Vacation Guard "Timeshare Plus" insurance coverage may not be available to you...

[theo]

Thanks, Theo! I am waiting for the email response from CSA since I was told they do not have this type of insurance for private timeshare owners (in any state), just for some exchange companies' clients.

That input certainly contradicts the current content of the CSA "Guest Direct" (policy number G-330CSA) provided to me just yesterday directly from CSA and quoted verbatim here (see above) earlier this morning in directly pertinent part. In fact, the rep on the phone yesterday offered to sell me the policy right then and there, which I promptly declined until having first had an opportunity to thoroughly review the Description of Coverage, successfully accomplished since then.

It will be interesting to see what reply you receive to your email inquiry (if indeed you receive a reply at all). Please let us know.

 

[WinniWoman]

I didn't get the email reply yet, but I decided to call again in the meantime and this time a rep. told me that the Guest Protect policy- G-330CSA- is not for timeshare owners! I didn't understand her explanation of exactly who the policy was for. What the? I told her what the policy stated and she still insisted it didn't cover timeshare owners- something about a commercial policy!

She started to tell me that the Guest Protect policies were what I would want until she realized after speaking to someone else that they are only offered to exchange companies' clients- just as the guy I spoke to yesterday had stated.

Then she told me that the maintenance fees would be covered under their Custom Policy- I forgot to ask for the policy number- and she quoted me $77.05 for my first week (insuring $800- my maintenance fee) and my other two consecutive weeks at $115.10 (insuring $1600 for the two other maintenance fees).

I asked her to email me the plan details. I don't think the reps understand much about timeshare ownership.

 

[dominidude]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...credit-card-travel-insurance-policy/14241701/

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-c...ncellation-trip-interuption-policies-1276.php

If you pay for travel expenses using the right credit card, you may already be insured without having to pay extra for it.

Paying maintenance fees gives you the right to an interval of time at a resort, therefore, it seems that payment would qualify as a covered travel expense for which you may be reimbursed in a covered event (weather, sickness, etc).

 

[theo]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...credit-card-travel-insurance-policy/14241701/

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-c...ncellation-trip-interuption-policies-1276.php

If you pay for travel expenses using the right credit card, you may already be insured without having to pay extra for it.

Paying maintenance fees gives you the right to an interval of time at a resort, therefore, it seems that payment would qualify as a covered travel expense for which you may be reimbursed in a covered event (weather, sickness, etc).

No disrespect intended, but I believe that your speculation is without merit in specific regard to maintenance fees, which certainly are not in any possible orbit or interpretation a "travel expense". It is instead a cost associated with ownership, much like any other (i.e., non-timeshare) condo owner fees.

This indisputable fact is precisely why most trip cancellation / interruption policies are essentially useless in regard to covering timeshare maintenance fees.
Unless such fees are specifically identified as an eligible "payment" within the policy, they simply do not fall under the "travel expense" coverage umbrella.

I commend your optimism and, as they say, "hope springs eternal" --- but it just simply ain't so, despite the fact that we might all like for it to be otherwise.

 

[theo]

I didn't get the email reply yet, but I decided to call again in the meantime and this time a rep. told me that the Guest Protect policy- G-330CSA- is not for timeshare owners! I didn't understand her explanation of exactly who the policy was for. What the? I told her what the policy stated and she still insisted it didn't cover timeshare owners- something about a commercial policy!

She started to tell me that the Guest Protect policies were what I would want until she realized after speaking to someone else that they are only offered to exchange companies' clients- just as the guy I spoke to yesterday had stated.

Then she told me that the maintenance fees would be covered under their Custom Policy- I forgot to ask for the policy number- and she quoted me $77.05 for my first week (insuring $800- my maintenance fee) and my other two consecutive weeks at $115.10 (insuring $1600 for the two other maintenance fees).

I asked her to email me the plan details. I don't think the reps understand much about timeshare ownership.

Truly puzzling (not to mention contradictory) feedback, in view of the policy description words (again, quoted verbatim in directly pertinent part) ..."including but not limited to reservation costs, timeshare exchange fees, ownership dues (not including the cost of your vacation ownership) and maintenance fees."

Not much about that very specific language would seem logically applicable "only to exchange company clients".
Moreover, belonging to RCI, II, DAE, TPI, SFX, etc., by definition, constitutes being an "exchange company client" (...and so what, anyhow?).

P.S. mpumilia: If you want to send me a PM with your email address, I will gladly forward to you, in its' entirety, the exact material which was provided to me yesterday directly by CSA. These folks seem more badly informed and confused on the phone than RCI "vacation counselors" ---and that's certainly a dubious achievement.

