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Insurance Claims for Irma Cancellations

bogey21

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I don't understand this. If not for Trip Interruption or Trip Cancellation why would you buy insurance at all?

The only Insurance I buy or would buy is Life Insurance (sometimes); Auto Insurance; Home Owners' Insurance; and Health Insurance.
I never bought or would never buy Travel Insurance, Trip Interruption Insurance, Trip Cancellation Insurance or the like. Too confusing and too many ways for the issuer not to pay for my taste.

George
 

Superchief

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I posted what the policy states. I think it's pretty clear. No one has posted anything but rumor about any two year or thirty day restrictions.

I've had two experiences with the MVC travel insurance so far and both have been positive. I've yet to read a post on TUG of someone having a claim denied for a non-valid reason.
In my situation, this isn't a rumor. I called Travel Guard and Travelex to get information about filing a claim and this is exactly the information I was given:
  • Travelguard policy doesn't cover anything after two years from policy start date: 1/1/15.
  • Travelex policy won't cover a cancellation due to a hurricane after 30 days after the storm occurred.
I still can't find the 2yr limitation details in the Travel guard policy they sent me (after I had purchased it). I was not able to see the details of the policy until I actually bought them. This should not have purchased it unless I was able to review the fine print prior to purchase.
 

Fasttr

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In my situation, this isn't a rumor. I called Travel Guard and Travelex to get information about filing a claim and this is exactly the information I was given:
  • Travelguard policy doesn't cover anything after two years from policy start date: 1/1/15.
  • Travelex policy won't cover a cancellation due to a hurricane after 30 days after the storm occurred.
I still can't find the 2yr limitation details in the Travel guard policy they sent me (after I had purchased it). I was not able to see the details of the policy until I actually bought them. This should not have purchased it unless I was able to review the fine print prior to purchase.
I too have read all of the info provided for the 2015 policy and see nothing that indicates the 2 year limitation. I would ask them to point out the specific language in the policy details provided to you upon purchasing the policy that indicates a 2 year limitation.
 

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I finally received a copy of the policy for 2017. Here is the paragraph regarding storm damage. Of course, my reservation begins after the 30 day limit. I'm still unclear whether I would file a claim under my 2015 policy because that was my deposit date, or under the 2017 policy because that would be my travel dates. I'd expect it would be for the 2017 policy, and the amount of MF claim would be based on the 2015 deposit. After reading the policies, that would seem to be the logical approach. I'll never find out because it now won't be covered either way due to fine print that wasn't disclosed at purchase. Buyer Beware!

'your Accommodation at your destination is made uninhabitable due to fire, flood, volcano, earthquake, hurricane or natural disaster so as to prevent you from reaching your destination or continuing on your Covered Trip. To cancel or delay the arrival on your Covered Trip: 1) your Accommodation must be uninhabitable on the Scheduled Departure Date; 2) your Accommodation must be uninhabitable for a minimum of 24 hours; and 3) the time and date that the Accommodation first becomes uninhabitable must commence no more than 30 days prior to your Scheduled Departure Date. To interrupt your Covered Trip: 1) the Accommodation must be uninhabitable for a minimum of 24 hours; and 2) you must have 50% or more remaining on your Covered Trip at the time and date the Accommodation first becomes uninhabitable; 9. mandatory evacuation ordered by local authorities at your destination due to hurricane or other natural disaster; 10. you or your Traveling Companion’s place'
 

dioxide45

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I will point out that not being able to see a copy of the policy until after purchase is quite common in the industry. This is because you usually have a period of time, 14-21 days where you can cancel after purchase and receive a full refund.
 

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A80195FA-E0CE-483A-8168-2E931F0A42D1.jpeg
Yep, it’s in the fine print. Why the 30 day stipulation, makes no sense. Marriotts customer service default answer to MFC owners whose week or weeks have been canceled post Irma is “well, you should have bought the insurance”. Well, I did, from you(Marriott). Now what...
 

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Superchief,
You have not been denied a claim. You can't file a claim until after you're scheduled departure date. If at that time the insurance company denies you coverage due to the " 30 day" clause I would point out to them that it only applies if the resort becomes uninhabitable. MFC has been continuously occupied and habitable before, during and after Irma and Maria. It hasn't been open for owners or exchangers but that doesn't make it uninhabitable. Thank you for providing the documentation for this. It was available during the 21 day trial period but I never looked that deeply.

Greentea,
I would like to know the answer to that also. Does the insurance cover II exchanges? It covers a Marriott hotel stay in conjunction with an owner using an owned week or DC points but I'm not sure about an II exchange.

As to the two year restriction, I agree with FASTTR, show it to me in writing.
 

