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assist card for travel insurance


kcbarker
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Does anyone have an opinion on using Assist-Card for travel insurance?

 

On their web site I could not find:

 

1) The name of their underwriter (if any)

 

2) A copy of the actual plan certificate with the fine print to look over.

 

Maybe the info is there and I'm just not finding it but I'd want to know these things before buying anything from them.

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I'm not even sure exactly what it is that you are asking, but be very careful with the word "assist" in any travel insurance policy.

 

"Assist" only means they will help you locate a service. It does not always mean they will "pay" for a service.

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We bought their insurance in February for an April cruise. We had two flights canceled due to the volcanic ash shut down of European airports. We called Assist Card three times before finally boarding a new flight the TA found and after spending 36 hours at JFK. Assist card told us they would cover hotel room and difference of up to $600 per ticket for airfare. Airfare was $275 additional per ticket and hotel was $200. We keep getting letters that we have not sent what they asked for although we have sent everything they required twice. Now they want a letter from the airline as to why our flights were canceled. It seems they think that if they make it frustrating enough, we'll go away. I would never trust them again.

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We bought their insurance in February for an April cruise. We had two flights canceled due to the volcanic ash shut down of European airports. We called Assist Card three times before finally boarding a new flight the TA found and after spending 36 hours at JFK. Assist card told us they would cover hotel room and difference of up to $600 per ticket for airfare. Airfare was $275 additional per ticket and hotel was $200. We keep getting letters that we have not sent what they asked for although we have sent everything they required twice. Now they want a letter from the airline as to why our flights were canceled. It seems they think that if they make it frustrating enough, we'll go away. I would never trust them again.

 

Asking for a letter from the airline with the cancellation reason is perfectly normal and reasonable. Asking for it months later (when the airline may not be able to provide it) is not.

 

On their web site I could not find:

 

1) The name of their underwriter (if any)

 

2) A copy of the actual plan certificate with the fine print to look over.

 

Maybe the info is there and I'm just not finding it but I'd want to know these things before buying anything from them.

 

I did find it, for what it's worth: http://www.assist-cardusa.com/assets/pdf/CFAR_GTC/PREMIER_GTC_FINAL.pdf It is a real insurance policy with a real underwriter. However, it's got one heck of a pre-ex exclusion for medical care; it only covers illnesses which first manifest themselves during your trip. (You have osteoporosis for twenty years, but have your first break during your trip? Too bad!) That's a real deal-killer for a lot of people. They also exclude expenses "not approved in advance"; a real toughie if you are busy bleeding in the Cruise Ship's infirmary.

 

I'm not even sure exactly what it is that you are asking, but be very careful with the word "assist" in any travel insurance policy.

 

"Assist" only means they will help you locate a service. It does not always mean they will "pay" for a service.

 

Well, FWIW, they are insurance, albeit a policy so bad that it makes BerkeleyCare look like a charity that happens to charge some fees.

 

Cancellation / Interruption coverage for airline reasons only covers weather issues lasting at least 24 hours. (Mechanicals appear to be not included.) The trip delay coverage actually seems okay, but it won't cover the cost of the vacation days you missed.

 

I'd run away. Run very far away. This policy is cheap because the fine print makes it much less useful. Excluding expenses not approved in advance, while simultaneously not being helpful when you call them is a particularly evil trick. (Albeit it's one that would probably be overturned when you appeal to the insurance commission for being unconscionable.)

 

SirWired

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I'm not sure I agree with you that it's a notably sub-par plan. Many of the deficiencies you point out are standard across the industry. For example:

 

However, it's got one heck of a pre-ex exclusion for medical care; it only covers illnesses which first manifest themselves during your trip. (You have osteoporosis for twenty years, but have your first break during your trip? Too bad!) That's a real deal-killer for a lot of people. . .

 

 

Here's from Travelex regarding sickness coverage:

 

"EMERGENCY ACCIDENT & SICKNESS MEDICAL EXPENSE

 

The Company will pay benefits up to the maximum shown on the Confirmation of Coverage, if You incur Covered Medical Expenses as a result of Emergency Treatment of an Accidental Injury that occurs or Sickness that first manifests itself during the Covered Trip. "

 

Here's from Travel Insured:

 

"EMERGENCY ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS MEDICAL EXPENSE

The Company will pay benefits up to the maximum shown on Your Confirmation of Benefits subject to the $50 deductible for each occurrence, Covered Medical Expenses which are incurred while on Your Trip, for Emergency Treatment of an Accidental Injury which occurs while on Your Trip or a Sickness which first manifests itself during the Trip..