 

[dominidude]

No disrespect intended, but I believe that your speculation is without merit in specific regard to maintenance fees, which certainly are not in any possible orbit or interpretation a "travel expense". It is instead a cost associated with ownership, much like any other (i.e., non-timeshare) condo owner fees.

This indisputable fact is precisely why most trip cancellation / interruption policies are essentially useless in regard to covering timeshare maintenance fees.
Unless such fees are specifically identified as an eligible "payment" within the policy, they simply do not fall under the "travel expense" coverage umbrella.

I like your optimistic viewpoint and, as they say, "hope springs eternal" --- but it just simply ain't so, although we would all surely like for it to be otherwise.

This is an interesting point of view, but possibly wrong.

I called my citi card benefits department, and this is what they said.

1) Maintenance fees are considered a lodging expense, and therefore are covered.

2) You must get to your destination via common carrier transportation (bus, plane, ferri, etc) and you must have purchased the common carrier transportation ticket on the credit card. Funnily enough, rental cars are considered a gray area, and considered common carrier transportation on a case by case basis. Without a common carrier transportation ticket, the trip cancellation/interruption insurance is not activated.

I point blank asked them how can maintenance fees be not considered a lodging expense. While Theo is right that the maintenance fee is an ownership cost, I think that the argument that maintenance fees are an ownership costs for the purposes of lodging would ultimately win the day. After all, we are giving money to a resort for the purpose of staying at that resort during vacation time. If that's not a lodging expense, what is?

 

[theo]

<snip> After all, we are giving money to a resort for the purpose of staying at that resort during vacation time. If that's not a lodging expense, what is?

I guess I can and will simply wish you luck with any future claim filed and sincerely hope (but do not for one moment believe) that you would ultimately prevail. Are the good folks at Citi able and / or willing to provide you with any documented reference, or was this just phone conversation utilizing the Socratic method of discussion?

Owner maintenance fees support the physical infrastructure (pool, hot tub, associated pumps, heat, A/C, furniture, groundkeeping, appliances, plumbing, doors & windows).
They usually (not always --- ME and CA are among noteworthy exceptions) also include property taxes. Property insurance is also part of the maintenance fees.
On site management is of course also paid from interval owner maintenance fees, as are contributions to the facility's financial "reserves".

If you could succeed in making a "lodging expense" case regarding maintenance fees with a credit card issuer, in a claim filed as an interval owner, I would readily tip my cap to you and gladly and promptly stand both corrected and humbled. However, I won't be holding my breath in the meantime while waiting for that to ever occur.

 

[dominidude]

Owner maintenance fees support the physical infrastructure (pool, heat, A/C, furniture, groundkeeping, furniture, appliances). They usually (not always, ME and CA being among the exceptions) also include property taxes. Also property insurance. On site management is also paid from maintenance fees.

So does any money received by the resort, including rentals,no?

As a matter of fact, most of my resorts mix owner paid dues with rental money to pay for the expenses you enumerate (pool, AC, etc).

You said

Unless such fees are specifically identified as an eligible "payment" within the policy, they simply do not fall under the "travel expense" coverage umbrella.

I would say that unless such fees are specifically listed as ineligible, they would seem to properly be a covered lodging expense of a trip cancellation/interruption insurance policy.

In any case, you seem to be saying that the credit cards' policies would provide cover when renting a timeshare, but not when staying at a timeshare you own. That seems a little illogical.

Now, let see how many timeshare owners tired of paying for their maintenance fees without getting any use of them try to cheat their credit card companies into paying those maintenance fees :rofl:

 

[theo]

So does any money received by the resort, including rentals,no?

As a matter of fact, most of my resorts mix owner paid dues with rental money to pay for the expenses you enumerate (pool, AC, etc).

You said


I would say that unless such fees are specifically listed as ineligible, they would seem to properly be a covered lodging expense of a trip cancellation/interruption insurance policy.

In any case, you seem to be saying that the credit cards' policies would provide cover when renting a timeshare, but not when staying at a timeshare you own. That seems a little illogical.

Now, let see how many timeshare owners tired of paying for their maintenance fees without getting any use of them try to cheat their credit card companies into paying those maintenance fees :rofl:

Sorry, but I'm admittedly now failing to extract much logic or sense from your above quoted "stream of consciousness" and disjointed, incomplete fragments of thought.
I do not claim to know about credit card policies on maintenance fees. What I clearly stated (and now repeat once again) is simply that I do not believe that you (or anyone else) will succeed in reclaiming lost maintenance fees from any credit card issuer. No more, no less. You are certainly free to believe something different.
That's absolutely fine; reasonable people can always reasonably agree to disagree.

