Which Travel Insurance Company do you recommend because they fully paid?

Jean - we use Insure My Trip to compare policies and purchase. I usually select a policy that is primary coverage and underwritten by Nationwide. Pre-existing condition waiver has also come in handy and so has primary evacuation insurance.

I slipped hiking in Southern Patagonia and was very happy with my insurance pick. After going to a hospital, I was able to get a note that I broke my ankle and had permission to fly. That and a picture of my splint was enough for them to get me a limo and a business class flight home. If it had been secondary evacuation coverage, I would have had to put out over $6k and would have to claim it later.

When I got home, I put in a claim for the hospital bill, crutches and the remaining prepaid portion of the trip (we were at the end but had a package to go to Iguazzu falls for a few days). When filling out the claim form, they asked for a release of medical records and claims to other insurance. I put a comment that it was primary insurance and there was a pre-existing condition waiver so both were unnecessary. Two weeks later I had a check for the entire amount of my claim. Overall, they paid almost $8k with no hassle.

I have had an excellent experience with travel guard, but it was for cancellation, not medical. This may not be relevant to you, but it made me trust them, so now they are my go to. I have not had to use it since, luckily. I had to cancel for the illness of a traveling companion and all was covered, promptly. There was an odd technicality that they could have used to deny the claim (my friend has a pre-existing issue that may have been a very small compounding factor in the illness and the doctor mentioned it in the statement. Technically, this could be argued to be denial grounds, but the main illness had nothing to do with the pre-existing condition so it would be very questionable. Anyway, it was covered).

You probably should be looking at two types of insurance. Medical and cancellation. Depending on your current medical insurance - how are you covered when traveling? We focus on medical evacuation insurance so carry a year around policy for about a $150. It is supposed to get us to the nearest appropriate facility near our home from anywhere in the world. Have never used it but that is our chief concern if we have a serious problem. The second policy is for anything related to a trip cancellation or disruption. That is more expensive and is trip to trip.

We have Blue Cross/Blue Shield through my work. We're mostly interested in medical coverage because that could potentially be the most costly unplanned expense.

Jean,

We use AIG Travel Guard. We have never (thankfully) had to use the medical coverage/medical evacuation portion of the policy but have had other claims (lost luggage, cancelled flights). They were very easy to deal with and cut us a check in about 2 weeks after we filed the claims for our losses.

I would highly recommend you CALL insuremytrip. They are great! They are knowledgable about many different companies and they will work with you to get whatever coverage you are looking for. Every company has different regulations and you must know all the details so the insurance is valid in case you need it. It is easy to "think" you are getting what you need but there is a lot of "small print" you need to be aware of. They are knowledgeable and will explain all of that to you.

Thank you, everyone, for your responses, especially Kaeleku. I'll check with BCBS to see if there's any gaps in medical coverage while we're traveling.

Jean, as others have noted, your biggest unexpected expense could be medical evacuation -- getting home after the emergency treatment is competed and you are stable to travel but may need special attention on the trip (someone to accompany you, lay-flat seat) Many insurance plans cover emergency care outside your area on a reimbursement basis -- your HR department should be able to help. And some airlines have a very inexpensive add-on insurance policy which you can buy when you book your flight, including some medical evacuation costs.