Looks like Palm Coast Travel, the Boca Raton, Fla., agency accused by the state of Florida of selling unauthorized travel insurance, while at the same time trying to sue one of its own customers and me into silence, has quietly negotiated a settlement with insurance regulators.
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TRAVEL INSURANCE
Florida’s Department of Financial Services is in the early stages of a far-reaching investigation into the activities of Palm Coast Travel and its affiliated companies, according to documents released this week under the state’s Public Records Act.
The documents also raise new questions about the relationship between Access America, the largest travel insurance company in the [...]
As I reported last week, Palm Coast Travel and its companies, including Smartcruiser.com, are headed to a hearing with a Florida administrative law judge to determine if it sold unlicensed travel insurance. This is an important story, because fake “trip protection” policies are known to have been sold to people across the country for years, potentially costing travelers millions of dollars in lost vacations.
When the subject of travel insurance comes up, I’m usually quick to say: Don’t buy the first policy you’re offered.
That’s because the first policy is normally a brochure your travel agent slides across the desk right after you’ve plunked down $14,000 for that dream safari, along with the warning, “You’ll want insurance.”
You will want insurance, [...]
It’s been a year since Anita Isaia’s cruise, but the insurance claim she made through a company that offered traveler “protection” is apparently lost at sea. Will she ever get her $675 back? Find out.
Colorado has issued a cease and desist order again Prime Travel Protection, the bankrupt travel insurance company based in Arvada, Colo. The move caps an extensive investigation by the state and comes on the heels of a similar action by Florida.
George Fredrickson never suspected the travel insurance he bought for his transatlantic cruise last year was fake. But it was. Here are six questions to ask if you don’t want the same thing to happen to you.
The state of Florida notified three large travel agencies earlier this week that insurance offered by Prime Travel Protection might be illegal. What does its actions mean for agencies and their customers, particularly those with policies underwritten by Prime Travel Protection and other companies owned by Jerry Watson? For an insider’s view, I turned to Al Ferguson, a vice president at Legendary Journeys, one of the agencies named in the orders.
Virginia Hamlin is upset. A year ago she booked a Panama Canal through Legendary Journeys, a travel agency based in Sarasota, Fla. At the time she was offered a $177 “travel insurance” policy through Travel Protection Services.
No one expects to come home in a casket. But more Americans are. The number of claims made on death benefits by On Call International, a travel assistance service in Salem, N.H., has almost doubled in the last three years, rising from 125 claims in 2005 to 247 last year. Its numbers reflect a broader industry trend.
So who is Prime Travel Protection Services? I asked that question yesterday after one reader lost two cruise vacations when his insurance claim wasn’t honored by the company. This morning I got a call from Jerry Watson, the president of Prime Travel Protection, with the answer.
What do Prime Travel Protection Services, Travelers Protection Services, Vacation Protection Services and Trip Assured have in common? They may be the same company.
Angela Gross thought she was booking an airline ticket on Frontier Airlines’ Web site. Turns out she was buying more than that. After finishing the transaction, she discovered she had also signed up for a $10.95 insurance policy.
Sign up for my 
