Hope I now understand Cruise Insurance - better at least, it is somewhat confusing

[triodes]

Cruiseco or whoever, have at me if you think I am wrong - what may make it confusing to us new folks is some many different elements, with names that are not necessarily fully descriptive.

When buying independently -

You purchase

from a site such as

1st entity -Insuremytrip.com - they are basically the agent or seller

2 nd entity - Global Alert ( or other company) - basically are the entity selling the policy which may be and probably is underwritten by a full fledged insurance company -such as

3 rd entity - United States Fire Insurance Company - licensed to operate in 50 states

while traveling

4th entity - One Call Assistance - Included in policy I am looking at - is basically an assistance company - not exactly but somewhat like AAA is for automobiles - they assist you in medical and other emergencies, help you determine best solution - and also make arrangements for medivac, major medical coverage - ensure that you have coverage and handle it appropriately to ensure you meet policy criteria - among other things.

Then if you have a claim -

5th entity - Trip Mate - is basically a 3rd party claims adjuster.

Obviously, there are potentially other combinations - but the above is what I am looking at, and as I dug into it to understand - it is somewhat surprising so many elements are involved.

No wonder it is confusing.

I may have some of the One Call stuff not exactly correct but I think I am close.

[cruiseco]

Originally Posted by triodes

Cruiseco or whoever, have at me if you think I am wrong - what may make it confusing to us new folks is some many different elements, with names that are not necessarily fully descriptive.

When buying independently -

You purchase

from a site such as

1st entity -Insuremytrip.com - they are basically the agent or seller

2 nd entity - Global Alert ( or other company) - basically are the entity selling the policy which may be and probably is underwritten by a full fledged insurance company -such as

3 rd entity - United States Fire Insurance Company - licensed to operate in 50 states

while traveling

4th entity - One Call Assistance - Included in policy I am looking at - is basically an assistance company - not exactly but somewhat like AAA is for automobiles - they assist you in medical and other emergencies, help you determine best solution - and also make arrangements for medivac, major medical coverage - ensure that you have coverage and handle it appropriately to ensure you meet policy criteria - among other things.

Then if you have a claim -

5th entity - Trip Mate - is basically a 3rd party claims adjuster.

Obviously, there are potentially other combinations - but the above is what I am looking at, and as I dug into it to understand - it is somewhat surprising so many elements are involved.

No wonder it is confusing.

I may have some of the One Call stuff not exactly correct but I think I am close.

That's about the most combinations you can have. Some are much more integrated. For example, before the blowup of AIG, Travel Guard or its affiliated companies performed all of those functions -- every service, from underwriting to claims, to the 24-hour emergency assistance was performed by an AIG/Travel Guard company.

There's very good reasons for the different functions being spread around several companies. There's a couple of very good, very reliable companies that provide the 24-hour emergency services you mention. Why re-invent the wheel? The same with claims. Some prefer to keep that function in-house whereas others will farm it out to a company like Trip Mate that specializes in doing that. By the way CSA's real name is Customized Services Administrators -- they spent a lot of years administering other companies' plans before they started selling their own plans. They still administer plans for some others, for example HTH.

In choosing a plan I would ignore who's providing the 24-hour assistance -- One Call, Mondial, EuropAssist -- they're all excellent -- you never hear a complaint that one of these companies didn't come through. In fact most are amazed by the help they got.

I wouldn't worry if the claims are done in-house or farmed out to a company like Trip Mate. It's no more likely to be approved or declined one way or the other. And either way you always have your state's department of insurance looking over their shoulder making sure you're treated fairly.

To me the underwriter is also immaterial. Every major insurer uses an underwriter that's AM Best rated A+, A. or A-. All of those fall into AM Best's overall rating of "excellent". I think even an underwriter rated A- will have more than enough cash on hand to cover your claim.

Most important is choosing the right plan, no matter what companies are doing what function. If it covers what you need covered then the underwriter, the claims administrator, or the 24-hour assistance provider isn't going to matter enough to make a difference. And if you choose a plan that doesn't cover what you need covered none of them can help you.

[triodes]

Originally Posted by cruiseco

That's about the most combinations you can have....Most important is choosing the right plan....

Thanks for your response cruiseco.

Found the right plan for me, and it had those components so I sought to understand them.

Took a bit of asking questions and searching but I seem to have it down reasonably well.

Thought it might do others searching on the subject some benefit if they come across the post.