Change in Platinum Card Travel Insurance?

[Jane-Doe]

I've "Liked" many of the comments online - and I note I'm not the only person highlighting those comments

 

[Deleted member 18152]

So what insurance policies are the soon to be ex Plat Charge customers going to??? I'm now looking for a good high end one....

 

[greenfrog86]

I just spoke to ACE again and it sounds like they've finally given their staff some support in understanding the changes and how ACE would likely act on them in certain circumstances.

The person I spoke to conversed with more confidence than the last one I spoke to and almost sounded like he was reading from a script (which is a good thing when it comes to insurance as you want consistency and predictability!!).

He had this to say in terms of activating the insurance...

If you pay for your flights out of and into Australia on your card you will have done enough to activate the travel insurance. This also activates the TAC for that portion of the trip.

However if you were to go on any side trips using a common carrier conveyance and these are paid for using other means, you will not be covered for the TAC however you will still be covered for medical expenses and the like.

He also explained the use of frequent flyer points and what would be required if you were claiming when you had paid for your ticket using QFF points for instance.
The explanation given here was that you need to be able to show that you have transferred enough MR points to cover the ticket purchase, and this can be over any period of time.

When making a claim, they would expect you to show the following
1) that you paid for your ticket using frequent flyer points eg QFF (which I would expect would show on your ticket which they would ask for anyway)
2) that you paid any other costs for that ticket (eg taxes) on your Amex Card
3) that you have transferred enough MR points over time into said FF program to cover the cost of the ticket

They would not expect you to do some kind of complex points reconciliation etc so it doesn't matter if you've been earning and burning with QFF, just that the same amount of points out for your ticket have gone in via Amex MR...

I must say that this does give me more confidence in this insurance cover, however I'll still be looking at all of the excess amounts they have introduced and will make sure that despite being young and healthy, none of their pre-existing conditions might trip me up

 

[aasz1978]

I just spoke to ACE again and it sounds like they've finally given their staff some support in understanding the changes and how ACE would likely act on them in certain circumstances.

The person I spoke to conversed with more confidence than the last one I spoke to and almost sounded like he was reading from a script (which is a good thing when it comes to insurance as you want consistency and predictability!!).

He had this to say in terms of activating the insurance...

If you pay for your flights out of and into Australia on your card you will have done enough to activate the travel insurance. This also activates the TAC for that portion of the trip.

However if you were to go on any side trips using a common carrier conveyance and these are paid for using other means, you will not be covered for the TAC however you will still be covered for medical expenses and the like.

He also explained the use of frequent flyer points and what would be required if you were claiming when you had paid for your ticket using QFF points for instance.
The explanation given here was that you need to be able to show that you have transferred enough MR points to cover the ticket purchase, and this can be over any period of time.

When making a claim, they would expect you to show the following
1) that you paid for your ticket using frequent flyer points eg QFF (which I would expect would show on your ticket which they would ask for anyway)
2) that you paid any other costs for that ticket (eg taxes) on your Amex Card
3) that you have transferred enough MR points over time into said FF program to cover the cost of the ticket

They would not expect you to do some kind of complex points reconciliation etc so it doesn't matter if you've been earning and burning with QFF, just that the same amount of points out for your ticket have gone in via Amex MR...

I must say that this does give me more confidence in this insurance cover, however I'll still be looking at all of the excess amounts they have introduced and will make sure that despite being young and healthy, none of their pre-existing conditions might trip me up

If I read this correctly, are they suggesting that if you don't use your AMEX for Public Transport, you won't be covered for TAC insurance?

Problem is in practice, not too many Public Transport will accept AMEX for payment. Thereby, the TAC component of the new insurance is effectively useless.

 

[thehound]

If you pay for your flights out of and into Australia on your card you will have done enough to activate the travel insurance. This also activates the TAC for that portion of the trip.

This may well be the intent of the policy, but that's the problem that everyone on here has with this new policy - that intent is not 100% clear and indisputable in the wording of the PDS! I feel no comfort from the fact you talked to a more confident rep, because the vague wording of the policy remains unchanged. And if the policy doesn't explicitly and unambiguously state that it's activated with flights into and out of Australia only, then the uncertainty makes the insurance worthless.

If Amex could learn only one thing from the hundreds of complaints they've no doubt received, it should be that the policy needs amending to clarify basic descriptions of what activates this coverage, such as 'full fare'.

 

[greenfrog86]

This may well be the intent of the policy, but that's the problem that everyone on here has with this new policy - that intent is not 100% clear and indisputable in the wording of the PDS! I feel no comfort from the fact you talked to a more confident rep, because the vague wording of the policy remains unchanged. And if the policy doesn't explicitly and unambiguously state that it's activated with flights into and out of Australia only, then the uncertainty makes the insurance worthless.

If Amex could learn only one thing from the hundreds of complaints they've no doubt received, it should be that the policy needs amending to clarify basic descriptions of what activates this coverage, such as 'full fare'.

I agree that people will still have issues with the wording, however I thought I'd share what I have heard in order to assist others in making a decision regarding what they want to do.

I would still be nervous if my travel booking was paid for in a piecemeal fashion with different methods etc, however for a straight booking on the Amex I'm now more confident in being covered.

The wording does indicate that the 'trip' is a trip outside your country of residence, starting and ending in that country. So if you pay for this 'trip' that would be my understanding of the coverage activation.

In response to the question about TAC and Public Transport, Taxis etc yes that is correct that you will not be covered if you do not pay for that transport method on your card.

The TAC coverage is a compensatory payment rather than 'travel insurance' so if you were on a train (that you did not pay for on your card) that crashed and you lost a limb you would be covered in terms of medical expenses to patch you up and possibly return you home, however you would not be eligible for the calculated lump sum payout for losing a limb.