Bunk

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Superchief,
You have not been denied a claim. You can't file a claim until after you're scheduled departure date. If at that time the insurance company denies you coverage due to the " 30 day" clause I would point out to them that it only applies if the resort becomes uninhabitable. MFC has been continuously occupied and habitable before, during and after Irma and Maria. It hasn't been open for owners or exchangers but that doesn't make it uninhabitable. Thank you for providing the documentation for this. It was available during the 21 day trial period but I never looked that deeply.



Sorry Jim: I'm not sure I agree with that. We would have to see whether the policy defines Accommodation and whether it means the entire resort or only the Time Share Unit that you have reserved. I think the 30 day clause begins to run when the particular time share unit at the resort is uninhabitable and you say it applies only if the entire resort is uninhabitable.

I agree with everyone that it is very unfair to market a protect that covers your Marriott timeshare trips for an entire year, and then excludes coverage for any trips that occur more than 30 days after the disaster. I looked at the MVC link to the Travelex travel insurance and nowhere is the "30 day" clause disclosed on the website. I just looked at Allianz annual plan and do not see any limitation like that. It seems ridiculous to cover only those travelers who were "lucky" enough to reserve a unit within 30 days after a major disaster.

Has MVC announced a policy covering reservations made at time shares that are closed when those reservations use points that expire soon. Will MFC extend those points or will you lose them (unless you can reserve at another location before the points expire.)
 

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Travelex definitions excerpt

ACCOMMODATION means any establishment used for the purpose of temporary, overnight lodging for which a fee is paid and reservations are secured.

uninhabitable
Collins English dictionary
adjective
If a place is uninhabitable, it is impossible for people to live there, for example because it is dangerous or unhealthy.

uninhabitable
Dictionary.com
/ˌʌnɪnˈhæbɪtəbəl/
adjective
1.
not capable of being lived in

October 4th facebook quote by a BOD member

I will try my best to update you on the status of the Island and the Cove. This is not in any particular order but will cover different topics. We have about 60 Villas being used by Associates, Police, Otis Elevator repair men and local officials. Generators are working as is the Desalination Plant.

There are no individually owned rooms at MFC. From the BOD statement it appears that they currently have a 40% occupancy rate. Hard to justify denying a claim when the resort inhabited. Then again no one has reported being denied a claim.
 

JIMinNC

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View attachment 4894 Yep, it’s in the fine print. Why the 30 day stipulation, makes no sense. Marriotts customer service default answer to MFC owners whose week or weeks have been canceled post Irma is “well, you should have bought the insurance”. Well, I did, from you(Marriott). Now what...

I suspect the explanation for the 30 day stipulation might be that all of these travel insurance policies are standard industry travel insurance policies with standard language. These have not been adapted or modified to the unique characteristics of timeshare/vacation ownership travel, perhaps because underwriting such a small segment of the travel market might be uneconomical, and they just sell the same policies to timeshare owners, since in the vast majority of the situations, they still work for timeshare. Most of the policies that are sold by these companies nationwide are sold to cover travel costs like non-refundable air fare/travel and hotel/condo rentals that have fairly liberal cancellation rights. As I recall, virtually every lodging rental I've ever booked (excluding timeshares) allows cancellation and rebooking - some all the way up until the check-in day, some 24/48/72 hours before check-in, and a very few had a somewhat more restrictive cancellation window, but I don't recall any being over 30 days out. Obviously "for-rent-by-owner" rentals don't typically have this same liberal cancellation right, but I suspect anyone trying to file a claim for an owner-rental in this same situation would have the same issue with the 30-day clause.

If my assumption above is correct, and trying to think like an insurance company, the logic for the 30 day exclusion might be that if the property becomes uninhabitable outside of 30 days from arrival, the policy holder should have adequate time to cancel/rebook and find alternative accommodations. The insurance would be designed to only cover those "last minute" interruptions where the policy holder has limited options to rebook alternative accommodations. They want to use the 30 day limitation to ensure that the policy holder reasonably tries to rebook and find alternative accommodations and not just rely on the insurance to get their money back ("loss mitigation" in insurance company-speak). While that may be a reasonable restriction for the typical cash bookings used by most travelers, it doesn't work as well for vacation ownership or "By Owner" rentals in rare natural disaster-type situations like this. (But the policies do seem to still work with timeshares for the more typical family health emergency/family death situations that, I suspect, account for most of the claims under these policies).
 
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Superchief

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The 30 limitation was not part of the previous Vacation Guard insurance policies prior to Travelex. It is new in 2017 when Travalex took over as MVC insurance provider.

As I go through this process, I would like to clarify which policy year would cover a claim like this. If the cancelled travel occurs in 2017, but the deposited week or VC points MF's were for a prior year, which policy would cover the event (assuming it meets other stipulations). All of the other travel costs would occur in 2017, but the MF's were for 2015 or 16. Since I always had continuous coverage without any claims over the past 4 years, I never actually had to file a claim.

