HAVE YOU EVER HAD THIS TRAVEL INSURANCE EXPERIENCE?

Sharon, I'm so sorry to hear about this. It's bad enough that your husband was ill and that it interfered with your trip. I thought that things such as this is why people buy travel insurance. I just returned from a trip in which I had to seek medical care too. I have a claim in to be reimbursed from my travel insurance. I did pay cash for the care I received, and even though I hope to be paid back it won't break the bank for me if I'm not. I'm still waiting to hear. You might try to appeal their decision. Also, even though you don't think you aren't covered by your U.S. insurance, you might try submitting a claim anyway. It can't hurt... Good luck!

Contact the hospital and get statements from the doctor in charge of your husband's case indicating that each treatment was medically indicated and necessary. Then appeal the decision with those documents with the insurer. I would contact the California insurance commissioner as well. It might be worth it - depending on how much money is at stake - to consult with an attorney.

I wonder if there is a website rating travel insurance? Trip Advisor maybe? I'd suggest that I will be writing up my experiences as a warning to other would be customers.

We're not talking about a lot of money here - a couple thousand dollars. Medical treatment in France was totally inexpensive compared to the U.S. However, that is what I thought we had purchased the travel insurance for. I had called Insuremytrip before the rescue squad took my husband to the hospital, and they told me to retain copies of all the paperwork - which I did and submitted. After one day when they diagnosed it as severe vertigo, the specialist said he was better off in the hospital on an IV then in a hotel on medication and wanted to keep him there. It would have made a difference in how soon we could fly home. Very frustrating!

This is disturbing Sharon and I'm so sorry. I buy insurance for every trip through insuremytrip.com and I'm curious what company your insurance was with? Insuremytrip is only a broker, offering insurance from many companies and within some companies, different levels of insurance. I'd like to hear how this turns out for you.

As Susan stated, Insuremytrip is only a consolidator - they offer policies from lots of different companies. It would be of great interest to know what actual insurance company's policy you have. I hope you can get this resolved as it should be. Are you speaking directly with the company involved, or only with Insuremytrip?

We just got the notice yesterday, so we will be following up with the company directly. I will let you know what they say.

Sharon, sorry to hear about your experience. Most of us buy medical insurance but thankfully never have to use it. When the occasion does come that we need it, we expect the insurance company to provide the coverage we've paid for! ¶ One suggestion for future trips is to purchase medical insurance from a Travel Agent in your community. I ALWAYS use that method and while I haven't had to file any claims yet, I don't believe there would be any problems as I'm sure the T.A. would help if required. ¶ You might also have a look at IAMAT, as that's another avenue to obtain medical care from English-speaking Physicians for a set fee (I believe the fee is currently at US$100). Membership in IAMAT is by donation - check their website for details. That probably wouldn't have helped your husband on this occasion as he required hospitilization, but for less serious problems it's often a good solution. I've used IAMAT services on a past trip to Rome for a minor medical issue, and the service was excellent. ¶ I'd have to check my Policy, but if you're interested, I believe my insurance coverage is provided by * www.travelguard.com/ * (I purchased an annual policy this year to cover other trips, especially to the U.S.). Good luck in getting this sorted! If you're tenacious, you'll probably be successful.

A friend of mine had to use TravelGuard several years ago and had not real compliants. Sorry to hear you are having issues!

Again, Sharon, what company is the insurance with?

I was going to wait until we contacted the carrier (hoping they would reconsider) before I let you all know who it is; however, I've received a number of questions about this. The carrier is HTH Worldwide. I'm hopeful when we call them tomorrow they will see this differently - there's been a mistake of some sort, but I will let you know the outcome. Thanks for all your comments.

My husband had a very nice conversation with HTH Worldwide today and needs to send them additional information. Not sure now what the outcome will be but they were very gracious and helpful on the phone. Just to update you.

Certainly hope everything works out with the ins. co.
We have learned thru traveling that my husband gets dehydrated very easily (collapsed on the sidewalk in New Orleans once), so we never go anywhere without a bottle of water for him. I'm sure this was a frightening experience for both of you. Thank goodness it was not more serious.
Best wishes!

I mentioned earlier that I had submitted a medical claim with my travel insurance carrier, Access America. I just checked the status of my claim and it has been paid. Presumably the check is in the mail. I just wanted to let people know, so people wouldn't think that travel insurance is a complete ripoff. I hope you get your claim resolved Sharon. Please let us know how it turns out.

Andrea, I'm glad you got reimbursed. HTH did reimburse us for our Eurostar tickets that we had to give up because my husband was in the hospital. Nothing on the medical part yet - they are having us fill out additional paperwork. Even though we did submit all of the doctor's reports and paid receipts, they want more. Not too straight forward, but perhaps we will get reimbursed. We will see.

My HMO in Seattle will cover medical expenses if properly documented and deemed necessary but no longer will cover me with medical evacuation. I am currently researching insuremytrip.com. Anyone have any experiences with medical evacuation?

Charlie, Travelex sent a private jet with a doctor and nurse to medivac a business assoc. from Roatan, Honduras to New Orleans when he suffered a heart attack. The policy was Travel Select.