 

Here's the Assist-Card definition of a pre-existing condition::

 

"Pre-existing Condition” for the purposes of the policy shall mean 1) a condition that would have caused a person to seek medical advice, diagnosis, care or Treatment during the 12 months prior to the Effective Date of coverage under the policy; 2) a condition for which medical advice, diagnosis, care or Treatment was recommended or received during the 12 months prior to the Effective Date of coverage under the policy."

 

Yes, a one year look-back period is unusually long (most other plans are between 60 - 180 days) but the waiver of this exclusion that they offer of this exclusion isn't onerous:

 

"The Pre-Existing Condition exclusion will be waived if the protection plan is purchased within 14 days of the initial Trip deposit and You are not disabled from travel at the time You pay the premium." Again, well within industry standards. And, compared to some other plans, there's no requirement to insure every last dime of your trip cost to get the waiver -- actually very consumer friendly in that regard.

 

[QOUTE]Cancellation / Interruption coverage for airline reasons only covers weather issues lasting at least 24 hours. (Mechanicals appear to be not included.)

 

Again, pretty standard. Here's from Travelex's covered reasons for trip cancellation:

 

"Weather that causes complete cessation of services of Your Common Carrier for at least twenty-four (24) consecutive hours." Notice mechanical breakdowns aren't covered at all. Travel Insured doesn't even include a 24-hour weather delay in their covered reasons for cancellation.

 

The trip delay coverage actually seems okay, but it won't cover the cost of the vacation days you missed.

This is from the Assist-Card description of coverage:

 

"TRIP DELAY The Company will reimburse the Insured for Covered Expenses on a one-time basis, up to the maximum shown in the accompanying Schedule of Benefits, if the Insured is delayed en route to or from the Covered Trip for twelve (12) or more hours due to a defined Hazard: Covered Expenses Include:

a) Any prepaid, unused, non-refundable land and water accommodations;

b) An Economy Fare from the . . . "

 

Again, pretty standard.

 

They also exclude expenses "not approved in advance"; a real toughie if you are busy bleeding in the Cruise Ship's infirmary

 

I did a search of the whole document and the only references I could find to this are in regards to services provided by the Assistance Company (emergency evacuation and repatriation). It is not mentioned in the Accident/Sickness coverage language portion of the document nor in any other part of the document relating to any of the insurance benefits. Again this is standard practice. Any travel insurance policy will have two components -- an insurance component underwritten by the issuing insurance company and an assistance component which usually comprises services such as emergency evacuation and repatriation. Here's how Travelex words it:

 

"This Certificate of Insurance describes all of the travel insurance benefits, underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and herein referred to as the Company, and assistance services provided by On Call International."

 

When you pay your premium most of it goes to the insurer but a portion is paid to a designated assistance provider such as On Call or One Call or Mondial. You are basically paying for a short-term membership in their assistance program. This is why all insurers insist that all emergency evac/repatriation arrangements must be handled directly by the assistance company -- if you make these arrangements and pay for them yourself you run the risk of not being repaid by the insurer. For example, this is from TravelSafe:

 

"Medical Evacuation - When medically necessary, we will arrange and pay for appropriate transportation, including an escort, if required, to a suitable hospital, treatment facility or home. Payment for Medical Evacuation is available only for covered claims and up to the amount of coverage provided in the policy. All medical transportation services must be authorized and arranged by One Call. In the event of an unauthorized Medical Evacuation, reimbursement may be limited or coverage may be invalidated."

 

And this is from Travelex:

 

"All transportation arrangements made for evacuating You must be by the most direct and economical route possible. Expenses for transportation must be:

 

(a) recommended by the attending Physician;

(b) required by the standard regulations of the conveyance transporting You; and

© authorized in advance by the authorized assistance company."

 

It gets a little confusing since in this case the Assistance Company is Assist-Card itself. The insurer is ARCH. So it's actually a plan underwritten by ARCH and they're the ones responsible for paying any claims due on any of the insurance benefits of the policy -- trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, medical, baggage, etc.

 

Assist-Card has agreed to market the plan under their own name but their only involvement with a traveler is offering non-insurance services such as emergency evacuation, finding a translator for you, finding a doctor for you, getting an emergency message home, etc. But they are not responsible for reimbursing you for any actual out-of-pocket expenses you may have. Those claims will be taken care of by ARCH.