Has anyone filed a claim for a trip that used previous year's MVC weeks/points?
 

JIMinNC

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The 30 limitation was not part of the previous Vacation Guard insurance policies prior to Travelex. It is new in 2017 when Travalex took over as MVC insurance provider.

Each insurance company has different underwriting standards and means of loss mitigation, so it's not surprising that Vacation Guard and Travelex have different terms, limitations, and conditions. Obviously, someone at Travelex thought that was an important limitation to put on their coverage, whereas Vacation Guard did not. Perhaps it was the result of Travelex's loss experience with other disaster situations in the past that caused them to take that route.

I frequently bought travel insurance when my wife and I had elderly parents with multiple medical conditions, but now that they are gone, and after reading this and other threads - even after what happened to us with our HHI reservation last month - I'm not sure I would even consider this type of insurance unless I was insuring a very expensive travel package like a luxury cruise (but for those, the insurance is so expensive, it also makes it a difficult purchase to justify.)
 

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I'd like to learn about the experiences other members are having in filing insurance claims for cancelled reservations and II exchanges at MVC resorts due to hurricane damage. I'm especially interested in those who were insured with MVC (Travelex and Vacation Guard.)

It is my understanding that the claim needs to be filed based on the week/year of the deposited week/points. Therefore, many claims will be using previous year policy. Please post your experiences regarding the type of reservation, the key components of the claim (MF fees, airline fees, etc), supporting documentations you need to provide, and compensation experiences. What happens if II provides a limited exchange certificate? Does that nullify your ability to be compensated for the MF's of you week?

I have an upcoming reservation for an II exchange for which I used a 2015 deposited week. If it is cancelled, i will likely use MR points for a hotel, but will expect to be compensated for my MF's for the deposited weeks.

I hope all of you who had disrupted travel plans are at least being reimbursed by the insurance. I'm getting ready to purchase my 2018 policy, but want to make sure the claims are actually being paid. Thanks.


I booked a timeshare exchange through Interval International for September 8th to Marriott Frenchman's Cove. I bought the Global Allianz insurance from Interval. I increased the amount when I bought my flights. I submitted the claim on October 8th. This week I received a notification from them that they were reimbursing me about $1300 which was my timeshare maintenance fee and interval exchange fee and maybe an upgrade fee. The funny thing is, they wont reimburse me the airfare unless I get them a letter on Jet Blue's letterhead that says I did not receive a refund. I wrote them a letter and told them Jet Blue gave me a credit to use within a year and that I did not want that. I wanted the refund. I then went on Jet blue's site and put in my flights and it came up no refund. I scanned them the screen shots and now I'm waiting again. They make it so difficult. They keep asking for more and more information in a laundry list so you don't really know what they want because some of the list does not even apply to you. I'm thinking if its this hard for a Cat 5 Hurricane what must it be like normally. I think folks must just give up and say forget it.
 

Fasttr

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I'm still unclear whether I would file a claim under my 2015 policy because that was my deposit date, or under the 2017 policy because that would be my travel dates.
Superchief....after reviewing my notes from my call with Brian Rock, National Director of VacationGuard, Inc. back in 2013, I came across this tasty treat....VacationGuard and Travelex are separate companies in the front office (VacationGuard selling timeshare specific plans and Travelex selling more traditional travel insurance to the masses), but in the back office are the same company utilizing many of the same resources.

That said...perhaps there is little to no difference in the actual underlying company between your 2015 policy and your 2017 policy.

Also....it appears the underwriter is the same under both agreements.... Transamerica Casualty Insurance Company.
 

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Jim:

1. Your take on the 30 day limitation makes sense. But keep in mind that even if you can cancel the reservation, you may still have damage such as a non-refundable airline ticket that you've already purchased.

2. I would assume that a "for-rent-by-owner" can't hold onto your prepayment if the property is uninhabitable. You should not have to pay him because he can't deliver what you agreed to pay for.

3. I look upon timeshares differently because you (or your assignor) are not an arms' length guest but a member of the Association that operates the timeshare. I wonder if the bylaws state who bears the risk of loss if the unit is uninhabitable. And let's say that MVC refunds your points. But let's assume those points expire in a few months and there is nothing available for you to book during that short period of time. You've now suffered real damage, because you've been deprived of the use of points that expire in the near future. And I don't even know that MVC has the right to extend the expiration date of your points, because that would adversely impact other members that want to book after your points expire.