Good luck filing a claim with a credit card issuer for lost maintenance fees if that particular scenario should ever arise for you as a timeshare owner.
Meanwhile, I choose to acquire timeshare-specific insurance coverage, as obtained (without yet filing any claims) for a fair number of years now. YMMV.

 

[Jason245]

Sorry, but I'm admittedly now failing to extract much logic or sense from your above quoted "stream of consciousness" and disjointed, incomplete fragments of thoughts.
I do not claim to know about credit card policies on maintenance fees. What I clearly stated (and now repeat once again) is simply that I do not believe that you (or anyone else) will succeed in reclaiming lost maintenance fees from any credit card issuer. No more, no less. You are certainly free to believe something different.
That's absolutely fine; reasonable people can always reasonably agree to disagree.

Good luck filing a claim with a credit card issuer for lost maintenance fees if that particular scenario should ever arise for you as a timeshare owner.
Meanwhile, I choose to acquire timeshare-specific insurance coverage, as obtained (without yet filing any claims) for a fair number of years now. YMMV.

My Philosophy - Self Insure. If you can't afford to lose the MF, you probably shouldn't own a TS.

 

[theo]

My Philosophy - Self Insure. If you can't afford to lose the MF, you probably shouldn't own a TS.

I don't disagree --- and I can certainly "afford" to lose all of my maintenance fees in any given year and experience no perceptible pain whatsoever, but...

Six consecutive weeks of timeshares, 1500+ miles away from home, involves nearly $5k in m.f.'s each year. If I can (as I do) insure against a $5k loss for well under $200 out of pocket, that's a bet I will gladly place all day, any day, every day. "Self insure" is just an empty phrase; it's not money or hard numbers. YMMV. To each their own.

 

[Jason245]

I don't necessarily disagree --- in concept --- and I can most certainly "afford" to lose all of my maintenance fees in any given year with no pain, but...

Our six consecutive weeks of timeshare use, 1500+ miles away from home, involves nearly $5k in m.f.'s each year. If I can (and I do) insure against a $5k loss for well under $200 out of pocket, that's a bet I will gladly place all day, any day, every day. "Self insure" is just a phrase, not money or numbers. YMMV. To each their own.

You are paying 4% for that (way to much IMHO).

Instead consider the following, your MF/Week looks like ~$833.... have a backup plan where you try to rent those weeks at last minute bargain price of ~700/week (if feasable).

End result - you lose ~$1k instead of 5k.

Other option (depending on what you own) is try to change reservations for the last couple of weeks and rent others, try to rent all, or if they can be deposited in some exchange company.

I just think that a lot of these peace of mind products are waste of cash... and pure profit.

 

[theo]

You are paying 4% for that (way to much IMHO).

Instead consider the following, your MF/Week looks like ~$833.... have a backup plan where you try to rent those weeks at last minute bargain price of ~700/week (if feasable).

End result - you lose ~$1k instead of 5k.

Other option (depending on what you own) is try to change reservations for the last couple of weeks and rent others, try to rent all, or if they can be deposited in some exchange company.

I just think that a lot of these peace of mind products are waste of cash... and pure profit.

Personal opinions, viewpoints and approaches vary and I respectfully acknowledge yours, although I certainly do not share it.

I place a very high value on my time --- and I can afford to do so. The only reason we would not use our much anticipated consecutive fixed units / weeks would be due to a last minute family or medical emergency. In neither instance would I have (or want to spend) any time to pursue last minute rentals, nor do I have any interest whatsoever in (late and therefore highly devalued) deposits for future "exchanges" (which I would likely have neither the time nor the interest to utilize later anyhow).

Again, to each their own. I'll gladly pay for that insurance all day, any day, every day knowing full well that if we can't use the time due a last minute emegency, I need only file a claim (later, at my convenience) to recoup 100% of lost maintenance fees for that trip. I guess everyone is different and certainly insurance is nearly always a sunk cost (or a "waste of cash" in your words) --- until you need it and have to use it, of course. Just my personal perspective (...and my cash). As always, YMMV.

 

[vacationhopeful]

So Theo ... you rent me YOUR Sea Gardens unit and I rent YOU my Santa Barbara unit ...

Would both of us be covered under "lodging" with the travel insurance as long as each of us gets makes a $100 profit?