 

Would I buy one of their policies? Probably not as I have had good results with other insurers that I would use again. But I've definitely seen worse options.

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We bought their insurance in February for an April cruise. We had two flights canceled due to the volcanic ash shut down of European airports. We called Assist Card three times before finally boarding a new flight the TA found and after spending 36 hours at JFK. Assist card told us they would cover hotel room and difference of up to $600 per ticket for airfare. Airfare was $275 additional per ticket and hotel was $200. We keep getting letters that we have not sent what they asked for although we have sent everything they required twice. Now they want a letter from the airline as to why our flights were canceled. It seems they think that if they make it frustrating enough, we'll go away. I would never trust them again.

I would like to retract the above opinion. Assist Card did come through for us. I think they were perhaps so inundated with claims from the volcanic ash airline cancellations, that they just got backed up.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Don't doubt it for a second! Take Assist-Card as travel insurance. We had a really bad experience with my mother, who is 82 years-old and developed deep venous thrombosis and they were true gems.

Polite, punctual, smoothing the way for us through medical appointments, tests, etc.

Could not have had better assistance anywhere!

Hope you NEVER need to claim anything related to health issues, but if you do, they are the best.

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  • 1 year later...
Does anyone have an opinion on using Assist-Card for travel insurance?

Do not use this "insurance" company! They are a scam! We booked a trip through Cheap Caribbean and this is the insurance they use. We had a medical claim, sent in all the required documents. It has been over 2 months and can get no response from them. Oh, but they have kept all our money! We have contacted the insurance commissioner, and hope they will help put this company out of business, which is ripping off honest people!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Does anyone have an opinion on using Assist-Card for travel insurance?

 

Yes I do. If you like giving money away to a company that will never pay a claim whatever the reason, then assist will do that. If you like a company with zero customer service and ignores phone calls and emails, then they do that well too.

 

I would say you would have to be completely crazy to book through Assist Card and people need to know that. This scam company needs to go bankrupt and I would recommend to book travel insurance from any other company. Also dont believe any replies from Assist Card claiming they want to help. They are phony and fake and then they dont contact you again. Never, ever use this insurance company and always check reviews before booking insurance even if it is part of a package. Dont make the same mistake I did because we did everything by book. We canceled in time, bought the "cancel for any reason" package and also canceled for a medical reason and still did not get any refund. If we cannot get a refund for these reasons, then no-one will be successful so book with someone else.

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Does anyone have an opinion on using Assist-Card for travel insurance?

 

Yes I do. If you like giving money away to a company that will never pay a claim whatever the reason, then assist will do that. If you like a company with zero customer service and ignores phone calls and emails, then they do that well too.

 

I would say you would have to be completely crazy to book through Assist Card and people need to know that. This scam company needs to go bankrupt and I would recommend to book travel insurance from any other company. Also dont believe any replies from Assist Card claiming they want to help. They are phony and fake and then they dont contact you again. Never, ever use this insurance company and always check reviews before booking insurance even if it is part of a package. Dont make the same mistake I did because we did everything by book. We canceled in time, bought the "cancel for any reason" package and also canceled for a medical reason and still did not get any refund. If we cannot get a refund for these reasons, then no-one will be successful so book with someone else.

 

I went to their web site - http://www.assist-cardusa.com/ and looked at every page shown on their site map to see who the underwriter is. I can find zero underwriting information anywhere which is disturbing. I was going to urge you to file a complaint with your state's department of insurance but that sometimes is not possible without knowing who the underwriter is. If you can't get that info from Assist-Card in a timely manner then file a complaint with them based on that -- they MUST divulge to you who the underwriter is for your state of residence.

 

Also, while poking around the site I was unable to pull up the full description of coverage (the fine print) for any of the plans they offer that include trip cancellation/interruption coverage. Maybe just a glitch but again disturbing. If you're going to sell your product online you should have that info readily available.

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I think it is interesting that say it takes 1 - 2 weeks to process a claim on their website. It has now been over 2 months and received nothing. This company is very dishonest and that is very alarming. I would recommend booking travel insurance somewhere else. I did not even book through this company. It is what Cheap Caribbean uses, but I never expected it would take so long to receive a refund especially since they said you could "cancel for any reason" so if this is the case why does it take over two months and thats assuming I even receive a refund for the travel costs.

 

 

How long does it take to process a claim?

