Before insuring his show tickets…

With the amount of viruses circulating and all the vagaries of life, our plans may change. You may not be able to attend your favorite singer’s performance months after purchasing the tickets. On the Ticketmaster site, we are offered to insure our purchase to obtain a refund in certain circumstances. What do you need to know before ticking yes?

As is always the case with insurance, you must read the entire contract to make an informed decision. That of Allianz Global assistance, which distributes the protection of CUMIS tickets sold on Ticketmaster…

However, even if the cost is not very high, why pay it without thinking? Especially since in some cases, the insurance corresponds to a high percentage of the ticket price.

Catch the Luce Dufault show at Club Square Dix30, at the end of January. A ticket costs $49.25 including the service charge. Insurance is sold for $16 per ticket plus 9% tax (which is not shown) for a total of $17.44.

If my calculations are correct, insurance represents 37% of the ticket price. It’s like insuring a $50,000 vehicle costs $18,500! And in the case of protection for show tickets, you will surely not be insured for a year…

The insurance price is also $17.44 for Mélissa Bédard’s show at the Casino, whose tickets sell for $50.74 (ratio of 34%).

To insure a Michel Rivard ticket at $58.25, it costs $8.72 (ratio of 15%).

Those of Depeche Mode sold for $200 are protected for… $16.88 (ratio of 8%).

The logic is not obvious.

The coverage offered includes the price of the ticket, taxes, service charges, delivery charges, as well as “promotional” products added to the order, such as a parking space. The maximum insurable is $1,000.

Allianz specifies that a full refund is offered in the event of an unexpected serious injury or serious illness.

But beware, “you or your companion must have been examined by a doctor within 48 hours prior to the cancellation and the doctor must certify in writing that you or your companion cannot attend the planned event”.

If ever influenza, gastroenteritis or COVID-19 kept you at home, would you have access to a doctor quickly enough to obtain the required certificate? Let’s say the disease starts in the hours before the performance of your favorite comedian or singer. Anyway, are these illnesses considered “serious” and requiring “emergency” care?

In the absence of a certificate from a doctor, you must provide medical evidence, says Allianz, giving the example of the medical file. Admit it’s not easy. It is probably easier to resell your tickets by appealing to all on social networks. You can even go through the Ticketmaster site, which offers a resale service.

Special clause of the contract, a loss of employment can justify a reimbursement. But you must not be responsible for it and you must have been employed by the same employer for at least three consecutive years. The insurer has thought of several scenarios: if your employer or that of your spouse forces you to move more than 160 km from your main residence, you could also ask to be reimbursed for your tickets.

Allianz even promises to protect you in the event of involvement in a traffic accident, “while traveling to the departure point of your common carrier, such that you or your companion miss the scheduled transportation to the event, and the common carrier was unable to reschedule your departure so that you and your companion could arrive at the event on time”. Phew! To read twice.

There is probably more risk that you will miss the event due to a mechanical breakdown of your vehicle or a natural disaster that has made your residence uninhabitable. These two misfortunes entitle you to a refund.

As we can see, insurance covers a multitude of situations. But we still have to wonder if they can really apply to us. In reality, the coverage is rather limited. Will our tickets easily find takers if we can’t make it to the event? The cost of the ticket should also be considered, as the claim process will take some time.

“The conditions for claiming the insurance are quite limited. We talk about terrorism and canceled events. But this is already covered by the Civil Code or the Consumer Protection Act “, adds lawyer Sylvie De Bellefeuille, at Option consommateurs.

Allianz did not want to tell me what proportion of Ticketmaster customers subscribe to this policy and what the complaint rate is. But I have been told that the most common reason for reimbursement requests is related to unforeseen medical conditions.

Do you have any experience with this insurance to share with me? Write to me.

The AMF is working on the file

When Mathieu Trudelle got two tickets for the Cowboys Fringants concert on the Ticketmaster website last fall, the total price indicated was $132. He then accepted the insurance offered to him, without having seen how much it cost.

“The price listed at the bottom of the order hasn’t budged ($132), leading me to believe the insurance was free,” he wrote to me complaining about the site’s lack of clarity. Ticket master.

It was when he received the confirmation email that he realized that the insurance had been sold to him for $17.44 per ticket. That is $16 plus the Quebec sales tax, called “TVP”, of 9%.

I did a few tests over the past few weeks and the pre-tax insurance price was still listed. But the balance effectively remains the same whether you tick yes or no, which is confusing.

Mathieu complained to Allianz, which administers the protection, and he was finally reimbursed after putting the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) in carbon copy and after mentioning his intention to contact a journalist. Two people around him were also “caught”, he wrote to me. They are still waiting for a refund.

Know that you have 10 days to be reimbursed in full for the price of the policy, if you change your mind, provided that the event has not taken place. It’s written in the contract.

Any complaint regarding this type of insurance must be forwarded to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), which regulates the insurance sector in Quebec. A phone call to the OPC could still be useful. “On the web, the provisions on the contract concluded at a distance impose on the merchant obligations to provide all the information before the transaction, which of course includes the price”, notes its spokesperson Charles Tanguay.

So far, fewer than five complaints have been received by the AMF regarding ticket insurance.

According to my information, the AMF is in the process of ensuring the compliance of the Ticketmaster site with regard to the insurance sold by Allianz (AZGA Insurance Agency Canada). Work began in mid-autumn. The law requires, for example, that the price is clear and displayed before the conclusion of the contract, that the certificate is provided, that the policy is not imposed by default and that the consumer can speak to a human to ask questions. The insurer itself contacted the AMF to make sure it got it right, I learned, which is a good sign.

However, I tried to speak in French to someone from the insurer’s customer service by dialing the numbers indicated (those of CUMIS and Allianz) on the Ticketmaster site and I was unsuccessful.

Speaking of Ticketmaster, Marc-André told me that he had resold tickets for a football match in the United States on this platform. He was an American who went to see the Packers against the Cowboys in his place.

As the transaction was concluded in the currency of this country, it is complicated. Or rather, it’s very long to get the sum.

A check for approximately $720 will be sent to him by mail and the delay can reach three months, he was told. To speed things up, he is recommended to open an account in US dollars, which will allow him to get his money back in two weeks.

“My ticket was sold on October 15th on Ticketmaster, they just confirmed that the check was only sent on November 29th…and it’s going to take another 8-12 weeks…ridiculousness doesn’t kill, lucky you!” »

Since we are in the XXI^e century, Marc-André wonders why the sum is not simply credited to the credit card used to purchase the tickets at the start. I tried to get the answer from Ticketmaster, without success.

Certainly, when purchasing tickets, customers cannot pay by check after 120 days.