Anyone actually purchased travel insurance for DVC points rental and successfully made a claim?

[djw70]

Has anyone actually reserved a DVC unit by renting points from a DVC member, purchased a travel insurance policy to cover your risk, and then had need to cancel the trip and successfully filed a claim to recoup the unrefundable points rental fee?

I've exchanged emails with dvcrentals.com who insist it should be possible to get coverage for this type of rental, and even link to travelinsurance.com from their website. However, when I reached out to the support at travelinsurance.com the person who responded told me that none of their insurers would cover this type of rental. Similarly, I called Travelguard, a fairly well known travel insurer, and spoke directly with an agent there who told me that such a thing would not be covered because they don't cover the the use of points. In both cases I tried to explain that I would be paying cash to a company in return for the resort stay, but he insisted that since the resort reservation would ultimately be paid for by points, that's what mattered and that is why their policies wouldn't cover the loss.

So now I'm really hoping that I can find one or more people who have successfully done this, and can recommend an insurer that I could use with peace of mind. Thanks!

 

[Best Aunt]

That seems odd because DVC members can get insurance for trips booked with their own points. Is the problem in your case that the trip would be booked with points which are not your own, because you are renting? Or are those companies saying they would they not insure any trips booked with points?

Another thing that a renter might not pay attention to -- as a DVC member I might book a stay using points from different Use Years (having banked points from a prior year and borrowed points from a future year). As a renter, I don't know if you would know if a member did this to book your stay. I seem to recall that the cost of insurance was based on the number of Use Years.

One more thing to consider - is there anything in your situation which would prevent the insurance company from paying out? When booking flights once I was considering travel insurance because the person with whom I was traveling was being treated for Cancer. I was concerned that we might have to cancel due to that person's health issues. But when I read the fine print I saw that cancelation for a pre-existing health condition would not have been covered under that particular travel insurance policy.

 

[djw70]

The second of the two - they’re saying they wouldn’t pay to cover a reservation made with points. Nothing else should cause them to deny payment.

 

[Sandisw]

That seems odd because DVC members can get insurance for trips booked with their own points. Is the problem in your case that the trip would be booked with points which are not your own, because you are renting? Or are those companies saying they would they not insure any trips booked with points?

Another thing that a renter might not pay attention to -- as a DVC member I might book a stay using points from different Use Years (having banked points from a prior year and borrowed points from a future year). As a renter, I don't know if you would know if a member did this to book your stay. I seem to recall that the cost of insurance was based on the number of Use Years.

One more thing to consider - is there anything in your situation which would prevent the insurance company from paying out? When booking flights once I was considering travel insurance because the person with whom I was traveling was being treated for Cancer. I was concerned that we might have to cancel due to that person's health issues. But when I read the fine print I saw that cancelation for a pre-existing health condition would not have been covered under that particular travel insurance policy.

While I have not used the DVC insurance, my understanding is that is a reimbursement of $5/point. I am not sure how this is done, but a renter is in a different situation as they would be looking for a reimbursement closer to what was paid.

I think for owners, what they are reimbursing is toward the cost of MFs for owning the points vs, points themselves. This is why you have to pay for each UY of points being used.

 

[Sandisw]

The second of the two - they’re saying they wouldn’t pay to cover a reservation made with points. Nothing else should cause them to deny payment.

I am going to venture to guess the reason is because you are making a private reservation with an indictable. Yes, a broker helps out you and an owner together, but in reality it is simply an owner allowing you to stay on their membership. Points themselves have no value, which is why I would guess the insurance would not cover them.

 

[djw70]

despite the fact that I have an invoice from the broker showing I paid cash for the reservation?

 

[Sandisw]

despite the fact that I have an invoice from the broker showing I paid cash for the reservation?

Yes, because again, points have no value to them. You are paying an owner for his reservation made with you as a guest.

Unfortunately, the broker is simply the middle man. There may be other insurance companies that will allow you to recoup or someone else may have had the luck in getting the money back.

Like I said, I have never used any insurance, even as a DVC owner, just Basing this on my understanding of how it works for owners.

ETA: Just reviewed the information about the insurance for DVC owners. It is indeed to cover the dues on the points used, not on the lost points. So, even as a DVC owner, I can’t get insurance to cover the lost value of those points.

 

[Miffy]

I'm following this thread and hope someone has personal experience regarding this issue to relate. Theories and speculation aren't helpful.

One of the reasons I've avoided renting points is that I feel very uncomfortable with the possibility that something could happen--even a weather delay, for example--and I'd be out the money for the entire reservation. Whereas, with WDW, if I've booked directly, there's always recourse.

I had a WDW resort reservation booked through WDW a couple of years ago, and the transportation down was delayed twice by a blizzard. I was able to change my reservation with WDW--twice. I've also had a trip where I had to go home early and WDW didn't charge me for the days I wasn't there. If these had been rental-point situations, I would've been out the entire cost of the reservation.

 

[Sandisw]

I'm following this thread and hope someone has personal experience regarding this issue to relate. Theories and speculation aren't helpful.

One of the reasons I've avoided renting points is that I feel very uncomfortable with the possibility that something could happen--even a weather delay, for example--and I'd be out the money for the entire reservation. Whereas, with WDW, if I've booked directly, there's always recourse.

I had a WDW resort reservation booked through WDW a couple of years ago, and the transportation down was delayed twice by a blizzard. I was able to change my reservation with WDW--twice. I've also had a trip where I had to go home early and WDW didn't charge me for the days I wasn't there. If these had been rental-point situations, I would've been out the entire cost of the reservation.

Yes, before DVC, I never would rent for this exact reason. Rentals can save you a good deal of money, but the lack of cancellation and refunding or changing of reservations is definitely something not everyone is comfortable with.

