djkbooks

I typically purchase travel insurance, usually through Travel Guard. Until our most recent trip, I haven't had occasion to file a claim.

This last trip to Las Vegas, I purchased an Access America policy "partnered with Continental Airlines" when I booked our flight. It was cheap ($18.85) with minimal reimbursement (for most items), but included Trip Cancellation/Interruption, Trip Delay, 24-hour Hotline Assistance, Concierge, etc., etc. Before purchasing, however, I did ascertain that Access America has an "A- Rating".

Coming home, on Saturday, our departing flight from Las Vegas was delayed, so we missed our connecting flight, all due to bad weather in Newark. Ahead of time I had noted that the Holiday Inn-EWR had reasonable rates, 24/7 shuttle, and a restaurant within. Had the gate attendant not assured us that our connecting flight was delayed as well, I would have booked a room from Las Vegas.

When we arrived in Newark, our flight was not even listed on the board, and was the last flight of the day. The line at Continental Customer Service was miles long, AND, everyone was on their cell phones. After 1/2 hour, neither my husband nor I had gotten through to Continental, so set about trying to pick up our bags and find a hotel room. First call was to the Holiday Inn, which was booked, and word around the airport was that ALL hotels in the area were fully booked.

Line was miles long at Baggage Assistance, but we did find out from a wandering rep that it would be impossible to retrieve our bags. Advised they would be matched to our re-booked flight, or just sent ahead as soon as possible to our final destination.

Included in my Access America Certificate of Insurance, under Description of Travel Assistance Service, which was included with my Letter of Confirmation:

"Flight Information.

If You are faced with a canceled or missed flight, just call
the hotline center for 24-hour information on alternate
flights."

And,

"Description of Concierge Services.

If You are in need of assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, please call the phone number printed on Your Letter of Confirmation.

Travel Information and Reservations

When You need assistance with accommodations, flights or transportation, We stand ready to help.

§ Hotel and other overnight accommodation information, referrals and reservations
§ Flight information and reservations"

I phoned the provided number, gave my policy number, and was quickly informed that my policy did not cover Travel Assistance and all she could do was send me a claim form. She also offered a lot of additional irrelevant/incorrect (according to my Certificate) information.

I called again for someone else, who said, "Congratulations, your policy includes Travel Assistance - I'll connect you with the Concierge". After being on hold for more than 20 minutes, I was disconnected. Called again, another while on hold, and disconnected again.

I was certain it would be pointless to spend the night at EWR only to probably learn that we would not be re-booked on Sunday (only three flights, small planes).

Thankfully, our home was "only" a 5 hour drive, and we are used to it, as we drive to/from NYC several times a year.

Because my husband has a Hertz Gold card, we were able to rent a car. We could have spent the night (with no bags) at the Holiday Inn GW Bridge, half an hour away, but decided to head home. Our flight would have landed at 10:35 PM, 20 minutes from our home. We rolled into our driveway at 5:30AM (6:30 when we turned the clocks ahead).

When I returned home, I re-read the Certificate and was sure the rental car, tolls, gas, would be covered.

Since the claim form had not arrived in my e-mail, I accessed and printed one from the website, then phoned with a few questions regarding filling it out and documentation.

The double talk, run-around, and contradictory statements I received were positively unbelievable! I was told one thing after another contrary to the Certificate - bottom line, my "circumstances" did not qualify for coverage under Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, OR Trip Delay.

Example, "Bad weather is not a covered reason for Trip Delay".

The Certificate states:

"Covered reasons for Travel Delay are:
1. Carrier caused delay (including bad weather);..."

I immediately phoned Access America Customer Service, described our exact circumstances, and asked whether I would have been covered under one of their policies, and if so, how, as I was considering purchasing a plan for our next trip. Answer: "Why yes, you would be covered under Travel Delay for the amount of coverage in the policy you purchased." (Cheerfully delivered.)

Meanwhile, in the car on the way home, I was able to ascertain that our flight had actually been cancelled, and we had been re-booked for a flight on Tuesday.

Then, I phoned "Welcome to the Continental Baggage Resolution Center!" as directed by Baggage Assistance at EWR. Reported our tag numbers and received a File Number and "if you don't hear anything by 2PM, call back with your File Number".

One bag turned up at MHT on Sunday, and the other two finally arrived today. Everything was intact (blessedly).

