Beware InsureMyTrip.com and AXA Insurance!

I finally had an occasion to make a claim on Trip Insurance, I hate to say. Unfortunately, I did not get the company to pay anything, even though to my mind, the terms of the policy were met.

By way of background my wife and I were on a cruise that made final docking in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3/6/18. Due to high sea swells,the ship was not allowed to enter the harbor and dock for around 6 hours. After docking, there was the additional delay of getting off the ship and getting to the airport to catch a flight.

By the time we reached the airport, the airline (Southwest) was unable to find any available flights that could get us back to Tulsa, OK until the next day. This forced us to stay overnight in a hotel near the St. Louis airport. This is the charge that we filed the claim for, and is certainly the type of charge I think Trip Delay should cover.

The insurance denied the claim and provided the justification that although there were multiple delays that totaled over the required 12 hours, there was not any single delay that exceeded 12 hours. They counted the time between the original and revised departure flight as one delay, and the time between when we arrived in St. Louis and when we departed (not arrived) on the flight to Tulsa the next morning as a second delay. This seemed a bit arbitrary to me.

I noted to them that the policy did notrequire a “continuous delay” as several of the policies I considered did have in their language. My policy only said they would cover if we "were delayed en route to or from the Covered Trip for 12 or more hours due to a defined Hazard". The defined hazard was the very large sea swells, and was not an issue in this claim.

I believe that any reasonable person would define the delay as the difference between the time you were scheduled to arrive home and the time that you actually arrived home. In my case, this period was over 12hours.

This is especially true since there was only one single defined Hazard (the very large ocean swells), as defined in the policy, that was the cause of all the airline changes and resulted in our having to spend an additional night away from home and resulted in us completing our journey well past the 12 hour delay requirement.

Even in their own response, AXA noted two delays, one of 5 hours 50 minutes, and another of 11 hours 5 minutes. These delays total over the required 12 hours. Therefore they clearly recognize that we had over 12 hours of delay on our return trip. They have no basis for imposing a “continuous delay” or a "consecutive 12 hour delay"requirement since the policy does not define any such requirement (as other compnies' policies often do).

I found that AXA was unwilling to escalate my appeal of their decision to any management level for consideration. Instead, I just kept getting denied by the same claims adjustor.

I also tried using InsureMyTrip's webpage offer of getting an advocate from their company to help me with the case. This person only sent an email asking for a bunch of info (which I sent). She never returned any further emails or messages that I left on her phone. So I am dissapointed in their performance as well. To be honest, I have always thought well of them before, and had often used them, although this is my first ever claim.

I do not believe an insurance company should be able to arbitrarily juggle terms not defined in the policy so that they do not have to pay. If so, then insurance becomes only away for a company to extract money from an unwary traveler. So I am posting this so others might be a bit more wary. Maybe I am way off base, but so far I have not gotten any explanation from InsureMyTrip or AXA that would enlighten me.

I believe you do have the right to appeal this to you State Insurance Commissioner.

https://www.ok.gov/oid/

I feel for you. It always bothers me that people take out insurance in good faith then get denied. Keep fighting.

To be honest, I think the insurance company is correct in that Trip Delay for the policy you purchased only kicks in when you have any 1 delay that is over 12 hours. Which in this case the 2 separate delays, each are under 12 hours separately.

Now, I understand the frustration and hope I'm mistaken. However, as I mentioned above, let you Insurance Commissioner have a go at it. That's what they get paid for.

Personally, that's why I always compare different policies and pay a little bit more for the coverages that are important to me such as PEC coverage, Trip Delay over 6 hours, Medical as Primary, etc.

Have you checked with your credit card company? Some have 'free' coverage for trip delay, trip cancellation that may apply to your situation.

I think it is worth a call to your state insurance commissioner. The policy just states a delay of 12 hours or more while enroute to or from your Trip. Doesn’t state a single delay.

Check your policy forms for a Definition section, sometimes insurance definitions are different from Webster. The definitions in your policy documents will apply. Your 12 hour delay may be differently defined.

Ask the insurer in writing to state the specific sections, paragraph and sub-paragraphs that they used to deny your claim. CC a copy to your state insurance commissioner, also note that sometimes there's a statement that the insurance laws of another state may apply. If there is send a copy to that state insurance commissioner too.

Thanks for all the good advice. I will try filing with my State Insurance Commissioner office. It's really not much money, but I just want to do all I can do to get what I see is a reasonable claim paid.

Like most things, the more experience you have in using something like Trip Insurance, the more you know what to look for when you buy it the next time.

There just won't be a next time for InsureMyTrip and AXA in my future. :mad:

Thank you again for posting this-when we buy our future insurance I will make a point of asking about this.

As already suggested, go over the policy with a fine tooth comb and double check the definitions, etc. If you still feel your claim has been wrongly denied, you can always file a complaint online with the Better Business Bureau.

I just had an issue with a travel insurance company that left me so frustrated I posted on their Facebook page . That got their attention and they settled the claim.

I just had an issue with a travel insurance company that left me so frustrated I posted on their Facebook page . That got their attention and they settled the claim.

Do you mind telling us the name of the company...always nice to know the good and the bad. Also who or how did you purchase this particular policy...did they not offer help to you?

Ok, so I mentioned via email yesterday to my "Advocate" at InsureMyTrip that I had filed a claim with the OK Insurance Commission. So today I received a new letter out of the blue from AXA saying they were going to pay the claim.

You can get some good advice on this site! :D

Ok, so I mentioned via email yesterday to my "Advocate" at InsureMyTrip that I had filed a claim with the OK Insurance Commission. So today I received a new letter out of the blue from AXA saying they were going to pay the claim.

 

 

 

You can get some good advice on this site! :D

Fantastic!!