BEWARE: Vacation Guard- Berkshire Claims Dept. Denies Coverage of Exchange Under Annual Timeshare Plus Policy

[wrk2travelalot]

@Seaport104

So is it accurate to say that you are seeking to recover the maintenance you paid Bluegreen for the year in question plus the exchange fee you paid Interval.
And Vacation Guard is denying your claim by saying that they will only insure you if you book a Bluegreen unit and only if you book it through Bluegreen. So anytime you involve Interval or RCI, they will deny your claim

From what I understand too..the policy has changed and now says this:

Does Timeshare Plus cover exchange to 3rd parties for Cruises or other Tours or Experiences?​

Cruising, Tours, and “experience travel“ through 3rd party operators offer their own travel insurance, which is rated to reflect that basis of your trip. Because these reservations would no longer tracked or managed by the company who enrolled you, we cannot extend Timeshare Plus plan benefits to these 3rd party bookings, even if using your vacation ownership. See the Exchange Company definition in the policy.

You only learn how sneaky these and travel insurance companies are until something happens...it took a US Senator and my state's Attorney General's office to get my overseas emergency medical bills actually paid and two years of fighting with insurance companies. I had some of the supposedly best travel insurance you can buy. They guaranteed the payment then denied when the bills were due.

 

[wrk2travelalot]

From what I understand too..the policy has changed and now says this:

Does Timeshare Plus cover exchange to 3rd parties for Cruises or other Tours or Experiences?​

Cruising, Tours, and “experience travel“ through 3rd party operators offer their own travel insurance, which is rated to reflect that basis of your trip. Because these reservations would no longer tracked or managed by the company who enrolled you, we cannot extend Timeshare Plus plan benefits to these 3rd party bookings, even if using your vacation ownership. See the Exchange Company definition in the policy.

You only learn how sneaky these and travel insurance companies are until something happens...it took a US Senator and my state's Attorney General's office to get my overseas emergency medical bills actually paid and two years of fighting with insurance companies. I had some of the supposedly best travel insurance you can buy. They guaranteed the payment then denied when the bills were due.

Figure the same happened with you. Figure your insurance company is publicly traded--write the Board of Directors. Buy a share of stock..submit your complaint as a stockholder to the CEO

 

[TUGBrian]

Recieved this from a representative at VacationGuard today in reference to this post, they do read TUG.

Dear Seaport104:

We are sorry to hear of your issue, and are grateful for your trust in us. Unfortunately, this never escalated to our executive team. Having created timeshare travel insurance 25 years ago, we are intimately familiar with how exchanges work for owners and set the gold standard.

While everyone has offered input, and we have different products, land-based exchanges have always been covered under our annual Timeshare Plus plan.

We’d like to take this off line and work directly with you, to better understand your claim, and the claims decision provided via Berkshire Hathaway. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.


Brian Rock, National Director
VacationGuard, Inc.
Brian@VacationGuard.com

 

[amycurl]

Yay! And now we all have access to a higher-up email.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Seaport104]

Yay!! thanks Tug and fellow Tuggers!!! I will email Brian Rock to discuss offline. Will keep all posted.

 

[noreenkate]

Yay!! thanks Tug and fellow Tuggers!!! I will email Brian Rock to discuss offline. Will keep all posted.

Yes please keep us posted-
I was actually considering this product…

 

[Sandy VDH]

Curious as to price of Vacation Guard Annual Timeshare Plus Policy, but I can't even find a way to get a quote from their website.

Any ideas?

 

[SandyPGravel]

Correct, this is breach of contract. Once your claim has been denied and you exhausted all appeal possibilities, the only option remaining is litigation. If you decide not to proceed with litigation, at least make sure you file a complaint with BBB and write negative reviews on every platform you can find, so that others know this insurance company takes premiums but does not pay out legitimate claims.

And your state department of Consumer Protection.

 

[Seaport104]

Curious as to price of Vacation Guard Annual Timeshare Plus Policy, but I can't even find a way to get a quote from their website.

Any ideas?

I paid $299 for the last policy. Weird, I am having the same issue of not being able to find a way to purchase directly through Vacation Guard as before

 

[alexadeparis]

Ok so given the state of turmoil with these policies is there still an ANNUAL policy that covers all vacations both timeshare and hotel and flight interruptions and medical Evacs? I used Allianz before and it seemed like it’s changed. Everything else is like a 6 month policy or isn’t specific to include timeshares which 90% of my vacations are. Vacation guard quote was 6 months. Then geoblue seems to be only for medical and not helpful for non medical travel delays, and the one through Marriott only covers Marriott related timeshares. I own other timeshares too and want one policy that covers ALL my vacations for a year for one price. Help!

