100% certain I understand your last question, but in the examples above, as long as you purchased a 2013 Use Year policy, if a covered event happened on your 2014 week (allowing you to recoup MF's, or medical costs, etc), you would be covered even if you did not ever purchase a 2014 policy.
> 
> Hope that helps.



Let me clarify: If I had a policy for 2014 but not for 2013, would the other (non MF) travel expenses for a trip in 2014 be covered if I was using an II exchange from a 2013 week? 

Are they offering the insurance for 2013, since it appears I would need coverage for both years to cover my exchanges and banked DC points. Thanks again. They should pay you a commission for helping all of us.


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## Bunk (Oct 25, 2013)

Fasstr:  

Thank you for taking the time to obtain all this information and share it with us.

You wrote:   "Coverage for exchanges is provided even if you exchange into a non-Marriott property, as the coverage is ultimately linked back to the value of your Marriott MF’s, Dues, etc associated with your Use Year week."

Can you confirm whether the coverage extends to all timeshares we own, including non-Marriott timeshares.


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## Fasttr (Oct 25, 2013)

Superchief said:


> Let me clarify: If I had a policy for 2014 but not for 2013, would the other (non MF) travel expenses for a trip in 2014 be covered if I was using an II exchange from a 2013 week?
> 
> Are they offering the insurance for 2013, since it appears I would need coverage for both years to cover my exchanges and banked DC points. Thanks again. They should pay you a commission for helping all of us.



First part of question = No.    *ALL coverage *is tied back to the original Use Year week or points....so in your example, you would only have coverage for that 2014 usage (originating from a 2013 week/points) if you had purchased the 2013 Use Year plan.  The coverage for medical, etc is still tied back to the originating Use Year purchased.  

Yes, you can purchase 2013 now, I believe he said only through the end of this year.


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## Fasttr (Oct 25, 2013)

Bunk said:


> Can you confirm whether the coverage extends to all timeshares we own, including non-Marriott timeshares.



Excellent question....I'll ask and report back.


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## eyeball (Oct 25, 2013)

*VacationGuard Insurance*

This is the email  conversation I had with VacationGuard, I believe this somewhat clarifies the insurance issues. It appears that we will need continuous annual policies to insure coverage.    Bill Dyke

Question emailed to VacationGuard

"Please verify that the new VacationGuard policy for Marriott Timeshare owners covers me for the 2014 calendar year even if my several reservations for 2014 involve Destination Points using 2013, 2014, and
2015 Home Resort exchanges for Destination Points. The 2014 trips include a combination of using my Home Resorts and Marriott Explorer Trips."

Email Reply from VacationGuard

"Your VacationGuard Timeshare Plus plan covers you only for the specific Use-Year points insured.  Use-Year is easy to determine as it's for the annual billing use.  

If you are intending to cover your upcoming 2014 Use-Year, it will in fact cover MVC/Destination Points used from your 2014 Use-Year.  However, you seem to indicate you want to use banked 2013 Use-Year points, and borrowed 2015 Use-Year Points.    If you want to protect points in a given use-year, you need to have a plan for that use year as well.  In your case, it would seem you would want a plan for all 3 use-years;  2013 (banked), 2014 (current), and 2015 (borrowed). We recommend you contact Marriott Vacation Club to purchase the plans needed.

Thank you for your interest in VacationGuard.


Sincerely,

Kathy Smith
VacationGuard(r)
P: 866.314.9480 l email: Service@VacationGuard.com M-F 8:00AM-5:00PM CST www.vacationguard.com

Please note: All terms, conditions, exclusions and provisions of the plan apply. All benefits will be determined at the time a claim may occur based on the information and documentation submitted."


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## Fasttr (Oct 25, 2013)

*eyeball*....that is in line with my understanding as well.  Nice to have confirmation of the same info from 2 sources at VacationGuard....thanks for posting.


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## Fasttr (Oct 25, 2013)

Bunk said:


> Can you confirm whether the coverage extends to all timeshares we own, including non-Marriott timeshares.



*Bunk*....here is Brian's reply to your question....



> A great question, but the Marriott plan is priced for protecting your Marriott Vacation Ownership only.   If you had other company Timeshares, we do offer Timeshare Plus on the VacationGuard retail site, however, because the “retail” plan can cover more than one timeshare developer ownership under one plan, it’s also $159 for each  Use-Year.



