My parents purchased travel insurance for a trip they planned to take to Italy last fall. The flew from AZ – VA and stayed over one night so they could see before they left the country. On the morning they planned to leave on their flight, my mother had an anxiety attack that placed her in the hospital for 2 days.

Although Travelex has reimbursed them for their unused land costs (hotel, museums, rail passes), they have denied their claim for the completely unused airfare from VA – Italy.

Travelex has indicated that since the period inception date was the day my folks left AZ, that the trip had already started and therefore they interrupted their trip when they needed to return back to AZ due to my mother’s medical issue.

Travelex has paid for the one way return ticket from VA – AZ, but has denied they owe the other airfare costs.

The policy language indicates under Trip Interruption that:
“The Company will pay for the following:
(a)Unused, non-refundable land or sea expenses prepaid to the Travel Suppliers;
(b)The airfare paid less the value of applied credit from an unused travel ticket to return home, join or rejoin the original Land/Sea Arrangements limited to the cost of one-way economy fair or similar quality as the originally isssued ticket by scheduled carrier”

When I read section (b), I believe they should get the cost of their Italy airfare – cost of airfare to return to AZ. Apparently that’s not the case and according to Travelex, there are really no travel insurance policies that would cover your airfare costs if you interrupt and do NOT restart the trip.

Does anyone know for sure? I handle claims for a living and when I find the policy language vague, that’s not a good sign. Anyone had any similar experience and know what to say to win the appeal.

Thanks for your help

Travelex is the company that is not willing to help us. We filed all paper work, doctor supported paperwork and they have been giving us a hard time since October, maybe even sooner….. We were under the impression that we had coverage for any type of problem that came up, causing her not to be able to go. We are NOT rich and need some help! We are out $755.

In my opinion, there’s no reason to buy a travel insurance plan if you aren’t sure if the claim will be paid. As a travel insurance seller, I believe we have an ethical responsibility to help people gets their claims settled.

For example, we send all our customers tips in case they need to make a claim on their travel insurance: (here are three of them)

Tip #1:
If you get sick or injured prior to or on your trip, it’s important you go to a doctor. If you don’t go to a doctor, the insurance company won’t believe you were sick or injured. Here’s how the policies typically read

“For Trip Cancellation benefits, an actual examination by a licensed Physician must take place before the cancellation is made. For Trip Interruption benefits, this examination must take place during Your Trip.”

Tip #2:
A lot of information is required when making a claim, even a small one. Keep a log of people spoken to. Don’t forget to keep receipts issued for services including items purchased if you have a travel or baggage delays.

Tip #3:
If you ever need to file a claim, write a cover letter with a synopsis of your claim to send with the claim form.

I hope this helps any one who reads this.