Travel Insurance Discussion Area

Christian88

Hi

Basically, when i was in Toronto Canada, i had my laptop and digital Camera stolen. They were in a locked bag in my shared hostel room, which has a locking door and only the people staying in that room have a key to it. They were however not in a locked luggage compartment, so the theif just stole the entire bag.

Since returning home, i've filed a claim with my company "HBF" and they have just sent me a letter, rejecting my claim because the policy reads....

"Will not pay for - Loss of belongings because they are left unattended in a public place"

My question is... Is a hostel room a public place? Could i argue that it cant be a public place because i can claim tax from the Canadian Government for living in the hostel room? Is there anything i can do to prove its not a public place? ANY help would be appreciated, its about $1400 on the line for me!

Thankyou very Much.

Michael Daniell

UKoap

I'm getting more and more cynical about so-called 'Travel Insurance' I'm going to relatives in the USA and rather than pay hundreds of pounds for Medical insurance - that will probably be knocked-back if a claim is made anyway - We are taking a chance and doing without.

TomsMom

UKoap wrote: »

I'm getting more and more cynical about so-called 'Travel Insurance' I'm going to relatives in the USA and rather than pay hundreds of pounds for Medical insurance - that will probably be knocked-back if a claim is made anyway - We are taking a chance and doing without.

I can't believe you've written that! If your user name refers to your actual age then, unfortunately, you are in an age group where things can go wrong at any time (sorry, not being ageist, being realistic as hubby and I have now passed our 60th birthdays!).

Obviously I am hoping that nothing does, but what happens if you are taken ill in the USA? A horrendous medical bill and, god forbid, maybe repatriation with the services of a nurse required for the journey? Would you be able to afford that if necessary?

I would seriously reconsider and do some research. Look through the travel insurance threads on here - do a search of senior citizens travel insurance etc., and contact some of the firms that other MSE-ers have had good service and reasonable prices from, check out policy documents and hopefully you'll find something suitable.

Leigh-Anne_60

UKoap wrote: »

I'm getting more and more cynical about so-called 'Travel Insurance' I'm going to relatives in the USA and rather than pay hundreds of pounds for Medical insurance - that will probably be knocked-back if a claim is made anyway - We are taking a chance and doing without.

Are you serious?? Your going to the US - the country that has the highest med bills in the world. Fair enough if your not bothered about you, but think about your family who will be left to pick up the pieces in the event of anything happening :mad:

UKoap

Yes I have written that and would suggest anyone who does not have property at stake to take a chance rather
than be conned by insurance companies. As we say in Scotland, "They cannot take the breeks off a Highlander"
Anyone unfortunate enough to be hospitalised in the USA
should sign the documentation 'unable to pay'. Ask yourself why over 40M Americans do not have health insurance..what happens to them? Are they thrown in a skip? IMHO

TomsMom

UKoap wrote: »

Anyone unfortunate enough to be hospitalised in the USA should sign the documentation 'unable to pay'. Ask yourself why over 40M Americans do not have health insurance..what happens to them? Are they thrown in a skip? IMHO

OK, so you may get treatment, but what about repatriation? You can't sign "unable to pay" for that as that would be nothing to do with the hospital.

malc_b

I seem to have just fallen into a M&S trap over this. I can't say that I would recommend them as I have in the past.

The situation is that my daughter has a minor blood disorder which means she is prone to anaemia and has an enlarged spleen. To support blood production she takes folic acid (a vitamin, pregent woman are also prescirbed it). Is that a "prescription medication"? You can get it over the counter in health shops and it is in breakfast cereals. I had never considered this to be notifiable condition. In fact I have this disorder too but never knew it and never seen any effects. My daughter has it worse I guess.

Anyway her college wanted to know about it and said it was for their insurers which got me to thinking perhaps I should check with M&S. I checked the policy and I didn't think it was that serious, not in the same league as stoke, cancer, diabetes, etc. but thought I would ring just to check. A mistake perhaps. First thing they did was deny cover for anything related to her condition. So aren't you going to check on this (screening as they call it). Oh no we only screen in the 1st 14 days. So do I have to cancel and take the insurance out again (and get what is left of my premium refunded). Oh no we don't do that. So they won't screen and they won't refund. I now have insurance that does not insure me.

I pointed out that I did consider that fair or even legal. I was told I would have been asked a question over the phone, that was MORE specific that the terms and conditions in the travel document. Well I don't record my phone calls, plus the questions get fired at you so fast, and, at the time I had consider her condition to be notifiable. It was only college asking that made me think (STUPIDLY) that I ought to ask M&S the question. Plus, how is it legal to have verbally contract terms only and not have them in writing!

Yes, this is partly my fault, perhaps. It depends how you define a medical condition (1in 5000 of N Europe have this defect). But I would have expected a refund of my premium and to be able to get insurance elsewhere if M&S don't want my business. OR more sensibly for them to assess whether this is a significant risk factor or not. Same as with car insurance. You can always cancel, or inform insurers of something you have forgotten. They don't keep you money and cancel your insurance.

M&S will not be getting my business next year that is for sure. They are not even that cheap.

Leigh-Anne_60

I agree with you, M&S seem to be acting unfairly on this occasion - they should at least 'screen' you to see whether its a coverable condition. I suggest that you follow their complaints procedure, doubt very much they would let it get past stage 2 (stage 3 being the ombudsman)

I work in travel insurance and we get the same scenario all the time - Its a pain & as a company costs us dearly(resource/printing etc) - But hey we are all human

UKoap

TomsMom wrote: »

OK, so you may get treatment, but what about repatriation? You can't sign "unable to pay" for that as that would be nothing to do with the hospital.

You won't have to sell your home to pay the fare home;)

Seriously though, I tried another 0870 screenline this morning - I might have to sell my home to pay for that :rolleyes:
they refused to cover my 10 year old stroke and the current 130 over 70 well controlled blood pressure. They did say I could take out cover to exclude these conditions though:eek:

No wonder I'm cynical about insurance screen lines and their revenue sharing phone lines, pity we punters don't get our share :mad:

UKoap

Leigh-Anne_60 wrote: »

but think about your family who will be left to pick up the pieces in the event of anything happening :mad:

They are also unable to pay Leigh-Anne I come from a long line of paupers:cool: I wouldn't mind paying high premiums but bet your boots they would find a way not to pay out:o I shudder at the thought of folk who pay premiums thinking they are covered, how many folk who are on Statins/Alpha/Beta blockers for instance know they could be denied insurance pay-outs?:mad: