Family forced to tread water when making trip insurance claim

LIVERMORE, Calif. (KGO) -- A family's plans for a Caribbean cruise began to take on water months before the ship even departed. But the biggest problems surfaced after the vacation was over.

Maggie Lloyd looks forward to her family's one big trip a year. This year the Lloyds of Livermore planned a cruise to the Caribbean Islands of Cozumel and Roatan.

It didn't quite work out.

"No, no, they didn't. It's about three months before the cruise, my husband determined he had a work conflict so he couldn't go," said Maggie.

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Maggie's sister Mary Ann agreed to go in place of Maggie's husband.

Everything was all set, until the morning of the trip when Maggie's son Daniel became sick.

"He has a chronic stomach issue and he had a flare up to the point where he didn't even want to get out of bed," Maggie said.

Daniel would have to be left behind in his father's care.

Maggie went on the trip with her son, Nick, and her sister, Mary Ann.

The trio returned with stories of great snorkeling and a wonderful time.

Maggie also brought home several souvenirs.

Weeks later, it was time to process her trip insurance claim for Daniel missing the trip.

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Trip Mate asked her to show proof.

This doctor note wasn't enough.

"Things like that were a little trickier than I thought to get," Maggie said.

The airline eventually sent verification that Daniel was a no show on his flight. She says getting the same from Norwegian Cruise Line proved challenging.

She put in a request for verification, but says she received automated response that it could take 28 days to get a reply. That time passed so she submitted a second request and was told she would hear within 15 days.

She heard nothing.

"Then I remembered Michael Finney's 7 On Your Side and I said, well, it was kind of a last shot. I'm going to give it a try," Maggie said.

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After we contacted Norwegian Cruise Line, the company contacted Maggie.

They rejected her claim, saying she wasn't entitled to a refund.

But when Maggie explained she wanted the refund from her trip insurance and not the cruise line, she finally received this verification letter that Daniel was not on the trip.

Trip Mate promptly processed her claim and gave her a refund for both Daniel's flight and cruise.

"I'm just thrilled that 7 On Your Side stepped in," she said.

NCL did not reply to our several requests for comment. If you need help with a consumer issue that you've been dealing with for a while, I'd like to hear from you.

Written and produced by Randall Yip

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