Visitors Insurance

Reference to Policy number - 4030/W-369655/00/000 - I have taken an overseas travel policy in Chennai for a travel to US for 6 months. Based on the policy’s refund procedure, I am eligible for a refund of the unused portion (3+ months) because of my returning back to India.

I am a senior citizen, and I had to talk more than 6 times, and Email more than 8 times with the customer service of ICICI Lombard, in vain, and till date I have not received the refund, even after escalating the details to the grievance people as advertised in their website (Three names are mentioned), however, they do not even have professional ethics to respond to customer query.

I am old enough to raise this battle legally, and with such a pathetic customer service, I would strongly not recommened anyone to take any of ICICI Lombard’s policies. In case of any requirements as to details of this case, I would be happy to provide.

I have paid around Rs.19000 in terms of premium amount, on which, almost half of the amount is eligible for refund for non-usage, as per the policy terms. There are no claims or whatsoever against the policy, however, I am getting same responses on different dates from a customer service professional - Pankaj Chettri, that I have claimed an amount of Rs.300USD! (same as in his mail) If this is the case, ICICI should be paying me this money back! However, this cannot happen, as there was no such claim. I am getting a sense that ICICI enters in fradulent transactions similar to what I have quoted above, and probably, some bigger fish is yet unrevealed.

If you want to waste your money, energy and time, get disrepected and cheated, you have to knock at ICICI Lombard for a policy.

No response for mails, calls nor getting refund of claim amount from 3 months till the date
Kind Attn : Bajaj Allianz team,

IHSP Travel iTrack No 38582209 / PRAKASH PATIL / OG-11-2001-9910-00003415/ Claim for Others / Trip Cancellation & IHSP Travel iTrack No 38582185 / ASHA PATIL/OG-11-2001-9910-00003416/ Claim for Trip cancellation

This is with reference to the above subject, I am really upset with your non-systematic process, irresponsibility, poor response & pathetic service. I am waiting for my claim since past three months. We neither are getting any good & proper response from your side till the date. This is really ridiculous. I am following up with bajaj people on regular basis regarding my claim. They just keep on demanding for more & more documents, even though i have submitted all the necessary documents required for Bajaj Allianz from me.

Few points to be noted which is unacceptable as follows,

1)
Though I have clearly mentioned that all Pegasus Airline tickets are completely non-refundable which is marked by marker (Pink colour) as well, still you are asking for refund receipts. So again I request you to study the case in-detail. You can verify with the respective airline regarding non-refundable fees.

2)

Bajaj have asked the proof of visa cost not refunded by visa office. For your information all visa fees are non-refundable. They never ever refund any amount back once visa get stamped on passport & Visa is stamped on the passport which is been submitted. They don’t/won’t give any kind of receipt saying this amount is non-refundable. Bajaj can call up the respective embassy & verify the same.

3)

I had applied for UK visa as well. Here nowhere I seen the cost of UK visa considered in below list . Why is it so...? Only because of the visa receipt has not been provided by me.As per my knowledge the UK visa is stamped on the passport & once visa is stamped on passport, fees are not refund ed. Visa fees are always non-refundable. Visa Office will not provide any such kind of receipt for the same. You can verify the amount with the respective embassy for U.K as well as for Shengen visa.

Kindly consider mine & my wife’s (both) case very seriously & genuinely. I request you to study the case again in-detail.

Waiting for your positive reply at the earliest.

Thanks & regards,

Dr. Prakash Patil/ Mrs. Pallavi Gadekar (daughter)

It has been more than 3 months since I had filed for claim for baggage loss to ICICI Lombard but with irrelevant excuses, they have refused to take the claim ahead.

Policy No. : M006799.15

Somebody please help me in this regards as there has been no response from the ICICI Lombard authorities.

We took the ATLAS AMERICA policy for my Father-In-Law that provides the limited 15K coverage for pre-existing conditions. My Father-In-Law had a bypass Surgery 3 years ago and was doing great and had all his check ups done before coming over here.

After three months of stay, my Father-In-Law experienced some chest pain and all symptoms were indicating a possibility of heart attack and we ended up taking him to the Emergency care. The doctors thought that this was serious and they ran all sorts of lab tests on him. Fortunately the test were all negative and he was released after observation for half a day. The bills added up to less than 15K.

The claims department had initially some misunderstanding regarding the eligibility of the claim as the patient was taking medications for the Bypass Surgery that he had three years ago.

