Travel Insurance: The Strangest Claims of 2018

Cover-More badyzed its claims until 2018 and uncovered some absolute pearls – as well as the more common issues raised by travelers.

According to his data from 2018, the refusal to board a flight was the most important claim ground in terms of rapid growth, with an impressive 350% increase over the previous year.

The number of travelers who had to make a claim after missing a connection doubled this year, followed by stolen or damaged rental cars (75% increase) and travel delays (56% increase).

The disease was fifth on the list, with a 19% increase over the previous year, and the number of cancellation-related claims remained about the same. However, just weeks before the end of December, Cover-More is waiting for it to climb.

Several new types of claims in 2018 did not exist in 2017.

These included "cabin confinement", which required cruise pbadengers to remain in their cabs due to illness, missed ports during cruises and travel amendments, in which travelers had to be covered to make changes. to their mid-trip arrangements.

Banknote protection was another new entry in 2018.

"This is an important year on the road and our claims figures show the importance of having the right insurance coverage for your travels," said Glenn Broadhurst, Cover-More's chief executive officer for digital and mobile. the direct.

"Prevention is better than cure, especially when it comes to medical coverage, missed connections or vacation cancellations, which can be very costly for travelers who are not adequately covered for these unfortunate and unplanned circumstances.

"No one wants to be the unfortunate traveler stuck without his luggage, in front of a stolen rental car, which has run out of illness or unable to board or connect, and in those moments, nothing is worth having travel insurance, especially when it can save travelers hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. "

As promised, among the usual problems, there were some really unusual complaints from Cover-More's policyholders in 2018.

They included a traveler whose baggage had been delayed by an airline, but who only claimed the price of his razor, while heading to a nudist camp and not packing clothes.

A vacationer in New York was attacked by a squirrel who they were trying to photograph and found himself with a nasty bite accompanied by a medical bill of $ 3,000.

In another case, a foreign traveler did not check back and forth before crossing the street and hit a cyclist with his suitcase, which caused him to fall to the ground.

The injured cyclist was introduced to the police and, as the traveler had already rushed to the airport to catch his flight, he hired a lawyer to conduct police investigations. . The traveler ended up having to pay $ 3,250 to the victim as well as the attorney's fees.

And in a truly strange incident, a husband and wife in Samoa made a claim after a hairy incident involving a turtle at the Malua turtle feeding pond in Upolu.

The woman was feeding the turtle when she bit her hand and pulled her to the water. Her husband, in an attempt to save her, also took the lead first in the water.

The couple claimed for his smartphones and a pair of sunglbades.

Then there were the claims that seemed trivial but eventually exploded into disaster.

A Cover-More traveler was struck by a dreaded light bulb after exploring a town on foot, but when the light bulb was infected, the man was found with a limp and a medical bill exceeding $ 20,000.

Another traveler in the United States contracted a urinary tract infection, which ultimately cost $ 5,000.

And before another guest goes on a trip, his puppy was bitten by an insect during a walk and became so sick from an infection that the traveler had to cancel his vacation, claiming the $ 3,000 cancellation fee.