Please HELP: Any reputable travel insurance companies left?

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Travel+insurance

There is much useful info in the above link, from a Search here of folks' comments. Good luck!

Have you looked at Allianz? I am renewing my annual policy, although I am so fortunate to not have to file a claim nor get medical advice yet. I have seen some positive reviews as far as claims here on the Forum. Not sure about actual clinic visits.
I post because they do have an app that (supposedly!) has 24/7 support and a physician locator, etc. The app could avoid the phone issues if communication is within that?
Pharmacies seem to be like the walk- in clinics (Indigo, etc)? Off- topic, but it's the reason I always carry a 1 lb first aid kit because it can be difficult to know what an effective substitute is for various OTC options.

We had an excellent experience with Travel Guard.

We recently had an excellent experience with Zurich, which quickly paid the entirety of a medical claim. During the actual event (in Istanbul) they were easy to reach, and did offer assistance, but we were able to navigate the hospital ourselves. We also found hotel staff very helpful.

Be aware that insurance companies often contract out the assistance to a companies like International SOS or Global Rescue. Our experience of International SOS is likewise positive - Global Rescue I haven't had cause to use.

It is worthwhile familiarising yourself with where hospitals are, how you can get medication, etc.

Thank you for the replies. My main fear is of something real bad should happen, we should be able to get a human being to assist and help us navigate, cover medical expenses directly, etc. I'm not going to be able to pay up front for major med event and my daughter would be beside herself upset enough if something bad went down. I don't want to worry about her also being stranded alone with no help, especially considering we paid for help in such a situation. Allianz is one of the carriers I was looking at but have seen some pretty bad reviews lately so now I'm on the fence but will look again. Anyone had to actually use their insurance and get real help? It's something you never wanna need, but if you do they should take care of you, right?

I also tried calling Allianz customer service and went around in circles with AI trying to get a live human being - took about 20 minutes. When asked if there is another number for them where we could reach a human agent should we have an emergency, his reply was no... This is not good! Tried to DL the app the check that out but you have to have an account in order to see anything. Has anyone had an emergency in then past year or so and was able to actually get help from them?

There are a couple posts about people's experience with Allianz:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/report-i-filed-a-medical-claim-with-allianz-and-here-is-how-it-worked-out

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/i-finally-have-a-travel-insurance-claim-to-report-on

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips/positive-experience-with-allianz-travel-insurance

I have not had medical issues abroad but I have filed claims with travel insurers. My best advice is in the event anything happens, make sure to take notes, get paper copies of bills, and retain every bit of documentation possible.

And I hesitate to direct you to this post because it is an out of ordinary experience, but there is a lot of discussion about travel insurance in the thread and it includes very helpful things you might consider in preparing for your trip. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/living-as-a-temporary-local-for-9-days-in-the-surgical-wing-of-a-budapest-public-hospital

As with all things in this capitalist economy, insurance companies exist to make money, not to serve customers or provide peace of mind.

That said, serving customers and providing peace of mind may be the way insurance companies are able to be successful, get good reviews, and stay in business.

The point is there is not a single business in the world that has a 100% customer satisfaction record. You will find bad reviews for every company. Even Rick Steves has some bad reviews.

And the challenge with finding a good insurance company is that most travelers, fortunately, never have to file a claim, so most of us don't really know whether the company is good or not. And because dissatisified customers are more likely to leave bad reviews than satisfied customers are to leave good reviews, you are likely to find bad reviews for just about every insurance company.

I'm sure there are some reputable travel insurance companies. But I wouldn't rely on word of mouth. I'd suggest making some phone calls, as you did with Allianz. See how long it takes you to get to a real person. And ask what would happen in the event of an emergency. If you're not satisfied, keep calling. Eventually, I think you'll find someone that your feel comfortable with.

Good luck! And when you do find one, come back and let us know who you decided to go with.

My wife and I had a good experience with Travelex about 15 years ago, and I had a bad experience with Travel Guard four years ago, but neither involved medical coverage which seems to be your main concern. There are so many variables in this business -- the company, the adjuster, the traveler, the overseas health care provider(s), etc, and so many individual situations that produce our experiences.

That said, a friend of mine had a serious medical emergency in Europe this spring and told me in some detail how helpful and effective Allianz was in dealing with the French hospital, the airline, and her. She also had very good communication and results with her US-based health plan (Kaiser). She has an annual policy that, I just learned, cost about half of what I just paid another company for a single trip. I think I'll go with that next time.

As for CFAR coverage, keep in mind that you'll only get that if you buy the insurance very soon after making your first payment toward the trip -- to a tour company, an airline, or someone else. That's usually pretty far ahead of the actual travel, meaning that you'll be paying an insurance premium that may exceed any nonrefundable cost you'd incur until much closer to the trip itself.

You might also look at a MedJet membership (I have one) if you are concerned about being hospitalized while traveling.

MedJet is not travel insurance.

