Did any of you notice the real Diamond screw-up on VacationGuard travel insurance?

So Diamond is refunding everybody who paid for TravelGuard insurance coverage when they paid their annual maintenance. They are saying that it wasn't well noticed and a too many didn't realize that it was there and that the coverage was optional.

There certainly is some truth in that. We paid for it without realizing we had done so. I didn't realize we had bought it until the certificate showed up.

But when I read the coverage extended, I was glad we had bought it. The policy covered all travel during the year. That's "all" as in "all". Even travel that wasn't to a Diamond resort. Even travel arrangement that weren't booked through Diamond's resort. Even travel that wasn't vacation related - it covered my business travel. The coverage certificate as issued offered blanket coverage for all travel during the year.

No wonder pounced on an opportunity to cancel the policies. No wonder they didn't just offer refunds for whomever wanted refunds. They killed the whole program - and probably breathed a great sigh of relief for the brouhaha that probably started when people noticed that they had snuck into the bill an optional insurance premium similar to the ARDA contribution.

Funny that they haven't given money back for the greatly unpublicized ARDA fee. Isn't that a wonder???:ignore:

Too bad they dropped the program! What a bargain that had to have been.

So how much is a Vacation Guard policy that covers an entire year of travel, wherever and whenever you go? I remember someone years ago was considering such a policy and posted some comparison coverages. Since we traveled 12 weeks this past year, I think we would be wise to look into something like that.

T_R_Oglodyte said:

Funny that they haven't given money back for the greatly unpublicized ARDA fee. Isn't that a wonder???:ignore:

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They were slightly more transparent with the "ARDA-ROC Voluntary Contribution", as it was called on the statement. Of course there still wasn't a check box so you could pay or not pay. I've always paid it, but after the TravelGuard fiasco, I'm going to call them each year and ask for a $5 credit. "What we've got here is failure to communicate"

artringwald said:

They were slightly more transparent with the "ARDA-ROC Voluntary Contribution", as it was called on the statement. Of course there still wasn't a check box so you could pay or not pay. I've always paid it, but after the TravelGuard fiasco, I'm going to call them each year and ask for a $5 credit. "What we've got here is failure to communicate"

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Our annual maintenance bill also has the "ARDA-ROC Voluntary Contribution" added into the total amt. due. I just deduct the fee from the maintenance payment I make to our resort. We've never had an issue doing that.

rickandcindy23 said:

Too bad they dropped the program! What a bargain that had to have been.

So how much is a Vacation Guard policy that covers an entire year of travel, wherever and whenever you go? I remember someone years ago was considering such a policy and posted some comparison coverages. Since we traveled 12 weeks this past year, I think we would be wise to look into something like that.

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Because the coverage on the policy that was provided was so good, I went to the VacationGuard website to see what the cost would be if I purchased it on my own. However, they didn't show any policy option such as that. The only policies offered were a timeshare option, which addressed travel associated with the specific timeshare for which the policy was purchased for that year, and specific trip insurance which needed to be purchased within three days of making travel arrangements.

We buy this each year. http://www.goodsamtravelassist.com/benefits.aspx It seems to cover the bases we don't want to self-insure, such as emergency medical and evacuation from no-matter-where. You don't need to be traveling by RV or even own one. Since I have no clue what the above mentioned Travel-Guard policy offered, and it isn't available anyway, it doesn't matter. I linked to the benefits page so that comparison can be made. Rate is $80/yr.

Jim

rickandcindy23 said:

So how much is a Vacation Guard policy that covers an entire year of travel, wherever and whenever you go? I remember someone years ago was considering such a policy and posted some comparison coverages. Since we traveled 12 weeks this past year, I think we would be wise to look into something like that.

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AFAIK, all Vacation Guard policies (those specific to timeshare owners anyhow, called "Timeshare Plus") are issued for a full year. In December, 2014, our annual policy cost for 2015 was $199. Costs have gone up 18+% / year each of the past few years, which seems a bit exorbitant to me, but still a relatively good hedged bet, IMnsHO.

Historically, Vacation Guard has not even asked (...nor much cared, apparently) how many timeshare weeks you own before identifying a flat rate annual policy cost.
This makes very little sense to me, since Timeshare Plus policy coverage includes lost maintenance fees --- so someone with a single timeshare week has (historically, anyhow) paid the exact same annual premium for their VG policy as someone with 20 timeshare weeks. That's just nuts, but someone posted on TUG about 8 weeks ago, IIRC, a copy of correspondence they received from Vacation Guard, implying that the VG premium billing situation may well be in for some changes.