Today I attempted to seek clarification as to whether or not the travel insurance that we purchase from Travelex, annually, through Marriott Vacation Club, covers Marriott to Marriott exchanges, through Interval International. What a whirlwind tour, and waste of (a lot of) time this was.
First, I reached out to a Supervisor at Marriott Vacation Club Owner Services. I was assured by that person that Marriott to Marriott exchanges, through Interval International, ARE covered by the Travelex travel insurance policy, sold by Marriott Vacation Club. That assurance, e.g. representation, is as good as the paper that it is written on, ……., none.
Then, I reached out to Travelex, directly. I posed the same question to them. At the end of close to 30 minutes, I was told this: the language (in our policy) says this:
"This plan is available for Marriott Vacation Club, Vistana Signature Experiences and Vistana Signature Network bookings and other travel arrangements (as defined in the Policy under Trip Cost) made in conjunction with a Marriott Vacation Club, Vistana Signature Experiences, or Vistana Signature Network booking. Travel arrangements made through Marriott Vacation Club, Vistana Signature Experiences, or Vistana Signature Network that involve third party cruise lines or Collette Travel Services are excluded. This plan may afford coverage for the annual Maintenance Charges (as defined in the Policy)."
Personally, I don’t like this language, as it does not explicitly answer my question. As you know, MVC to MVC exchanges are made through Interval International. I could easily see Travelex construe Interval International as a “third party (see language, above)."
The Travelex representative that I talked to, would only say this, “your Marriott to Marriott exchange MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR COVERAGE, that eligibility will be determined by the Plan Administrator, at the time that a claim is filed.” I asked who the Plan Administrator was, and I was told Zurich.
My take of the above, all verbal representations are useless, and what exists in writing, in our policy is equally useless. Hence, it seems that we pay close to $200.00, annually, to insure that our vacations “may be eligible for coverage;" hence, we pay $200.00 to role the dice, and a decision that will be rendered, when we submit a claim (not before). In my opinion, MVC likely makes a lot of money in commissions for the Travelex insurance policies that they sell; in so far, I believe MVC has an obligation to their MVC timeshare owners to get definitive clarification on this point, regarding coverage of Marriott to Marriott exchanges. Being that I could not get MVC Owner Services to perform the limited service/simple task of answering their phone, this past Saturday, I’d say the chance of getting MVC to clarify the above, is negligible.