From their website: "As a MedjetAssist Member, if you become hospitalized internationally or domestically - 150 miles or more from home - Medjet will arrange medical transportation to a home-country hospital of your choice for inpatient care. All you pay is your membership fee."
https://medjetassist.com

Insurance plans vary by state. I use Insure my Trip to find the company and the plan that works best for me for my particular trip. They have been very responsive to all my questions by email, phone or chat.

Perhaps contact them or Square Mouth, another site that allows you to compare plans. They should be able to help narrow the companies that offer plans that include live 24/7 emergency assistance that are available in your state.

My main fear is of something real bad should happen, we should be able to get a human being to assist and help us navigate, cover medical expenses directly, etc.

Respectfully, I believe you are looking for a travel concierge rather than an insurance company. I would not expect this level of hands-on service from any insurer, whether in Europe or the USA.

You may be expecting a higher level of service than what most companies provide. Most discussions on here talk about the claim process, not them arranging care.

If you have an emergency, do not waste your time trying to talk to an operator in another country, call 112, the equivalent of 911 here in the US. Your hotel can also be of great assistance, either in calling an ambulance, or even having a doctor come see you

Deal with the claims process afterwards

"Respectfully, I believe you are looking for a travel concierge rather than an insurance company. I would not expect this level of hands-on service from any insurer, whether in Europe or the USA."

My experience of travel insurance companies and medical emergencies has actually been very good. We had another emergency (also in Istanbul as it happens) where the insurance company, which contracted emergency support to International SOS, arranged treatment at an international hospital, and an interpreter, and called back to make sure all was ok.

One thing you need to be aware of is that in the event of a medical claim, the insurance company will provide a Guarantee of Payment, but this can take some time - depending on which country you're in, they may ask for a deposit of guarantee from you immediately, so you need to be able to cover it, at least have a credit card. Having said that, it may not be as much as you expect.

Regardless of the level of support, in the event kf an emergency your daughter needs to be able to navigate some things on her own - your insurance company wont be there to do that.

I agree with others that you are looking for something that doesn't really exist.

Should you have an accident or get sick, the most an insurance company might do is get you a list of hospitals or doctors. They don't arrange for treatment. You are better off asking your hotel or your local consulate for english speaking doctors. You might even check with your own doctor to see if he/she knows anyone or if they belong to any specialist societies with members in the areas you plan to travel.

In some cases, you will have to pay for treatment and then the insurance company will reimburse you. This is usually up to the medical provider and whether or not they want to take foreign insurance. (Mostly if they want to bill an insurance company in another country.)

You also need to read the policy carefully to see what is covered and what isn't covered as well as if where you are traveling to is also convered. (Many complaints are from people who didn't know what is and isn't covered.)

No insurance company has 100% positive ratings.

I personally have an annual policy with Allianz and a separate emergency evacuation policy with Medjet Assist. Not just medical evacuation but evacuation in most emergency situations--war, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, etc.

There are travel medical concierge companies that while not providing insurance will help get you connected to either online medical help or will assist to find local medical help. I have never used one nor can recommend any.

For several years I had an Expat medical policy from Allianz. They did everything they were supposed to do and they were easy to contact and talk to. I would use them again.

Last year my spouse was admitted to hospital in Aix en Provence with a collapsed lung. He was there for 5 days. I speak some French and it was interesting to note that most of the staff, except the physicians, did not speak much or any English (we often assume healthcare professionals do). We managed and supplemented with google translate. My spouse was not medically stable enough to fly for 2 weeks. He also required daily outpatient wound care. I am a retired hospital social worker and I was left to figure out the discharge planning as the insurance company (a large North American company that does the 3rd party emergency healthcare approval/navigation part) medical claims person indicated they do not provide any assistance once the ‘emergency’ is done. They pressured us to fly home earlier in spite of him not being cleared to fly by 2 thoracic surgeons. The French healthcare system operates differently from the Canadian system and likely from the US system as well. Eventually after a lot of figuring out, an Urgent Care nurse showed me how to do the wound care and I did it for 3 weeks. I also had to figure out various other bits. I was thankful for my work background.

If you are worried about your daughter managing in an emergency, I recommend you see if you can have another family member on standby to fly over. The Medjet option would also be useful.

Some minor emergency clinics will accept some insurance policies. Allianz publishes a list for their policy. Maybe there are countries where the national system will accept insurance, but I would be surprised. My country wont. But my country will worry about the bill at the end. Has no impact on service. Many travel companies provide for cash advances. Lots of luck with that. But no one is going to stop you at the airport if you try and leave before you pay. Here it could be a month before you receive the bill. Finally, everyone should have MedJet or similar.

I agree that travel insurance companies are probably not the resource you need to have peace of mind about the "what if's" when trip planning. Not sure how old your daughter is, but clearly old enough to be a travel partner for you.

Consider sitting down with her and planning out what she should do in specific emergency situations, and then put that info on her phone or a card for fast reference. IE contact the hotel desk, the police, someone back home, etc, writing down the numbers for her.

