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The MVC Trip Insurance [New Provider Oct'15 - Travelex]

GreenTea

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I am paying my maintenance for 2016, so wanted to purchase the yearly insurance policy. The only option is buying the 2015 policy, not the 16. What the heck??? Is that the way they get out of pre existing condition coverage.
 

GreenTea

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I phoned....they said their rule now is you can not buy the insurance until you have a trip booked using that year's points. Which makes absolutely no sense.
 

BobG7734

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Last year (in 2014) I was able to buy insurance (with points) for 2015 and 2016 withouthaving a reservation for those years. The insurance carrier is a separate entity from VAC and they do not (I believe) have access to the reservation system.

The CSR may have given wrong information.
 

GreenTea

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I requested that she check with a supervisor since it made no sense. Nope. Couldn't buy insurance for 2016; it isn't even an option on the VacationGuard website linked directly from My-Vacationclub. 2015 is the best I can do.....and I lose the pre-existing condition waiver if I don't buy in the next 2 days. Without that, the policy is of no value in my mind.
 

Fasttr

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I requested that she check with a supervisor since it made no sense. Nope. Couldn't buy insurance for 2016; it isn't even an option on the VacationGuard website linked directly from My-Vacationclub. 2015 is the best I can do.....and I lose the pre-existing condition waiver if I don't buy in the next 2 days. Without that, the policy is of no value in my mind.

I believe the two ways to get the pre-ex 60 day lookback period waived was to purchase it within a couple days of paying your MF's... OR... to be renewing the policy. That said, if you purchased it for 2015, I don't think you are forced to purchase the 2016 policy within a couple days of paying your MF's to have the pre-ex waived. You might want to ask to clarify, or look at the fine print, but that is what I recall. Of course, they could have changed those rules as well.

Also, it is my understanding that the pre-ex only applies to things that occurred within 60 days prior to you buying the coverage. So if nothing odd has happened to you 60 days prior to whenever you purchased the coverage, that could eventually force you to cancel your trip, the pre-ex issue is really a non issue.
 
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Superchief

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I had called a few weeks ago regarding using my expiring points to buy the insurance and that only 2015 was available on the website. They told me it was a glitch in the system and allowed me to buy 2016 coverage with my points. However, the coverage is lower and cost higher than it had been in the past.
 

Fasttr

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I believe the two ways to get the pre-ex 60 day lookback period waived was to purchase it within a couple days of paying your MF's... OR... to be renewing the policy. That said, if you purchased it for 2015, I don't think you are forced to purchase the 2016 policy within a couple days of paying your MF's to have the pre-ex waived. You might want to ask to clarify, or look at the fine print, but that is what I recall. Of course, they could have changed those rules as well.

Also, it is my understanding that the pre-ex only applies to things that occurred within 60 days prior to you buying the coverage. So if nothing odd has happened to you 60 days prior to whenever you purchased the coverage, that could eventually force you to cancel your trip, the pre-ex issue is really a non issue.

To add clarification to the above....here is the pre-ex waiver wording on the 2015 Policy.

Waiver of the Pre-Existing Condition Exclusion

The Pre-Existing Condition Exclusion is waived
provided you meet the following requirement:
1. the payment for this plan is received within 3 days
from the date you paid the initial billing payment for
your Maintenance Charges;
2. you are not disabled from travel at the time you
make your plan payment.
For the purpose of this plan only, if a new plan is
purchased without lapse after your initial twelve month
plan term is completed; the Pre-Existing Condition
Exclusion is waived.

So, assuming you had purchased the 2015 plan, it appears you would need to purchase your 2016 plan by December 31, 2015 for the bolded clause at the end to apply.

Rather than calling a MVC VOA, perhaps you could try to call VacationGuard directly and book the MVC policy directly through them.
 

GreenTea

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I had called a few weeks ago regarding using my expiring points to buy the insurance and that only 2015 was available on the website. They told me it was a glitch in the system and allowed me to buy 2016 coverage with my points. However, the coverage is lower and cost higher than it had been in the past.


What coverage is reduced? I did see the price increase.
 

Superchief

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What coverage is reduced? I did see the price increase.

The trip cancellation/interruption term coverage in 2015 was $10,000, now it is only $5,000. Other coverage amounts were the same as in 2015. Basically, the claim amount would only cover one timeshare trip.
 

GreenTea

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It has disappeared from the website now completely; at least says unavailable.
 

tiel

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Every year, I get confused by this whole insurance thing. We buy it every year, though we have never needed it, and I hope we never do. We own 5 weeks, and appreciate that all these weeks are covered under now policy.

We purchased our 2016 in January, 2015, and I hope to purchase our 2017 insurance next January. I do this so we have coverage in the event we borrow points from the next year for a current year reservation. We have yet to borrow points, but sometime we might decide to do this as a last minute kind of thing.

Was just thinking...how far into the future does this existing coverage go? Is it far enough to cover the 2015 points I banked into 2016/17 under the new rules for Chairman's level owners? I assume it extends that far, since my understanding is it covers weeks deposited into II, which could be used in an exchange 2 years later.
 

Fasttr

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It has disappeared from the website now completely; at least says unavailable.

I found this in the FAQ's on the VacationGuard website.