 

[rboesl]

There's a few different companies that offer annual travel insurance. But, before jumping in and laying down your money I suggest you look at what your credit card may have to offer. It can vary widely from one card to the next. Even from one level of card to the next from the same company.

I have the Delta Amex Platinum card that offers quite a bit of Travel insurance coverage (as long as that card was used to pay for the trip). The level of coverage provided by the Amex Gold card is significantly different from the Platinum. Even the Amex Reserve card doesn't offer better coverage than the Platinum.

Look at what your card(s) offer. If it's enough to satisfy your needs then you're good. Just be sure to use that card to pay for everything. If it's not enough for your needs then look into a different plan. BUT, be sure what ever you buy is your primary coverage because the credit card coverage is there regardless. Don't give the new insurance company the option to deny a claim because of duplication due to the credit card coverage.

 

[davidvel]

Hopefully you get resolution with Brian's help. If not, please post the entire policy (or link) so we can interpret the terms. Sounds like you just got a dodo head.

 

[Arusso]

Ok so given the state of turmoil with these policies is there still an ANNUAL policy that covers all vacations both timeshare and hotel and flight interruptions and medical Evacs? I used Allianz before and it seemed like it’s changed. Everything else is like a 6 month policy or isn’t specific to include timeshares which 90% of my vacations are. Vacation guard quote was 6 months. Then geoblue seems to be only for medical and not helpful for non medical travel delays, and the one through Marriott only covers Marriott related timeshares. I own other timeshares too and want one policy that covers ALL my vacations for a year for one price. Help!

The effects of COVID-19 on the economy has caused many industries to review and rethink consumer policies. Such is clearly in an effort to mitigate the payout of benefits. In my experience, the insurance industry responds to when an event or series of events threaten the business model of insurance which is collect as much money as possible from low-risk policy holders while, at the same time, making it as difficult as possible for the consumer-policyholder to file a claim. Then, when it comes to the claim itself, the industry plays the "word salad game" with the hope that the policyholder will simply surrender the fight. This tactic is all part of a more global strategy deployed by all insurance companies.

I suspect, the insurance company the OP references is acting on a spike in claims over a historic threshold value resulting from cancelled reservations and have determined to singularly redefine what they mean by "exchanges." The denial of a claim using newly exclusionary parameters cannot be supported post hoc and would be struck down by the Insurance Commissioner of any state and, any damages sustained by a policyholder would be recoverable under the original language of the contract.

I too have used some of the policies you mentioned. Clearly the industry is responding to an increase in claims much the way the casualty insurance carriers responded after Katrina.

 

[Arusso]

There's a few different companies that offer annual travel insurance. But, before jumping in and laying down your money I suggest you look at what your credit card may have to offer. It can vary widely from one card to the next. Even from one level of card to the next from the same company.

I have the Delta Amex Platinum card that offers quite a bit of Travel insurance coverage (as long as that card was used to pay for the trip). The level of coverage provided by the Amex Gold card is significantly different from the Platinum. Even the Amex Reserve card doesn't offer better coverage than the Platinum.

Look at what your card(s) offer. If it's enough to satisfy your needs then you're good. Just be sure to use that card to pay for everything. If it's not enough for your needs then look into a different plan. BUT, be sure what ever you buy is your primary coverage because the credit card coverage is there regardless. Don't give the new insurance company the option to deny a claim because of duplication due to the credit card coverage.

Whether or not the "insurance benefits" provided by a CC issuer is "as advertised" can only be determined after the fact when a claim is processed. I have read horror stories of vacationers that had declined CDW on car rentals made abroad and were involved in crashes.

 

[rboesl]

Whether or not the "insurance benefits" provided by a CC issuer is "as advertised" can only be determined after the fact when a claim is processed. I have read horror stories of vacationers that had declined CDW on car rentals made abroad and were involved in crashes.

I have read some of those as well. That's why I encouraged reading the coverage details. They will help you determine where the line is drawn.
In those cases that I read the claim was denied because the CC card coverage was not being used as described in the CC agreement. A technicality to be sure. But, the devil is almost always in the details.

 

[Seaport104]

Hopefully you get resolution with Brian's help. If not, please post the entire policy (or link) so we can interpret the terms. Sounds like you just got a dodo head.

Apologies for the delay. It has been confirmed that the maintenance fees are indeed a covered item under the policy. Indeed, it still baffles me that someone in a supervisory/management position took the view that somehow exchange vacations are not covered under a timeshare specific policy. If it was a regular agent, I can understand that there maybe training gaps but this was someone with authority that it concerns me on how it was handled.