 

This largely depends on how quickly the policyholder completes the necessary paperwork and provides the supporting documentation (i.e. medical records, confirmation of cancellation, etc.). Once we receive all the necessary documents in the proper fashion, claims will typically be paid with 1 to 2 weeks.

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I can "assist" you with your refund. You will not be getting one from this company. They have a "medical panel" to go over your claim. We had documents with our doctor stating my husband should not travel and this panel deemed him able to travel!!! We cannot believe the audacity of this company.

:mad:

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  • 2 months later...

The agency we booked our cruise with recommended Assist-Card and it sounded like good coverage so even though we usually get our own insurance, we took it. We had to cancel our cruise before our final payment was due so we got our deposit back from the cruise line but there was an agency charge (another story...I won't use an agency again that imposes a fee either). After two calls to Assist-Card they finally emailed the necessary forms to submit a claim. A month after they received the forms, I hadn't heard from them; I emailed them twice..no response. I called them several times and left messages on their voice mail..no response. Finally I did reach someone, was put on hold for 20 minutes and when someone in claims finally answered, she said they were still reviewing the claim and would let me know in two or three days. After two weeks I called again; left messages again; emailed again..no response. It is now two months since they received my claim and I got a letter in the mail today that the claim has been denied. I could appeal but I'm just giving up and chalking it up to lesson learned.

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Maybe I will. There are so many good travel insurance companies to choose from that it's a shame when a fellow cruiser unknowingly chooses this one.

 

It sounds like you got your money back for the cruise. Were there other trip arrangements you insured like air flights? If not, was your only loss the cancellation fee charged by the agency?

 

The reason I ask is that you would not have prepaid that cancellation fee. It would only be charged if you have to cancel. This is important because the plan has the following:

 

"The Company will pay for the following:

a) unused, non-refundable land or sea expenses prepaid to the Participating Organization."

 

If that's the case then the denial of the claim, while handled extremely poorly, may have been correct.

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We did prepay a fee to the travel agency, it was charged when we booked our cruise along with the cruise deposit and that is what we didn't get back.

 

Did you prepay the insurance premium and that's what you didn't get back? Insurance premiums are not refundable.

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We did prepay a fee to the travel agency, it was charged when we booked our cruise along with the cruise deposit and that is what we didn't get back.

 

If the agency charged you some kind of booking fee, the fee may not fall under the definition of something the insurer will pay for:

 

"The Company will pay for the following:

a) unused, non-refundable land or sea expenses prepaid to the Participating Organization."

 

Unfortunately, when looking up the plan's definition of "Land or Sea Arrangements" you get only the following which does absolutely nothing to clear up what can or cannot be insured:

 

""Land/Sea Arrangements” means land and or sea arrangements made by the Participating Organization."

 

If they're denying the claim because a "booking fee" doesn't meet this definition of a "land or sea expense" then they might be making the proper claim decision. I'm not saying it's the decision I would have made but given the general vagueness of the definition it might be understandable. I just don't know -- some lawyer once told me that vagueness is generally decided in the favor of whomever didn't write the contract but I don't know how that would help you much.

 

You can of course get a better decision on this by appealing the matter to your state's department of insurance. But I think a good first course of action might be to contact the travel agency first and try to get them to refund the booking fee to you directly as a customer goodwill gesture. It just seems petty for them to keep the fee plus the commission they made on the sale of the insurance in light of the fact that the cancellation was for a legitimate medical reason.

Edited by cruiseco
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  • 4 years later...

My husband made a claim for delayed luggage from Assistcard - he has an annual travel insurance. The claim was submitted almost nine months ago and when I followed it up by calling the company directly instead of the insurance agent who sold us the policy, I was told that the claim had been denied.

They never even contacted us to advise us and this was a valid claim.

I don't recommend you get your travel insurance from Assistcard...they said my husband should have filed the complaint within twenty four hours. He was on travelling in and out of Europe without his luggage and he had to purchase decent apparel to use for his various meetings. He was bogged down with complaining to the airlines and trying to outfit himself. He eventually got his luggage after four days but he had a frustrating time following up the airlines. The airlines, Singapore Airlines, have still not settled so I thought to contact Assistcard but they are also quite uncaring and don't seem to be concerned about attending to claims. I would not have found out that they denied the claim since they never wrote or communicated with us. I was calling to renew the policy and follow up on the complaint and that is when I found out that they would not reimburse my husband for his expenses.

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