Princess Travel Care :-(

[JeanieRich]

I went with Vacations To Go hosted singles cruises in October/November 2007 aboard the Golden Princess. I've cruised many times and Princess is only fair to good compared to Royal Caribbean and Carnival to my way of thinking. The worst was when I got to my home city via United Air Lines and found one of my suitcases had a 20 inch tear in it and the contents were spilling out all over. I asked the United agent if I could file a claim for damaged luggage and he replied "no, we do not accept claims for torn zippers." That was ok, I had the insurance from Princess or so I thought. What followed was a months long avoidance to pay my (small) claim from Princess Travel Care. There were only 2 damaged items and 3 lost items! I keep getting form letters asking for a police report which isn't issued for torn zippers! I refuse to travel with Princess again until they pay what they should as defined in thier insurance plan. I am wondering if anyone else has had a problem with Princess Travel Care and how they resolved the issue. Thank you, JeanieRich

[LARGIN]

Did Princess book your flight on United?

[DetroitMark]

This sounds more like an issue with the insurance agency, which granted, Princess has chosen to associate itself with.

 

I'd be curious to hear how this pans out. Seems like if they wanted to do the right thing they'd just pay for the damned articles and be done with it.

 

Insurance agencies seem to be doing more and more what health insurance agencies are doing: Making a profit by scheming up clever new ways to deny claims.

 

This will continue to happen until everyone makes a fuss.

[BJS]

I went with Vacations To Go hosted singles cruises in October/November 2007 aboard the Golden Princess. I've cruised many times and Princess is only fair to good compared to Royal Caribbean and Carnival to my way of thinking. The worst was when I got to my home city via United Air Lines and found one of my suitcases had a 20 inch tear in it and the contents were spilling out all over. I asked the United agent if I could file a claim for damaged luggage and he replied "no, we do not accept claims for torn zippers." That was ok, I had the insurance from Princess or so I thought. What followed was a months long avoidance to pay my (small) claim from Princess Travel Care. There were only 2 damaged items and 3 lost items! I keep getting form letters asking for a police report which isn't issued for torn zippers! I refuse to travel with Princess again until they pay what they should as defined in thier insurance plan. I am wondering if anyone else has had a problem with Princess Travel Care and how they resolved the issue. Thank you, JeanieRich

 

We have used it twice for cruises we had to cancel after final payment for medical reasons and both times they paid within a week of us submitting the form which was e-mailed to us within a day and the required doctor's form.

 

Have you tried calling Berkely Care and speaking with some one. If not they can possibly advise you how to handle this case since there is no police report. 1-800-453-4069.

 

 

The following information is stated in the Princess Travel Care booklet that you were provided:

 

Baggage coverage is secondary to any coverage provided by a Common Carrier. (You have already stated United will not cover the damage.) They also state that you need to supply police reportsd or claims reports from the airline for the damage so assuming you filed a claim report with United that should take the place of the police report. In the event of a baggage claim, receipts for damaged items will be required.

 

It is your decision not to travel with Princess again because of this insurance problem but it is not a Princess problem but rather a Berkley Care Insurance issue for which Princess is not involved.

 

.

[Toto2Kansas]

Soft sided luggage is now a problem for the airlines. Last I checked, tears or broken zippers were not covered. I would guess that it is the same with the insurance purchased for your trip.

 

As asked, did you book your air with Princess or privately? If you booked privately, Princess insurance will not cover any mishaps for the flight.

[Happy2cruise]

We had that problem with a piece of luggage on our November cruise. When we got back to our home terminal one of our bags was ripped along the zipper. We went to the airline office and without hestiation they issued us a claim voucher for $50. Love that Jet Blue!!!!!!!!!!!

[chasetf]

I went with Vacations To Go hosted singles cruises in October/November 2007 aboard the Golden Princess. I've cruised many times and Princess is only fair to good compared to Royal Caribbean and Carnival to my way of thinking. The worst was when I got to my home city via United Air Lines and found one of my suitcases had a 20 inch tear in it and the contents were spilling out all over. I asked the United agent if I could file a claim for damaged luggage and he replied "no, we do not accept claims for torn zippers." That was ok, I had the insurance from Princess or so I thought. What followed was a months long avoidance to pay my (small) claim from Princess Travel Care. There were only 2 damaged items and 3 lost items! I keep getting form letters asking for a police report which isn't issued for torn zippers! I refuse to travel with Princess again until they pay what they should as defined in thier insurance plan. I am wondering if anyone else has had a problem with Princess Travel Care and how they resolved the issue. Thank you, JeanieRich

Well... given you have struck out with the cruise line and airline....... :o

 

Maybe your next steps could be your home insurance, the store you bought the luggage from, the manufacture.......... ;) :rolleyes:

[willysgrandma]

Have you tried to get Vacations to Go to assist you with this? A good travel agent would do what they could to help you.

[vmom]

The travel insurance issued by RCCL is also underwritten by Berkley Care.

 

You would be having the same issues whether you traveled with Princess or RCCL since it is the insurance company you are dealing with, not the cruiseline...and BOTH have the same insurance company underwriting their policies.

[LARGIN]

Would be nice if the OP would post again with some answers.. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[mj3396]

We have had to use Princess Insurance twice. Once for a medical issue and once for luggage. They give you quite a list of things that you must do for them to pay for luggage. But once we did all the steps they paid within 10 days. But is was aggravating. Good luck.

[cruiseco]

A baggage claim will almost always require a third-party report of some kind -- police report, something from the airline, etc.

 

The best way to handle these types of things is to immediately call the insurer and ask for advice at that time. In this case it would be before leaving the airport. They will tell you what is needed (in this case probably just something from the airline verifying that the zipper was broken, not necessarily someting saying that the airline takes responsibility). If you leave and don't have something in hand it will be impossible to get it later.

 

ANY time there is a situation that you think might turn into a claim call the insurer right away and get some advice as to how to proceed. It's a free call and will make everything much easier down the road.

[Lynda90]

When I recently returned from my Hawaiian cruise, I discovered a big gash in my new suitcase after I got home. I put a piece of duct tape on the underneath side of the gash and at least it's usable and really doesn't show. Didn't even occur to me to file a claim, even though I did have insurance. I really wasn't even sure if the rip was due to Princess or the airline. I just chalked it up to things that happen while traveling. And, of course it never happens to the old luggage which I also had with me.:D

[chasetf]

When I recently returned from my Hawaiian cruise, I discovered a big gash in my new suitcase after I got home. I put a piece of duct tape on the underneath side of the gash and at least it's usable and really doesn't show. Didn't even occur to me to file a claim, even though I did have insurance. .........:D

I think the major difference is with the OP they refused the claim for a torn zipper. Logic probably is the zipper failed due to manufacturer's defect rather that airline handling. With a big gash in the side it is hard for the airline to claim a possible manufacturer's defect. ;)

[Lynda90]

I think the major difference is with the OP they refused the claim for a torn zipper. Logic probably is the zipper failed due to manufacturer's defect rather that airline handling. With a big gash in the side it is hard for the airline to claim a possible manufacturer's defect. ;)

The problem is that I used that new valet luggage service that Princess is offering. I put my luggage out at night and didn't see it again until I got to my home airport so I don't know where the fault lies. Doesn't really matter as it was a very inexpensive piece of luggage. I purposly don't take my good luggage with me. Don't really know what I'm saving it for. At this rate I'll never use it.:p :D