Insights for consumers and participants
Travel insurance is not designed to cover loss in every circumstance. If you are travelling, you may want to look into different insurers and insurance policies to find one that best suits your needs and to make sure you understand the extent of cover provided under the policy.
Bhavesh’s experience is also a good example of how communication and customer service could have gone a long way in resolving the complaint early.
What happened?
Bhavesh had travel insurance complimentary with his credit card. In June 2024, while travelling, Bhavesh injured his back. Bhavesh visited a local hospital, received physiotherapy, and was recommended to have on-going physiotherapy to treat his back. Later, in August 2024, while still travelling, Bhavesh was diagnosed with bronchitis, visited a local hospital, and was prescribed medication.
Bhavesh complained to FSCL in July 2024 about how difficult it had been to lodge a claim for his back injury expenses and about the travel insurers poor communication and customer service. Bhavesh lodged a second complaint with FSCL in September 2024 because he was having similar issues when trying to claim for his bronchitis expenses.
What were the parties’ views?
Bhavesh complained that the travel insurer:
- Had poor communication and customer service, for example, repeatedly calling him on his New Zealand number even after being asked to contact his international number.
- Had poor processes, including that the travel insurer did not send him a claim form for weeks and when they did, the claim form was impossible to fill out or would not work.
- Had declined to cover the cost of his on-going physiotherapy and the cost of sending his heavy luggage back to New Zealand due to his back injury.
- Had not passed on his complaint about the travel insurer to his credit card company, even though Bhavesh had asked the travel insurer to do so many times.
The travel insurer explained that:
- Bhavesh had contributed to the communication difficulties, such as not picking up the phone when they called to discuss his claim and by sending them strongly worded emails.
- They sent Bhavesh a claim form in January 2024 when Bhavesh signed up with his credit card issuer, and again within a week of him contacting them after his back injury. They said that the claim form was working fine, and they had no other reports of issues with the form.
- It was not clear from the information Bhavesh had provided whether Bhavesh’s costs were for physiotherapy or for holistic treatment that would not be covered under the policy. They said that the cost of sending his luggage back to New Zealand was not covered under the policy.
- They would not usually pass on complaints about their insurance to the credit card issuer. Although the insurance was complimentary with the card, the credit card issuer did not have any input in the insurance.
What was FSCL’s view?
We looked at Bhavesh’s complaints about his back injury and bronchitis together. We found that:
- Bhavesh and the travel insurer had both contributed to the service and communication issues.
- it seemed likely that Bhavesh’s issues with the travel insurers claim form was user error, although the travel insurer could have done more to help Bhavesh with the form once they knew he was finding it difficult.
- It seemed likely that Bhavesh’s costs were for physiotherapy were legitimate and should be covered under his policy. We agreed with the insurer that the cost of sending luggage back to New Zealand was not covered under the policy.
- The credit card issuer was a separate entity from the travel insurer, and the travel insurer was not required to pass on Bhavesh’s complaint. We explained to Bhavesh that the policy explicitly said that the credit card issuer did not have a say in how the travel insurer provided their insurance. However, given the amount of times Bhavesh had asked for his complaint to be passed on, we said that it would have been best practice for the travel insurer to explain to Bhavesh that they were not going to pass the complaint on and why.
How did FSCL suggest that the complaint should be resolved?
We decided that the travel insurer should pay Bhavesh $1,124.45, made up of $874.45 for cost of the physiotherapy for Bhavesh’s back injury and $250 as compensation for the inconvenience cause by the service and communication issues Bhavesh experienced.
Bhavesh accepted our decision, and we closed our file.
