Covid Travel Insurance--please respond!!!

The big question would be what kind of insurance policy you had, and whether the policy explicitly covered the expenses that you want reimbursed. There is no such thing as "covid travel insurance". There is cancellation, interruption, medical, evacuation, etc, which may or may not provide some coverage if you get covid. But even then you have to clearly understand what is included or excluded.

Insurance is not a scam. Unfortunately, all too many people buy insurance based on cost, without checking the details, and then become irate when they are denied a claim for things that aren't covered. If you feel your denial was wrong, then there should be an appeal process, depending on where you live.

Be very careful about buying repatriation insurance. What you may want is medical evacuation insurance, which returns you to your home country for medical reasons. Repatriation insurance may be limited to the return of remains after a death abroad.

We have heard reports of people that have had claims paid for trip interruption. I think the issue here is exactly what was supposed to be covered by your policy and the amount of coverage that you purchased. Ideally one buys the amount of insurance to cover the costs that are not refundable.

There are a lot of important details that need to be paid close attention to when making a Covid claim. A key element for many policies is either an official positive covid test or a statement from a doctor is required. Then the language of each policy is specific to what it covers. For example, with my insurance (Allianz) I would have received up to $1000 in additional lodging costs if I was required to isolate, but that would have been the limit. It did not cover food. It would have paid for some of the costs for changing my flights/transportation home.

We don't know what the actual language of your policy was and if this really was a scam or simply a misunderstanding about what coverage you were purchasing. If you feel strongly that they are not meeting the terms of your written policy, then I encourage you to contact your state insurance commissioner.

I do have a Medjet policy which is the medical evacuation insurance coverage. My Medicare Advantage plan pays for urgent care anywhere in the world. Have you checked any supplemental policies to see what you already have?

PS I am so very sorry that this situation keeps being such a disruption in your lives.

It is always in the fine print and not in your assumptions. So I don't know what risks were being actually covered. So my comments are very general ---- BUT -- in general --- you cannot make money on an insurance policy. You can only received actual covered losses. For example -- if you were on a two week tour and the last week was cancelled by a covered event, and you received a refund for the lost week. Then you are covered and had no loss. Now -- if the tour company refuses a refund, then you have an actual loss and should be covered.

But it sounds like you got the cash refund for the cancelled tour but want cash for the so called "extra expenses" but these expenses would have been expenses that the refund from the tour would have covered. Now I know that the refund will not cover the expenses for the week because some economy of scale. However, if spent extra 1200 for the that week but only received a $900 refund, I would think, depending on the fine print, you might have a claim for the extra $300 but not the full $1200. As to your friend, I don't know her details but she may have had a different policy (different fine print). If her premium was $600 what was yours?

This is the information from the FAQs on Tin Leg Insurance regarding Covid.
"If a traveler contracts Covid-19 while traveling and must cut their trip short or quarantine, they can be covered by the Trip Interruption benefit. This benefit can refund travelers up to 150% of their unused trip costs." This may well be the basis for denying your trip interruption claim due to your refund from RS.
However, their page also says the following, "In the event a traveler tests positive for Covid-19 and must quarantine before returning home, they can be covered under the Travel Delay benefit. This benefit can reimburse a traveler for the cost of their meals and accommodations during the quarantine, up to the policy’s daily limit. This coverage may be extended up to 7 days after the traveler’s return home date, or until they are cleared to return home, whichever takes place first. Depending on the plan, Coverage through this benefit ranges from $500 to $2,000."

It sounds like the accommodation/food costs (at least for yourself) during the days that you quarantined should have been covered by your insurance according to their own words. I think when you speak with them you will want to stress that you are looking for the travel delay benefits relating to Covid. It does not speak about covering transportation, etc. It does mention covering lodging during the quarantine time so I would continue to contact them and stress their own wording. Check your policy to see what the limit is on your policy since it sounds like it ranges from $500 to $2000.

I believe Frank expressed it correctly. The refund you received from RS for tour costs was expected to cover what you lost—lodging, meals, and transportation, for the same time period. If you had to spend more than that after you left the tour, apparently they regard that as your choice, not required by circumstances. Otherwise, someone could choose to stay at the Ritz for their recovery, and order fancy meals, and expect insurance to cover it.

Did you actually have to quarantine for a specified time? Did you have to stay longer than you originally planned and have to change your flight to get home? If so, those expenses should be covered under most covid provisions, provided the insurance policy provided for such expenses beyond the dates originally planned. As
Should medical expenses you incurred for treatment (depending on the terms of the medical coverage provisions of your policy).

If you did have those additional expenses for medical care, lodging,and flight change beyond the dates of the tour, you might try re-submitting your claim and clarifying what you are requesting.

I tested positive just before my flight home in early June, when a negative test was required to enter the US. I had to quarantine for a week at a hotel and then fly home on another airline. Travel Guard paid the hotel cost, up to a limit stated in the policy, for "trip delay." They paid the additional airfare under "trip interruption." I had no symptoms and so no medical costs, but the policy I bought would have covered them, if properly documented, since my personal health insurance doesn't work overseas. They would have covered "medical evacuation" if necessary, a very remote risk when traveling in Europe. They would have covered other risks like lost baggage and canceled flights, and non-refunded tour costs if I'd had to leave a tour because of Covid or other illness or injury, or if the tour company cancelled. It was a pretty standard policy from a "mainstream" carrier. My only problem was that Travel Guard took four months to pay the claim, doing so immediately after hearing from my state insurance commissioner's office.

Travel insurance is complicated and it's important to shop carefully and understand what you're buying and not buying. Two websites, insuremytrip.com and squaremouth.com, are valuable tools in searching for the right coverage and have good information about the different kinds of coverage one can buy. Age, trip duration, maximum trip cost, and destination are also factors. Our host has good basic information under "Travel Tips" on this website.

To Carol who suggested that I should have used Trip Delay, this insurance company only considers it a trip delay if you have to change transportation arrangements. I did not. Tin Leg no longer uses Broadspire as their claim processor because of the butt-load of complaints they got. However, it was too late for me--my claim was already in the works when they decided this so I still have to tussle with Broadspire. It's been almost a year and my claim is in its third round of review. I have little belief this will end well for me and my bank account.