Meet Faye’s ex-comic, David Wingfield and his expert travel tips
“If it were up to me, I’d pay everybody’s claims. I don’t know if that makes me a good claims examiner or a bad claims examiner, but I totally would.”
If this sounds different from what you may expect from someone in a travel insurance claims department, then buckle up. David Wingfield, a member of Faye’s claims department, has a different philosophy on claims, but David perhaps has one of the most diverse backgrounds of any claims examiner in the biz. Prior to his career in travel insurance, he spent about ten years as a nationally-touring standup comedian. At one point, he was the regular opening act for late comedian and writer Charlie Murphy.
“As a guy who spent five days a week on the road somewhere in the United States, I’ve had a lot of experience traveling. The cool thing is that I’m able to put that experience to use helping Faye customers.”
Of course, when dealing with travelers with tricky situations, comedy can be a great icebreaker. And it’s clearly working. At this point, only 8 months since launching, David has been mentioned several times by those traveling with Faye in online reviews and has quickly become a customer favorite – with some even asking for him by name.
“If I ever go back into comedy, I’ll use it as a credit. ‘Your next comedian has been called very friendly and extremely helpful…’”
As a claims examiner, David has found that the only thing all claims have in common is unexpectedness.
“No one thinks they’ll get sick. Or have an accident. Or lose their luggage. No, I take that back. Everyone expects to lose their luggage.”
David has three pieces of advice for those traveling who may need to potentially file a claim:
1. Give us a call. “If you’re not sure what’s covered or not covered, call us before you buy your policy! We’re available 24/7, even on weekends and holidays and can answer any question you have about potential scenarios, health coverage and more.”
2. Hang on to your information. “Save all of your receipts, invoices, and emails. Anything you receive before and during your trip could be required for a potential claim. It’s a lot easier to process everything if you already have most of the required documents.”
3. Be patient. “As the legendary Tom Petty told us, the waiting is the hardest part. We aim to get back to you within 48 hours of filing a claim. Just know that it takes a little time to go through everything, but that’s mainly because we want to be sure we’re giving everything the right amount of attention in order to provide you with the best service and experience.”
The approach of David, and our whole claims team for that matter, aims to dispel the notion that examiners are always looking for ways to deny customers’ claims. At Faye, we look for any way in which we can help and even if a claim has to be denied, we transparently communicate why in a person-first manner.
