Has anyone used TinLeg travel insurance?

Just a little update...Still waiting for any word from Tin Leg after I re-submited the documents they asked for on July 2 and I submitted on July 3 that they lost... Documents were re-submitted over two weeks ago and they finally, after I email, they acknowleged that they had them and the claims adjuster would look at them in 5-7 days...The good news is the checks we got to cover the actual cruise cost and airfare change fees did not bounce....... This is not a company that I would suggest to anyone. Quick to take your money, very slow to respond to a claim and Squaremouth.com's zero complaint promise is a joke. It really only covers them bugging Tin Leg for you. Yes, that helped getting the first part of the claim paid but.....enough said.

Pretty honest of Steve.....others would have just pushed you to buy what they are selling.

Definitely agree.....we use Steve and his company exclusively for our travel insurance. Got burned once by another site..once was enough:eek: We like the honesty ......no pushing to purchase more coverage than what we need for our situation....IMO, they are the best;)

An update on my misadventures with Squaremouth.com/Tin Leg/Seven Corners/ who ever else is involved.. the last of our claim was finally settled. Only took a bit over three months, a set of lost documents on their end and way too many phone calls and emails. I am very glad I had this trip insured, I will never use these people again. My new trip is already insured since I now have a pre-exsisting condition to deal with...

I read all the comments about Tin Leg with interest since I was the one who started this thread. I agree with Mr. Click's comments, and I hope that I don't need to use my "parachute". I am leaving for my 24 day tip in a month. Out of interest for another trip I will be taking, and my need for future travel insurance, I did a quick quote for the AXA Assistance USA Gold Plan. I added CFAR to the quote. It was interesting to see that the policy quoted was underwritten by American Modern Home Insurance Company, the same company that is underwriting my Tin Leg policy. In my policy I opted for my medical coverage to be primary, not secondary, because I am on Medicare and I wanted the extra level of protection that the primary coverage provides. Before I bought the Tin Leg policy I read and re-read the actual insurance policy several times and compared it to other plans that I have used in the past. I also called Squaremouth/Tin Leg and asked a lot of questions about the coverage. I was impressed with the level of service with my questions and I didn't hear any beer taps operating in the background. I even took an extra step and had the Insurance Director at my employer, before I retired, review the policy and the underwriter (American Modern). He gave it a thumbs up. I also agree with klfrodo's comments. People who are satisfied with their travel insurance generally don't get on line and tell the world how happy they are. After reading the complaints listed for many of the travel insurance companies, it was very obvious that the purchaser did not fully understand exactly what was covered and what wasn't. It was clear to me after reading many complaints that what they were asking for would not generally be covered in a normal travel insurance policy. Well anyway, st.zoomer and I are both happy with the policies we bought and I am sure that neither of us want to report back that we had to find out who was right about the level of customer care we received after filing a claim.

Your post got my interest since you mention Medicare. As most folks know, Medicare does not pay claims for services outside the USA (or its territories) except under a couple of very limited circumstances. So since Medicare will deny any foreign incurred claim, any secondary policy with foreign coverage essentially becomes primary. So we are really curious as to what "extra level of coverage" you get by paying for primary coverage?

Hank

I believe the difference is that secondary insurance may require you to pay the costs yourself and then you will be reimbursed by the insurance company after you can show them that Medicare has rejected the claim....even though they know Medicare will reject it. Read the policy to see who pays for medical costs under that policy

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I believe the difference is that secondary insurance may require you to pay the costs yourself and then you will be reimbursed by the insurance company after you can show them that Medicare has rejected the claim....even though they know Medicare will reject it. Read the policy to see who pays for medical costs under that policy

 

 

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Was afraid you were going there :). The reality is that few US based insurance companies will quickly pay any foreign claim (primary or secondary has no bearing on this). The problem is that most insist on getting detailed hospital/physician bills in English! And then they go through the normal claims processing procedures. If it is a primary policy this can help speed up claims processing, but if your primary happens to be Medicare Part A or B there will also be no additional delays since the insurer already knows they will not pay.

About a year ago we submitted our first claim (it only for $130) to our then travel med provider (HTH). Since they were secondary we also submitted a claim rejection from our primary payor. We got our check in about 7 weeks! In the insurance world that is fast pay :).

The sad thing about foreign medical care is that most hospitals (and physicians) will ask for payment on the spot. Some hospitals demand payment before discharge which can be a real problem. There are only a few US health insurers that actually maintain a foreign network of hospitals and physicians (GeoBlue is a good example) which helps deal with payment issues.

Slow pay is a norm among health insurers. One exception (in the US) are the various state Medicaid programs which are required to settle 90% of their claims within 30 days. Otherwise, the states lose some federal funding.

Hank

Your post got my interest since you mention Medicare. As most folks know, Medicare does not pay claims for services outside the USA (or its territories) except under a couple of very limited circumstances. So since Medicare will deny any foreign incurred claim, any secondary policy with foreign coverage essentially becomes primary. So we are really curious as to what "extra level of coverage" you get by paying for primary coverage?

