4 days ago
Startup founder calls flight travel insurance a scam, shares experience
A business founder has shared his frustrating experience with travel insurance, calling the industry's practices a "borderline scam" after struggling for weeks to claim compensation for a delayed Pandita, founder of Growth Rocket, detailed his ordeal on LinkedIn after attempting to claim Rs 3,000 for a three-hour flight delay between Bangalore and Delhi. What should have been a straightforward process turned into a weeks-long battle across multiple platforms and customer service CLAIM JOURNEYadvertisementPandita purchased travel insurance for Rs 249 whilst booking his flight, describing it as an afterthought. "I didn't think much of it while booking. Just clicked 'Add' and moved on," he wrote.
When his flight was delayed by three hours, he attempted to use the app to make a claim but found no option available. A 20-minute call to customer care revealed the policy was handled by a third-party insurer, directing him to check his email for further email mentioned he could claim but provided no clear process, simply stating: "Contact support if you face issues."MULTIPLE PLATFORMS, NO RESOLUTIONWhat followed was a maze of different platforms and requirements. Pandita described being directed from email to a web portal, then to download yet another app, before finally being asked to provide documents via WhatsApp."I went to the portal and surprise, no claim option. Only a link asking me to download their app," he downloading the app and creating an account, he still found no clear way to make his claim. A second customer service call lasted 30 minutes, during which he was asked for "all details, policy number, certificate number, random codes from my inbox."WEEKS OF FRUSTRATIONThree weeks after the initial delay, Pandita says he has spoken to six different people and visited more than five portals, yet the claim process remains incomplete."They make the claim process so long and painful that I'm somehow convinced this isn't a flaw, it's by design," he claimed in his suggested that insurance companies profit from customers who give up on small claims due to the complex process. "When millions give up on small claims, that's big profit for insurance companies," he expressed disappointment that what he bought for "peace of mind" had instead caused weeks of frustration, questioning whether the insurance was "even worth it."- Ends