 

[Jason245]

Personal opinions, viewpoints and approaches vary and I respect yours, although I certainly don't share it.

I place a very high value on my time --- and I can afford to do so. The only reason we would not use our much anticipated consecutive fixed units / weeks would be due to a last minute family or medical emergency. In neither case would I have (or want to spend) any time to pursue last minute rentals, nor do I have any interest whatsoever in (late and therefore highly devalued) deposits for future "exchanges" (which I'll likely have neither time nor interest to utilize anyhow).

Again, to each their own. I'll gladly pay for that insurance all day, any day, every day knowing full well that if we can't use the time due a last minute emegency, I need only file a claim (later, at my own convenience) to recoup 100% of all lost maintenance fees. I guess everyone is different and certainly insurance is nearly always a sunk cost (or a "waste of cash" in you words) --- until you need it and have to use it, of course. Just my own personal perspective (and it's my cash). As always, YMMV.

Does this coverage also cover airfare, or just your MF?

 

[theo]

Does this coverage also cover airfare, or just your MF?

Comprehensive policy, with standard and usual coverages for trip and travel costs (pre-paid air, train, hotel deposits en route), lost or delayed baggage, medical and dental, rental car damage, emergency assistance and transportation, accidental death and dismemberment (pays out only $100K to die, however).

Maintenance fee coverage is just an aside, available only within a relatively small number of offered policies --- hence this thread, which I originally started.

Still sound like a "waste of cash" to you? I've spent (although certainly not every day) more than $200 on some dinners for two. Again, YMMV.

 

[Jason245]

Comprehensive policy, with standard and usual coverages for trip and travel costs (pre-paid air, train, hotel deposits en route), lost or delayed baggage, medical and dental, rental car damage, emergency assistance and transportation, accidental death and dismemberment (pays out only $100K to die, however).

Maintenance fee coverage is just an aside, available only within a relatively small number of offered policies --- hence this thread, which I originally started.

Still sound like a "waste of cash" to you? I've spent (although certainly not every day) more than $200 on some dinners for two. Again, YMMV.

Assuming it fully covers your 5K of MF and ~$1k of air travel And lost prepaid rental car cost and gives you rental car coverage as a primary, it might be worth it for two people. (6-7k of prepaids + other benefits) for $200 of coverage (comming in at under 3% of trip cost).

The crappy policy from HGVC doesn't cover cancelation and is pretty crappy post departure policy...

 

[theo]

Assuming it fully covers your 5K of MF and ~$1k of air travel And lost prepaid rental car cost and gives you rental car coverage as a primary, it might be worth it for two people. (6-7k of prepaids + other benefits) for $200 of coverage (comming in at under 3% of trip cost).

Value is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. I'm much more comfortable putting this bet down than that amount of cash onto a casino table. To each their own...

 

[Jason245]

Value is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. I'm much more comfortable putting this bet down than that amount of cash onto a casino table. To each their own...

This is actually why I own hgvc. .. the cancel policy is very flexible and my ability to change reservations Is right up to day before...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[WinniWoman]

Here is the response I got to my email:

Dear Ms. Pumilia,

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, we no longer administer the ProtectMe and ProtectMe Plus plans that are offered on the link below. This policy was offered by Marriott Vacation Club, with whom we no longer have any affiliation. If you wish to insure your timeshare vacation, we would be able to offer coverage on our Custom and Custom Luxe Plans, which are available at the following link:



http://www.csatravelprotection.com/plan-details



If you have any further questions, please contact our Customer Service Department at 800-348-9505, and a representative will be happy to assist you.



Regards,



CSA Travel Protection
G-100CS-NY

OK. So, low and behold, I received the Custom Plan details (G-100CL NY is what was attached- not G-100CS NY as stated in email)and no specific mention of maintenance fees or exchange fees in the plan details, so I sent them another email questioning this and am yet again awaiting another response.

 

[WinniWoman]

So does any money received by the resort, including rentals,no?

As a matter of fact, most of my resorts mix owner paid dues with rental money to pay for the expenses you enumerate (pool, AC, etc).

You said


I would say that unless such fees are specifically listed as ineligible, they would seem to properly be a covered lodging expense of a trip cancellation/interruption insurance policy.

In any case, you seem to be saying that the credit cards' policies would provide cover when renting a timeshare, but not when staying at a timeshare you own. That seems a little illogical.

