Travel Insurance company hard to deal with

[RetiredNTraveling]

Documentation on most insurance claims have to be filled out, but Norwegian IMMEDIATELY refunded their half of my claim. I had to call the independent insure three times, talked for some length of time, and then received FIVE pages to document my claim. I will use an independent insurance company next cruise, not some company that had the lowest bid for a contract with Norwegian.

 

Wouldn't it be great if people would take your word for something! Well, don't count on it, because Documentation is the Name of the Game!

 

We recently had to cancel a Princess Hawaii, Samoa & Tahiti Cruise that we had been booked on for 18 months. On the Saturday morning while waiting in the hotel before boarding the ship, we had a medical emergency with my wife. Thank God we had a good TA who walked us through everything and proceeded to cancel the booking with Princess. After we got home from the hospital, we call Aon Affinity and quickly received the dreaded 5 page form! No big deal as it was very self-explanatory. All of the doctor's were more than willing to fill out the forms to assist us in filling for the insurance. In actuality, within 2 weeks everything was ready to mail in.

 

Princess also immediately (within 4 days) credited our card for everything that was directly charged by them. The TA sent a check to cover the charges that she was reimbursed. Now we are waiting to hear back from the Ins. Co. but so far everything has gone as expected by us and our TA.

 

Oh yeah, Princess upgraded a "Newly Wed Couple" to our suite. We hope they enjoyed it and have some fantastic memories!

 

Just Mike

[6rugrats]

Alex,

Sounds like all the travel insurance companies are the same ....... open arms and ready to hug your neck when it is premium payment time, but you are "persona non grata" when they have to pay a claim. Seems to be universal everywhere, but I'm SURE THAT SOME COMPANIES ARE BETTER ON PAYING CLAIMS THAN OTHERS ARE.

 

As stated many times in this thread, ALL insurance companies make you complete paperwork before a claims is paid. They aren't going to send you money without proof that you are filing a claim for a covered reason. If you don't like whatever company you purchased your insurance through, don't use them again, but I think you will find the paperwork requirement the same through all of them.

[Flatbush Flyer]

May I ask what is the name of a reputable company to purchase insurance? We are booked with Carnival but have not yet purchased the vacation protection.

 

 

If you are in the US, look at Travelex "Select Traveler" (the middle policy of their three comprehensive travel/medical offerings. Travelex is one of the very few "primary payer" companies. You can buy it direct from them or through a broker like InsureMyTrip.com. Cost will be about 10% of your cruise cost.

Also think about getting a travel focused credit card (e.g., United Airlines Explorer Visa), which adds coverage for travel items purchased with it. Finally, if you are on Medicare, which is worthless abroad, get a supplemental insurance that converts to a basic version outside of the US.

[GeezerCouple]

As stated many times in this thread, ALL insurance companies make you complete paperwork before a claims is paid. They aren't going to send you money without proof that you are filing a claim for a covered reason. If you don't like whatever company you purchased your insurance through, don't use them again, but I think you will find the paperwork requirement the same through all of them.

 

This is pretty much the case, although one VERY important issue is that 'the fine print' makes a difference. If the claim is for something that isn't covered, then you won't get paid. It might take all of that paperwork for the insurer to determine that it isn't covered after all.

 

That brings up a couple of points, including some mentioned above.

 

If the insurance, through the cruise line or an outside insurance company has a clear "cancel within x days, get $y back", then there [probably] won't be much paperwork as long as you meet the appropriate deadline.

This includes CFAR ("Cancel For Any Reason"), which pays some percentage (often 50%, 75%, or 90%, depending upon policy terms) and may also have deadlines for cancellation notification.

IF you make the deadline, then you get your money back, and there [probably] won't be a lot of paperwork.

 

Finally, the "exclusion for pre-existing conditions" can make a big difference in the amount of paperwork.

IF pre-existing conditions are excluded, then you can bet that the insurer is going to demand a lot of medical records from the past (depending upon the look-back period, etc.), to make sure that the claim is *not* for an excluded pre-existing condition.

 

As mentioned above, that's why a policy that waives any such exclusion is likely to require much less in terms of medical documentation.

In this case, it would just be a need to verify that the illness/injury occurred as claimed, and that some medical professional determined that travel was not possible.

(The one thing that *might* require additional documentation in this case is if the insurer questioned whether the insured was indeed "able to travel" on the date the policy was purchased. And that's fair enough, as is all such documentation. The insurer has the right to determine that the claim is "real", and that it complies with the terms of the policy.)

 

When we filed a claim for trip cancellation due to a last minute medical emergency, we had a waiver for the exclusion of pre-existing medical conditions.

So although we had to sign forms for permission for past medical/hospital/Rx/etc., records, none of that was ever requested.

All that was needed was a signed statement from the physician documenting what medical event had occurred and the date it happened, plus a statement that DH was unable to travel for several weeks from that point (and this was less than 2 weeks prior to departure, so the entire trip was obviously off).