But, I've digressed...

(As you can tell by now, I'm one who reads everything and follows directions as carefully as possible.)

I phoned Access America Claims again to double check required documentation. My printed page from the Continental web site indicating that the flight was cancelled, along with the e-mail re-booking our final flight, would not be sufficient. I had to provide something called "Original Common Carrier Report that verifies the cause and duration of the delay". When my husband went to MHT to pick up the one bag, NO ONE anywhere at Continental had ever heard of such a document. When I phoned Access America again, I was told, "We would not ask for a document you cannot obtain." (I did find this in the Certificate when I did a search of the pdf document.) But, the rep, this time, insisted that my "Missed Connection" (no mention of this in my Confirmation letter) would NOT be covered "because bad weather must result in the complete cessation of services by the airline for at least 24 hours". (But, I think this actually refers to Cruises.)

Fortunately, I reasonably quickly found someone on the phone at Continental who knew where I could get this document. He gave me the name and address of someone in Houston whom I could either mail or fax a request. Do hope it is received, and soon...

Then, I will prepare my claim, along with all required receipts and documentation and see what happens.

I would guess that the "first responders" in the claims department a) know this and that, but not the "whole picture", and/or b) are trained to discourage people from even filing a claim.

Hopefully, I will be successful with an actual claims authority.

Now, I did read the Certificate, with a highlighter, and re-read all the Exclusions, before leaving home, then again and again since.

There are some critical things to know including "coordination of benefits" with regard to medical coverage, that illusive "common carrier verification" is also required for Baggage Delay, etc., "baggage coverage is secondary to any common carrier coverage" (meaning, I think, you would have file a claim with the carrier first) then that is deducted from your coverage, and so forth.

So, if you are thinking of purchasing travel insurance, ignore the slick promises on the web sites, and read your Certificate. Know that any "clarification" you are given does not matter.

I have always known this. And, I should not have been so shocked that the Sales people tell you this and the Claims people tell you that.

People inquire about Travel Insurance here, assuming their anticipated circumstances will be covered, when many are not.

Callaloo

What a pain! I hope you are successful finally getting some reimbursement.

I will tell you that I've had similar experiences when I've been insured with Travelguard, and I've been able to collect on my claims (subject to proper documentation of my expenses). They did not require me to go to the same lengths with the airlines as Access America -- in fact, a copy of a newspaper article copied off the internet stating that the airport was closed was adequate proof of flight cancellation.

As you said, you've gotta read the fine print. Luckily, you didn't pay so much for your policy that you'll feel totally ripped off if you're unsuccessful.

Sue_xx_yy

Good grief, what a hassle for you! I very much appreciate all the trouble you took to post about your experience.

There are, to be sure, more loopholes in a travel cancellation policy than a swiss cheese. This is is one of the reasons we have elected to 'self insure' from here on out (just for cancellation stuff, not medical, which of course is a must.) "Cancellation" has a very precise meaning - one's plane will only be considered 'delayed' and not 'cancelled' up until a certain point: ditto, one's baggage will only be considered 'delayed' and not 'lost' until a certain min period of time elapses (even though one might go an entire two week trip until it shows up); etc. etc. etc. I got fed up with wasting time trying to even understand the policy before even having to register a claim. One's time is also worth something.

I do hope it works out for you in the end. Grrrrr --- insurers!

djkbooks

Here's an update:

I re-read my Certificate, downloaded claim forms and set about gathering the documentation. I had to mail a letter to a specific individual at Continental in Texas to acquire "Original Common Carrier Report that verifies the cause and duration of the delay." This "report" was received quickly.

Last Friday, my husband faxed everything to the number on the form. I was watching my e-mail (which I chose as "preferred method of contact") for an acknowledgement that my claim was received and being processed.

Yesterday, exactly one week later, we received two checks in the mail (we had separate policies because one ticket was booked with miles and the other with cash) for the total of the receipts submitted (car rental and tolls) $290.27.

Note: Premium was $18.75 each for a total of $36.50.

It's still discouraging that the people answering the phone give out inaccurate information, and that there really was no "Travel Assistance Service" as promised.

But, I am positively thrilled that the claim was processed and paid so quickly.

rkkwan

Thanks for the update, and glad you get your reimbursement.