As always, everyone needs to make their own decisions about whether they feel this insurance is adequate for their needs and whether they wish to rely on it.

Whilst thehound clearly does not, others might and so I am suggesting that if you've had a poor conversation with ACE in the past, you may have your questions better answered if you speak to them now as they have clearly been taking the complaints and questions on board and formulating a 'house view' about how they would deal with them.

I agree with thehound that whilst they are not specifically detailed clearly in the policy they are open to interpretation and speculation, I feel more confident that they are getting their house in order.

If you were to sue them for a denied claim you could require them to produce the call centre scripts etc that they are using which would articulate this house view, so they would be in a poor position should they choose to tell customers one thing and then assess claims in a contradictory manner... (that's not to say they wouldn't try this, but I doubt anyone on here would give up on a fight easily!)

 

[greenfrog86]

This may well be the intent of the policy, but that's the problem that everyone on here has with this new policy - that intent is not 100% clear and indisputable in the wording of the PDS! I feel no comfort from the fact you talked to a more confident rep, because the vague wording of the policy remains unchanged. And if the policy doesn't explicitly and unambiguously state that it's activated with flights into and out of Australia only, then the uncertainty makes the insurance worthless.

If Amex could learn only one thing from the hundreds of complaints they've no doubt received, it should be that the policy needs amending to clarify basic descriptions of what activates this coverage, such as 'full fare'.

I've now had the same information confirmed in writing by ACE.

I posed the London/Berlin example to them, asked about the flights from/to Australia for activation, and also asked about what the Claims Dept would require in terms of proof that MR points had been transferred to QF and then used to pay for the flight.

Again, this won't satisfy everyone but gives me a greater level of comfort in using the insurance.

 

[LuisT]

Can anyone confirm whether the change affects the Platinum Business card as well? I saw in another thread someone mentioned that it wasn't affected, but can't seem to find any information and the insurance T&Cs I found are from 2010...

 

[11sjw]

Can anyone confirm whether the change affects the Platinum Business card as well? I saw in another thread someone mentioned that it wasn't affected, but can't seem to find any information and the insurance T&Cs I found are from 2010...

What Ts & Cs are currently mentioned on the website?

 

[moa999]

greenfrog,
Are you able to post the "in writing" response on this site?

 

[LuisT]

What Ts & Cs are currently mentioned on the website?

These are the T&Cs I could find:

https://secure.cmax.americanexpress...sandconditions/SBSPlatinum/THEPLATINUM_v1.pdf

Was just wondering if anyone who has the card got the same letter about the change in insurance?

 

[11sjw]

These are the T&Cs I could find:

https://secure.cmax.americanexpress.com/Internet/International/japa/AU_en/Small%20Business/shared/Pdfs/NEEDHELP/Getassistance/Cardtermsandconditions/SBSPlatinum/THEPLATINUM_v1.pdf

Was just wondering if anyone who has the card got the same letter about the change in insurance?

In lieu of receiving any such letter. Ring and find out.

I have a charge card (non business) and confirmed I'd be on the old Ts & Cs for a trip in July that was booked last October.

 

[PaulZ]

I have spoken to a "SBS Business Development Executive" in recent weeks about any possible changes to the Platinum Business insurance policy.

He has confirmed that there are no changes planned. During briefings with his managers they went through the changes to the personal card, but it was specifically noted at that time that nothing was planned for the business card...

however... things can always change... but there is nothing planned.

 

[SeaWolf]

Just received the updated travel insurance for the Platinum Edge card. There's not much left that it does cover now. No more insolvency cover, if the airline goes bust (Air Australia) then you're on your own. Also, where previously the travel cancellation part had a list of exclusions, now it excludes everything and has a list of inclusions, and it's a pretty limited list. The excesses have gone up on everything. The coverage is, frankly, extremely poor when you view it against their competitors. In fact even the coverage that comes with free cards (NAB Gold Debit, Bankwest Zero Gold) is much superior now.
Think I'll be looking elsewhere for my travel insurance needs...

 

[beardoc]

I have spoken to a "SBS Business Development Executive" in recent weeks about any possible changes to the Platinum Business insurance policy.

He has confirmed that there are no changes planned. During briefings with his managers they went through the changes to the personal card, but it was specifically noted at that time that nothing was planned for the business card...

however... things can always change... but there is nothing planned.

It might be time for me to switch over to the Business Card then. $1200 instead of $900 for access to the old policy is still worthwhile for me.

 

[nlagalle]

It might be time for me to switch over to the Business Card then. $1200 instead of $900 for access to the old policy is still worthwhile for me.

You can normally get both cards for $1200. That's what they offered me. But beware, they'll stop the business card at the drop of a hat, plus they wanted all sorts of financial records. I cancelled mine after 6 weeks

 

[sparoz]

Had mine for years and didn't have any problem. Also, the insurance payout is higher, and higher point cap.

 

[Deleted member]

So what insurance policies are the soon to be ex Plat Charge customers going to??? I'm now looking for a good high end one....

If the centurion card were not unreasonably priced I might have taken up the offer.. It is still just too dear for what it is

 

[Deleted member]

I wonder if Amex had considered the option of an "upgrade" on the plat card to keep the old travel ins T&C say and extra hundred or so per annum?

 

[lovestotravel]

But beware, they'll stop the business card at the drop of a hat, plus they wanted all sorts of financial records. I cancelled mine after 6 weeks

I have lost track of the number of arguments I have had with Amex with the Gold business charge card, as every few months they will demand payment of the account 2-3 weeks before the due date. Then they demanded bank statments and profit and loss statments and similar documents from our accountant. I refused and said the card has been approved and I'll make payment on the due date. Of course the card was cut off until the amount was paid...........

I have since stopped using the card for large purchases and use a Westpac Amex card instead...