It's interesting to hear other people's experience about insurance claim. My last flight delay claim (weather related) did not go well.
My first attempt was through my TD Visa but was told that flight delay was not covered - I was wondering what I actually get for paying the $120 annual fee
. Luckily, I purchased a separate travel insurance due to the cost of the trip. When I called, the agent on the phone told me that weather related flight delay is covered and I need to submit all the document for the process, so I did. One week later, I got a phone call from the insurance company explaining to me that my claim was denied (the situation is a bit different). I argued the situation with the agent but she explained to me that my documents did not support the covered risks. Also, she told me my interpretation of the policy did not affect their decision. I think the insurance companies all have the same attitude that they have the final say of the decision regardless of how we interpret the policies. Therefore, I decided not to do business with this company again. And of course, I cancelled that TD Visa card as well.
Back to the Mauricio23's story, technically, the insurance company did what it's supposed to do by evaluating the documents against the policies. Is it not the airline's responsibility to provide the fact of the event to the passengers for insurance claims, e.g., "inbound flight delay due to weather conditions"? This statement definitely supports the claim under the flight delay policy offered by Capital One and other credit card companies.
On the other hand, I don't know if the insurance companies would have more power requesting further information from the airlines that the passengers can't get. If so, they should really do. Denying a claim based on the proof the passengers cannot get is the wrong practice and not fair. It makes the passengers caught in between the airlines and the insurance companies. How can the airlines get away with it in this case without being blamed?
After my experience above, I actually read a few travel insurance policies. Many of them have similar clauses to cover the flight delay due to weather, mechanic failure, etc. AMEX's policy is in fact very generous without asking for the reason of the flight delay. If the airlines only produce something like "inbound flight delayed" without giving a reason, that's very irresponsible, in my opinion.
I hope Andrew (AMCyyz) is able to make some changes from this Mauricio23's story (e.g., forcing the insurance company to request further information from the airlines if the passengers aren't able to), so we can all benefit in the future.