TravelSafe Insurance - Beware

[traderwds]

Most of us older travellers are subject to trip cancelations for illnessses or other health related unevetful mishaps so purchasing travel insurance seems like a great idea especially when the investment is large-

 

After purchasing insurance all these years for travel - on the first event of filing a claim we are comfronted with delays and denials- instaed of helping expedite the process the insurer TravelSafe looks for anything which may help add more delay to the reimbursement- it has been more than a year

 

Having injured my back week before departure we cancelled the trip - not known to us was that the insurer would use my past medical history against me to deny - so if you are older and have been treated medically beware this will occurr although is illegal

 

To help future travellers from the same we have filed complaints with themany different agencies that overlook fraud and filing a civil suit to recover our $7000 plus :eek::eek:

[cruiseco]

Most of us older travellers are subject to trip cancelations for illnessses or other health related unevetful mishaps so purchasing travel insurance seems like a great idea especially when the investment is large-

 

After purchasing insurance all these years for travel - on the first event of filing a claim we are comfronted with delays and denials- instaed of helping expedite the process the insurer TravelSafe looks for anything which may help add more delay to the reimbursement- it has been more than a year

 

Having injured my back week before departure we cancelled the trip - not known to us was that the insurer would use my past medical history against me to deny - so if you are older and have been treated medically beware this will occurr although is illegal

 

To help future travellers from the same we have filed complaints with themany different agencies that overlook fraud and filing a civil suit to recover our $7000 plus :eek::eek:

 

 

If you feel you have been getting the runaround for a year why in the world haven't you simply filed a complaint with the TX department of insurance? If your claim is legitimate according to the wording of the policy you'll get paid. If not, you'll have third-party confirmation that you were wrong. Here's the link:

 

http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/consumer/complfrm.html

[msmayor]

Did your policy include a waiver of pre-existing conditions? If not, then its most certainly legal for an insurance company to deny a claim if your pre-existing condition was aggravated by the fall.

 

The devil is in the details of the policy and what you actually purchased.

[sirwired]

The standard TravelSafe plan has a pre-ex waiver, but the plan must be purchased within 15-days of deposit to receive the waiver. (This is a common, but not universal, requirement.)

 

The pre-ex look-back in the policy I checked is 60 days prior to the policy effective date. If the injury did not require treatment, exhibit new symptoms, require a medication adjustment, and if no treatment was suggested within that span, it should be covered. Otherwise, it isn't.

 

SirWired

[6rugrats]

OP - it's difficult to make any sort of useful comment on your situation, because we really don't know what was involved. It's not necessarily "illegal" to deny payment on a claim for a pre-existing condition. It totally depends on your policy.

 

Since no one here can read your policy, knows your medical history, anything about this injury, the date of your policy purchase, or exactly why Travelsafe is denying your claim, it's really impossible to offer much advice. I can only second that you should file a claim with your state's Department of Insurance.

 

Having had much experience with the legal system, I think that route could end up costing you $7000 in legal fees. Try other avenues first.

[Kellie Poodle]

As a Texan, you are well protected. Please follow the link provided by a previous poster and contact the state insurance department.

 

Last year we were flying to Barcelona and the local TSA broke my netbook computer. I didn't realize it until we were in Barcelona and went to use the computer and it was more than 24 hours since we got on the plane in Harlingen, TX where the incident occurred. I immediately called the travel insurance company who insisted I call the airline (silly, because I had custody of the netbook in my carry on luggage that was under the seat in front of me) but I did and they gave me a web site for TSA. This all happened on Thanksgiving Day.

 

I paid to use the hotel's computer and sent an email to TSA from their website, so there was no way to prove I had contacted them. I would have made an international call but it was Thanksgiving and they were closed. They were also closed the next day. We sailed on Sunday morning and I could not contact TSA until we got home. We came home on Sunday (14 day transatlantic) and I contacted TSA on Monday. I also called the insurance company who told me they were secondary and would only pay if TSA didn't. I had 90 days to file the claim with the travel insurance company

 

When I got a response to my filing from TSA, it said it could take 6-9 months to review the claim. I called the insurance company and said that I wanted to file the claim and I did. Every piece of paper was in perfect order.