We didn't know it then, but he was in fact unable to travel for several months.

 

And THAT is when we also found out that we couldn't make future travel plans and get the insurance within the 21 days needed for the policy we wanted - until he was able to travel again.

So we had to wait.

As soon as the physician said DH could now travel again, we got a letter to that effect (just in case!), and started making a bunch of reservations again. :)

 

GeezerCouple

[sail7seas]

While Norwegian returned their part of my refund, Aon Affinity of Jericho, NY sent five pages of claims to be filled out by me, my physician, hospital surgery information, and they are making me go to all kinds of trouble when I am in pain. Kudos to Norwegian. Not the same kudos to Aon Affinity of Jericho, NY.

 

Alex,

Sounds like all the travel insurance companies are the same ....... open arms and ready to hug your neck when it is premium payment time, but you are "persona non grata" when they have to pay a claim. Seems to be universal everywhere, but I'm SURE THAT SOME COMPANIES ARE BETTER ON PAYING CLAIMS THAN OTHERS ARE.

 

We are all trying to tell you all insurance companies will require this sort of paperwork before paying a claim. Why would they simply send a check because an insured calls and asks for it? They don't make it easy, for sure, but seeing how many would be happy to defraud the insurers if they could pull it off, it is understandable.

 

From my understanding of what your insurer has asked for, they are not being unreasonable..... yet. If you complete the forms fully and return them as directed and they deny your claim, they you may have a gripe but I don't think you have any gripe..... yet.

 

[RetiredNTraveling]

Wouldn't it be great if people would take your word for something! Well, don't count on it, because Documentation is the Name of the Game!

 

We recently had to cancel a Princess Hawaii, Samoa & Tahiti Cruise that we had been booked on for 18 months. On the Saturday morning while waiting in the hotel before boarding the ship, we had a medical emergency! In actuality, everything was ready to mail in within 2 weeks. We just had to wait for the Doctor to complete his form.

 

Princess also immediately (within 4 days) credited our card for everything that was directly charged by them. The TA sent a check to cover the charges that she was reimbursed. Now we are waiting to hear back from the Ins. Co. but so far everything has gone as expected by us and our TA.

 

Just Mike

 

Just thought that I would let you know the results of our Ins. Claim. On Nov. 17th we filed our claim. We received the checks this past Saturday and they came to more that we had filed for. So I guess you can say that we are extremely pleased and can hardly wait to book our next cruise.

Just Mike

[sail7seas]

Thank you for coming back to let us know.

Happy it worked out well for you.

[k9x8]

thinfool must think that I am a naïve fool myself. I had no problems with cancellation and reimbursement from Norwegian. I called Aon Affinity three times and after they answered, I was hung up on. Finally, on the fourth time I had a long conversation with their rep giving the cruise number, ship, sail dates, etc, as well as the amount of money that Norwegian told me that they would reimburse me. I got a five page email of forms to fill our when I could have sent them a copy of the Norwegian cancellation and an affidavit from my physician telling them about the surgery and the fact that there would be a three month recovery period. Instead, I have to run everywhere getting their complicated forms filled out. From now on, I will purchase my own travel insurance from a reputable company rather than getting coverage that may or may not be valid from the cruise line that I am using.

 

Yes, those forms.

That same company covered 100% of my hospital stay in Livorno. Indeed, they took care of all communication with the hospital.

 

However, for the ship's medical center bill, I was told I first had to submit the claim to my insurance provider. I sent the original, detailed bill, and they want all kinds of forms. Example, they need the diagnosis, even though it says right on the paperwork. Now I have to figure out how to accomplish all this with a doctor on a ship in the Med.

[Hlitner]

Yes, those forms.

That same company covered 100% of my hospital stay in Livorno. Indeed, they took care of all communication with the hospital.

 

However, for the ship's medical center bill, I was told I first had to submit the claim to my insurance provider. I sent the original, detailed bill, and they want all kinds of forms. Example, they need the diagnosis, even though it says right on the paperwork. Now I have to figure out how to accomplish all this with a doctor on a ship in the Med.

 

ARGH! Good luck (and we do mean it). The problem is that most of insurance companies require that a billing include the current ICD10 code (this is the international code book that drives the reimbursement process). The new ICD10 includes about 68,000 different diagnosis codes and the insurance claims processors cannot usually derive the proper code from a simple diagnosis description. In fact, very few physicians can figure out the new codes and most rely on special experts trained in coding. It is a true nightmare in the industry that moved from the previous approximate 13,000 diagnosis codes to the new 68,000 code system. Some in the insurance industry and government call this progress....those of us who understand the system round retirement a better option :).

 

Hank

Edited December 17, 2015 by Hlitner

[pausulli]

This is a very informative topic. My husband and I were scheduled to leave on a cruise Saturday that we just had to cancel as my husband's mother has just been sent to the hospital extremely ill and his father is too ill to care for her so we need to be here to take care of them with no other relatives around. This seems to be covered in the trip insurance we bought. I assume we will just need statements from her physician and the hospital for the claim? Glad we bought the insurance now.

