TID travel insurance - BEWARE! Wont accept my claim, is it claim worthy? p.s Booking.com is shady!

J6 on 19/07/2013 - 18:44
Last edited 19/07/2013 - 21:20 by 1 other user

So last year i took a lengthy trip to South East Asia for a few months. Off course I got travel insurance. I shopped around and Travel Insurance Direct (TID) was by far the cheapest insurance I could find. Being the ozbargainer that I am, i went with TID.

During my trip I went to use my 28 degrees credit card and it declined. There was money on there so I called 28 degrees and they told me that over 50% of their cards have been illegally accessed by a third party and mine was one of them and was cancelled for security reasons. They told me they would send me a replacement VISA in the next 3 days. So i had $10AUD left in my wallet to last me three days on a small island in Thailand. I called TID and told them of the situation and if there was anything they could do. I had another VISA debit card that had $0 on it. I asked if they could transfer me some money for living expenses and that I would even pay it back as i just needed to get through 2.5 more days. They told me that they cant help me until i was "Financially effected". So because i had no money, I couldn't spend any money to become financially effected. Luckily this was South east asia and I could afford a few cheap meals/water and I had already paid for my accom. This was annoying but it didnt bother me that much.

I booked an expensive bungalow for 5 nights over new years eve before I left Australia Via booking.com. I used credit card #1 to secure my booking. I then paid for the bungalow in full with credit card #2. Shortly after new years eve I noticed that booking.com had charged me via my original credit card #1 that i made the deposit with! I was charged twice for my accom ($500 x 2). I contacted booking.com many time and they just pretended that I was invisible. They would never reply to any emails ever about the issue. So i contacted TID and filled out all the necessary forms with all the documents needed for a claim. I was then contacted today by TID to be told that my situation isnt covered by the policy. I was now financially effected but they told me I have to take it up with the bungalows/booking.com. I told them that Ive tried numerous times but my case manager 'jade' used the analogy of "if you go to macdonalds and buy a burger and are charged twice, then you have to go take it up with macdonalds". Ok fair enough, thats what I would do if I didnt have travel insurance but isnt travel insurance for things like this? Its out of my control and there is nothing else I can do. 'Jade' mentioned that I should contact the embassy but I know they will just try to palm me off to someone else.

Overall TID is 0/10. Couldnt help me when I had no money and still couldnt help me when a hotel charged me for two lots of $500. Will never use them or booking.com again.

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Comments

  • PissLUR on 19/07/2013 - 18:59
    +6

    op, are you serious that you made claims with TID for those 2 matters?

    you should have read terms and conditions for travel insurance before purchasing. face palm.

    so refering to this page http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/what-we-cover
    under which categories are you making claims under?

  • RockyRaccoon on 19/07/2013 - 19:03
    +3

    Somehow I dont think the "financially effected" clause is meant to be used in the way you describe.

    Especially the bit about getting charged twice - thats an issue between you and your bank, which is where you should go to about the double charge. While I had this once from a casino in Vegas, it was a few months and the bank (Actually 28 degrees) refunded the over charge. BUT I did have to supply documentation.

    As for the issue with the compromised card it, might assist if you put the complete words of the clause that you think covers this as again its not something I would have thought was covered. But on that I have no experience.

    (EDIT Pisslur made some same comments, which was posted as I was writing this)

  • No on 19/07/2013 - 20:32
    +2

    I don't think its unreasonable for TID to deny these claims, an insurance company can't really lend you cash.

    If you where in Bangkok you could have tried the Australian embassy.

    Take this as a lesson, one means of getting cash isn't nearly enough when your overseas.

  • lisss on 19/07/2013 - 20:51
    +2

    You cannot ask a travel insurance company to lend emergency money to you - that's what friends and family are for.

    When Booking.com charged you twice, that's an issue with your bank - you should just do a chargeback. That's not something that's generally covered by travel insurance.

    So no, your claims are not claim worthy. To be a true Ozbargainer, you should read and understand the T&C so you know what you're entited to and can plan accordingly :)

  • May4th on 19/07/2013 - 21:43
    +6

    i don't think you understand what travel insurance is for..

    • stringbean402 on 20/07/2013 - 12:10

      Yes.. the OP is missing the entire concept of what it is for.

      However hopefully they learnt a valuable lesson in that you have multiple ways of getting cash when travelling.

  • marquise on 20/07/2013 - 00:26

    Err what is this about 50% of 28degrees cards being accessed illegally and cancelled?? Has there been some widespread security compromise I haven't heard about?

    • Tnetennba on 29/07/2013 - 22:47

      I don't know but honestly I doubt OP told 28degrees that he was travelling and as such they probably cancelled it because (my guess, not sure if it's true) I would say that 50% of people who suddenly access their account from a different country's accounts have actually had their card stolen so it was cancelled as a precaution… Most (if not all) credit card providers will cancel your card if there is suddenly a charge from a random country. Always tell them where and when you are going!

      I mean this is just a guess, but I don't think 50% of 28degrees cards were cancelled and reissued. I'm positive we would have heard about it here on ozbargain as many people on here have one.

  • freakthe on 20/07/2013 - 00:44

    I have purchased travel insurance with TID more than 4 times - and I have made 2 claims (illness + cancellation costs) and got approved.

    Well .. if the wallet is stolen then a claim could have been made. But it's the bank + the website who didn't literally stealing your money…

    I do agree with daveaus - always have more than one credit card and store it in different locations. Just in case if your wallet is stolen you still have a backup card/cash to survive

  • wako on 20/07/2013 - 02:32
    +2

    On my last trip to KL I packed every thing i needed but left my 28 degrees card in my wallet at home… Talk about face palm…

    I rang 28 degrees, and they organised me Emergency Cash via Mastercard, And it came off my card (which i had Positive balance anyway)

    It was rather easy, and had money under 24 hours via western union. They didnt even charge me any fees…

    I was rather pleased with the situation and the service, But asking the travel insurance ?! Thats a lil strange…

  • fertiliser on 20/07/2013 - 12:28
    +11

    i lost all my money gambling in Macau and TID wouldn't lend me more to recoup my losses.

    0/10 would not buy again

    • Ndiddy on 20/07/2013 - 17:03
      +1

      LOL!

  • MITM on 22/07/2013 - 09:53
    +1

    Always take a sock full of cash, either USD or destination country - Cash is king. Dont put it ALL in 28Degrees Card.

    Keep all documentation: Travel insurance fixes everything up - ONCE you get back home (unless you need airvac).

    • super8 on 28/07/2013 - 18:07

      Yeah I had a similar situation in Peru earlier this year. My 28degrees card has $2k left on it's limit and it was cancelled by 28Degrees due to "suspicious transactions". Even though I confirmed that they were my transactions (gambling related) after confirming my identity on the phone.

      Luckily I had a stack of US$100 in my socks which saved my life, sort of.

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