COVID After 4 days of 21 Day BOE Tour - Any tips on how to submit travel insurance claim

Hi Dave, it’s sad to hear that you weren’t able to complete this anticipated tour of Europe! But, I do appreciate your attitude.

I don’t have an answer for you, but this post would be really helpful for others if you could give a general idea of how much extra you actually had to spend to return home. And later on, if you could reply with the answer of what you ended up receiving (or not) from Travel Guard. Hope you are well!

Dave, it might help if you change your title. Perhaps something like, "Any tips on how to file a travel insurance claim?"
I also appreciate your positive attitude.

I missed the last two days of a tour last spring because of Covid. I submitted the following expenses to my travel insurer: the difference between the actual cost of the two days of the tour and the refund from RS, train ticket to the city I was flying home from, hotel (replacement of the RS hotel), meal expense (missed final dinner), pre-paid tickets for an activity on my previously planned extra day after the tour, and the cost of the “official” Covid test at a pharmacy. I didn’t have to change my air tickets, but certainly would have claimed any additional expenses if I had.

I submitted every piece of documentation I could think of: receipts and invoices, statement showing full payment for the tour, the tour itinerary (they asked for that), letter/email from RS explaining their policy about leaving the tour and the refund of $200 per day, official Covid test, train ticket, email about the pre-paid activity showing it was non-refundable, etc. I converted all expenses into dollars. My goal was to make life as easy as possible for the claims processor!

My insurer was Allianz. I was able to do everything through their online claims process, uploading documents. They paid the claim in full, relatively quickly. Between the RS refund and the claim, I received almost $1000 for the two days.

Renee, Thank you for the response, very helpful.
Carol now retired , great suggestion, thank you.
Jean, I will certainly share any insights that I think would be helpful once I conclude my claim process. Thank you.

Regards,
Dave

I filed a claim with AIG Travel Guard when my flight to Europe was cancelled. I submitted a cancellation email from United, cost of hotel room not used in Europe, cost of hotel room in U.S. when I couldn't get a flight out until the next day, cost of meals, taxi to hotel in U.S., and cost of purchasing a seat on my new flight (despite having paid this once on the original flight; that was annoying). I took photos of every receipt and uploaded them. It took less than three weeks to receive word that a check was being mailed and naming the amount! I was very pleased at their efficient handling and expect the check will be here soon. I was able to arrive in Munich four hours before the tour started, thanks to having planned to arrive a day and a half before.

Thanks Marty, glad to hear you had a good experience.

Dave

This was posted by the Ordinary Rebecca a few months ago. I bookmarked it because she did a good job explaining how to handle Covid on a RS tour. It should answer your questions. Hope you are feeling better.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/covid19/covid-experience-in-italy-2023-2-parts

Thank you horsewoofie, very helpful.

Dave—Hi—we were on your tour. We were out for Covid on day 5–the next day from you all.

We have Travel Guard—don’t know the results yet from the claim, but they request a medical certification from a physician on Covid. The picture of the at-home test is not enough. They also want a HIPPAA which they provide, all your receipts, etc.

You can file online—but I had a few questions so I called the claim in—and submitted info after I was assigned a claim number.

Disappointment is not a big enough word for having to leave the tour early…hope you guys are well.

Hi Gina,

Thanks for the update on the documentation. Good luck with your claim process.

Yes, very disappointing to have to leave the tour.

Best to you and Tony,
Dave

Hi Dave-
This is Sandi from the tour you were on. It was so sad when people started leaving due to a positive test. I am glad you were both able to continue traveling though. Nice that you also saw some people from our tour when we arrived in Paris.
I hope everything goes smooth with your insurance claim.

Sandi