[LHT28]

This is a very informative topic. My husband and I were scheduled to leave on a cruise Saturday that we just had to cancel as my husband's mother has just been sent to the hospital extremely ill and his father is too ill to care for her so we need to be here to take care of them with no other relatives around. This seems to be covered in the trip insurance we bought. I assume we will just need statements from her physician and the hospital for the claim? Glad we bought the insurance now.

Call the insurance company to get the claim forms it will all be explained what is required

The cruise line will send you a cancellation letter stating any refunds you get eg: port taxes

 

Just make copies for your own records before sending in the claim

 

Sorry to hear about your MIL

 

Lyn

[pausulli]

Thank you Lyn. Cruise line already sent over the cancellation letter. Hope my MIL is ok too.

[LHT28]

Thank you Lyn. Cruise line already sent over the cancellation letter. Hope my MIL is ok too.

Did you get a claim started with the ins company yet?

That is the 1st thing we did when we had to cancel

[Hlitner]

This is a very informative topic. My husband and I were scheduled to leave on a cruise Saturday that we just had to cancel as my husband's mother has just been sent to the hospital extremely ill and his father is too ill to care for her so we need to be here to take care of them with no other relatives around. This seems to be covered in the trip insurance we bought. I assume we will just need statements from her physician and the hospital for the claim? Glad we bought the insurance now.

 

We are truly sorry for your situation and hope that your mother-in-law makes a speedy recovery. In the world of trip calculation insurance, your situation is often among the easiest to prove and a good reason to have insurance. Just make sure to follow their procedures and provide them with all the documentation required. The admitting/attending physician will be the key person in the claim, but there should be no problem other then the usual claim hassles and delays.

 

Hank

[MommaBear55]

So the point is, if NCL is obliged to refund 50% of the fare for everyone who cancels at the OP's stage, and have no legal right not to pay 50%, then they're hardly going to go into detail as to why the OP doesn't travel.

 

Wheras the insurance company only has to pay out under specific circumstances, so they're going to need to know what has happened.

 

Well said. If you want your money, you fill out the paperwork.

 

OTOH, good luck with your surgery and hope you recover easily and quickly

[MommaBear55]

So the point is, if NCL is obliged to refund 50% of the fare for everyone who cancels at the OP's stage, and have no legal right not to pay 50%, then they're hardly going to go into detail as to why the OP doesn't travel.

 

Wheras the insurance company only has to pay out under specific circumstances, so they're going to need to know what has happened.

 

Well said. If you want your money, you fill out the paperwork.

 

OTOH, good luck with your surgery and hope you recover easily and quickly

[6rugrats]

ARGH! Good luck (and we do mean it). The problem is that most of insurance companies require that a billing include the current ICD10 code (this is the international code book that drives the reimbursement process). The new ICD10 includes about 68,000 different diagnosis codes and the insurance claims processors cannot usually derive the proper code from a simple diagnosis description. In fact, very few physicians can figure out the new codes and most rely on special experts trained in coding. It is a true nightmare in the industry that moved from the previous approximate 13,000 diagnosis codes to the new 68,000 code system. Some in the insurance industry and government call this progress....those of us who understand the system round retirement a better option :).

 

Hank

It's not that bad! My employer works in a specialty where the transition to ICD10 was fairly painless. But, docs have had years to figure this out, and there are many programs with a crosswalk function.

[Hlitner]

It's not that bad! My employer works in a specialty where the transition to ICD10 was fairly painless. But, docs have had years to figure this out, and there are many programs with a crosswalk function.

 

Perhaps you might want to convince the AMA. Their "House of Delegates" adopted a resolution (last June) asking CMS for a 2 year Transition Period! My own PCP has a better solution. He simply sold his entire practice to a large hospital-run system and changed himself from a sole practitioner to an employee! He fired all his staff which has been replaced by rotating folks from the health care system who spend all their time wrestling with records and coding issues and have little time to interact with patients. I guess this is called progress....but I am glad to be retired and out of the industry.

 

Personally, I do understand and see the need for ICD10....but this does not change the fact that many physicians are retiring early (because of this and other government mandated changes) and our system is quickly losing the remaining "Marcus Welby's." My physician, or his nurse, used to call me with the results of my lab results. Now, they tell me to log-on to the health care system site where I can access my records. Yuck!

 

But we do digress (sorry) so lets get back to the OP's issue. Cruise ships usually have 1 (large ships might have 2) physicians (most of whom are not even from North America) and several nurses who can be from darn near any country in the world. They do not have a medical coder...or even anyone to run the office as they simply provide necessary medical care and make the appropriate entrees into the cruise ship accounting system. Many physicians have little knowledge of coding and normally rely on their staff...but this does not work on most cruise ships. This leaves passengers in a bad place when they try to submit claims to many insurers.

 

Hnak

Edited December 21, 2015 by Hlitner