- Report: #1085414
Complaint Review: Allianz Global Assistance - Richmond Virginia
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Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Allianz Global Assistance
P.O. Box 72031, Richmond, VA 23255-2031 Richmond, 23255 Virginia, USA
Phone:
877-593-4989
Web:
http://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/
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Allianz Global Assistance A complete waste of your money Richmond Virginia
I'm filing this report not because I expect to be reimbursed for the cost of the Allianz Travel Assistance insurance policy or, heavens forbid, the money I lost on a planned trip. My purpose is to add my voice to the growing number of complaints lodged by people, like me, whose claims have been denied by Allianz Travel Assistance. Maybe some day we may be complaintants in a class action lawsuit.
The purpose of travel insurance is to protect against loss in the event circumstances prevent a traveler from making a planned trip. However, Allianz's purpose "appears" to be to deny claims by using obscure preconditions that are not clearly stated in the prepurchase literature.
In my case, I had a surgical procedure (foot surgery) planned that would not interfere with my trip. However, any surgery can present complications that prevent you from traveling. So I bought a policy. But before I buying the travel policy, I read it carefully to make sure I would be covered--just in case. Below is what the policy said:
Health
Injury, illness or medical condition
You or a traveling companion are seriously ill or injured.
Specific requirement
The injury, illness or medical condition must be disabling enough
to make a reasonable person delay, cancel or interrupt their trip.
A doctor must examine you or a traveling companion and advise
you or a traveling companion to cancel or interrupt your trip
before you cancel or interrupt it. If that isn’t possible, a doctor must
examine you within 72 hours of your cancellation or interruption.
Unfortunately, a complication happened that prevented me from traveling. Under the terms of the Allianz policy, it appeared I was coverered. I wasn't. I complied with all the requirements when filing my claim. However, Allianz denied my claim because of an unseen clause that added a precondition and time element. Needless to say, I lost all of the money spent on the trip, including the price of the policy.
What is the point of buying travel insurance if a claim is going to be denied regardless of the circumstances? One may as well not buy insurance and work directly with the companies involved in the trip.
Allianz Travel Assistance, and insurance companies like it, will continue to deny apparently letitimate cliams as long as we don't voice our concerns about their practices and share our stories. Hopefully, at some point Virginia's, or some other state's, Attorney General will investigate Allianz Travel Assistance.
Island
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Sarah
Richmond,Virginia,
HelpTeam
#2UPDATE Employee
Thu, September 26, 2013
Dear Island,
Thank you for taking the time to post. As you noted in your comment, we do explain what is covered in our policies such as what to do when a health issue or illness arises and in that same policy document we define the criteria for a pre-existing condition - a condition which was present and being treated within 120 days of your insurance purchase. While we have designed our products to cover the most common unforeseen situations our customers might encounter, not all events and situations are ones which trigger coverage in our insurance programs.
I am sorry that the policy you purchased did not provide the coverage that you needed. If you would like someone to walk you through the policy in detail, please don’t hesitate to call our customer service line at 1-800-284-8300.
Sincerely,
Sarah, HelpTeam
