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Trip Mate insurance for canceled Viking cruise


happytalk44
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We have been attempting to receive payment from Trip Matesince mid-August. We were forced tocancel our cruise because I underwent back surgery. The Trip Mate website has an activity log foreach claim and I was able to access that. It showed our claim had been accepted and processed. I was also able to access other “status”information. The following summarizesthe significant entries to date.

Activity log:

8/25/2017. Call toclaimant. This was actually a return callbecause I used their callback system. Iasked about the status of payment and was told that the checks were mailed on8/18. There is no entry in the activitylog to this effect and I was told they didn’t enter that sort ofinformation. I was told the checks wouldarrive in 5-7 business days. (7 businessdays would have been 8/29.) Ichecked the USPS web site and mail fromMissouri to Florida should arrive in 2-7 days.

8/29/2017. Call to Claimant. Again, this was actually a return call because I used their callbacksystem. The checks had not arrived and Iasked where they were. I was told to“give it a few more days.” I told therepresentative that was not an acceptable answer and asked to speak to asupervisor. I was told one would callwithin 24-48 hours. (48 hours would be8/31.) The call was never received.

9/5/2017. In checkingthe site’s activity log on 9/6 I found an entry that purported that a call hadbeen made to the claimant(us) on 9/5. Nosuch call was received. Not only wasthere no message on our answering machine there was no indication that a “missedcall” had been received. In fact, onthat date our Caller ID showed no calls from anyone, missed or accepted.

9/6/2017. Call toClaimant. Again, this was actually areturn call because I used their callback system. I asked the representative about the supposedcall on 9/5 and she (Tamera) said that the call was made but “dropped” beforeit was completed. She could not explainwhy the entry was made if the call was “dropped” nor why the caller did notattempt to place the call again. Again,I asked where the checks were because they had not arrived in “5-7 workingdays.” She responded that she didn’tunderstand why I was told “5-7 working days” since the criteria they use is “10mail days.” When I asked her what thatmeant she could not define it but that the holiday (Labor Day) probably causedan additional delay; even though whatever the definition of “10 mail days” is,Labor Day was after that. Because ofthat I was told to wait yet another “few days.”

In each instance with these phone calls I confirmed mymailing address and (with the exception of the one on 8/25) I was given theoption of having payment stopped on the checks and new checks issued.

Trip Mate’s Claim Status screen for our claim shows that apayment was made and lists check numbers; however, no amounts are shown. (Separatechecks for myself and my wife.) At onepoint previously, when I was checking the site, there was an entry in theamount column for each of us. Unfortunately,I did not capture the screen at the time.

The information displayed at Trip Mate for our claim alsoincludes a claim status display for each of us. Both of these displays show that our claim is “paid closed” although wehave never received any checks.

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Are you looking for suggestions on what to do or just letting everyone know about the problems you are experiencing?

 

I had never heard of this company until I saw your post and did a google search.

 

 

Sorry you have had to encounter all of this.

 

 

Keith

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Lots of complaints about this company, I have no experience with them. I would add that waiting since mid-August is not very long for a claim to be processed.

 

Suggest you call again and tell them you will be filing a complaint with your state's department of insurance (no idea where "niceville" is) if you don't receive settlement.

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Are you looking for suggestions on what to do or just letting everyone know about the problems you are experiencing?

 

I had never heard of this company until I saw your post and did a google search.

 

 

Sorry you have had to encounter all of this.

 

 

Keith

I am merely posting so that people know NOT to use Trip Mate insurance re: who they are the preferred insurance company for in re: to cruising.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would only add that Trip Mate is the claims processor for several third party brands of well-known insurance (MHRoss, Travel Safe, Global Alert and Trip Mate, last time I checked). In addition, they are the processor for several well-known cruise and tour/travel companies' self-branded insurance (Viking and Overseas Adventure Travel come to mind). I will not use any of them in the future, despite otherwise high marks, because of the unacceptable delays in processing by Trip Mate.

Edited by cherylandtk
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Update on Trip Mate insurance--

It has been a fiasco but thanks to the wonderful customer service of Steven and Sue at Viking River Cruises--and our amazing TA-- we have finally received payment from Trip Mate. Many inconsistent statements from the company finally resulted in the checks arriving but it required a great deal of agony and effort on the part of all-- for our benefit!

Lesson learned---never again!! It is hard enough to have to go through the process without having to put up with deception and shenanigans from the company.

Thank you Steven, Sue and Donna!!

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  • 3 months later...

Very interesting, I have done extensive research about purchasing trip insurance for our upcoming Viking river cruise. I have 3 more days to make this decision and Trip Mate is their policy which gets the WORST reviews I have ever seen! I am mainly interested in recouping at least 75% if I cannot go on our cruise. It is very expensive and I am just dumfounded how such a high class, successful company uses a travel insurance company with such bad reviews. I really wanted to use their insurance, but find myself doing the independent travel insurance instead .

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  • 1 month later...

Without going into too many details, we were excited to go on our first Viking cruise and were told the insurance and flight was part of the package. The flight was delayed and we missed the cruise along with 17 other people. Viking was terrific in handling the issues on their end but we have been trying to recoup our money since early December with a run around. Viking gives little help, even though Trip Mate is their vendor. We have written letters and made phone calls to our State's insurance commission as well as Missouri where Trip Mate is located.

Bottom line is- Never use this company despite what Viking tells you. Book independently. We will persist as long as it takes to get what is rightfully owed to us but it is very time consuming and aggravating.

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  • 7 months later...

Who did you guys end up using for trip insurance? We are to take a viking river cruise in june 2019 and are shopping for insurance. Staying far far away from the viking insurance

 

looking at berkshire hathaway and aig?

 

thanks!

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Or use

 

www.TripInsuranceStore.com

 

But CALL them, so you get all of the important details/find print worked out right.

 

We've used them to purchase policies from Travel Insured. We've had several claims, and they've been paid promptly, with no nonsense, and that's what matters, after all...!

 

Your needs might differ from ours, of course, so you'll want to ask about comparing policies that are most suitable for your purposes.

 

GC

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My DH and I used Viking's insurer (Trip Mate) for the inaugural Viking Ocean World Cruise (141 days). Our claim for medical expenses (meds and supplies only as doctor exp was covered for world cruise) was taken care of although it took some time for a number of reasons not their fault. Anyway I will use them again. All travel insurance providers have their quirks.

 

Sent from my SM-T377V using Forums mobile app

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