 

[Disneymoon23]

@djw70 Do you have any good travel credit cards? We had rented points through a dvc rental broker last September right when Hurricane Dorian was looking like it was headed straight for Orlando and ultimately decided not to go. I didn’t pay for the “cancel for any reason insurance” that the broker offered but someone suggested looking to see if the credit card I used to pay for the reservation offered travel protection. I had put the reservation on my Chase sapphire reserve card and travel insurance is one of the card benefits so I submitted a request for reimbursement due to trip cancellation. It took a lot of back and forth of phone calls and emails but I ended up getting ALL of my money back by December.

 

[djw70]

Unfortunately, no. I booked with a Costco Visa, which used to offer travel insurance, but apparently removed that benefit quietly not that long ago

 

[bumbershoot]

So, you are asking on an owner forum about you renting a reservation through a broker. There won’t be a huge number of us who have rented a reservation from another owner, and fewer who did it through David’s. And fewer who got travel
Insurance

I've exchanged emails with dvcrentals.com who insist it should be possible to get coverage for this type of rental, and even link to travelinsurance.com from their website. However, when I reached out to the support at travelinsurance.com the person who responded told me that none of their insurers would cover this type of rental

I just checked, and there’s the quote form right there on David’s page. Just do that. Why are you calling? David’s is a very reputable company.

it seems very probable that the rep you spoke with simply wasn’t understanding what you were doing.

I assume Davis’s links to the site they link to because that company offers the insurance you need.

Travel guard likely doesn’t. Which is likely why they aren’t linked to from David’s.

 

[DebbieB]

While I have not used the DVC insurance, my understanding is that is a reimbursement of $5/point. I am not sure how this is done, but a renter is in a different situation as they would be looking for a reimbursement closer to what was paid.

I think for owners, what they are reimbursing is toward the cost of MFs for owning the points vs, points themselves. This is why you have to pay for each UY of points being used.

The DVC insurance now pays the dues amount on the points lost, so the amount will vary by resort.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/how-to-book/travel-insurance/

 

[Sandisw]

The DVC insurance now pays the dues amount on the points lost, so the amount will vary by resort.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/how-to-book/travel-insurance/

Good to know!

 

[djw70]

I just checked, and there’s the quote form right there on David’s page. Just do that. Why are you calling? David’s is a very reputable company.

it seems very probable that the rep you spoke with simply wasn’t understanding what you were doing.

I assume Davis’s links to the site they link to because that company offers the insurance you need.

Travel guard likely doesn’t. Which is likely why they aren’t linked to from David’s.

bumbershoot - are you saying that there is a travel insurance quote form at dvcrentals.com, or are you just referring to the link that site has to travelinsurance.com? Sure, I've followed that link and used it to get quotes, but I hoping to confirm that any policy I'd be putting money down on would actually cover me for losses and that's why I contacted the travelinsurance.com support to ask them.

Also worth pointing out that one of the results returned by the travelinsurance.com search is for Travel Guard

 

[CarolMN]

I think you need to talk to David's again - there appears to be some misunderstanding. As a renter, you should have an invoice with a cash price that clearly says the entire amount is non-refundable in the event of a cancellation. All of the discussion re the insurance available to DVC owners is not relevant to a renter. The renter who obtains travel insurance should receive the entire non-refundable cash amount paid in the event of a covered cancellation.

I don't see why there should be any more issue collecting a claim based on a rented reservation than there would be for one booked through a travel agency (which is basically what David's is).

 

[cristen72]

Djw70 this has been a question I’ve been dealing with as well.

I did a chat with an agent through the link that was provided on David’s site. The agent told me the situation should be covered as long as I purchased a rider that was “cancel for any reason“.

but actually reading details of various policies on various sites, the “cancel for any reason” rider isn’t necessarily simply that. The reason still has to be something that is listed within the details. And no where can I find a situation like this. Also I have run into a couple of policies that specifically say they do not cover timeshare rentals.

I am renting for the first time in early September. I wanted something that would protect me from hurricane related issues, but would also protect me if the person I am renting from did something horrible like cancel my reservation and ran off with my money. I honestly don’t think I’m going to find a policy that is going to cover renting points so I think we’re going to just take a chance.

I’ll be very interested to see if you research this further and what you were able to find out.

 

[djw70]

Thanks for sharing what you've learned christen72. The fact that you received a materially different answer than what I was told by someone representing the same broker site is, to me at least, a likely indication that none of these agents truly understand what's going on in this particular scenario :-(

At this point I think I'm leaning towards just getting travel insurance for the other non-refundable portions of our trip, and taking a chance on the points, but if I learn anything new I'll certainly share here.

 

[wazzu_d]

I'm following this thread and hope someone has personal experience regarding this issue to relate. Theories and speculation aren't helpful.

One of the reasons I've avoided renting points is that I feel very uncomfortable with the possibility that something could happen--even a weather delay, for example--and I'd be out the money for the entire reservation. Whereas, with WDW, if I've booked directly, there's always recourse.

I had a WDW resort reservation booked through WDW a couple of years ago, and the transportation down was delayed twice by a blizzard. I was able to change my reservation with WDW--twice. I've also had a trip where I had to go home early and WDW didn't charge me for the days I wasn't there. If these had been rental-point situations, I would've been out the entire cost of the reservation.

I'm afraid we're going to be out $1700 for the points we've rented for September. We rented directly from the owner. I haven't reached out yet, but I'm pretty nervous.

 

[Matty B13]

I'm afraid we're going to be out $1700 for the points we've rented for September. We rented directly from the owner. I haven't reached out yet, but I'm pretty nervous.

You would be surprised at how willing most owners are to reschedule a reservation, with the caveat of the expiration date of the points they used for your reservation. I would suggest contacting them as soon as possible and ask what your options would be.