Travel Insurance - BAD Experience | TATA AIG - YouTube

I was so much stressed by my lower back pain.

It was really very severe.

Insurance companies have their own tantrums, here it was,Tata AIG.

It was a totally bad experience.

The taxi drivers were pouncing on me.

They were like, "Come to me, come to me."

Thank God, they were not after my luggage.

Anyways, I had to leave without any treatment.

Tat AIG, I request you to kindly look into the matter.

I had faced such a situation in Oman, in the month of December.

Now, again in Europe.

That is, in January 2022.

Mr. Farhan is accompanying me to a place

from where I can take a bus or taxi to Muscat.

I am paying 4 Rial to go to Muscat in this taxi.

ACs have been installed in taxi stands.

I have covered my head with a handkerchief, means, I am in a gurudwara.

Today was a very bad day for me.

I am so upset.

My day started at about 2 a.m.

I was so much stressed by my lower back pain.

It was really very severe.

I was in a gurudwara in Ghala.

Waited till morning hoping to feel better.

But it got worse.

At about 6, I was like, started 'bothering' the people around me.

There was a gentleman in the gurudwara. I messaged him.

Some people helped me out and I reached the hospital emergency unit.

I got myself admitted for some time.

And then I started calling my insurance company.

Inquired whether it would be covered or not.

Insurance companies have their own tantrums, here it was, Tata AIG.

It was a totally bad experience.

Why my experience with Tata AIG turned to be bad,

I had forgotten to mention that in my previous video recording.

So now, I'm narrating it.

My pain was really very severe the other night.

First of all, I called my insurance company to get the details

of their designated tie-up hospitals in Oman,

where I could avail cashless treatment.

I wanted to undergo a proper treatment

so that my onward journey to other countries

would be stress-free and I would be relieved of my pain.

So, my intention was to get proper treatment.

They were like, "You can go to any hospital,

and talk to the concerned doctor.

After that, send the bills to us.

We will approve whatever we feel right."

It was very clear from what they said, that

there were good chances of non-approval of many of my bills.

We all know how expensive it is to undergo treatment in a foreign land.

I didn't want to fall prey to such a situation here.

So, I asked them to provide me the list of their empaneled hospitals where

I could avail myself the required treatment, the required diagnosis, and,

they would be in the form of cashless treatment.

That's the purpose of opting for a travel insurance.

But, here, it was something else.

And the most important thing,

I was talking to a third party over the phone.

Tata AIG sold its insurance policy to me.

And now, if you have to discuss anything regarding claim or such issues,

you have to call this third party.

It was not easy to talk to these people.

Call drops were frequent. I was calling India from a foreign country.

We all know how expensive these calls are.

And then, calls were getting disconnected.

Conversations could not be completed.

And even when I could speak continuously, they had their own typical answer,

"We will be able to respond only when you send us the bills."

The experience at the hospital turned out to be bad too.

The hospital authorities don't want to deal with the insurance companies.

They were insisting on getting the entire money deposited in their hospital.

They were not satisfied with the guarantee of the insurance companies.

They were like, they have to keep pinging for money for about 6 months or so.

And so they preferred to deal with everything in cash.

Travelers like me buy insurance policies because

God forbid if they land into such unforeseen circumstances,

they are not forced to lose more money.

But in this hospital, whose name was NMC or something like that...

It was totally a bad experience.

I met all concerned people, I met the head of the marketing team.

They were just shirking off their responsibilities.

They were so casual, they said, "Our money gets blocked."

"We are not linked to the companies."

I then said, "If that is so, you can always go for a pre-approval."

"And when they are promising to pay, why do you refrain from cashless treatment?"

They were like, "They promise but then,

we have to run for 6 months behind them to get our money."

And so, we prefer cash only.

Anyways, I had to leave without any treatment.

My lower backache problem started troubling me again.

Today morning, I had to go to the hospital in an emergency.

I feel a bit better now. I was there for 4-5 hours.

I have no interest to continue in Oman.

Let's see what can be done.

Anyways, I had to leave without any treatment.

Right now, I have taken some painkillers.

This is the hospital, right in front of me.

The area is Ruwi.

And why did I come here?

I wanted to end my trip here.

I am headed to the UAE to proceed further.

I had planned to visit Europe after my Oman trip.

Flights had already been booked.

I had to fly from Dubai by Emirates.

Emirates had already informed me, that,

before boarding, I need to produce the RTPCR test report.

Without that you are not allowed to board the flight.

But here, a different kind of problem was waiting for me.

This is the Badr Al Samaa Hospital of Ruwi.

I had already arrived there to take my RTPCR test.

I was about to take the RTPCR test when I came to know that Emirates

accepts only those reports that have been tested in labs at Dubai.

They accept the results from those labs alone.

The only way out was to reach Dubai, as soon as possible.

Take the test there and then board my flight.

Less than 36 hours are left for my flight to depart from Dubai.

Now finally, from Ruwi, I'm going to a place called Rusayl,

from where I can get the long route buses.

From Rusayl, I will board a shared taxi to Sohar.

A very good friend of Mr. Farhat.

will help me out to reach the border from Sohar.

Mr. Farhat and his friend Mr. Gulam are none less than angels to me.

Mr. Gulam is a very good friend of Mr. Farhat.

And so, he has happily agreed to drop me at the border in his car.

The way ahead, that is the border between the two

has to be worked out by me.

From there, I will be accompanied by my good friend Mr. Taranjeet.

From Dubai to the border, is a two-hour-long journey.

The distances are all so complicated.

I tried my level best not to trouble people.

I didn't want to bother them a lot.

I am planning my way out to create the least disturbances.

But I am really grateful to all those who stand by me to help me out.

I also wanted to share the changing rules due to the Covid pandemic.