I then contacted Jagruti Khatri at Insubuy and explained the whole situation and sent her the medical reports etc. She was extreamly helpful in contacting the claims department and worked with them and was able to revert the decision in record time of less than two weeks.

The claims department has agreed to reprice all claims upto 15K coverage and pay them. I will post an update when that happens.

Thank you Jagruti, for your prompt support and keeping me informed throughout the process. I could not have asked for anything better. Your support is excellent.

Hello

I live in Bay are (San jose ,CA). My parents are visiting me in next month.
I am confuse on which PPO network to select based on my location.

pls help

This was my experience with ICICI-Lombard about 3 years ago. My father was admitted to the emergency. When i called ICICI-Lombard, they mentioned that we had to pay all the expenses to the hospital. Submit all the receipts to the ICICI-Lobard office in India (when you return). They will evaluate and let you know what can be reimbursed.

2 issues with this situation.

1) You need to pay the bills and hope insurance will reimburse.
2) ICICI-Lombard doesnot have any negotiated price for the services. As we all know if the insuarance company is not involved in the rates, the hospitals bill you 2-3 times higher.

General advice - Do not buy health insurance in your home country. Find a local agent and make sure the hospital can bill the insurance company direct and you pay only the deductables.

This complaint is against

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd.
Ground Floor, 32/2, Ashoka Plaza,
Next to Weikfield Company, Nagar road,
Pune – 411014
By
Hemant Kumar Shrivastava
Shivaji Nagar, Amkho Lashkar Gwalior, MP.

In reference to

Policy No. OG-10-1401-9910-00001923
Imdcode : 10013719
Insurance plan chosen: StudentEliteGold(US$2Lac)
(Ref Notification no. 38587775)

I have taken above mentioned policy from Bajaj Allianz when I went for higher study in Germany (from August 2009 to July 2010). This policy not only covers health but also personal liability. During my stay in Germany I accidentally damaged the carpet in my rented apartment for which company from which I got the apartment on rent claimed 3208.07 Euros from me. Considering me as a student they only claimed 1604.03 Euros.
I provided following documents to Bajaj Allianz
1. Filled Personal liability claim form
2. Claim for compensation from the FacilityServices Hannover, Germany (from which I took apartment on rent in Germany).
3. Invoice details to rectify the damage by a separate company in Germany.
4. Photographs showing the damage on the carpet in the apartment
5. Passport/Visa copy (country entry and leaving details)
6. Rental Agreement (According to German Court of Law)
I was covered against any personal liability claim during my stay in Germany (by StudentEliteGold policy from Bajaj Allianz). Even though I was covered under the policy, Bajaj Alllianz rejected my claim for two reasons.

1. Bajaj Allianz was not informed before signing the rental contract with German Agency for rental accommodation.
2. There was no foreign court involved
I insisted that my claim is very well within the policy due to following facts.
1. Policy document nowhere explicitly mentions that I needed to inform Bajaj Allianz before signing any rental contract. Since I went for study abroad, it is very much understood that I would be living in a rented apartment. Almost all students who go abroad for study do stay in the rented apartment and for which they sign rental agreement. Since policy was for my entire stay in Germany, it has to cover my stay in rented apartment. If it is not then policy is misleading and incomplete for the student’s requirement in foreign land. According to section F #6.2 and 6.6.8 in the policy document claim against rental property damage should be very well under the scope of policy.
2. As far as intervention by foreign court of law concern, I have provided all necessary documents, according to procedures followed in Germany. I have also offered Bajaj Allianz to confirm the procedures with their German branch/counterpart. I also offered them to have talk with German agency from which I took apartment on rent. I consulted Bajaj Allianz Manager at Jaipur office, from which I bought the policy, and came to know that my claim should be very well admissible. Besides other necessary document, I provided copy of rental contract (legal from the German rental law perspective).

Based on my above arguments Bajaj Allianz accepted to review my claim. Next time they argued that I should have informed the company about rental contract while I was buying the policy. They said that premium term would have varied accordingly. It was completely baseless argument. They showed that they just do not want to pay my claim. When I insisted that their argument is baseless, as it is obvious for any student, going abroad; to sign a rent agreement and it should be well within the policy. On my argument they offered partial payment but not full, that too after many months of my filing the claim. When I re-insisted that according to policy document there is no reason for declining the full claim they denied me my claim.

