TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Filing an insurance claim 101.

As many of us have been required to purchase insurance to travel to the BVI,
On 12/30/21 I actually had to use mine when I tested positive for covid two days before travel and had to cancel the entire trip.

Here is a summary of my experience so far.

Insurance Claim Experience
My trip to the BVI was canceled before we got off the ground due to positive covid test.
Fortunately, we had trip insurance. World Nomads
A company called Trip Mate handles all the claim processing.

Cancelling just two days before travel, we had the expenses:
1. Charter from Horizon Yacht Charters. ( No refund )
2. Air from Jet Blue. ( Tickets put on hold for one year. )
3. Lodging from Hilton ( full refund by Hilton)
4. Lodging from Nanny Cay Resort ( full refund by Nanny Cay )
5. Govt fishing license. (No refund)
6. Provision Orders ( Canceled no fees )

I filed the claim for the
1. full charter amount,
2. Full air fare ( we wont we able to use the tickets)
5. govt fishing license fee.

As you would expect, it been a very slow process.
After filing my original claim with Trip Mate on 01/06/22, we were notified that the claims documents had been received.
It took about 30 days for someone to actually look at the documents.

More to come

Continued:
I was notified on 02/05/22 that Trip Mate needed additional information.

1. Horizon Charters send a receipt to me showing the full amt of charter paid. I send this to Trip Mate.
Update: Had to get the receipt updated to reflect the charter had been canceled with $00.00 refund

2. Jet Blue put my tickets (4) on hold for one year when I canceled. I send Trip Mate a copy of the cancelation.
Update: Insurance will not refund tickets that you have on hold. Tickets must be canceled w/o hold, points, refund.
I called Jet Blue to make this happen. Took three hours to get to a supervisor who could help.
I explained, we have no plans to travel on Jet Blue in the next year, so we are going to lose these tickets and the $$ at the end of one year. Supervisor agreed.
I said I wanted Jet Blue to make this happen now, Cancel the tickets, keep the $$, and send me a receipt that I can file for the insurance claim that shows $00 refund.

The supervisor’s head about exploded. After a long pause he said that they had never had this sort of request before. I explained I was just playing the insurance game and needed this for a full refund.
He put me on hold for another 20 minutes and when he came back on the line,
he said Jet Blue was going to just refund our tickets in full.

Now my head exploded.
Air fare refund should show up in 7 to 10 business days.

Notified Trip Mate of the change is claim amount. Trip Mate acknowledged my change and said,
Please note, our review time is 30 days from the date the additional information was received.

More updates as the come in.

Fun. Sorry you had to cancel your trip. Following.

Wow, Horizon Charters did not offer to defer your trip for another time? That is not nice of them.

Hey Maria and Steve,
Horizon has been very understanding during this time of covid. They and the boat owner held my reservation made in January 2020 all the way to Jan 2022. The original hold was due to the BVI being closed for travel due to covid. They also kept the booking when the quarantine requirement was in force.

This latest cancelation was due to covid but made at the last minute and gave them no time to rebook the boat. Horizons refund policy is very clear about last minute cancels for any reason. No refund.

This is why Horizon, and most charter companies highly recommend travel insurance. They were very happy to hear I did have insurance and they are working with the insurance co. to insure I get refunded the full amt of charter.

I am very pleased with Horizon's service before and after the cancelation and will book with them again for my next BVI based charter.

"Now my head exploded" lol, Cwoody. Good story and good on Jet Blue for refunding in the end. One sure way to get the airlines to not refund nor put your tickets on hold is to just not show up for your flight without cancelling. Thanks for sharing your experience. Sorry you had to cancel your trip and hope your positive case was not serious.

Good idea....
Hoping not to repeat this but I'll keep in mind.
Wonder if airlines send you a "failure to appear" notice?

Ultimately, it would be the boat owner who would lose money as a charter could not be rebooked. Why should Horizon or boat owner be responsible when they encouraged you to purchase trip insurance? People don't like purchasing insurance until they need it. I see it happening with patients every day, when they need emergency surgery . "I don't have insurance because it is so expensive(meanwhile designer clothes, bling and BMWs)" .... If you think insurance is expensive, see how expensive not having (health) insurance is.