 

Before TSA ever got back to me, the insurance company denied my claim because I did not report it to TSA within 24 hours of the incident. It did not matter that that was not possible and they knew the situation. They used their 24 hour reporting clause as a "weasel" clause. and weaseled out of paying.

 

I wrote to the great state of Texas and within a couple of weeks, I had a check for the stated value of the netbook. Thank you Governor Perry!

 

Now that you know it really does pay to go to the state, DO IT!

[clear2cruise]

As a Texan, you are well protected. Please follow the link provided by a previous poster and contact the state insurance department.

 

Last year we were flying to Barcelona and the local TSA broke my netbook computer. I didn't realize it until we were in Barcelona and went to use the computer and it was more than 24 hours since we got on the plane in Harlingen, TX where the incident occurred. I immediately called the travel insurance company who insisted I call the airline (silly, because I had custody of the netbook in my carry on luggage that was under the seat in front of me) but I did and they gave me a web site for TSA. This all happened on Thanksgiving Day.

 

I paid to use the hotel's computer and sent an email to TSA from their website, so there was no way to prove I had contacted them. I would have made an international call but it was Thanksgiving and they were closed. They were also closed the next day. We sailed on Sunday morning and I could not contact TSA until we got home. We came home on Sunday (14 day transatlantic) and I contacted TSA on Monday. I also called the insurance company who told me they were secondary and would only pay if TSA didn't. I had 90 days to file the claim with the travel insurance company

 

When I got a response to my filing from TSA, it said it could take 6-9 months to review the claim. I called the insurance company and said that I wanted to file the claim and I did. Every piece of paper was in perfect order.

 

Before TSA ever got back to me, the insurance company denied my claim because I did not report it to TSA within 24 hours of the incident. It did not matter that that was not possible and they knew the situation. They used their 24 hour reporting clause as a "weasel" clause. and weaseled out of paying.

 

I wrote to the great state of Texas and within a couple of weeks, I had a check for the stated value of the netbook. Thank you Governor Perry!

 

Now that you know it really does pay to go to the state, DO IT!

 

Do most of other states can file through the state insurance department, or is this only a Texan thing? Or do we have to move to Texas.

[cruiseco]

Do most of other states can file through the state insurance department, or is this only a Texan thing? Or do we have to move to Texas.

 

Every state that I can think of has a similar procedure. Your department of insurance should have a web site that will explain the procedure. Every one I've looked at has an online submission procedure to at least get the ball rolling -- if they need more documentation they will contact you. Other states might be all paper from the start.

[Happy2cruise]

We always buy Travel Safe and 2 years ago submitted a claim without any problem. A month after final payment, I had blood on the brain (blood stroke). Needless to say, cruising two months later was out of the question. Submitted the required forms and documentation from the doctors and within 3 weeks received our money. No hassle at all.

 

Sorry to hear you are having problems but our experience with Travel Safe has been very positive.

[STARFISH*4]

sorry to hear of your problem with TravelSafe, we have had it for the last several cruises--never needing to use....HOPE things work out!!!

[cayman12]

Our flight was cancelled and we missed an entire day of our European vacation. Even though their policy states they pay up to $500 for cancelled flights they denied our claim.

[sirwired]

What was the airline's reason for cancellation? Many trip insurance policies will not pay for any cancellation; i.e. some might cover weather and mechanicals, but not crew delay or ATC.

 

What was the reason for denial?

[happy cruzer]

Regarding cayman's post, they say they missed a day of vacation. Was there any insured items on that day? If nothing was prepaid then what would you claim for? If a day of the cruise then it probably is the cost to catch up and on day of the cruise price??

 

Wonder what the details are?