 

Hank

Hank, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I was on the cruise for 3 weeks. Thankfully I will never know how good or bad Tin Leg insurance is, because I didn't have to use them for any claims. The reason I bought primary coverage is for 3 reasons; (1) I am on Medicare and my secondary coverage is only $50,000 for international travel; (2) I like the idea of not having to deal with a claim to Medicare, the denial, then a claim to my secondary policy; (3) the person traveling with me has a very serious pre-existing condition. When things go wrong, they can go very wrong and I might need the coverage that this policy provides. I also buy a medical evacuation policy "just in case", since I don't want to be stuck in the nearest hospital that can handle the crisis, when I need the medical care in the US. I found after my original post that travel insurance is a controversial topic. I am a novice at all this, but I am a researcher and I try to make the decision that is best for my particular needs. The only question that is up in the air for me is how good is Tin Leg if you truly understand the policy that you bought and you meet all their conditions. As I read through many posts regarding travel insurance, I found that some people didn't understand the policy provisions or didn't follow the rules and then were upset because the claim was denied. I need to find a company that follows the policy provisions and will pay when all the policy requirement are met. I really haven't read anything so far about Tin Leg that indicates the contrary. Luckily I've got a few months before my next trips to keep researching. I've used CSA in the past and was happy with their policy too. I selected Tin Leg this year because of the cost of the total package that I bought.

Glad you did not have to make a claim on your trip. My complaints with Tin Leg do not involve them denying my claim, they involve the slow speed they moved at in processing my claim. Along the way they took a full month to acknowledge and admit they lost some of the paperwork they asked for and I sent them via email within 6 hours of them asking for it. I did everything they asked and it took them 3 months to settle a simple cancellation claim that was caused by a medical issue I had that was not a pre-exsisting condition. I chose Tin Leg to begin with because of all of the stellar reviews I read and because they costs were lower. I won't make that mistake again. Their whole claims process is flawed as far as I am concerned.

Well, I went ahead and purchased the policy from AXA Assistance USA since it appeared to be a reliable company. It has a good record with the BBB and is the company used by both MetLife and Aetna for their travel insurance plans.

 

I would have used Steve if he had been within $100 or so but the difference was over $400 which was almost 50% higher.

 

Thanks for the info about Steve--hopefully, I won't have to find out how AXA pays their claims...

I was wondering if you ever found any additional information on AXA Assistance? I started this post with asking for information on Tin Leg. Fortunately I didn't need to find out whether my decision was right or wrong for my trip this year, since I didn't need to file a claim. I need to buy travel insurance for 4 of us for my next trip. Since there were so may complaints about Tin Leg, I thought I would shop around. AXA came in the cheapest with CFAR coverage (considerably cheaper than anyone else except Tin Leg). As you pointed out, it is difficult to find any information about this company. When 4 people are booking a trip 8 months out, I would feel more comfortable with CFAR coverage, but it is so expensive with everyone other than AXA and Tin Leg. I sure wish there was a way to sort this out.

Went with friends on a South American cruise. A cut on the leg turned out to require nightly visits to the ship's doctor for IV antibiotics. $8,000 later.....

dollar for dollar was reimbursed to our friend with no hassle at all. Just saying.

Not a happy camper. My wife left the ship in an ambulance and was taken to a local Hospital in Europe. I contacted TinLeg and they arranged an ambulance flight at a cost of $ 95,000. So far so good.

On returning home, I submitted the paperwork for the cruise fare and the Hospital bill (paid at their urging, with the promise of immediate reimbursement). This was in November,2015. To date March,2016, no recognition, just "We never received the documents", all of which have been sent numerous times. From another website this seems to be the norm for

TinLeg. The SquareMouth "Zero Tolerance" promise seems to be a sham.

My advice: Go elsewhere.

Not a happy camper. My wife left the ship in an ambulance and was taken to a local Hospital in Europe. I contacted TinLeg and they arranged an ambulance flight at a cost of $ 95,000. So far so good.

On returning home, I submitted the paperwork for the cruise fare and the Hospital bill (paid at their urging, with the promise of immediate reimbursement). This was in November,2015. To date March,2016, no recognition, just "We never received the documents", all of which have been sent numerous times. From another website this seems to be the norm for

TinLeg. The SquareMouth "Zero Tolerance" promise seems to be a sham.

My advice: Go elsewhere.

This is all I needed to know that Tinleg is a big "no" for us!

Further to my comments above about Seven Corners/TinLeg/SquareMouth at long last we received checks for the bulk of our loss. The "Concierge" at SevenCorners helped, having been prodded by SquareMouth's satisfaction guarantee.

Would I use them again. If only for the repatriation which was wonderful, probably not.

Further to my comments above about Seven Corners/TinLeg/SquareMouth at long last we received checks for the bulk of our loss. The "Concierge" at SevenCorners helped, having been prodded by SquareMouth's satisfaction guarantee.

Would I use them again. If only for the repatriation which was wonderful, probably not.

Very glad you finally got reimbursed.

(We truly were dreading the claims process, and now we've had two with Travel Insured, so we'll stick with them, unless timing requires that we switch to CSA - depending upon whether we start the coverage within a short time of initial deposit.)

And we hope your wife is okay now!

