Trip Insurance Store: specific question

I'm interested in hearing from people who have used Steve and Team and who actually had to make a claim. I understand that their service is very good helping people find the right insurance; that's not what I need to hear about. Just how things went if people had to make a claim.

Thanks very much.

(Also am wondering whether all members of the team are equally experienced and equally good.)

While they answer inquiries thru phone, it can not be said if you email your inquiry.

I have referred a friend who sent an email inquiry to Steve, using the email address and their online email message on their website. I was told it was sent several times but has not received any response yet from Steve or any of the staff after 3 weeks. He is just glad it is not yet for filing claims where email is a means to send supporting documents.

A few years ago, I fell face first on a hike while on vacation, four days prior to our cruise. I had a claim with Global Alert that involved dental work. At that time Global was the only insurance that covered medical expenses after one returned home. I sent all the information they requested, certified mail, twice. The sticking point was a diagnosis from the dentist I saw on vacation and my dentist at home who finished the root canal and some other work.

Well, dentists will note the procedure, which tooth is involved, and even which surface of a tooth, but they do not note a " diagnosis." I even sent a cd of my x-rays and was getting nowhere with Global. I wrote to Steve, told him the whole story, and he spoke to someone at Global. The next day, they sent a check.

I have no qualms about using Steve, and I even bought another policy with Global for my trip next April.

I'm interested in hearing from people who have used Steve and Team and who actually had to make a claim. I understand that their service is very good helping people find the right insurance; that's not what I need to hear about. Just how things went if people had to make a claim.

 

Thanks very much.

 

(Also am wondering whether all members of the team are equally experienced and equally good.)

We found out about travel insurance here on CruiseCritic (and we are forever indebted to those whose posts we read, and those who recommended Steve and www.TripInsuranceStore.com).

DH finally agreed to a cruise (I had cruised several times, but didn't enjoy it without him), so we planned a major birthday and pre-retirement cruise, including business air fare (this was before we started using awards, so that pretty much doubled the cost). We got travel insurance from Travel Insured, after many very patient phone calls with Steve, during which we asked, "What about IF this happens? What about if THAT happens...?" etc.

And... with less than 2 weeks to go before our schedule date to leave home... DH had a medical emergency.

I checked in with Steve about what to do, but it turned out that Travel Insured was terrific to work with. (Hint: CALL and get a name of someone you can have some continuity with. Emails didn't work so well before we had a "name".)

Travel Insured paid in full, with no nonsense, once they had all of the documentation to support the claim, and we never felt they requested any extraneous docs.

A couple of years later, we had another medical emergency, overseas (land trip, but that's not relevant). I landed in hospital, not a pleasant situation.

We had significant costs for continued stay at the 5-star hotel we had already stayed at, and then we needed extra car service transportation because I couldn't take trains and walk and change trains, etc. (We were able to continue with the very last part of the trip, albeit with far fewer activities, etc.). There were other costs we lost.

I didn't think it would be covered, but when I got out of hospital, I decided to email Steve to double check IF it would be covered. He contacted Travel Insured (I didn't even ask him to do that), and he then emailed back telling us precisely which clause of the travel policy would cover the losses.

Again, TI paid in full, without any nonsense, and all of the documentation was relevant.

We also ALWAYS get policies that do not exclude pre-existing conditions, so that's within 20 days of initial payment/deposit (refundable or not).

The one time we missed that deadline, we got a policy from CSA, also from Steve, who helped us find a subsititute. We didn't have a claim, so we have no experience with CSA's claims paying process.

Needless to say, we try to stick with Travel Insured whenever possible.

One very important thing is to make SURE that you understand precisely what is/is not covered by the specific policy *you* purchase.

That's why we asked so many questions of Steve. Also, and importantly, he asked questions of us, to help us get the best fit in terms of what a policy would cover.

GC

We have cruised over 35 times and for the past ten years have bought our insurance from Steve and his team. We have had about 5 cancels due to medical reasons over the years and each time Steve was helpful in advising me on claims and information gathering issues. Each time we were paid without problem; Steve did not have to intervene, maybe because he was such a good coach which assured we handled the claims process correctly. We highly recommend him.

While they answer inquiries thru phone, it can not be said if you email your inquiry.

I have referred a friend who sent an email inquiry to Steve, using the email address and their online email message on their website. I was told it was sent several times but has not received any response yet from Steve or any of the staff after 3 weeks. He is just glad it is not yet for filing claims where email is a means to send supporting documents.

If your friend has an AOL email address, for some reason AOL blocks responses from tripinsurancestore and they do not get delivered (this also happens with emails to me sent by Princess). I was talking to Deanna one day about this and she said for some reason AOL considers them spam and blocks them completely. Contacted them using my gmail account and no problem. Also tripinsurancestore.com has a live chat function which I have used many times.

