Travel insurance giant refuses payout, claiming Ontario man’s COVID not severe enough | 24CA News
The Clyson household journey to Antigua final March was a redo of types. They’d already cancelled one journey to Mexico on account of COVID-19 issues and restrictions.
With two youngsters in tow, Rob and Kathleen Anne Clyson of Kitchener, Ont., knew it could be the final time they’d be capable of get the entire clan on a airplane on the identical time.
Kathleen Anne says the household’s first journey in three years was precisely what they’d hoped.
“The resort was beautiful. The beach was beautiful. It was a nice, relaxing, family time,” she instructed Go Public.
That is, till 5 days in once they, together with all different air passengers, needed to take a speedy COVID check to be allowed to fly house.
They all handed, besides Rob.
He had solely gentle signs, however the household trip floor to a halt.
While the remainder of the household needed to keep on the resort, distanced from different visitors, Rob was required to isolate in his room, and would miss their return flight.
It price $1,050 US to maintain him in an Antigua resort room for 3 nights and $627.60 Cdn for a separate flight house.
Luckily, Kathleen Anne thought, that they had loads of journey insurance coverage.
In addition to COVID emergency insurance coverage — included of their Sunwing trip bundle — she additionally paid for journey cancellation and interruption protection. All insurance policies had been with Manulife.
“It was just peace of mind booking it. I mean, as far as I was aware, there was no other insurance I could have bought that would have protected us,” she stated.
The Clysons’ journey agent had even known as Sunwing earlier than the household departed to make sure the COVID bundle lined any isolation bills.
The agent says she was assured it did.
Kathleen Anne remembers getting extra assurances when she opened a declare.
“I called Manulife and the Sunwing rep. They said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll make sure he’s well taken care of. You don’t have anything to worry about.’ So we packed up everything and left Rob with what he needed,'” she stated.
The Clysons anticipated their interruption insurance coverage to cowl the 2 days of trip that had been derailed by Rob’s COVID check, and for his resort keep and flight to be lined by the COVID insurance coverage.
She thought leaving her husband by himself, in a resort room, feeling beneath the climate, could be the worst of it.
“It was awful. It’s the unknown,” she stated.
We did the whole lot we thought that was proper. We deliberate it.— Kathleen Anne Clyson
But the declare was denied as a result of — in accordance with each Manulife and the journey agent — Rob hadn’t wanted or sought “medical treatment.”
In different phrases, as a result of Rob did not get sick sufficient to warrant a hospital go to.
But that rejection seems to be in direct battle with the nice print in Manulife’s COVID-19 coverage, which says “treatment” consists of “prescribed medication, investigative testing and surgery.”
Scott Stanley, a Vancouver private damage lawyer and insurance coverage specialist, calls Manulife’s rejection a “bad denial.”
He says the protection is evident. “This is actually one of the rare instances when the insurance policy is actually pretty easy to read, pretty easy to understand, and yet we have a denial coming from it,” he stated.
Stanley’s opinion is that the denial was a breach of contract.
“It’s pretty obvious that this is a claim that falls within the four corners of the policy. It’s one that should be paid out and covered, and it’s really not dependent upon how sick the person is.”
After Go Public acquired concerned, Manulife modified course. The Clysons had been reimbursed $627 Cdn for Rob’s flight house and $450 Cdn for the three additional nights he stayed in Antigua, totalling $1,077.
They weren’t compensated for the interruption of the ultimate two days of their trip.
Stanley says he routinely comes throughout legitimate claims which might be denied however not pursued legally as a result of the claimants cannot afford a lawyer.
An Ontario household says they had been denied reimbursement from Manulife after one in all them fell sick with COVID-19 whereas on vacation, regardless of having bought COVID-19 journey insurance coverage.
Manulife didn’t comply with an interview for this story, nor did it reply any of the questions subsequently despatched by electronic mail about why the Clysons had been denied within the first place.
In a written assertion to Go Public, Sunwing says its coverage was adopted when the Clysons had been instructed to pursue the matter with Manulife. It additionally stated it now not presents that specific COVID protection.
The Clysons say they’re considerably blissful to have acquired partial reimbursement for his or her prices. But Kathleen Anne says they’re nonetheless left questioning what they may have completed otherwise.
“It’s not like we didn’t get insurance and thought, oh, we should have gotten insurance, but we did everything we thought that was right. We planned it,” she stated.
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