Seems to me if you own Marriott and non-Marriott and want to cover them all, it might make sense to pop for the $159 coverage direct from VacationGuard rather than take the $119 Marriott plan.


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## Fasttr (Oct 25, 2013)

bluestar4 said:


> In Dec 2013, I will borrow points from the 2016 Use Year to book Maui in Jan 2015.
> 
> Based on my understanding of your conversation, I would have to call Vacation Guard and buy coverage for the 2016 use year.   Correct?
> 
> How would buying 2016 coverage in Dec 2013 affect pre-existing conditions?



*bluestar4*....I asked Brian your specifics and here was his detailed response.  



> Remember, only Marriott Associates can purchase protection on a borrowed or banked week for a member.  But Associates can only protect up to 2 Use-Years forward.  So, it would be a “No” if booked today because one cannot buy VacationGuard that far forward, but it would be “Yes” if booked after 1/1/2014, as the Associate can then access that 2016 Use-Year in their purchase options.  It’s still a non-issue though.   The example trip is in 2015, still some 15 months out, and therefore you have lots of time to protect that borrowed 2016 Use-Year when eligible. Because vacation ownership is usually planned well in advance, we have a business rule to protect against expected losses:
> 
> ·        On a NEW reservation, meaning nothing booked for travel dates in their system, you can buy up until the day you book the reservation.   If you book today, for travel tomorrow, you can buy VacationGuard.  We allow this because it is highly unlikely you would be sick and unable to travel if you are in fact paying for a new reservation to travel immediately.
> 
> ·        However, on an EXISTING reservation, that’s been in their system, we stop the plan offer 10 days prior to travel.  That’s because as you will note from every example we’ve talked on, you usually had Months to plan the trip, including adding travel insurance.  You know you have to plan in advance.  But, suddenly, just Days before your travel, you want to add travel insurance.  In this last minute window, the odds of something being wrong, or the ability to see hurricane swirling in the atlanic, are indeed high.  So, we have a 10 day cut on on EXISTING reservations  (but no cut-off on Last Minute bookings/ reservations).   This is another reason why in your example above, there is ample opportunity to add VacationGuard on the borrowed 2016 Use-Year time.  By buying early, at the START of ones’ Use-Year, you can simply remove the stress of trying to protect your planning and circumstances at the last minute]



I had indicated you could buy furture years by calling VacationGuard, but from his reply, it sounds like you actually have to buy future years by calling MVC, as only they would know if you had borrowed points from that future use year and used them or not.  

Regarding the Pre-ex question, here was his response....



> I’ll answer it as 2 different questions.  Since with Marriott, you don’t have to pre-pay 2016 Dues if borrowing against 2016 time, the Maintenance Fees would not be known until that future Use-Year gets billed, however, the protection would still be there. We just have to wait until the Future Use-Year bill is incurred before we can pay for that portion of the covered loss.   Part 2 is about Pre-ex.  The plan waives the Pre-existing Medical Conditions Exclusion upon renewals, so if you had a 2013 Use-Year, 2014 Use-Year, the 2015 Use-Year, and now a 2016 Use-Year, the waiver would apply, even if those plans were bought early as part of a current trip booking need.  However, if one skipped the 2015 Use-Year plan, there would be a lapse, and the 2016 Use-Year plan would then look for the plan conditions to apply the 60 day look back.



Based on my discussions with him, I interpret the 60 day window in your case to be 60 days prior to purchasing the VacationGuard plan for the 2016 Use Year to cover your 2015 Maui week.  That is of course assuming you did not already have coverage for 2013-2015 already in place to allow for a waiver of the pre-ex.


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## Fasttr (Oct 25, 2013)

Brian at VacationGuard also provided me with a very detailed explanation of pre-existing conditions in general, which I figured I would share in case anybody wants to know.....



> Further, you’ll recall from our discussion that “Pre-ex waiver” is badly misunderstood.  Most people think it gives coverage for all prior medical conditions, which is just not true.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## bluestar4 (Oct 25, 2013)

Fasttr said:


> Brian at VacationGuard also provided me with a very detailed explanation of pre-existing conditions in general, which I figured I would share in case anybody wants to know.....


