Stolen CPAP abroad - options?

[BrandonB]

Yesterday I arrived in Italy and had a wonderful day and night last night. However, while traveling from Rome to Florence, our car was broken into and everything was stolen - luggage, clothing, passports, medications, and of course, my ResMed S9 AutoPap.

I called my medical equipment provider and they said my insurance may not cover a replacement since it’s obly been four years and they typically require five ears between replacements.

Anyone have thoughts on a replacement if I can’t get one that way? In the meantime, thoughts on what to do? We are in Italy for another week.

Advice, thoughts, and well wishes appreciated.

[Pugsy]

Probably not much you can do until you get home but if insurance is no help in purchasing a replacement...check with one of the forum members here who dabble in some slightly used machines and sometimes even new.
LSAT or grayghost 4.

You might also check out secondwindcpap.com...give them a call and ask them what they could maybe do in this situation.
I don't know if you have enough time to get anything to you since it's the holidays and all.

[lathnos46]

If you charged your rental car to a major credit card you can file a claim for all the stolen goods, including the CPAP machine and may be made whole. This is terrible and I am so sorry this happened to you. I guess you have to go to the American Embassy in Rome to get new passports. Chin up!

[chunkyfrog]

What a grinchy thing to happen!
Staying at home is no solution, as thieves are everywhere. Bummer.

[Wulfman...]

Yesterday I arrived in Italy and had a wonderful day and night last night. However, while traveling from Rome to Florence, our car was broken into and everything was stolen - luggage, clothing, passports, medications, and of course, my ResMed S9 AutoPap.

I called my medical equipment provider and they said my insurance may not cover a replacement since it’s obly been four years and they typically require five ears between replacements.

Anyone have thoughts on a replacement if I can’t get one that way? In the meantime, thoughts on what to do? We are in Italy for another week.

Advice, thoughts, and well wishes appreciated.

WTF!?!?

The place you NEED to call is your insurance agent and get the straight scoop on this.......and report your loss. They're the only ones who can properly advise you on what is or isn't covered.......PERIOD!!!
Your DME doesn't know diddly squat (and they usually lie anyway) and neither do we on what your insurance policy covers.


Den

.

[BrandonB]

WTF!?!?

The place you NEED to call is your insurance agent and get the straight scoop on this.......and report your loss. They're the only ones who can properly advise you on what is or isn't covered.......PERIOD!!!
Your DME doesn't know diddly squat (and they usually lie anyway) and neither do we on what your insurance policy covers.


Den

I won’t be going through my homeowners insurance for this. My deductible is too high to be worth it. I do however have an independent trip insurance policy for this as well as trip coverage from my credit card I bought the plane tickets with.

[D.H.]

Certainly, if you have travel insurance, it will cover it. Whatever insurance covers the other stolen items should cover the CPAP machine too.

[BrandonB]

As an update to folks in case it ever proves helpful to others.

1. My travel insurance had a specific exclusion for “electronics” stolen from vehicles. I would have needed “lost/stolen baggage” coverage for my CPAP being stolen from the car. I didn’t get that since my credit card provides lost/stolen baggage coverage, but only until the common carrier hands me my bag and thus, not covered when stolen from a vehicle.

2. My homeowners would cover it, but I am not filing with them because a) I don’t file for “small” things and b) I have a $2,500 deductible on my policy.

3. My DME didn’t submit my paperwork for insurance approval until they had a new CPAP order from my sleep doctor, the police report for the theft, and a visit summary showing that I consistently use my CPAP. Once they got that, they submitted last Monday and got approval on Friday.

4. I am picking up a new ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet tomorrow. Cost with insurance is $1,900 Thankfully I’m switching insurance next year and have a use it or lose it spending account with $1,800 in it.

5. My DME is letting me swap out any unopened supplies for my S9 to the S10 equivalents. ClimateLine tubes, replacement humidifier tanks, etc. My air filters appear to be the same for both devices.

6. Member LSAT is phenomenal. Since I knew the insurance process wouldn’t happen quick, I ordered a used device from him before I left Italy. He was very easy to work with, shipped it next day, and sent it priority with tracking for it to arrive before me. Sadly, USPS had other things in mind and 2-3 Day Priority turned into 10 day, but that isn’t LSAT’s fault. We kept in touch in between and he was willing to help accommodate me should the device be lost.

I now will have a backup unit thanks to LSAT, so I should always come home to a CPAP regardless of what happened while I was gone. Thank you all for your help and support!!

[Pugsy]

USPS Priority is usually really good UNTIL the package has to leave the United States and then the US mail system is at the mercy of the rest of the world including customs in both outgoing and incoming countries. It's just the way it is. Customs on both ends will take their own sweet time in doing anything. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

The best way to get anything to another country quickly is something like Fed Ex overnight packaging. They will expedite the customs stuff better.
Unfortunately...over night delivery is very pricey. I once shipped a Swift FX nasal pillow over night to someone in Jamaica...long story there but it was needed badly and no other way to get one there. Hubby offered to hand deliver it if she would pay the plane ticket...but lack of a passport created a problem.

It cost me (and ultimately the person who needed the pillow) nearly $70 for that tiny package to make it to Jamaica overnight and even then I was told...maybe it would make it in one day. Luckily it did. She got it delivered to her hotel around 7 PM the next day after I shipped it. The USPS here where I live...for any overnight stuff it gets redirected to Fed Ex carrier....so you do the Fed Ex paperwork at the post office. That's how it is done where I live since there is no place of business for Fed Ex sending.

Shipping a cpap machine overnight....horribly expensive but it could be done. I shudder at the cost.

Information provided for general information in case someone ever runs into this sort of situation again.

Glad to here the OP survived his time without CPAP and now on his way to getting everything else sorted out.

[chunkyfrog]

USPS has a problem with efficiency.
They have some locations that MUST be included--even if it is incredibly stupid.
Around here, USPS takes at least a day extra to deliver parcels,
because everything has to go through Omaha--
even if sent from an address in Lincoln to another address in Lincoln. No kidding!
If they claim it is for security--that's BS. Their "security" is useless.

[BrandonB]

Sorry I gave the wrong impression. The USPS Priority delivery of the CPAP I purchased from LSAT was to my US address to arrive the day before my flight, so it would have been ready and waiting for me at home if it didn’t decide to take a week’s vacation somewhere in the Central time zone.