Terrible experience with Access America
 

We had a terrible experience with Access America. They gave us such a run around. We cancelled our trip in February and finally now just received our $2,000.00

They did not want to pay us. It was a hassle. I would not recommend this insurance company ever

What is access America? What kind of insurance? What trip? How about some details?

Hi Everyone (I copied the same msg I left on the carribean board)

It took them a very long time to respond to our claim because of lack of communication on their part. We called, we mailed them, we faxed them. We left messages and they said they would call us back within 24 hours. Never did they respond.

It was extremely frustrating. It was the luck of the draw really if we got through to the person we needed to.

At first when they rejected our claim, they said we had to go to Arbitration, which costs $250.00 just for them to review it. We then contacted a lawyer, and the lawyer said that they have a clause in their stating you have to go with them.

We did NOT go through Arbitration, but rather were persistant on why we got rejected.

One very important thing is that when you sign up with them, they don't tell you what is and what is not covered. We went with the Premium Package through them, believing that a Drs note would be sufficient.

I think the biggest and most frustrating part of it all was the lack of control because it was as though we were having a conversation with a wall.

I am sure other people have had better experiences, otherwise they would not still be in business.

If you do go with them, my suggestion is to get the form that stipulates what is and what is not covered. We were never given that information, and when you asked them what is and what is not medically covered, they didn't seem to know.

Our airfare portion was through Funjet vacation, and we promptly received our money from that company. I would highly recommend them!

I just wanted to share my experience. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Why did you pay for something (insurance) without any idea what you were getting (you said they didn't know what was covered)?

Wasn't the whole point of the insurance to cover you in case bad circumstances arose? Would seem to me that a list of what qualifies as "bad circumstances" would be the very first item up for review when you were deciding whether or not to buy coverage.

Access America is a very large, perhaps the largest, seller of "travel insurance". Taking out this kind of insurance is urged on a lot of travellers, especially those on cruises.

Supposedly this insurance is to protect the purchaser against certain situations, such as cancellation.

susan1: I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience! And thanks for the warning!

Jason

Ted

I did ask my travel agent what was covered. She replied by saying the Premium coverage would cover any medical situations that is documented with a Physicians note.

Again, I am just stating my experience. I think people need to be aware.

I took out cruise insurance with Access America for a November cruise we will be taking. Just curious how much you paid for $2,000's worth.

I booked on my own and found out that my cruise agent goes thru Access America. ((b))

I think we paid about $90 per person for the premium.

It sounds to me that perhaps it was just a flaw in the system. But from what I am now researching, it is a reputable company. And we DID get our money back...it just took us 7 months of being persistant.

I'm sure if there really is an emergency, they will come through, it will just take time.

Susan, is there something missing in this story? Did you pay the $90 thinking cancellation was likely? Was this a serious trip, or did you take the insurance to cover you for what you believed you might very well do? Something here is a bit confusing.

It's important, when purchasing trip insurance, to obtain and read the actual policy paying attention, in particular, to "exclusions".

It would seem that the difficulty was not with Access America but with relying on the travel agent's description of the coverage.

susan1- If you went thru your travel agent, you should have received by MAIL from Access America your entire plan and what it covered....That is how all insurance companies work...

I have never had trouble with trip cxl insurance, but then again, I used TravelEx...

I have heard that Access America is very good...and I am extremely glad you did get your refund..

To SmilingStill-- Trip cancellation insurance can be bought even for those with PRE_EXISTING conditions- if you purchase it within 7 days of your first deposit...( WE do this ALL the time)..
The reason for insurance is so that you do NOT lose your money if ANYTHING medical or family death occurs...
Susan did the correct thing..It's just unfortunate she had such a hassle with the insurance company.. Normally a letter from your family doctor and a note stating he actually SAW you will suffice for a refund...

Susan-just one question--why didn't you take out Funjets insurance for the total package, as they also offer their own insurance???

... of course, that's the purpose of trip insurance. Not my point. Seemed, to me, there was a strong likelihood she would cancel. Thought there might be more to the story. I'd be interested in knowing what percentage of travellers actually purchase trip insurance, I never have - am I missing something important? Anyone seen some data?

We always take insurance out whenever we vacation, and we usually get the premium insurance, because you never know.

We also usually take funjet, travelcharter, etc. And just use their insurance.

This time we decided to book our airfare through Funjet and our hotel through Priceline. We wanted to save $$$$'s and we did.

Anyway, I was somewhat niave trusting the travel agent. But to me, I figured a medical reason is a medical reason. And we would not have cancelled anyway.

It is MY experience only. In the future, we will just go with Funjet direct and pay a little more. Or go directly through the hotel and check out their cancellation policy.

If it was the travel agent's fault then it's not really fair to title your message so as to make people think the insurance company was at fault.

It is important to note that if you purchase trip cancellation/interruption insurance from a travel agent or directly from a trip provider (ie cruise line/airline/tour company etc) you are NOT covered for their own default (ie bankruptcy/other cancellation).

Purchasing trip insurance separate & independent from the above is definitely the way to go.

If some of you people would READ, you would see that Access America had a terrible problem with lack of communication.

Yes, we bought our insurance through a travel agency, but ALL of the correspondence was done through Access America.

I've explained this already, but in case you did NOT read the whole posting, Access America DID NOT return any of our phone calls, etc.

I just wanted to give people heads up. Do what you may!