Thanks for the quick and complete answers.  Not a simple program but the explanations are very helpful.


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## tiel (Oct 26, 2013)

eyeball said:


> This is the email  conversation I had with VacationGuard, I believe this somewhat clarifies the insurance issues. It appears that we will need continuous annual policies to insure coverage.    Bill Dyke
> 
> Question emailed to VacationGuard
> 
> ...



in this case, where you have points from multiple years used to for a single reservation...if you purchased policies for 2013 and 2014, and failed to purchase one for 2015 for some reason, would you have some kind of prorated coverage for your trip?  The reason I ask is, I am fairly forgetful, and might do exactly as mentioned.  Assuming there is a proration, would it cross all categories of coverage?  Further, do you have to file multiple claims, one/policy?  I've never had an occasion to file any claim, so I don't know how it works. 

There is another area in which this type of policy based on the "use year" is problematic, at least to me.  So long as Marriott continues using VG as the supplier of "its" insurance, maybe all is well.  We will all just buy our annual policies at the beginning at the calendar year or when we pay our maintenance fees and all is well.  But what if VG were no longer the provider, say in 2015, for example, you buy a policy from the new provider.  Would your coverage then be prorated across the 2 providers?  Would the "new" provider understand this?  In any case, owners would be required to file/manage two separate claims.  A bit of a nuisance, but certainly doable, I guess.  I have no idea how many times Marriott has changed providers, but it will happen.

I don't know, it just seems unduly complicated, but it is what it is.  We'll be buying it, most likely, but I hope we never have to file a claim!


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## Fasttr (Oct 26, 2013)

tiel said:


> in this case, where you have points from multiple years used to for a single reservation...if you purchased policies for 2013 and 2014, and failed to purchase one for 2015 for some reason, would you have some kind of prorated coverage for your trip?  The reason I ask is, I am fairly forgetful, and might do exactly as mentioned.  Assuming there is a proration, would it cross all categories of coverage?  Further, do you have to file multiple claims, one/policy?  I've never had an occasion to file any claim, so I don't know how it works.
> 
> There is another area in which this type of policy based on the "use year" is problematic, at least to me.  So long as Marriott continues using VG as the supplier of "its" insurance, maybe all is well.  We will all just buy our annual policies at the beginning at the calendar year or when we pay our maintenance fees and all is well.  But what if VG were no longer the provider, say in 2015, for example, you buy a policy from the new provider.  Would your coverage then be prorated across the 2 providers?  Would the "new" provider understand this?  In any case, owners would be required to file/manage two separate claims.  A bit of a nuisance, but certainly doable, I guess.  I have no idea how many times Marriott has changed providers, but it will happen.
> 
> I don't know, it just seems unduly complicated, but it is what it is.  We'll be buying it, most likely, but I hope we never have to file a claim!



Per my discussions with VacationGuard, if for example you booked a week in 2014 using a combination of points from 2013, 2014 and 2015, and using your example only purchased the insurance for 2013 and 2014, your MF's associated with the points you used from 2013 and 2014 to book that week would be covered, but not the MF's associated with the 2015 points you used as you never insured that year's batch of points.  As for the ancillary coverages (medical, etc), based on my conversations, they would cover you for the week under your 2013 and/or 2014 policy, so you would still have coverage for that stuff even if you failed to insure 2015.  

I am not sure about your different insurance company question.  I am assuming any change in Marriott carriers would be going from a VacationGuard annual plan to another company's annual plan, so its unlikely you would be covering the same Use Year with both plans, one would end and the next would pick up (assuming they had similar Use Year rules).  I guess each would just insure based on what you had covered.

For making it as simple as possible, I think you nailed it with this statement....  


> We will all just buy our annual policies at the beginning at the calendar year or when we pay our maintenance fees and all is well.


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## jeff76543 (Oct 27, 2013)

I didn't see reference here to whether DC members who live outside the U.S.A. (and maybe Canada) can purchase the insurance through Marriott DC.  I seem to recall that there were issues relating to Europeans using DC points for airline ticket purchases and I also see that the insurance policies are slightly different depending on the U.S. state of residence.  On the other hand, I don't remember seeing an explicit reference that non-U.S.A. residents cannot purchase the insurance.

