Allianz Global Assistance has debuted its new SmartBenefits, along with many customer-centric product enhancements aimed at adding value and convenience.
Thanks to proprietary technology and new automated claims capabilities, Allianz Travel Insurance customers can now receive proactive claim payments within minutes of a qualifying flight delay. Additionally, on certain plans, the company’s new fixed-amount payment option allows travelers to file other travel delay and baggage delay claims with no receipts. Here’s more about the new features:
Proactive Payments for Flight Delay
Allianz Global Assistance is one of the first travel insurance providers to offer proactive claim payments for domestic and international flight delays. By actively monitoring customers’ flights for qualifying delays of three to five hours (depending on the policy benefit), the company automatically files a claim for the customer and offers three payment options: Customers can receive typical fixed payments of $100 per person per travel delay on their debit card within minutes of entering payment details, while direct deposit payments can be available in as little as 24-48 hours; if no action is taken, customers are mailed a check automatically.
“No Receipts” Fixed-Amount Payments
Customers now have the option to receive a faster, fixed-amount payment for their inconvenience, without having to upload receipts. A complete claim is filed online or through the TravelSmart app by entering basic data points to verify coverage eligibility (e.g., proof of loss or delay). The customer is then notified of their claim approval status typically within seven days and may receive $100 per person per day impacted by the delay.
New Customer-Centric Benefits
Allianz Global Assistance says it analyzed customer feedback and identified industry gaps to create new benefits and improved coverages that customers would find most useful and valuable. These include three main areas of product enhancements:
- Expanded Travel Coverage – To better protect travelers from modern-day travel risks, Allianz Global Assistance enhanced existing covered reasons and redesigned Travel Delay and Baggage Delay benefits for better coverage. New covered reasons, such as Hurricane Warning (available on select plans) and Mandatory Evacuation, help keep customers out of harm’s way and allow them to cancel their trip if a natural disaster makes their destination unsafe. When severe weather or storms cause an extended delay by the travel carrier, the redesigned Travel Delay benefit can help travelers cover the cost of reaching their destination earlier by alternative means.
- Improved Emergency Medical Coverage – All travel plans now include primary emergency medical coverage, which helps customers get quicker access to medical payments (up to their coverage limits) on qualifying claims. It also improved coverage limits on trip cancellation claims involving pre-existing medical conditions for travelers taking more expensive trips.
- Simplified Benefit Descriptions and Usability – Descriptions of benefits and coverages were simplified on Allianz Travel Insurance policies, making it easier for customers to understand what situations can be covered. The company also now reminds customers what their insurance benefits are and ways to access emergency travel assistance through emails sent days before their trip.
All the product enhancements for Allianz Travel Insurance plans became available in most U.S. states on July 24, 2018 for trips booked through the company’s travel agency partners. For more information about the new SmartBenefits, visit the training section of the resource center at AgentMaxOnline.com.
This story originally appeared on www.travelagentcentral.com.
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