 

[Arusso]

Apologies for the delay. It has been confirmed that the maintenance fees are indeed a covered item under the policy. Indeed, it still baffles me that someone in a supervisory/management position took the view that somehow exchange vacations are not covered under a timeshare specific policy. If it was a regular agent, I can understand that there maybe training gaps but this was someone with authority that it concerns me on how it was handled.

I'm glad to hear the insurance company recognizes that MFs are covered. In general, when it comes to insurance companies, either primary or reinsurance, the first response to a claim is "it is not a covered benefit." If the policyholder is persistent, they elevate the response to some nameless "supervisor" to legitimize what the agent said often pointing to some vague obscure technical reason why the claim is denied. This is all part of a scripted "delay and deny tactic." This is an industry wide practice that amazingly works because some claimants are discouraged and do not follow up.

 

[davidvel]

I'm glad to hear the insurance company recognizes that MFs are covered. In general, when it comes to insurance companies, either primary or reinsurance, the first response to a claim is "it is not a covered benefit." If the policyholder is persistent, they elevate the response to some nameless "supervisor" to legitimize what the agent said often pointing to some vague obscure technical reason why the claim is denied. This is all part of a scripted "delay and deny tactic." This is an industry wide practice that amazingly works because some claimants are discouraged and do not follow up.

This is such a blatant falsehood it is laughable. To contend the the first response by an insurance company to every claim is to deny it it utter nonsense. Does it happen, yes. Does it happen in general among reputable companies without a legitimate basis, absolutely false.

You've watched Rainmaker too many times.

 

[Arusso]

This is such a blatant falsehood it is laughable. To contend the the first response by an insurance company to every claim is to deny it it utter nonsense. Does it happen, yes. Does it happen in general among reputable companies without a legitimate basis, absolutely false.

You've watched Rainmaker too many times.

I may have overstated somewhat and it's not good practice to generalized. Nevertheless from four decades of submitting over 100 claims per week and having one-third routinely rejected for "technical issues" which, after review, were, indeed, laughable. Except, I was not the one laughing.

 

[easyrider]

Apologies for the delay. It has been confirmed that the maintenance fees are indeed a covered item under the policy. Indeed, it still baffles me that someone in a supervisory/management position took the view that somehow exchange vacations are not covered under a timeshare specific policy. If it was a regular agent, I can understand that there maybe training gaps but this was someone with authority that it concerns me on how it was handled.

I bought a Vacation Guard policy a few months ago. Then today I read your report. All of the weeks I'm using are exchange so I have the original mf plus the exchange fee's that I thought were covered. I'm more concerned about the medical insurance provided on the policy even though I doubt we ever use it.

So everything has worked out ?

Bill

 

[davidvel]

I may have overstated somewhat and it's not good practice to generalized. Nevertheless from four decades of submitting over 100 claims per week and having one-third routinely rejected for "technical issues" which, after review, were, indeed, laughable. Except, I was not the one laughing.

I'm not sure in what state or country this has happened, or in what type of claim. I"m unfamiliar what line of work you are in submitting over 50,000 claims per year, or for what. With that volume there must be some technical gatekeepers to manage the process. No type of insurance i've ever heard of.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I'm not sure in what state or country this has happened, or in what type of claim. I"m unfamiliar what line of work you are in submitting over 50,000 claims per year, or for what. With that volume there must be some technical gatekeepers to manage the process. No type of insurance i've ever heard of.

Sounds like a medical provider, most likely a doctor in a small private practice who doesn’t have (can’t afford) the billing staff and sophisticated computer systems necessary to navigate the various insurance companies’ rules and regulations, which can differ for every policy they issue. They’re famous for denying payment for ridiculous reasons.

 

[Janann]

I'm not sure in what state or country this has happened, or in what type of claim. I"m unfamiliar what line of work you are in submitting over 50,000 claims per year, or for what. With that volume there must be some technical gatekeepers to manage the process. No type of insurance i've ever heard of.

The math would be 5,200 claims per year, not 50,000.

 

[davidvel]

Sounds like a medical provider, most likely a doctor in a small private practice who doesn’t have (can’t afford) the billing staff and sophisticated computer systems necessary to navigate the various insurance companies’ rules and regulations, which can differ for every policy they issue. They’re famous for denying payment for ridiculous reasons.

That makes sense. Wrong cpt codes, mismatched dos and the like will definitely trigger rejections. Totally different context than what is being discussed in this thread, and likely most rejections paid once corrected.

 

[davidvel]

The math would be 5,200 claims per year, not 50,000.

I could have sworn it said 1,000, but you are correct at 100/week.