Any information about purchase by non-U.S.A. residents would be appreciated.


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## Fasttr (Oct 27, 2013)

jeff76543 said:


> I didn't see reference here to whether DC members who live outside the U.S.A. (and maybe Canada) can purchase the insurance through Marriott DC.  I seem to recall that there were issues relating to Europeans using DC points for airline ticket purchases and I also see that the insurance policies are slightly different depending on the U.S. state of residence.  On the other hand, I don't remember seeing an explicit reference that non-U.S.A. residents cannot purchase the insurance.
> 
> Any information about purchase by non-U.S.A. residents would be appreciated.



When you click through to VacationGuard from the My-VacationClub.com site, there is a question for "Are you a US Citizen" and when you click "No", it removes the need to enter an address, but you have a pull down menu with Countries listed and it appears it will let you continue.  Based on that, one would assume non-US residents could purchase the coverage....but I shot Brian an email just to see if there were any special issues that non-US residents need to know, and will report back when I hear back from him.


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## jeff76543 (Oct 27, 2013)

Thank you Fasttr.

You really should get a commission from VacationGuard...


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## Fasttr (Oct 27, 2013)

jeff76543 said:


> Thank you Fasttr.
> 
> You really should get a commission from VacationGuard...



I'm just thankful we found somebody at VG that is openly willing to respond to questions and provide clear and candid responses.  Hopefully he doesn't get sick of my emails at some point, but so far, so good.


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## eyeball (Oct 28, 2013)

Since my 2014 plans involve points from 2013, 2014, and 2015 I decided to purchase annual VacationGuard plans for all three years now. The first two years you can do on-line through  MVC. For 2015 now you have to call MVC. This locks me in at $119 per year and I don't have to worry about remembering to do it later. The policy is with VacationGuard not Marriott. If Marriott changes their insurance carrier later, I am still covered for all my 2014 trips and any future trips involving 2013, 2014, and 2015 points.

Bill Dyke


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## Fasttr (Oct 28, 2013)

jeff76543 said:


> Any information about purchase by non-U.S.A. residents would be appreciated.



Additional information on Non-US residents per email reply from Brian at VacationGuard....



> Yes, it is open to international owners, for just the same $119 or 400 MVC points; however, Marriott associates cannot enroll them, [so international owners cannot currently protect the 2015 Use Year until next year].  They must enroll via the travel insurance link on My-Vacationclub.com, and may protect the current use-Year, and/or 1 year forward.



I also asked about Asia-Pacific club owners and they too can use the Marriott plan, but cannot use points to purchase it per Brian....they would have to use a credit card and pay the $119.

Hope that helps to clarify things for non-US owners as well as AP owners.


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## jeff76543 (Oct 28, 2013)

Thank you!


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## MALC9990 (Oct 28, 2013)

Fasttr said:


> Additional information on Non-US residents per email reply from Brian at VacationGuard....
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's good to know from a UK owners perspective with weeks in Europe enrolled in the DC, weeks in Phuket and Asia Pacific points. I've been reading this thread an wondering whether to buy in to the plan. Travel insurance is much more common in the UK. In my case, my bank account comes with significant travel insurance on an annual plan basis that covers most of what the VG product would cover except for the timeshare elements for MFs which I need to investigate in case they are covered but buried in the Ts&Cs of my travel insurance.
My thanks to all for their work on this.


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## Fasttr (Oct 28, 2013)

MALC9990 said:


> That's good to know from a UK owners perspective with weeks in Europe enrolled in the DC, weeks in Phuket and Asia Pacific points. I've been reading this thread an wondering whether to buy in to the plan. Travel insurance is much more common in the UK. In my case, my bank account comes with significant travel insurance on an annual plan basis that covers most of what the VG product would cover except for the timeshare elements for MFs which I need to investigate in case they are covered but buried in the Ts&Cs of my travel insurance.
> My thanks to all for their work on this.



Malc, $119/year total to cover all of your MF's for all of your weeks/points in the various Marriott plans (assuming you don't already have coverage on your bank plan) seems like a fairly inexpensive way to protect your MF's.  Having lots of weeks/points has its advantages  when you can leverage them over one plan like this.