Is anyone aware whether MVC or another Timeshare company or II or RCI has announced how they will deal with points that can't be used because the unit is uninhabitable.
 

dioxide45

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I also learned about a limitation for the new Travelex policies (2017). If your destination resort is damaged by a hurricane or other storm, only cancellations during the first 30 days after the storm are covered. If you have a cancellation after that 30 day period it will not be covered. My reservation on 10/29 would not be covered because it is over 30 days after Irma. Many MVC resorts will be impacted long after this 30 day period and those owners will be SOL.
Thinking about this more. Is Marriott perhaps enabling the insurance company to deny claims by waiting so long to cancel reservations? Have you tried filing an actual claim yet to test the rule or perhaps your claim is not against the loss due to hurricane, but perhaps some other reason for unavailability?
 

pwrshift

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I'm Canadian and for years always purchased the insurance MVC offered. I only had a claim once for a broken tooth that required a crown, and everything was covered and very efficient. Insurance is something you buy but hope not to use.

A year or so ago, Marriott changed insurers which would not cover anyone living outside USA. I really was surprised Marriott would sanction that, but they let their 'foreign' owners down. Travel insurance is very expensive in Canada and the cost gets much higher as you age or have pre-existing conditions...to the point the old MVC insurance was really attractive.

Brian
 

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I just learned by accident! while looking at my Interval account that my two weeks of exchanges into Crystal Shores in December have been cancelled. I was not notified by email and Interval claims they left a message on my home phone! As we are in Aruba I cannot just call everyone to get this straightened out, but I have sent an email to Travelex to initiate a claim and spent $10 calling Interval long distance trying to find out what happened. Reading posts about insurance problems has me worried. Interval says the resort told them on 10/24 that they could not honor the reservation due to Irma damage. All Interval did is give me a Flex-change week for my 2017 Surf Club studio and a new AC for my AC. Garbage. No return of extra fees paid for the exchanges. I'm livid. I will never exchange again with Interval. I already had two good Surf Club weeks, a 2- BR and a 1-BR for which I can't get anything I can use. An issue for my husband required not using the original bookings and it was too late to opt for points. I've never rented but apparently need to learn. I feel very powerless right now. I've complained to Marriott using Chat that Interval handled this poorly and so did they and they need to do Internal exchanges themselves in future.
 

dioxide45

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You should contact the TUG Members II mailbox. You should at least get an unrestricted cancellation replacement week. I can understand the fact that you got an AC for an AC. The fact that you got Crystal Shores with an AC in the first place makes you very lucky. Your travel insurance should cover the your monetary costs. Was the travel insurance through II?
 

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Just received email from Travelex [Marriott] denying the claim with the same verbiage in other people's posts. I responded that the resort will be unavailable due to hurricane Irma and remain unavailable until I was supposed to be there on vacation. Therefore I should be covered. I have a family member experienced in the insurance industry and one a lawyer and I may fight this hard just on principal. Yes, I was lucky to get into Crystal Shores with an AC [and a fee] and I also paid extra for the exchange using my Aruba platinum studio. I got a fairly unrestricted AC from Interval but only a Flex-change for the Surf Club, both requiring paying hundreds in fees to use them even though I'm Marriott! The only good player here is Delta which let us cancel our flights and redeem points used plus get a credit for cash fees. If I had rented someone the Surf Club studio I would have gotten $1,000 and they give me a Flex-change! We buy that insurance every year and it is apparently worthless in these situations. This is a real breach of trust for both companies in my opinion and I will never view them the same in future.
 

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Did anyone pay their member fees with a Chase Sapphire Reserve and try to file with them for the travel insurance?
 

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Has anyone else filed a claim with Travelex (Marriott) and heard back that their claim has been approved? If so, how long did it take for you to hear back. We filed claims for 2 different reservations that we had made through Interval (different Marriotts, different areas and different weeks). We heard back about three weeks after filing each one saying that "in order to accurately assess your claim, we have requested further information from Marriott to confirm the value of your loss". We haven't heard anything since then and that was over 5 weeks ago. Anyone else have the same experience?
 

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Has anyone else filed a claim with Travelex (Marriott) and heard back that their claim has been approved? If so, how long did it take for you to hear back. We filed claims for 2 different reservations that we had made through Interval (different Marriotts, different areas and different weeks). We heard back about three weeks after filing each one saying that "in order to accurately assess your claim, we have requested further information from Marriott to confirm the value of your loss". We haven't heard anything since then and that was over 5 weeks ago. Anyone else have the same experience?

We had received the same letter that they needed to contact Marriott to confirm the value of our loss (Wed. through Fri. night at Crystal Shores). About two to three weeks later we received a check for our Marriott Vacation Club loss plus the additional cost for us trying to get home. We mailed our claim around 9/11 and received the check 10/20. We had a reservation using 2017 MVC points.
 

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I called about that when I first applied for the card. They don't cover timeshares.
Thanks. I wondered. I know the membership dues and fees count as travel so I'd wondered if paying those fees with the card led to being insured.
 
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