If your friend has an AOL email address, for some reason AOL blocks responses from tripinsurancestore and they do not get delivered (this also happens with emails to me sent by Princess). I was talking to Deanna one day about this and she said for some reason AOL considers them spam and blocks them completely. Contacted them using my gmail account and no problem. Also tripinsurancestore.com has a live chat function which I have used many times.

Relayed this to my friend. He said his email was Hotmail. He finally got his insurance thru insuremytrip.con who he said responded to him. Too bad they lost my referral. My current bookings are covered thru tripinsurancestore.

Thanks for helping out.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Relayed this to my friend. He said his email was Hotmail. He finally got his insurance thru insuremytrip.con who he said responded to him. Too bad they lost my referral. My current bookings are covered thru tripinsurancestore.

Thanks for helping out.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You're welcome!

Relayed this to my friend. He said his email was Hotmail. He finally got his insurance thru insuremytrip.con who he said responded to him. Too bad they lost my referral. My current bookings are covered thru tripinsurancestore.

Thanks for helping out.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

That's unfortunate, for your friend, for Trip Insurance Store, and for others who tried to reach them on aol email (and perhaps also hotmail email??).

I wonder if they should have a note on the top of their webpage (although so many of those "notes" on all sorts of websites get overlooked anyway, but it would be "trying") about this.

Many people (and especially couples) have more than one type of email vendor they could use if they knew.

I know that for one trip, we definitely *would* have purchased the wrong policy at the wrong time if we hadn't had a critical discussion with Steve. He must have some good notes (and memory!?) such that he asked something like, "But aren't you....." - and he described a situation that would have invalidated the policy that we were about to purchase. We rearranged things, and had proper coverage. (The fact that we didn't need it that time is irrelevant. If we didn't need it, but paid for it and it wouldn't have covered us, that would have been a waste. And if we HAD needed it.... :( )

We can't speak highly enough about both Trip Insurance Store (and especially Steve) and also

Travel Insured, the insurer whose policy we purchase, in terms of their claims paying history - and that's what counts!

And we learned about them here on CruiseCritic - and we owe a large number of members a LOT, in terms of what we've learned.

This is a time for thanks giving... so THANK YOU ALL!

And Happy Holidays!

GC

I much appreciate all these replies and am glad that so many people think highly of Steve. But essentially it's Steve, Steve, Steve, "especially Steve," etc. Sometimes others in the office answer. I suppose one could specifically ask for Steve?

I much appreciate all these replies and am glad that so many people think highly of Steve. But essentially it's Steve, Steve, Steve, "especially Steve," etc. Sometimes others in the office answer. I suppose one could specifically ask for Steve?

I have never dealt with Steve. I have only dealt with whoever answers the phone and whoever answers my email so I have dealt with others in the office and have been satisfied with service and with getting my questions answered.

I have never dealt with Steve. I have only dealt with whoever answers the phone and whoever answers my email so I have dealt with others in the office and have been satisfied with service and with getting my questions answered.

While I have worked well with Steve at times, over the years I have found the rest of his team equally helpful and knowledgable....great to do business with for both the purchase process and, when needed, for the claims process.

I'm interested in hearing from people who have used Steve and Team and who actually had to make a claim. I understand that their service is very good helping people find the right insurance; that's not what I need to hear about. Just how things went if people had to make a claim.

 

Thanks very much.

 

 

(Also am wondering whether all members of the team are equally experienced and equally good.)

Two claims, both policies purchased through trip insurance store. First was about 3 years ago, a few days before sailing, for the full amount of the cruise. That took about a month, but we were paid in full.

Last claim was two weeks ago, a medical claim of less than $200. I submitted the paperwork (some prepopulated), checked off the option for direct pay to my bank account. The full amount hit my account in about three days.

Great to read all the good reports. Thanks everyone!

If your friend has an AOL email address, for some reason AOL blocks responses from tripinsurancestore and they do not get delivered (this also happens with emails to me sent by Princess). I was talking to Deanna one day about this and she said for some reason AOL considers them spam and blocks them completely. Contacted them using my gmail account and no problem. Also tripinsurancestore.com has a live chat function which I have used many times.

That seems odd, and I don't think it's correct anymore. I use Verizon for my email, and they dumped us onto AOL mail servers a few months ago. I've gotten 2 email responses from tripinsurancestore this week.

My experience with them is that I spoke to Steve on the phone for close to an hour on a Sunday afternoon several months ago. I was very impressed and bought insurance thru them. Then I sent a note to someone there who had responded to an email at the time (I sent it to Steve and he was out). I did not get a response so after a day I forwarded it to Steve, and the person I sent it to responded and apologized for the delay. I wrote back and got a response, although it took around a day.