Now, let see how many timeshare owners tired of paying for their maintenance fees without getting any use of them try to cheat their credit card companies into paying those maintenance fees :rofl:

I'm with Theo on this one and when you deal with insurance everything has to be specifically spelled out or you are, quite frankly, screwed. That is why in some policies the reimbursement of maintenance fees are spelled out and in others they are not. It's for a reason. CSA, for example, has a separate policy specifically for rentals- including private timeshare rentals (which I purchase quite often). Their other policies would not cover a private rental. The Devil is in the Details.

In any event, according to your previous post the only way the credit card company would supposedly cover the maintenance fees is if you take public transportation and I drive to my timeshares so it wouldn't work for me anyway.

 

[WinniWoman]

Personal opinions, viewpoints and approaches vary and I respect yours, although I certainly don't share it.

I place a very high value on my time --- and I can afford to do so. The only reason we would not use our much anticipated consecutive fixed units / weeks would be due to a last minute family or medical emergency. In neither case would I have (or want to spend) any time to pursue last minute rentals, nor do I have any interest whatsoever in (late and therefore highly devalued) deposits for future "exchanges" (which I'll likely have neither time nor interest to utilize later anyhow).

Again, to each their own. I'll gladly pay for that insurance all day, any day, every day knowing full well that if we can't use the time due a last minute emegency, I need only file a claim (later, at my convenience) to recoup 100% of lost maintenance fees for that trip. I guess everyone is different and certainly insurance is nearly always a sunk cost (or a "waste of cash" in your words) --- until you need it and have to use it, of course. Just my personal perspective (and my cash too). As always, YMMV.

I'm exactly the same. I paid vacation guard last year $200 to insure my 3 weeks of timeshares. Then I also paid CSA another premium (forget the amt) to insure my XMAS timeshare rental that is coming up.

 

[theo]

Here is the response I got to my email:

Dear Ms. Pumilia,

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, we no longer administer the ProtectMe and ProtectMe Plus plans that are offered on the link below. This policy was offered by Marriott Vacation Club, with whom we no longer have any affiliation. If you wish to insure your timeshare vacation, we would be able to offer coverage on our Custom and Custom Luxe Plans, which are available at the following link:



http://www.csatravelprotection.com/plan-details



If you have any further questions, please contact our Customer Service Department at 800-348-9505, and a representative will be happy to assist you.



Regards,



CSA Travel Protection
G-100CS-NY

OK. So, low and behold, I received the Custom Plan details (G-100CL NY is what was attached- not G-100CS NY as stated in email)and no specific mention of maintenance fees or exchange fees in the plan details, so I sent them another email questioning this and am yet again awaiting another response.

Seems like a "non-responsive response", if the plan covering timeshare maintenance fees is actually none of the above anyhow, but is instead the "Guest Protect" policy (G-330CSA, a copy of which which I have sent to you in its' entirety via the email address which you provided to me by PM). That's precisely what CSA provided to me, just yesterday. Maybe things have changed --- overnight.

I can't say that I'm getting a particularly warm and fuzzy feeling from these CSA folks when the identical questions asked on the phone seem to yield very different (and often contradictory) answers, depending on who fields the question. Reminds me of days of yore when I actually had the patience to talk to clueless RCI reps on the phone --- those days are certainly long gone now.

 

[WinniWoman]

It's crazy but I am on a mission now to get this straightened out!

 

[WinniWoman]

So, after a number of phone calls and looking over the plans, it does seem that CSA covers timeshare vacations, including maintenance fees. You can go on their website to look at the plan for your particular state of residence.

http://www.csatravelprotection.com/

There is the basic Custom plan (G-100CS)and they also have another one called the Custom Luxe (G-100GL) plan that covers a little more.

I have attached the basic plan PDF. Each week of timeshare ownership for the year has to be insured separately. In the event of a cancellation for a COVERED reason, the maintenance fees would be reimbursed. You can see this stated under the Payment Definition section.

I was told you can insure each vacation week before the maintenance fees have been paid if you know what your costs will be. You can take out the insurance anytime before the vacation.I like to take out my insurance as soon as possible so as to insure that no medical conditions could arise before the vacations that would make them ineligible for the trip cancellation coverage due to the preexisting condition issue.

They do not insure points.

*As for the Guest Protect Policy that Theo was told about, there is still some confusion about whether the purpose for this policy was more for rentals, but I was told it is suitable for timeshare ownership, but is a "Final Payment" policy.

From their website-(Final payment is the last pre-paid payment (prior to departure) of the most expensive part of the trip, unless the main air arrangements are added last. "Main air arrangements" refer to air to/from the main destination compared to tickets for a side trip during the vacation.)

This one I do not understand so I will be sticking to the Custom Plan for insurance.