Allianz Travel Insurance/Allianz Global Assistance/Delta Airlines Travel Insurance Provider Cites Loopholes in Policy Language to Reject Claims for Trip Cancellation Refund Richmond, VA Nationwide

My employer (of 9 years) told me they needed me to travel to Taiwan for two months for a business trip. Because the trip was to be so long, I had planned to have my significant other accompany me. My employer paid for my airfare and I paid for an identical itinerary on Delta Airlines for my significant other. The airfare was $1608.46 after all taxes and fees. I also purchased the Allianz Travel Insurance for and additional $189.00 (total cost of $1797.46).

I purchased the Travel Insurance for three main reasons:
1. Peace of mind while travelling. My bags would be covered by American Express due to the way I booked my airfare through my employer. I wanted my significant other to be covered as well.
2. Medical coverage abroad. My significant other uses an insurance plan that does not extend coverage to her while abroad, and two months without insurance in a foreign country seemed an unreasonable risk.
3. Trip cancellation protection. My employer had recently announced a massive layoff and there was a very real possibility that I would lose my job and need to cancel the trip.

Sidebar: While I personally would have purchased the Travel Insurance protection for reasons 1 and 2 alone, I can see why someone would purchase this coverage simply for the Trip Cancellation protection. All economy class tickets purchased from Delta Airlines for this flight are non-refundable. Refundable tickets (business class) were priced at $4500 - three times the price of economy class. Economy class with Trip Protection is the only economical option for most consumers.

I purchased the airfare on April 26th, 2016. I was told at the time of purchase that the travel insurance had to be purchased separately due to payment being made through PayPal. I added the travel insurance on April 29th, 2016 payment via Mastercard.

I was hesitant to make the purchase with the impending layoffs at work, but after reading the Travel Insurance policy documentation I felt confident that in the unlikely event that I, the travelling companio, to the named policy holder, my significant other, was laid off, that we could refund the cost of the trip under the Trip Cancellation policy.

Below is the entire language from the policy documentation discussing trip cancellation coverage relating to work:

"Work Termination or layoff You or a traveling companion is terminated or laid off from a company after your plan’s effective date. Specific requirements: (all must apply) ï‚· The termination or layoff isn’t your fault; and ï‚· You worked for this employer for at least three continuous years."

Unfortunately, the odds of me being included in the layoff were not as "unlikely" as I had hoped. On May 5, 2016 my boss informed me that he no longer had a job for me. My employer had previously made arrangements with the travel agency that they can exchange the airfare they had purchased for me, but I was still on the hook for the $1797.46 I had paid for my significant other to accompany me. I was fortunate that even though my position was being eliminated, my skills were valuable in other parts of the company. I interviewed for, and received a new position in another division of the company. I then began the process of cancelling the trip to Taiwan, which began the nightmare with Allianz Travel Insurance. I would seek a refund of $1608.46 - not expecting to receive the $189 insurance premium refunded.

I called Allianz Customer Service on May 6th, and the gentleman that answered told me that my claim should be covered and told me how to navigate their website to submit a claim. I uploaded all of the documentation that I could come up with and submitted the claim on May 9th. I immediately received an email stating that my documents had been received and that they would take up to 10 days to review. They offered a link where I could check the status of my claim. I had not heard anything after 9 days (on May 18th, 2016), so I checked the link and found a letter stating that my claim had been denied. They said it was a "named perils" policy and that "cancelling your business trip due to your traveling companion no longer works in the department they were scheduled to travel for business is not included among those reasons." I disagree. While Allianz does not provide much in terms of legal language and disclaimer, the limited language they do provide seems to indicate that this is exactly the situation that they would cover. 

I, the travelling companion of named insured, was informed by my employer of 9 years that my position within the company was being eliminated. This information came after the plans effective date and prior to travel.

It is irrelevant that I have since then obtained another job within the company. The policy documents do not declare that the named insured or travelling companion be in any specific financial crisis or state of unemployment to file the claim.

I have submitted an appeal to Allianz on May 18th, 2016 (5 days ago), but have not yet heard a response. I called customer service again today and they told me to resend my request for appeal because they may not have received it.

I consider myself fortunate that I can financially tolerate this charge on my credit card at this time, but I understand that this happens to many people all the time. It is a cruel injustice and I have decided to make it my mission to correct this for the benefit of all the people that do not have the time, patience, or resources to fight for their rights.

Booking a flight is, in essence, a reservation for a service. Cancelling that reservation should be a full-refund process. No service was rendered and the airline is free to sell your reserved seat to another traveller - especially in circumstances where adequate notice is given before travel. However, as it stands, a consumer is unable to obtain a refund for their purchase even if they wish to cancel within minutes of making the reservation. Refundable tickets are only offered to those travellers with substatially larger disposable incomes. Consumers are told that their ticket will be refundable if they purchase an additional Travel Insurance Policy, but the underwriters for these policies make every effort to scam and swindle the consumer in order to avoid paying out any claims.

Furthermore, I was told that my $189 insurance premium was not refundable.

I hope that Allianz eventually approves my claim and refunds my airfare, taxes, fees, and ideally the insurance premium, but I am focusing now on the bigger bigture. This process is too difficult. The responses I have received from Allianz Travel Insurance feel criminal. I can only imagine how many people are swindled out of their hard-earned money through similar circumstances. I am currently looking into filing a class action lawsuit against Allianz Travel Insurance or perhaps against all airline providers for their policy of non-refundable airfare.

Please reply of you have information that may help me push this case forward, if you have a similar situation and wish to join this class, or if you are a lawyer that wishes to present this case.

Thank you.