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## Fasttr (Oct 29, 2013)

Fasttr said:


> Jim...on page 15 of 16 of the document, right hand side, 2nd full paragraph, it states.... "This is a brief Description of Coverage, which outlines benefits and amounts of coverage available to you.  To view your state-filed form, please visit www.vacationguard.com/sbplans.aspx"
> 
> Perhaps it you go there and fill in your appropriate info, there are additional documents that can be viewed.  If what they provided to you so far is only a "brief Description of Coverage", it might be worth seeing what the full description of coverage is specific to your state laws.





jimf41 said:


> OK, I did that. This is the message;
> 
> "We apologize, your individual policy/group certificates isn’t available online at this time. Please provide your email address and your documents will be sent to the email address provided *within 7 business days*."
> 
> I'll post back when I get it.



*jimf41*... I believe today is the 7th business day after your made this request.  I was curious if you received the info via email.

I just purchased my 2013 Use Year policy this weekend, and also made the request for the docs specific to CT, but my 7 business days clock has just started.  Just wondering if you have seen yours yet?


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## jimf41 (Oct 29, 2013)

Fasttr,

Nothing yet. I've been checking my junk mail every day also, nothing there either. I bought the 2013 policy also through a rep at MVCI. They haven't sent the policy yet but they did charge my card.

I'm not expecting much, probably just some adjustments to comply with the insurance regs in NY.


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## Fasttr (Nov 4, 2013)

On the off chance somebody actually wants more to read regarding the VacationGuard plan, attached is the U.S. version of the plan supposedly filed with each individual state, including amendments as applicable to make the plan comply with individual state laws.  

Nothing earth shattering in here that was not already in the Summary Description of Coverage, but since I had requested it and they emailed it to me, I figured I would go ahead and post it.  

About half way through the document is a one-pager for each state with an amendment, explaining any tweaks from the standard policy that applies only to that state.


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## tiel (Jan 6, 2014)

*Aaaaaugh!*



Fasttr said:


> Brian at VacationGuard also provided me with a very detailed explanation of pre-existing conditions in general, which I figured I would share in case anybody wants to know.....
> 
> Further, you’ll recall from our discussion that “Pre-ex waiver” is badly misunderstood. Most people think it gives coverage for all prior medical conditions, which is just not true.
> 
> ...



 
I am soooo confused about the statement I bolded above!  And since we are officially seniors and encountering more and more physical issues (nothing serious yet, but you never know) every day, it seems, I think we need to figure out what is best for us.

Here is our situation:  we have booked a trip using "legacy" DC points for 2015.  All of the points came from the exchange of one of our properties (we own 5), with some of the points being banked from 2014 into 2015, and the rest being 2015 points.  This reservation was made on Jan 3, 2014.  The VOA encouraged us to buy a Marriott travel insurance policy for both years;  we purchased only one, for 2014, since we wanted to look it over before buying the second policy.

The maintenance fees for our five properties are spread over the month, so the 3-day 2014 policy purchase to qualify for the waiver cannot be met technically speaking.  So, do we just need to buy the 2014 policy within the 3 days of our first MF payment date, or, do we need to pay for it when we pay the dues for the property related to the points we are using for our trip?  Did we screw up by buying it before we paid any MFs?

It is probably clear at this point that I do not truly understand this pre-existing condition stuff, and the language of the policy seems to confuse me even more...I can't get past what seem to be the double negatives of the concept.

Anyway, all we want to do is optimize our coverage.  So, do we need to cancel the 2014 policy we already bought, and then repurchase within 3 days of one (and which specific one...the first one or the one we actually used) of our MF payments?  Btw, we are not concerned abou the 2015 policy yet, because if we have a 2014 policy and buy our 2015 policy with an effective date of Jan 1, 2015.

Any guidance/suggestions/recommendations/outright answers will be greatly appreciated!


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## Fasttr (Jan 6, 2014)

tiel said:


> The maintenance fees for our five properties are spread over the month, so the 3-day 2014 policy purchase to qualify for the waiver cannot be met technically speaking.  So, do we just need to buy the 2014 policy within the 3 days of our first MF payment date, or, do we need to pay for it when we pay the dues for the property related to the points we are using for our trip?  Did we screw up by buying it before we paid any MFs?



