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I had purchased airline tix for my mother an brother to come for a visit. They were purchased in Feb.

for trip in May. In Jan. , my mom noticed a small lesion on her tongue, did not seek medical attn. It was not healing, so in March, she went and was diagnosed with cancer.

She immediately had surgery and was advised not to travel. My appeal was denied because she first noticed it before the tix were bought. She thought it was just a mouth sore and thought it would heal on its own.

She had no idea how serious the matter was. Don't waste your time & money on this worthless insurance.

Monetary Loss: $590.

Location: Albemarle, North Carolina

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Guest

I should have searched the web before purchasing this stuff.

Flight is in May 2013, hope it goes well.

Have any of you tried going through your credit card companies?

Guest

I agree, DO NOT BUY! When I filed a claim they kept coming up with reasons not to pay.

Made me get the doctor's statement twice, kept asking me to revise and refill out forms and after I did everything required said I purchased the insurance after the deadline.

Yet, they willing accepted my premium and issued a policy! DO NOT BUY!

Guest

I called Allianz BEFORE making any claims to ensure that I did exactly what they directed - they agreed that I would be covered, and they still rejected my claim. DO NOT USE ALLIANZ. Read on for full details.

I believe that Allianz's claims department acted in bad faith and that their behavior was unfair and bordering on being unethical coming at such a delicate time for me and my family following my mother's passing.

In early June, I learned that my mother (who lives in London, UK) had Leukemia. The good news was that she was responding well to treatment and her doctors told us that with regular treatment she could expect many months with good quality of life.

On June 20th, 2012, I booked flights via Orbitz for my wife and two children to fly from Boston to London to visit my parents. The trip was booked for July 2nd returning on 17th July. I purchased travel insurance from Allianz. The total price of the travel plus insurance was $2711.61.

Unfortunately, on June 26th, my mother fell down at home and needed to be hospitalized. BEFORE changing my familyรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs travel arrangements, I called Allianz (this would have been either on the evening of June 26th or the morning of June 27th) to confirm that my insurance covered us to change the tickets from 2 weeks to one week (returning on 10th July instead of the 17th) as my mother was now unable to spend two active weeks with her grandchildren.

I was told that I was covered. Specifically the Allianz representative (who was helpful and sympathetic) directed me to page 5 of the Allianz insurance terms (Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption):

A family member who isnรขโ‚ฌโ„ขt traveling with you is seriously ill or injured.

Specific requirement: The injury, illness or medical condition must be considered life threatening, require hospitalization, or he or she must require your care.

I was advised to purchase the new tickets, then cancel the old ones, which I did.

I filed the insurance claim on 29th June 2012.

The following occurred AFTER my claim was submitted but is relevant as it demonstrates how Allianz's claims department treated me.

While my family was in London, they reported that my mother was back home and doing well. I then booked return flights to London from July 11th to August 8th to coincide with my familyรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs return to Boston. I planned on visiting my parents for an extended period (so I could also enjoy the Olympics).

Two days after I arrived in London, on July 14th, my mother had a serious setback and she decided she no longer wished to continue with her treatment. Her doctor told us that the consequence of her decision was that she would now only have a maximum of a few weeks to live, rather than months. My motherรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs decline was unfortunately quite rapid and on 17th July she passed away.

I called Allianz on 19th July to inquire about the progress of my claim (I had not received a reply to my email or online claim of 29th June). I was told that my claim had been rejected due to รขโ‚ฌล“existing medical conditionsรขโ‚ฌย. I was shocked and asked to speak to a senior claims supervisor and was connected to one. I explained my situation in detail and the supervisor sounded sympathetic and promised to follow up within 24 hours, which he did.

When the supervisor called me back, he started by stating that he had listened to the recordings of my phone calls to Allianz and that consequently, he had an apology to make. The supervisor apologized that Allianz had incorrectly declined my claim on the basis of "existing medical conditions". HOWEVER, he then went on to say that he was REJECTING MY CLAIM FOR A DIFFERENT REASON! I was literally speechless - I thought that I had misheard him. He said he was rejecting my claim under the clause รขโ‚ฌล“any problem or event that could have reasonably been foreseen or expected when you purchased your planรขโ‚ฌย

To be clear, there was no way that I or my family could have reasonably known more than my motherรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs doctors. Furthermore, as I was speaking to the supervisor AFTER my mother passed away, his assumption that motherรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs decline was foreseeable was obviously tainted. My mother was NOT declining when we purchased the travel and the insurance, nor was it reasonable or foreseeable that she would decline during that period.

I was (and still am) deeply upset and insulted that the supervisor assumed I had more insight into my mother's condition than her doctor. When I reminded him that the recordings he had of my calls to Allianz support that my cover was confirmed and that I was advised to cancel the tickets, he said Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขd have to subpoena Allianz if I wanted to prove that point. His attitude (especially considering that I was grieving the loss of my mother) was in my opinion, smug and unfair.

If this is how Allianz treats a serious claim, is it a company you could trust?

Guest

We also had a Feb. family illiness not as serious ,We file Dr.

note and were informed we had to send copies of tickets original and re-book tickets Delta wanted to charge us "copying "fee" and stated they are a seperate company outside of the Delta network but when you google Delta and Travel insurance Delta site recommends them. Not going to fight anymore but stay away from Allianzet we would not pay Delta for copies of tickets.

Guest

Allianz Travel Insurance is nothing short of a scam. I flew from the midwest because my mom needed heart valve replacement surgery.

I fly Delta(which I have no problems with!) and purchased this insurance. My mom didn't recover very well and I had to extend my stay so she would be out of the hospital and skilled nursing and back at home. I filled all the paperwork out and had the doctors fill in their forms and emailed to Allianz. One month later I call the check on status of claim and they say denied because her heart disease was Pre existing.

How does anyone know the outcome of heart surgery? Yes I did rescedule my return flight to be with my very sick mother. She walked into the hospital before surgery and now she cannot even stand up and support her own weight. I talked to 3 different people at Allianz who were all polite but just kept repeating the company policy.

It is totally misleading about unforseen medical conditions.

PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THIS TRAVEL INSURANCE. I will contact Delta and Am express to convey my total disgust with this company.

Guest

Hello,

Jackie from the Help Team here. We are so sorry to hear about your motherรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs illness, and we wish you both the best. Further, we apologize that we were unable to provide you with coverage in your situation; one thing Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขd like to point out is that travel insurance is like any other type of insurance in that there are terms, conditions and exclusions that affect coverage. As you may know, the product you purchased did not include coverage for existing medical conditions. Our claims department reviews the physician statement form submitted by your doctor, and bases their determination on the information we receive from your doctor.

Should you have additional questions on the outcome of your claim, or if youรขโ‚ฌโ„ขd like to get a better understanding of the policy you purchased, please call our customer service line at 1-80*-***-****. Once again, we apologize we were unable to cover you in your situation, and we wish your mother a healthy recovery.

Regards,

Jackie, Help Team

POD r
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-470125

OMG really? Jackie You ARE just a hired gun, the taught you how to make excuses, and rip people off.

You will be 'compensated' in another life. Regards, cheers :))

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