"Are you ready for some pain?" OR "Why you should buy travel insurance."

OP,

Was your medical insurance policy primary? I assume that from the quick check issue.

My claims were on policies where the medical was secondary to my "regular" medical insurance. In those claims I had to submit a denial letter from my insurer. That resulted in a bit of delay in a couple claims, and significant hassle for one claim. But the travel insurance adjusters did their job promptly in all the claims.

OP,

Was your medical insurance policy primary? I assume that from the quick check issue.

My claims were on policies where the medical was secondary to my "regular" medical insurance. In those claims I had to submit a denial letter from my insurer. That resulted in a bit of delay in a couple claims, and significant hassle for one claim. But the travel insurance adjusters did their job promptly in all the claims.

I assume the trip insurance was primary. They asked what other policies I had in place, and I disclosed my at-home medical insurance. But they didn't require me to make a claim, or even ask if I'd made one. Which I didn't.

Don't leave home without it.

Thanks for the answer.

This is going to depend on your insurer and the details of the policy they send you -- NOT just the declarations page with the top line limits on it. I just looked at my AIG policy and it says that they'll pay for evacuation up to policy limits IF you contact them for approval first (or as soon after evacuation as you can if you're incapacitated). If you fail to contact them, they may only pay what they'd have paid had you contacted them. This implies to me that they'll make direct payment arrangements and receive some sort of discount. In other parts of the agreement, e.g. hospitalization, they do make reference to paying for charges directly if required. In the case of smaller things, the expectation is you pay the bills and seek reimbursement.

Thank you so much for the clarification.

So glad you received quality care and your claim was successfully paid! I too always get travel insurance and appreciate when people share firsthand experiences because it does pay for itself with just 1 incident, and I think it's good to spread the word. I'd rather pay for it and never have to use it than go without it and risk something happening. Smooth sailing to you on your next cruise!

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I always buy trip insurance that has primary coverage instead of secondary coverage. That way my claim is handled only by the trip insurance company and I don`t have to first file with my regular insurance and get denied.

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One more reason to but insurance. One Christmas Eve day my daughter and I were on our way to Barcelona to board the NCL Jade that day. . Yes, I know it is not good to fly the day of a cruise, but she is a teacher and could not get the previous day off.

We had to change planes in Milan. When we arrived there was something in Italian on the board which I did not understand,, There was no one in the information booth so I went into the Lufthansa lounge and asked for translation. Out flight to Barcelona had been cancelled.

After standing in line for over an hour, the best Lufthansa could offer was a flight, changing in Zurich, that would arrive after the ship was due to sale. They did tell me that Vueling still had seats.

We were able to get seats on Vueling at a cost of over 300 Euros each, but we arrived in plenty of time to make the boat. I did have to pay for the tickets then, but the insurance company reimbursed me the $800 without question once I provided proof of the flight cancellation. Our $150 premium tuned out to be a bargain.

I always buy trip insurance that has primary coverage instead of secondary coverage. That way my claim is handled only by the trip insurance company and I don`t have to first file with my regular insurance and get denied.

 

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Good point. I will look for the phrase "Primary Coverage" when researching policies to purchase.

The first time I filed a travel insurance claim I had a policy that was Secondary to my regular insurance. My regular Blue Cross insurance did not cover me out of the United States, which is why I purchased the travel insurance prior to the cruise. First I filed a claim with the travel insurer and they informed me that I must file the claim with Blue Cross first, since they had the Primary coverage. (Even though I knew B.C. would deny it.) So I filed the claim the 2nd time with Blue Cross and waited. After 2 weeks Blue Cross said that I had used the wrong claim form (I used the form that I had always used for my B.C. claims.) Blue Cross sent me the correct International Blue Cross claim forms and I filed the claim for the 3rd time. Two weeks later I got the denial letter from Blue Cross and then I filed the claim a 4th time (along with the B.C. denial letter) with the travel insurer. I then got a reimbursement check from the travel insurer. All this was before the internet and had to be done snail mail, with me sending hard copies of all the forms and medical receipts. From then on I made sure that my travel insurance has Primary coverage so that the process is quick and easy. Hope this helps someone out there.

I always buy trip insurance that has primary coverage instead of secondary coverage. That way my claim is handled only by the trip insurance company and I don`t have to first file with my regular insurance and get denied.

There is a situation where "secondary" is better than "primary", and that's if your regular insurance will cover any of the bill. This example is from tripinsurancestore.com:

For example, here’s what happens if you have a $70,000 medical claim with a travel insurance plan that has $50,000 Primary coverage:

• You submit the $70,000 medical claim to the travel insurance. It pays $50,000 (its maximum)
  
• You submit the remaining $20,000 to your medical insurance plan. Let’s say it has a $5,000 deductible with a 20% copay.
  
• Of the remaining $20,000 your medical insurance plan will pay $12,000 and you will be liable for at least that $8,000. You could be liable for more.
  
  

Secondary Medical Coverage means your medical bills are paid after any other coverage you have pays its share. This means that Secondary coverage will pay any deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses or co-pays up to its coverage limit.

I take whatever the best policy is without regard to primary or secondary; in the unlikely event that I need to use it, doing the paperwork is certainly worth the coverage. In the case above, my current deductible is $1,000 and a 20% co-pay on most things, so if my medical insurance were to pay, it might cost me that much more than secondary coverage would.