It is my understanding that you can always buy it early, and since the coverage will cover all usage related to all of your 2014 MF's of all of your weeks, I think the safe bet would be to purchase it no later than 3 days of paying your earliest MF's.  Again, based on my understanding, I think its fine that you purchased it prior to paying any of your 2014 MF's.


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## tiel (Jan 7, 2014)

Fasttr said:


> It is my understanding that you can always buy it early, and since the coverage will cover all usage related to all of your 2014 MF's of all of your weeks, I think the safe bet would be to purchase it no later than 3 days of paying your earliest MF's.  Again, based on my understanding, I think its fine that you purchased it prior to paying any of your 2014 MF's.



Thanks for helping. I was getting all tangled up in the policy language, and got so frustrated!  But, I' still wondering, does the policy payment need to come AFTER the MF payment, or is 3 days BEFORE ok?  

We are within the 3 days before, but I am wondering if that is ok.  I guess I am quite cynical about a lot of insurance matters, because it seems like the companies sometimes/often look for some small thing that allows them to avoid paying when a claim is made.  I don't expect to make a claim, but...

Any thoughts on this?


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## Fasttr (Jan 7, 2014)

tiel said:


> Thanks for helping. I was getting all tangled up in the policy language, and got so frustrated!  But, I' still wondering, does the policy payment need to come AFTER the MF payment, or is 3 days BEFORE ok?
> 
> We are within the 3 days before, but I am wondering if that is ok.  I guess I am quite cynical about a lot of insurance matters, because it seems like the companies sometimes/often look for some small thing that allows them to avoid paying when a claim is made.  I don't expect to make a claim, but...
> 
> Any thoughts on this?



It is my understanding that the language means the same as _*not later than 3 days after payment of your MF's*_ so in my opinion, any time earlier than that is fine.  In your case, you paid it before paying your MF's so you are ok.  

The whole intent of the clause is to protect the insurance company against something like this... If you got sick shortly before your trip would start, so you purchase the insurance after getting sick, knowing full well you plan on triggering the insurance because you are already ill.  That is clearly not the case in your situation.


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## tiel (Jan 7, 2014)

Fasttr said:


> It is my understanding that the language means the same as _*not later than 3 days after payment of your MF's*_ so in my opinion, any time earlier than that is fine.  In your case, you paid it before paying your MF's so you are ok.
> 
> The whole intent of the clause is to protect the insurance company against something like this... If you got sick shortly before your trip would start, so you purchase the insurance after getting sick, knowing full well you plan on triggering the insurance because you are already ill.  That is clearly not the case in your situation.



Great.  Thanks so much Fasttr for patiently helping me get through this.


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## Fasttr (Jan 7, 2014)

I received a PM from a TUGger today asking a question about VacationGuard insurance.  I had to ask my VacationGuard contact for the answer, and figured the question and answer might be helpful to others.  The TUGger said it would be ok to post the question and answer so here goes......

Question.....


> Thanks for posting all your findings about the new VacationGuard insurance. I have been following the conversation for awhile and still find it a bit confusing. I wondered if you could give me your opinion on my particular situation to identify if I qualify for 2014. I have been told by two different VOA that I am inelligible.
> 
> I have three trades thru II for 2014 (all using 2014 weeks). Two of them are Marriott to Marriott trades and one is a Marriott to Westin trade. I have been informed that insurance could only be purchased prior to the exchange confirmations taking place (before my Marriott weeks were handed over to II). Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me. They are saying I'm out of luck for 2014 travel. Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated. I'm at the stage in my life that I have a very elderly parent which makes me nervous when I travel - never knowing if I will get "the call" when I'm away.



VacationGuard response.....


> Actually the member is being told correctly, as this was in our PPT training. We’ve also made note of it in our follow-up training, being designed for the MVC team.
> 
> MVC no longer controls the reservation once deposited with Interval, or any exchange company. Thus, the VacationGuard plan for Marriott owners cannot be attached once use time is deposited elsewhere/externally.
> Further, exchange companies allow more than one year to use deposits, and VacationGuard does not. VacationGuard protection could in fact expire prior to use of a deposited exchange.
> ...


