Travel Insurance Reviews for Generali Global Assistance

At first I thought it was a misunderstanding that would be remedied once we discussed the matter. My wife and I planned to take family members on a trip to France. We undertook to pay for lodging and train travel in Europe. They would only have to pay for air fare and incidentals. And for one cousin who is celebrating a significant birthday this year, we went a step farther and undertook to pay her air fare from SFO to Paris. Knowing how much we were likely to spend for all of this we insured the trip for $9,500.

Shortly before the trip my wife was injured and hospitalized. The trip was cancelled and we filed a claim for trip cancellation coverage. Generali reimbursed us for all of the payments we made that were non-refundable (including payments for train tickets for our party of six, multiple hotel rooms for all of us, and a house rental in Brittany). But it declined to compensate us for the air fare we paid for my cousin because, they said, she wasn't an insured party.

I communicated with Generali and explained what I believe is self-evident. The risk I insured against was the risk of losing up to $9,500 is payments I made for my trip and Generali's policy provided that "Benefits will be paid, up to the amount in the Schedule, for...Payments that you paid for your Trip." I wasn't claiming benefits for my cousin. She didn't make any payments for air fare and had no risk of losing any such payments so even if she had been insured she would not have been able to claim benefits for lost air travel payments. I was claiming the benefit for my wife and me since we were the ones who paid the $1,800 in air fare, faced the risk of loss of that payment if the trip was cancelled, and were the parties Generali agreed to insure against that very risk.

After failing to get anywhere by communicating with Generali in writing, I was finally able to speak with a Claims Manager by phone. I explained my logic and she agreed, my reasoning was sound! Nevertheless, she insisted "that's not how the policy works" and refused to consider the matter further. She asserted that Generali only pays benefits for reservations that are in the name of an insured, even if an insured party paid for the reservation. (As for the benefit for payments I made for train tickets for six passengers, that was "a mistake" she said.)

I'm now persuaded that this is not a simple misunderstanding but a deliberate policy or practice that amounts to an intentional breach of contract by Generali. I intend to pursue the matter further and am confident I will eventually succeed in getting Generali to live up to its commitment. However, others should be very cautious about dealing with Generali.