Is void transit insurance actually worth it?
The kiosk at the Fenwick terminal has been pushing void transit insurance lately. 12 credits per crossing or 80 credits for a monthly pass add-on. Coverage includes "standard displacement events, item loss during transit, and incidental temporal offset not exceeding 72 hours." That last part worries me enough to consider buying it. But 12 credits per crossing adds up fast and I commute daily. Is anyone actually collecting on these policies? Or is this one of those things where the fine print makes it impossible to file?
I've had the monthly add-on for two years. Filed one claim. Lost a bag (see my post on basically every void thread on this forum). The policy covered replacement value of the contents, which was fine, except they required an itemized list of everything in the bag, a sworn statement that the items were in the bag at the time of loss, and a form signed by a void transit agent confirming the loss occurred during transit. The agent is only available at the lost+found office, which I've already described the access challenges for. Total reimbursement took four months. The amount was fair. The process was not.
The "temporal offset not exceeding 72 hours" is the part worth paying for. If you come out of a crossing and less than 72 hours have passed that shouldn't have, the policy covers lost wages, missed appointments, and what they call "re-synchronization expenses," which basically means whatever it costs you to catch up on three days of life you didn't experience. Groceries that expired, bills that came due, the awkward conversation with your employer about where you were Tuesday through Thursday. It happened to me once. Walked into the Fenwick corridor on a Monday, walked out on a Wednesday. Nobody believes you when you say you were in a corridor for 48 hours that's supposed to be 22 minutes. The insurance company believed me. They had a form for it.
How often does the temporal offset thing actually happen? Like what are the odds on a daily commute?
On the Fenwick-to-Dross corridor, which is well-maintained? Extremely rare. Maybe once every few years for a regular commuter. On the longer or less-maintained routes? More common. The Glumwick bypass has had three offset events this year alone. The real question is whether you're the kind of person who'd rather pay 80 credits a month and not think about it, or save the money and deal with it if it happens. I pay. But I've also lost a bag, gained 48 hours, and had my scarf come back cold. I am not a representative sample.