I was almost done with the RTPCR test here.

The bus ticket was in my hand and I had to cancel it.

That report will not be accepted and so I backed out from this place.

Now, I have to take the test in Dubai.

I do agree that the RTPCR test should be mandatory and it's a necessity too.

It is equally important to protect Ourselves and protect our nation.

It's good to know if we are infected or not.

But, things are being made more and more complex.

I am so exhausted. I have a terrible headache.

Since morning, I am running here and there without any proper food.

The time right now is 6.30 p.m. I am sitting in a taxi.

I am on the outskirts of Muscat.

I am headed to Sohar. It's a 2-hour journey from here.

The fare is 4 Rial.

Generally, it's about 5 Rial or so.

You can negotiate to 4 Rials.

But I had a terrible experience at the taxi stand.

The taxi drivers were pouncing on me.

They were like, "Come to me, come to me."

Thank God, they were not after my luggage.

I am feeling somewhat hungry.

I had nothing good since morning.

The pain has started troubling me again.

I'll take some food and then some medicine.

Maybe, I'll feel better.

It's 9 p.m. I'm a little ahead of Sohar.

The reason for the halt was - food.

Probably, this is my last Indian meal in Oman.

Yeah, I said probably because, I have yet to cross the border.

I went to wash my hands and my face and noticed the redness of my eyes.

I am so exhausted.

The whole journey was so tiring.

But, the taste of Indian food made me feel fresh again.

I feel better.

So, I have arrived at Sohar.

The taxi dropped me at the crossing near Lulu.

Lulu is the hypermarket about which I was talking.

They have quite a big chain here and perhaps in the Gulf too.

And there, I met Mr. Gulam.

He is here, right in front of me.

-Thanks a lot. -Hi.

Thank you very much for bringing me here.

I have also thanked that gentleman, because today...

Yes, Please?

-You belong to which place? -I'm from Gujarat.

Oh! You are from Gujarat.

-Which place in Gujarat? -Porbandar.

-Porbandar? Did you come here long back? -What?

You are staying here for many years?

I came in 2003...

I have my nephew here and he called me back.

The other gentleman opened the door and quickly entered the video frame.

I wanted to thank you 'on the camera'.

I'm really grateful that you're driving me to the border, it's almost 9 p.m now.

Thank you so much and thanks to Mr. Farhat for making this meet.

It feels good to meet the Indian community in Oman.

Today, it's 9th January 2022.

I always upload my videos on Sundays. But, this Sunday, I couldn't.

There are two reasons. Firstly, I am journeying.

It was a long journey. I have to board three flights.

But now, that has again been extended, as one flight stands canceled.

Now, in such cases, the travel insurance again comes to the picture.

In case of any cancellations, or any such unexpected issues,

the travel insurance covers the risk.

My insurance company, Tata AIG was also covering this insurance.

But again, the same issue.

I wanted to share this experience as well, so I am shooting this in this video.

Two days before I started this journey,

I received a mail informing me that my second flight, the middle one...

I had booked 3 different PNRs in 3 different airlines.

I had made direct bookings from airlines, and not booked through any agencies.

Please do take care of this thing, I had shared this information in another video.

The flights are quite uncertain these days because of Covid.

Some are canceled, some re-scheduled. some are delayed as well.

Rules keep on changing now and then.

This creates lots of problems for people.

So, if you book through a third party, like Yatra, Make my Trip, etc,

then what happens is,

airlines make their own deductions, and these agencies go a step further.

If booked directly, at least, that (3rd Party share) money would be saved.

Nowadays... I have mentioned this in my earlier videos also,

that these third parties create a lot of other issues.

These are also known as OTAs.

They trouble you a lot.

To avoid being harassed by them,

to avoid a lot of other issues...

Since March 2020 or say, since the onset of Covid,

I always book my tickets directly from the airline websites.

This time also, I did the same.

There were three different PNRs, but,

my middle flight got canceled.

They informed me in the mail that they would re-schedule

and make a fresh ticket and I need not do anything.

The re-scheduled flight deferred from the previous one by 6-7 hours.

Because of this new re-scheduled flight, the last flight of my journey,

was going to get missed.

I called my travel insurance, and the same scene again.

It was again the third party.

I wanted to explain that

I received a mail two days prior to my departure,

about re-schedule of my second flight

and that ultimately the third flight was going to be missed.

And if I cancel the third one, the new ticket was going to be more expensive.

I wanted to ask, whether I should book the flight now itself,

or wait for some more time.

That's because re-scheduling is so common these days.

I was coming from Europe,

and because of the rise in Covid cases,

I am facing a lot of issues.

Flights are being re-scheduled frequently.

Rules and regulations keep on changing.

Airports get crowded all of a sudden, because of sudden changes in the rules.

So, I also said that,

if I buy the ticket,

and if there's any change again,

because 3 flights are involved here,

so, should I wait for the second flight to reach its destination.

And after I reach the second destination,

I can book the third one at the airport, though it would cost me more.

But I will be benefited, like if there's any further change...

Before taking any further steps,

I wanted to share this with my insurance company

and act according to the advice given by the company.

"Send the documents, we'll look further."

This was their stereotype reply.

The same issue again.

The call dropped a number of times. Calls got disconnected a lot of times.

Tata AIG, I request you to kindly look into the matter.

I faced this issue in the first week of December, in Oman.

And again in Europe.

And this is January 2022.

The situation is the same. There are absolutely no changes.

I have shared my experience with Tata AIG,

and have put all the facts in a transparent manner.

But, Please... Because I would need travel insurance in the near future,

even you may need the same.

Please feel free to share your travel experience with other companies,

if you have claimed at any point in time.

Please, do share the same.

There's a Facebook group of tourist helpline where you can share.

You can even share in the comments section.

That would help other people too.