access america

[cruiser43]

Anyone have an opinion on access america insurance?

[griffy116]

We've bought through them twice previously, and again for an upcoming cruise, but never had to "test" them out. Sorry,

[klfrodo]

I don't have anything bad to say. Just read the fine print and understand whats covered and what is not.

 

Most people who complain about an insurance company and their claims being denied is because what they did not completly understand whats covered and whats not. They (as I used to also) proudly bought travel insurance and went on their merry way, not fully understanding what they bought.

 

Trip delay for example: Some policies define a trip delay as 4 hours, some as 7 hours, some as 24 hours.

 

Another thing to watch out for are "exceptions"

 

For purposes of example only.

 

You purchased airline tickets on XYZ airline in March.

Let's say the pilots union at airline XYZ announce on April 1st that they voted to strike on June 1st.

Now, if you bought your insurance on March 31st, the insurance is good to cover delays and issues caused by the strike. However, if you buy your insurance on April 2nd, the insurance has "excepted" travels delays by airline XYZ and the insurance will deny any claims caused by the strike.

[runner15km]

I have used them a few times. Two weeks before cruise I had to cancel because of sickness, submitted doctors diagnosis and received full payment.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The best the best

[familyofd]

Im glad to of saw this post, we are offered this company through our online agency, and wondered if it is a good company, since we will be sailing around hurricane season, this was lots help!

[quivet c]

I would stay away from them, in my experience they will attempt to get you keep filling out paperwork until they find something that can be considered a prexisting condition. They will then deny your claim even when the condition that caused your trip to be canceled is not a pre-existing according to the doctor. The claims agents we dealt with at Access America were all very defensive and sighted information I could not find anywhere in my correspondence which is questionable. I would stay away but if you do buy Travel insurance from Access America or any company for that matter read all the fine print and make sure it covers all preexisting conditions and/or has cancel for any reason coverage.

[cruiseco]

They will then deny your claim even when the condition that caused your trip to be canceled is not a pre-existing according to the doctor.

 

There's a tough lesson learned. It desn't matter one good gosh darn if your doctor thinks it's a pre-existing condition or not. Or you. Or some random guy on the street. All that matters is what your plan wording says is a pre-existing condition. People tend to find that out when its too late to do anything about it.

[cruiseco]

Just read the fine print and understand whats covered and what is not.

 

 

One thing about Access America is that they really do have the clearest, easiest to read, and easiest to understand plan wording in the industry.

[Hlitner]

I spent over thirty years in the Medical Insurance industry (on the government side) and was paid to look at fine print. As has been posted, the pre-exisiting clause can be a real issue for many folks. However, there are trip insurance policies sold that will pay for pre-existing conditions and these are a good idea. Many policies waive the pre-exsiting exception if you buy your insurance at the same time (or within a few days) of making your initial trip deposit. We also think there is a lot of good to be said for going to a web site such as insuremytrip.com where you can compare various policies from several competing companies (there are several other similar sites).

 

Hank

[quivet c]

Lets face it travel insurance companies including Access America get away with a lot more questionable business practices than other insurance companies since (from my research) travel/trip insurance is not regulated like life/homeowners/auto insurance. The preexisting condition clause is a way for them to deny claims and for these companies to profit, if health insurance companies can no longer deny claims/coverage for preexisting conditions how can travel insurance companies still get away with it?

 

I agree insuremytrip.com is a good place to start when shopping for policies.

[cruiseco]

Lets face it travel insurance companies including Access America get away with a lot more questionable business practices than other insurance companies since (from my research) travel/trip insurance is not regulated like life/homeowners/auto insurance. The preexisting condition clause is a way for them to deny claims and for these companies to profit, if health insurance companies can no longer deny claims/coverage for preexisting conditions how can travel insurance companies still get away with it?

 

I agree insuremytrip.com is a good place to start when shopping for policies.

 

Travel insurance IS regulated like any other insurance product. Each plan's coverages and premiums are submitted to each state's department of insurance and approved before they can be sold to that state's residents. If a consumer has a problem he/she can always file a complaint with the state's regulators and get it resolved there.

 

Health insurance and travel insurance involve two completely different roles in the US economy. The oversight at the federal level for health insurance is much higher because of the huge percentage of the economy that revolves around health care. For specialty insurance products like travel insurance what's "fair" or not and how a plan will deal with pre-existing conditions is left to each state's regulators to decide. If you read through the various descriptions of coverage for almost any plan you'll see many state exceptions where a term or coverage (including what is and is not a pre-existing condition) has been modified or deleted for the residents of that particular state. If a state's department of insurance decided that there will be absolutely no exclusions for pre-existing conditions that's their right and that's what will happen. Of course, then each travel insurer will have the right to withdraw their products from sale to the residents of that state. It's a fine line they walk -- they want what's best for their residents but that also means letting their residents have access to as full a range of choices as is practical. In the end, it's up to each consumer to understand what they're buying (or not).

[quivet c]

Travel agents who are selling these policies do not have to pass the same insurance licensing requirements that you home/life insurance agent do, or do they? Bottom line is that this is a product that is being sold by travel agents who are not qualified to sell insurance and it seems like it is way to easy to sell these highly profitable policies. According to the Access America website all you have to do is fill out a simple form to become a partner agent, if you call that regulated the same way as other insurances you can but I don't.

[cruiseco]

Travel agents who are selling these policies do not have to pass the same insurance licensing requirements that you home/life insurance agent do, or do they? Bottom line is that this is a product that is being sold by travel agents who are not qualified to sell insurance and it seems like it is way to easy to sell these highly profitable policies. According to the Access America website all you have to do is fill out a simple form to become a partner agent, if you call that regulated the same way as other insurances you can but I don't.

 

Again, it depends on the state. Here in CA you do have to be licensed, although the bar is set very low as far as requirements. In about three states there's no license required at all. Some are tougher, some are somewhere in-between. The insurers have to 100% comply with whatever rules and requirements are set down by each state's department of insurance. And each state can, if they wish, restrict the sale of travel insurance to those that have a general life/casualty license. If your state has no or minimal requirements then the fault, and your complaint, lies with the state, not with the insurer.

 

If you fill out that Access America form that will start the process but not automatically entitle you to sell their products. Depending on your residence a compliance person will contact you about your license (if needed. If you don't have one and need one they'll walk you through that process), submit your information to their underwriter for review and approval (since the underwriter pays the claims they, not Access America, have the final OK as to whether or not to take you on), and then arrange for someone (usually one of their District Sales Managers) to contact you for product training. Once that's completed you'll be good to go.