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## Superchief (Jan 8, 2014)

This appears to conflict with the information that was provided earlier. Previously, they said that if you were insured in the year in which the deposit was made (example: 2013 week), it would be covered in the year the trip was made (example: exchanged for 2014). Since the policy wasn't offered until late in 2013, this would imply that my purchase of the 2013 policy is worthless because all of my weeks were deposited prior to my purchase of the policy. 

Their response also raises questions about II exchanges into the following year, even if a policy is purchased for both years. I am planning to buy the 2014 policy shortly, but most of my trips involve II or DC exchanges with deposits from prior years.


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## Fasttr (Jan 8, 2014)

Superchief said:


> This appears to conflict with the information that was provided earlier. Previously, they said that if you were insured in the year in which the deposit was made (example: 2013 week), it would be covered in the year the trip was made (example: exchanged for 2014). Since the policy wasn't offered until late in 2013, this would imply that my purchase of the 2013 policy is worthless because all of my weeks were deposited prior to my purchase of the policy.
> 
> Their response also raises questions about II exchanges into the following year, even if a policy is purchased for both years. I am planning to buy the 2014 policy shortly, but most of my trips involve II or DC exchanges with deposits from prior years.



I too was surprised by the response.  If my recollection is correct, he had said before that the policy would cover you for a year past the original use year....so for a 2013 week deposited into II and used in 2014, you would need to have insured the 2013 Use Year.....BUT (and its a big BUT)... you would have needed to purchase the 2013 coverage BEFORE you actually deposited the week in II.


----------



## Ann in CA (Jan 8, 2014)

Fasttr said:


> I too was surprised by the response.  If my recollection is correct, he had said before that the policy would cover you for a year past the original use year....so for a 2013 week deposited into II and used in 2014, you would need to have insured the 2013 Use Year.....BUT (and its a big BUT)... you would have needed to purchase the 2013 coverage BEFORE you actually deposited the week in II.



Last Fall, I had been told that the "coverage would follow the use year" until it was used, however, I never heard that the week could not be covered if it had been deposited. We usually pay our maintenace fees in December, so this time, as I was online to pay, I also called Marriott to be sure I was timing the insurance purchase of 2014 weeks at correct time to give us the waiver for no prior conditions. 

The regular rep could not answer the that question, so they transferred me to a "Marriott insurance Specialist". She had access to our weeks info, so she really was a Marriott, not an insurance company employee.  However, she did almost immediately caution me not to buy, since  due to my weeks already being deposited, the coverage would be worthless. She also suggested II coverage, which we have never yet used.

However, I would suggest, if you have any questions about a specific case, you call Your vacation club advisor and ask for a Marriott Insurance specialist. I didn't get her name, but since she had access to my account, she could see that the weeks had been deposited, while the insurance company rep would not have seen that, and I'd never realized that was an issue.


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## jeepie (Jan 20, 2014)

*Thoughts re: Filing a Claim?*

I bought 2014 insurance in October. I just had to cancel two ski trips reserved using 2014 DC points, due to a knee injury preventing the ability to ski, at least until an upcoming visit to the Orthopedist. 
I wasn't thinking about any possibility of an insurance claim, especially since I was "refunded" the points, albeit now Holding points. So, it's now dawned on me I have to use the points this year (no banking or transferring) AND can only make a reservation less than 60 days before check-in. Furthermore, I am unsure whether one of the reservations can be rebooked with Holding points at all (Explorer Collection, Ritz Carlton Club Lake Tahoe), as I have received conflicting responses from two VOA's.
So, I believe I definitely have a loss of value, but not a total loss if I can rebook something later this year. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.


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## Mamianka (Apr 7, 2014)

dioxide45 said:


> I think perhaps you got a rep that wasn't up to speed on the new annual plan? This sounds like what would apply to a per trip plan. I think questions may be better directed to Vacation Guard and not MVC Owner Services with this new plan. It is a plan that Vacation Guard has offered for a long time, it just has special pricing and the option to now use DC points through MVCI.
> 
> Last year I called and talked with Vacation Guard and there was no mention that you had to have the insurance before booking your vacation for the Timeshare Plus policy.