When traveling alone, to help with my family's' concerns, I wore an emergency contact neck chain, and gave them detailed info about where I would be, as well as ensuring they all could monitor my location via "find my friends". You can't plan for every issue but prior planning can help you enjoy the trip.

CL, thank you. After reading Leia's experience we were in tears - this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I worry about. I see she hasn't posted again and pray that she's ok. I did get medjet plan for us - for $30 more just got the annual plan, and spoke with them to see if they'll help her get home - they will bring her too it seems, so I'm relieved. We will just get whatever looks best for actual travel insurance and hope for the best because they all suck. What else to do?

Not looking for someone to arrange actual medical care for us - we're used to dealing with doctors and standing up for ourselves in the broken healthcare system here. I just hoped to have some help for her navigating the paperwork and getting her home in the event of something truly awful. Generali had offered such last time we had a policy but they are changing. My medical insurance through work will cover true emergency medical bills if I file a claim when we get back. I was more concerned about a major, costly issue where we would need the guaranty and getting her home if the worst happened.
It is what it is - this is likely our last big trip together anyway as she'll be so busy with school, internships and then working like crazy. By then I'll likely be too old and tired to want to do this anymore and will happily stay home and chase the grandkids instead, God willing. If not, then at least college will be covered by my life insurance LOL!

We used World Nomads Travel insurance. We did not need to make a claim. They were easy to work with and very reasonably priced.

KC, that is a GREAT idea. Where did you get the neck chain? We'll be together on this one, but if one of us ever does a solo trip, then that would certainly give us peace of mind.

When we travel ,my wife and I are prepared to pay the tab and seek reimbursement when we get home. Travel insurance works much differently than using your own health insurance back in the USA.

While you are reviewing various options check on your health insurance at home and see what it covers internationally. Our supplemental health coverage has a lifetime benefit of $50,000 for each of us for emergency medical treatment received outside of the USA. In addition to that coverage we have an annual policy with Allianz and a Medjet Horizon policy to get us home. We believe that we covered our "our bases" as well as we can for our travels.

You should also consider making your daughter an authorized user on one of your credit cards unless she already has credit cards with higher limits in her name.

I have kids so I understand, but you are overthinking it a tad. Get a policy. I would get Allianz. Go to their list for all your destinations and write down any clinics that accept their insurance. Also select a clinic even if they don’t take the insurance in each destination. Now she/you know where to go. I used to do this, but I went to some pretty sketchy places at one time in my life. Oh, and most of Europe now uses the same number to call for help, and they are required to staff it with English speakers. The number is 112.

I also had dog tags with my name and passport number and emergency contact. I found a vendor online. They would print what every you want on them and cost about $20. Then for the really sketchy destinations I had a dog tab made with a QR code on it. The code was to a cloud folder with all my medical information (I have an “issue” that requires routine medication or I crapout and the docs need to know about the blood thinners too).

The good news is there is nothing that needs to be done in advance, no paperwork, no forms, if you are too sick to go to a clinic, call an ambulance and the local system will handle you just fine until discharge. Your comment about the broken US system. There are European public healthcare systems that will make you beg to go back to the US. BUT, they will all do their job in keeping you alive. And I know these things from experience.

Another thing you could do if you really wanted to prepare for the worst. Write down the name of the local food delivery service at each destination. Also pack some toilet paper in your luggage. You will understand if you ever find yourself in a hospital in quite a few European systems. Oh, and in the US we are accused of over medicating, and we probably do. But in some systems over here treatment for pain isn’t considered essential for full recovery. You might have to buy your own pain meds.

If you hunt around a bit on the forum there are “trip reports” about hospital stays in Europe. My favorite was the poor woman who had a collapsed lung in Budapest. They all had good outcomes and most had done no prep.

I wear an ID on my running shoes that has my name, medical information, contact details for my spouse in case of emergency when I am walking alone. Mine is from RoadID and they have ID’s that can be worn on your shoes, watch, neck, or wrist. https://www.roadid.com/pages/shop-road-id?category=all

Carole. Excellent. I was thinking about a toe tag with a shipping address.

Where are you planning to visit in Europe? Healthcare is different in every country. If you let us know where you will be visiting we can give you more specific advice.
With tools like Google Translate many language barriers disappear but it might be worth preparing some statements about your medical condition in the local language in case you need them.

You say your daughter is capable, is she as worried about this as you are? It is very easy to worry on somebody else’s behalf when they are actually a lot more laid back about it.

I swear by Allianz. Never have had a problem and have filed a couple of claims that were handled quickly and efficiently including one claim involving a forced stay in Paris. Just us and Covid!

"KC, that is a GREAT idea. Where did you get the neck chain? We'll be together on this one, but if one of us ever does a solo trip, then that would certainly give us peace of mind."

I got mine at an engraver's shop in the mall, in a color and quality that looks like jewelry. But another commenter got theirs on line for about 1/3 what I paid, and that would work too.