We asked subscribers to each tell us about a time when they submitted a claim — medical or nonmedical — to a travel insurance company and expected reimbursement but had their claim denied. Our aim was to make travelers aware of what they might be surprised to find they are NOT covered for, in certain situations, under travel insurance policies.
Posterity-aimed trip journals, anyone?
Samantha Sartain’s letter “Still Doing Journals” (May ’16, pg. 49) prompts me to ask if anyone knows of a library or museum that might appreciate a donation of journals, albums, CDs and boxes of ephemera and labeled photos from many travels.
During our 6-week koyo (autumn foliage) trip to Japan in November-December 2015, my husband, Clyde, and I took many of our dinners at small, family-owned restaurants and izakayas (taverns), also exploring the side streets and back alleys where such places abound.
When I purchase travel insurance, I always get a policy that includes a “preexisting-condition waiver,” as my principal purpose in purchasing the policy is to have coverage if I need to cancel or interrupt a trip due to an accident or illness. At 77 years old, I do not want to be denied a claim based on some (perceived) preexisting medical condition or to deal with the hassle of proving that there was no preexisting condition.
A few days prior to my taking an Odysseys Unlimited trip to Spain and Portugal in September 2015, I was sickened with a blood infection that required a 5-day hospital stay followed by several weeks of IV therapy and monitoring. Afterward, I made a medical care claim with my travel insurance company, Trip Mate (Kansas City, MO; 800/888-7292, www.tripmate.com). My medical claim was successful, with no major issues.
Based on what I learned during this experience, the points listed below may be useful for other travelers who need to file a claim.
Regarding the hiker in New Zealand who said she did not seek medical attention because it was late on a Saturday (Feb. ’16, pg. 16), she could have talked to the manager at her hotel and asked him to find a doctor who would make a hotel/house call. If not that day, then the next. If no doctor was on call in the city, she could have gone to the hospital.
I read about the traveler who, while on a hiking tour in New Zealand, came down with a respiratory illness, left the tour and took a bus back to Queenstown but did not seek a physician because it was Saturday afternoon (Feb. ’16, pg. 16). Instead, she stayed in a hotel for a few days, then took her scheduled flight home, where she submitted a trip-interruption claim to her travel insurance company. Her claim was denied because she had no note from a doctor attesting to the severity of her illness.
I was in Bulgaria and, briefly, Romania for ten days and nine nights during the last half of May 2016. I joined a week-long tour but first spent two days in Sofia, adjusting to the time zone and also going on a day tour to Rila. Half of my trip was in the Rhodope Mountains and half in the Black Sea coastal area and countryside.
While my husband, Pete, and I were in Croatia, Sept. 20-Oct. 6, 2015, we spent six days touring from Zagreb to Split. Our arrangements were booked through Marina Juras, who owns Cromotion (V. Podbrezje 28, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; phone +385 1 6555 120, www.cromotion.eu), a small travel agency in Zagreb.
I found the website on TripAdvisor. The reviews of Marina, our guide Ivan and every Cromotion guide whom others had used were superlative, so I felt very comfortable in using her agency.
