| Review: |
Denied claim on a technicality
Purchased travel insurance for my wife and myself for a trip to Europe we had planned in the spring of 2006. The coverage purchased included a refund of plane ticket costs in the event of illness of a family member. My mother became ill with what was diagnosed as the beginnings of neuro-vascular senile dementia, along with other age-related health problems, in February of 2006 and we canceled our trip plans due to that. One of the requirements in filing a claim for plane tickets cost reimbursement was providing written information from my mother's physician on one of Access America's claim forms. Due to the way one of the form questions was worded and the way her physician responded on the form, having to do with recent treatment dates for the condition that prompted our trip cancellation, it appeared that he had treated her for that particular development previously. This was not the case. As with many elderly people starting to experience various health problems, my mother had certainly had doctor's visits within the time frame the form inquired about, but certainly not for the catastrophic condition she had quickly developed in February. No amount of phone discussion or contacts to Access America in writing could correct the fact that mother's physician had simply listed the office visit dates of her most recent appointments, as requested on the form, for regular checkups and other treatments. Access America used a clause in the insurance contract about pre-existing conditions to deny the claim. The customer service people at this company were rude, unprofessional, and seemed absolutely determined to deny the claim at all costs based on a misunderstanding on a form. Any attempts to file an appeal on the denial was in itself a nightmare, since it's "handled by a different department" than who you purchase the stuff through, with a completely different address, phone numbers, and customer service people, if you can call it service. I would never, ever, use these people for insurance again. |