In October 2015, we moved to a vertically integrated model, where everything is handled seamlessly inside a carrier based model and world class service. VacationGuard® products and services are provided by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, or BHTP, who has over a century of expertise amongst its executive team and is a premier baseline of travel protection. The carrier issuing the policy is Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, proving unmatched financial strength and safety, rated A++ by A.M. Best.

Prior policies were not insured by Berkshire as far as I can tell, so perhaps that is why the site is down, and folks are getting different answers this year. Perhaps things are changing.
 

GreenTea

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I think things definitely changed. Now there is no longer a link to any "Protect my Vacation." It looks as though they stopped offering a policy.
 

Fasttr

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I think things definitely changed. Now there is no longer a link to any "Protect my Vacation." It looks as though they stopped offering a policy.

I'm guessing they are either cutting a new deal with VacationGuard, or seeking alternate providers.

You can purchase the Annual Timeshare Plus plan directly from VacationGuard under the new Berkshire Hathaway format....but the price is $299. HERE is a link to the explanation of coverage.

Perhaps MVC can shave a bit off that price if they can strike a new deal.
 

nanceetom

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Insurance follow up question

Still having problems finding a policy. We have the Marriott Vacation guard purchased for 2016 trip to St. Kitts. The first 8 days are in the timeshare so we're covered. The last 6 are in the hotel using points. We are told that the insurance will not apply. Since the trip interruption will not be a factor, has anyone purchased the medical piece only. Have gone to vacation Guard's site and a few others and have not been able to piece the trip together. I know many people combine their TS with hotel stays, how have you handled the hotel piece with medical coverage.
 
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jimf41

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I'm guessing they are either cutting a new deal with VacationGuard, or seeking alternate providers.

You can purchase the Annual Timeshare Plus plan directly from VacationGuard under the new Berkshire Hathaway format....but the price is $299. HERE is a link to the explanation of coverage.

Perhaps MVC can shave a bit off that price if they can strike a new deal.

You can't buy that in NY. I called BH to find out why and they said you have to buy it through MVC, Called MVC and they can't sell it either because they haven't finalized the agreement yet. MVC said they should have it done in a week or so and then it will appear back on the website.
 

Fasttr

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You can't buy that in NY. I called BH to find out why and they said you have to buy it through MVC, Called MVC and they can't sell it either because they haven't finalized the agreement yet. MVC said they should have it done in a week or so and then it will appear back on the website.

That is odd....I see that when you put in different states, like NY or FL, you get the Ghostbusters Logo when you hover over the "Buy" button. It seems like it would be state insurance laws that either allow or prevent you from buying it, so I wonder how MVC getting involved changes your ability to buy the same basic product in NY. Weird. We'll have to wait and see I guess.
 

GreenTea

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You can't buy that in NY. I called BH to find out why and they said you have to buy it through MVC, Called MVC and they can't sell it either because they haven't finalized the agreement yet. MVC said they should have it done in a week or so and then it will appear back on the website.

Pretty bad form on MVC part to discontinue it at the same time they post the maintence bills
 

SueDonJ

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An MVW contact has provided this information with permission to post it to TUG. There's no guarantee that any further information will be provided to TUG until MVW has an official announcement, but in the meantime I don't see a problem with concerns being posted in this thread because it is being read by MVW.

We do realize that there are many concerns about our inability to offer a Travel Insurance product to our owners at this point. We want you to know that all necessary parties are working very diligently to ensure that this interruption is as short as possible. While we don’t know how long we will be unable to offer Travel Insurance to our owners, we do anticipate that an offering will be available as soon as possible.

Here is a quick Q&A:

Q: As an owner, can I still purchase Travel Insurance through Marriott Vacation Club?
A: At this time, we do not have a Travel Insurance offering. We anticipate having a Travel Insurance offering that fits our owners needs in the near future. Marriott Vacation Club strives to provide our owners with the best options and services to enhance their ownership.

Q: Will our owners still be able to purchase Travel Insurance on the VacationGuard website?
A: No. As of 10:00 PM MDT on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 the website to purchase Travel Insurance will be place in “maintenance mode” and you will not be able to purchase a new policy.

Q: Will the owners who currently have a policy with VacationGuard be impacted by this change?
A: No. Any owner who has purchased a policy, either with points or cash, as of 10:00 PM MDT on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 will be covered.
 

SueDonJ

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Pretty bad form on MVC part to discontinue it at the same time they post the maintence bills

I don't know any of the details of what's transpired but want to point out that VacationGuard could be at fault for the disconnect as easily as MVW may be. Maybe we could hold off on accusing either one of "bad form" until we learn the details?
 
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BobG7734

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Thanks Sue...great info; nice to have an insider connection!
 

bastroum

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Spoke to Marriott today and was told they are being trained on the new product they will be sponsoring and to call back on Thursday.
 

SueDonJ

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Got this message today:

"Just an update, by the end of this week we will have a new provider of travel protection. The company Marriott Vacation Club has signed with is Travelex. Pricing is $169, or 700 MVCD points per policy year.

You can go ahead and post this in the thread if you'd like."


Traveldocument_zpsg6mzfl0o.jpg


Based on "by the end of this week" and Bastroum's rep saying to call back on Thursday, I wouldn't call for info anytime before Thursday (probably would wait until at least Friday.) No problem with calling sooner other than, they may not be ready.
 
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