I just posted a similar response elsewhere - it took me THREE different Marriott people to get a points transfer thing done today - partially because I am new to it all - but mostly because I swear they do not talk to each other - gave me three different stories about what i could and could NOT transfer!!!  I also got my Vacation Guard fixed - yes, the Marriott rep #1 oversold us - we had THREE policies, and the dates of coverage overlapped on all of them - and then a wonderful person at VG issued me re-dos, all that say the year covered, with dates that run 1/1  to 12/31 of each year.  Ended up with 2 that CLEARLY - now! - mean we are fine for 2014 and 2015 - and cancelled,  and got a refund for one redundant one.  Still have a minor overlap with CSA - hey, if we need to, we will cash in double!  So now we do not have to think about any of this until we need it for 2016.  Finally sensible!  Once you find the right g folks to talk to - good things happen.Meanwhile, sincere-SOUNDING people lead you down a garden path . . .


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## GreenTea (Aug 21, 2014)

m61376 said:


> Although you're right about the cash price being better, if it turns out it has to be bought anyway for Jan. 1-Jan. 1st, it might be a good use for any points left over at the end of Dec. that would otherwise expire, and Greg's website might be a cheap way to supplement if you're 50 or 100 points short or, on the flip side, want to make a few dollars if you have a 100 or 200 points leftover.
> 
> I think many, if not most, point users land up having a small surplus that goes to waste, since it takes a lot of machinations to exactly use your points.



I know this is an old thread but the Jan-Jan concerns me.   I understood it would be purchased at the time of the MF but would cover your point year.   My year begins July 1.   I paid this year but my points will be used in May.   I will pay again in January for the points coming July 1 2015 which will also be used in May.  

I also own a week.  I guess the policy would kick in if we couldn't get out due to snow?


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## Fasttr (Aug 21, 2014)

GreenTea said:


> I know this is an old thread but the Jan-Jan concerns me.   I understood it would be purchased at the time of the MF but would cover your point year.   My year begins July 1.   I paid this year but my points will be used in May.   I will pay again in January for the points coming July 1 2015 which will also be used in May.
> 
> I also own a week.  I guess the policy would kick in if we couldn't get out due to snow?



Based on my understanding, for covering Trust points, using your Use Year start date of July 1, 2014 as an example, if you purchase a 2014 Use Year plan, that would cover your MF on your Trust points from 7/1/14-6/30/15 (using your specifics).... so your trip in May 2015 using those points would be covered by a 2014 Use Year VacationGuard plan with an effective date of July 1, 2014.  

Even if you banked those points forward (as an example) into your 2015 Use Year and used those for a ressie in February of 2016, your 2014 Use Year VacationGuard policy would cover you.  The VacationGuard insurance plan covers the MF's on the points in the insurance policy Use Year you purchase.... and the coverage follows those points whether borrowed or banked into another use year.  

Hopefully that makes sense, answers your question, and doesn't confuse you more.


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## travelgirl8 (Aug 22, 2014)

I hope I am understanding the plan correctly as it applies to my situation.  I have trust points with a use year of Sept 1 to Aug 31.  I banked 2013 points that I am using in July of 2015 at a Marriott resort (booked at My-vacationclub.com), as well as my 2014 points and borrowed from my 2015 points.  I purchased 3 years of Marriott Vacationguard insurance when I booked the vacation on July 5th.  Therefore my MF fees are covered for all 3 years as well as my points.  The prior condition clause, which should have been bought within 3 days before or 3 days after, according to a rep at VacationGuard, is waved as long as no dramatic change has been made to the medical condition around that time.  Does this all sound correct to you?


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## Fasttr (Aug 22, 2014)

travelgirl8 said:


> I hope I am understanding the plan correctly as it applies to my situation.  I have trust points with a use year of Sept 1 to Aug 31.  I banked 2013 points that I am using in July of 2015 at a Marriott resort (booked at My-vacationclub.com), as well as my 2014 points and borrowed from my 2015 points.  I purchased 3 years of Marriott Vacationguard insurance when I booked the vacation on July 5th.  Therefore my MF fees are covered for all 3 years as well as my points.  The prior condition clause, which should have been bought within 3 days before or 3 days after, according to a rep at VacationGuard, is waved as long as no dramatic change has been made to the medical condition around that time.  Does this all sound correct to you?



Yes....that gels with my understanding of the plan.


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