I went for higher study on loan and after coming back to India I didn’t have job for many months. I not only face financial difficulties but also faced mental agony due to non acceptance of my genuine claim by Bajaj Allianz. I filed my claim in August 2010 and this is April 2011, such a long time for claim processing and finally denying the claim has caused lots of mental and psychological pressure on me. I belong to middle class family and it is very tough at my end to hire a separate lawyer to file a case against Bajaj Allianz.


With the help of this forum, now, I demand reimbursement of full claim amount (1604.03 Euros) and due compensation against mental and financial suffering caused by Bajaj Allianz. This policy has not proved friendly to students going abroad for study. I have already paid 1114.5 Euros to German company and rest 489.58 Euros are still need to be paid by me.


Regards,

Hemant

I travelled to USA in September 2006 and had my travel insurance from Cholamandalam but wasn’t aware that this was the worst travel insurance one can have! The policy which I had covered all the

usual things such as lost baggage, delay in baggage, lost passport, medical reimbursement, cancel trip and delay in flight. On my way back to India, I had a flight from Chicago to India that was delayed by 24 hrs.

When I came back to India, I claimed for my ’Trip Delay’ from Cholamandalam. And this is when my worst nightmare started. First of all, they asked me to provide them with a proof that the flight was delayed. I provided them with all the communication that I had from my airlines in which they clearly stated that the flight was delayed by 24 hrs. As if this was not enough for Cholamandalam, they asked me to provide them with a letter from airlines stating the delay. Why the heck shall I provide them with the letter when I have already given them the ample proof from the airlines that the flight was delayed??. When the airlines provided them the letter they asked me to get a letter from airlines stating the "Reason for Delay". Now this is something which is least expected. I mean I am travelling and my flight was delayed, which my airlines has clearly said, Why should I be bothered about the reason for delay and if insurance company need it so desperately why shouldn’t they ask the airlines about the reason?? All said and done, the airlines also satisfied them with the reason.

Something bigger and unexpected waited for me, now Cholamandalam asked me to produce the bills for the expenses made during the period of delay. Come on guys, I am not asking for reimbursement; I am asking for the claim of ’Trip Delay’! Why the hell do you need the bills ?? My flight was delayed, which has been stated by my airlines, now just give me my claim. I took a taxi from airport to hotel, the taxi driver didn’t gave me any bill and I didn’t bothered for it too because I never thought that I would be asked for the taxi bill for the ’Trip Delay’ claim...strange ??!? Isn’t it..!??!?

Finally they closed my claim case saying that they cant give the ’Trip Delay’ claim until and unless I provide them with the bills.

PLEASE DON’T get your travel insurance from CHOLAMANDALAM.

The article in Silicon India suggests that the Indian insurance laws are extremely uncertain.

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/US_upset_with_Indias_insurance_laws-nid-81466.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber

As the insurance marketplace in India is comparatively very new (compared to the U.S.), it is advisable to purchase the insurance from the U.S. based company.

I want to let everyone know about the scam(s) being run by most of the Medical Insurance Company's especially for parents holding Visitor Visa's.

My parents visited US 3 months back and I have done good amount of research and after inquiring about various plan details got medical insurance from ICICI.
My parents paid around $1400.00 for 6 months.

The policy's name it self mentions Cash Less claim policy meaning
no payments/approvals required at the time of service and their US tie up United Health Care would take care of all the charges.

Unfortunately, my father had developed Heart Symptoms and on the advise of a family Doctor living remotely had to contact ICICI for finding out about any specific group to be visited.

We were told that, I need to pay the consultation charges and if it is more than deductible of $100.00, need to file for Claim.
I was ready for that but asked about any diagnostic tests prescribed, they had suggested the same pay and claim policy.
I argued with them about policy details and the ICICI representative was suggesting the same.
Later, I was told to visit a Doctor and send them Prescription for tests so that they would pre-approval.
At this point , I was pretty sure nothing is going to work out with this policy and it is a scam.
But still sent them all the test details.
ICICI never responded even after 2 weeks and kept on dragging requesting the same documents over and over.
Most ridiculous part was they operate without a Toll Free number and every time we need to keep on updating every representative.
Thank god with advise from my family Doctor, I sent my parents within a week.
After reaching India, my father was undergoing tests and one day suddenly developed severe Heart stroke and was rushed to hospital and got operated.
He is safe and stable now and is recovering.
Meanwhile, ICICI did come back after 4 weeks with a pre-approval, with $ 800.00 limit.
They dont have any pre-negotiated rates with any hospital in USA.
I asked how about United Health Care tie up.
They answered that United Health Care is a payment agency for ICICI in USA.