Glad you finally got your money....hopefully your experience and mine will discourage others from dealing with these people. Sounds like your experience was even worse than mine was. It "only" took me a little over 2 months to get re-imbursed. It would have been long if I had not started calling every other day.

About to flip the switch and purchase with TinLeg also. We have always used CSA for our trips. Now, with elderly parents at home, we are looking for CFAR included in a policy. TinLeg comes in with a much lower rate than any other insurance provider. I guess my hesitancy is due to the name....lol

TravelInsured has CFAR for much less than CSA.

And they pay their claims.

We've had first hand experience with this.

We had a cruise booked for November of 2015 and went with the coverage by Tin Leg. Well the day before our cruise was to leave my Mother went into the hospital and passed a few days later.

The coverage by Tin Leg was adequate, all delays we had were made on our own end (providing death certificate and filling out documentation). In the end we got back 100% including our prepaid gratuities.

I'm curious why most of you purchase CFAR. Many credit cards provide trip cancellation insurance (ie our Chase Sapphire). And if I've gone through the time and trouble to arrange a huge vacation, I'm going to need an exceptional reason to cancel, not just Any Reason.

I'll take a stab at replying to your question. I'm sure that if 15 people answer, you will get 15 different points of view, based on personal circumstances. Here is why I buy travel insurance and why I generally buy CFAR:

• I struggle with CFAR every time I buy a policy for a trip. Some trips I buy it and some I don't.
  
• I also have a Chase Sapphire credit card and I have reviewed their policy.
  
• Most of my trips are considerably over the maximum coverage provided by Chase ($20,000), so I need more coverage than they offer.
  
• Chase does not cover CFAR
  
• Chase does not cover for pre-existing conditions. I travel with a person who is on kidney dialysis. Many people have a pre-existing condition. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole with any insurance company whose primary mission in life is to deny a claim.
  
• Chase won't honor a claim if you are "traveling against the advice of a physician." I'm not sure I want to fight that battle either. Since I don't have a crystal ball, I can't predict what might happen in the future regarding health. I may not be in the hospital, buy my doctor may tell me I am a fool to take this trip.
  
• I found that cruises book up very quickly so I often book a cruise 12-18 months in advance. I just don't know what might come up in that time that would prompt me to cancel the trip, so I opt for CFAR; particularly if I book way in advance. Just this week I bought a travel insurance policy for a trip in September, 2018, and the cost of the trip is $35,000. I bought CFAR for that trip. If I book a lower cost trip and I am traveling within 3-5 months, I may not buy CFAR.
  
• I am on Medicare so I need the medical coverage provided by travel insurance. My supplement only covers $50,000 in medical for foreign travel. I always buy a minimum of $100,000 medical and make it primary. As a side note, I also carry a separate medical evacuation insurance policy that will bring me back to my home in a medical jet, if necessary.
  

This may not answer your question, but these are my personal reasons. I am sure that many people could make the argument against buying any travel insurance. It's all a matter of your personal risk tolerance.

As my wife and I have just turned 65 we will be on medicare for our Jan 2018 cruise. We know that medicare and our secondary insurance do not pay for healthcare outside the USA. We are looking at several travel medical insurance companies for our cruise. We are in good health and do not have any preexisting conditions. Our main concern is if a catastrophic event occurs such as a heart attack and the cruise ship evacuates us to a foreign island. Many of the policies allow you to pick a $ amount for primary medical coverage. With not having any experience of hospital costs, we are wondering what dollar amount might be appropriate to cover a catastrophic illness.

As my wife and I have just turned 65 we will be on medicare for our Jan 2018 cruise. We know that medicare and our secondary insurance do not pay for healthcare outside the USA. We are looking at several travel medical insurance companies for our cruise. We are in good health and do not have any preexisting conditions. Our main concern is if a catastrophic event occurs such as a heart attack and the cruise ship evacuates us to a foreign island. Many of the policies allow you to pick a $ amount for primary medical coverage. With not having any experience of hospital costs, we are wondering what dollar amount might be appropriate to cover a catastrophic illness.

We recommend that you contact Steve at www.TripInsuranceStore.com

CALL them, don't just read online summaries.

There is lots of possibly tricky "fine print" that can't fit into summaries.

He (or his staff) will discuss with you what your needs are, so that they try to get the best choices, with out missing something, or having you pay for something you don't need.

We've used him quite a few times, and ended up with Travel Insured policies purchased through Steve's company.

And we've had a few large claims, which were paid promptly, with no bickering. That's what matters!

It appears Tin Leg is now using Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company as their underwriter.  Maybe things are better now?  Any updated reviews?

On 1/31/2019 at 4:01 PM, eurodl said:

It appears Tin Leg is now using Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company as their underwriter.  Maybe things are better now?  Any updated reviews?

I know that this is an old thread, but the last post sought updated reviews.  I have for months been trying to get claims paid by this company and they are horrible to work with.  They have yet again changed underwriters and claims processors and still don't respond to claims requests in a timely manner, if at all.  I'm told they are again changing claims processors due to customer complaints which speaks volumes about their abilities to service customers.  DON'T RISK USING THEM!