Plan by FocusPoint International can deal with multiple travel disruptors
IAN STALKER
Lisa Georganes says her company has a product that should be able to alleviate the fears of possible travel disruptions of those who are about to hit the road, with those fears including Covid, which has shown itself to be highly disruptive to travel over the past couple of years.
Georganes is with Florida-headquartered FocusPoint International, which has 16 offices on five continents, with Guelph, Ont., among destinations chosen for an office.
Ontario-based Georganes says FocusPoint entered the market in 2011 with the “goal of reimagining the way travellers accessed and received assistance for issues that impact them during a period of travel. We felt that we could innovate the otherwise mature travel insurance industry without discouraging people from buying travel insurance altogether, and we did just that.”
Georganes says her company’s Tripside Assistance Plan (CAP) is a “fully funded, fully indemnified service guarantee, not an insurance product. The ‘insurance’ per se sits behind the CAP product and is simply a risk finance instrument used by FocusPoint to address the financial exposure the company has when responding to a CAP customer in need. So FocusPoint is the ‘insured’ entity, not the CAP customer(s). CAP customers are buying a service guarantee for a flat rate that provides fully funded and on-demand advice and assistance, up to and including evacuation home for medical mishaps, (injuries and illness that results in hospitalization), and/or security incidents like riots, strikes and civil commotion, terrorism, violent crime, natural disasters and so much more.
“Unlike insurance, you do not have to suffer a loss (bodily harm or property damage) to access the benefits of CAP. Customers do not file a claim and/or pay deductibles to access the benefits of a CAP plan. With CAP there is never a need to pay out of pocket and then seek reimbursement through the claims process, which CAP doesn’t have in the first place. To access the comprehensive and in many ways, lifesaving benefits of CAP, travellers simply press an ‘assist’ button on our mobile assistance app or call our 24/7 multi-lingual Crisis Response Centre to receive advice and/or assistance up to and including evacuation home.”
Georganes states that CAP does not replace the need for travel insurance, but instead “fills the gaps. One example of this would be the response to a natural disaster like a hurricane. If a CAP customer has travelled to a destination, let’s say Mexico or a Caribbean Island that will be impacted by a hurricane, before that customer suffers bodily harm or property damage they can request assistance and CAP will (in most cases) evacuate them from the destination and take them to a temporary safe haven or back home, depending on where the customer would like to go.
“Mind you this is accomplished without a claims process, deductible or the need to pay first and then seek reimbursement through the claim’s approval process.”
CAP is also useful as Covid continues to linger and threaten to derail travel plans, Georganes says, adding despite the loosening of restrictions and drop in hospitalizations globally, the COVID benefits of a CAP Tripside Assistance continue to be engaged by customers on a routine basis. CAP benefits include mandatory lodging expenses when forced to quarantine during a period of travel and our hero benefit, hospital-to-hospital transfer for a CAP customer that has contracted COVID or even perhaps Monkeypox during a period of travel and has become hospitalized as a result. CAP will safely transfer the customer from the facility where they are hospitalized back home to a facility where they can continue the recovery process close to family and friends. “Again, this is done without a claim’s approval process or out of pocket expense,” she adds.
CAP rates start at $99 for up to 30 days of continuous international travel to most destinations globally.
Georganes says many people continue to overlook the importance of products like CAP or travel insurance.
“I don’t think anyone truly appreciates the benefits of a travel insurance product and/or a CAP Tripside Assistance Plan until something has gone wrong during a period of travel,”she suggests. “The best customers are those that have actually used a product or didn’t have one and wished they did. Education is the key really. A medical evacuation can range between $50,000 to over $200,000. If a terrorism incident occurs or a protest turns violent, now what? We encourage travel and want nothing more than our customers to feel confident that they are connected and protected for everyday incidents and unforeseen events when they travel with CAP.
“CAP has protected more than 13,000,000 people without a service failure and saved countless lives by providing timely advice and assistance, up to and including evacuation home. We do believe this message is starting to resonate with the travel agents and tour operators that have access to CAP and we hope to amplify that message with every opportunity we get.”
FocusPoint offers what Georganes labels “a highly competitive commission structure to our distribution partners like travel agents, tour operators,airlines, etc. The incremental revenue opportunity is significant for our partners, but equally as important is the contribution CAP has towards the customer Lifetime Value (LTV).”
Georganes says she has absolutely no doubt of the value of CAP.
“If you travel, you need a CAP Tripside Assistance Plan,” she asserts. “For as low as $99, you can travel fearlessly knowing that if you suffer from a medical mishap that results in hospitalization, or you’ve been impacted by or may potentially be impacted by a security incident such as a violent protest or natural disaster during a period of travel, CAP will get you home without any hassle or additional costs.”
