Travel Guard Group, Inc.

Review: I PURCHASED 2 TICKETS THRU TRAVELOCITY,AND THEY INSURED THE TICKETS THRU TRAVEL GUARD,PART OF THERE COMPANY.I WAS BRING MY MOTHER FROM NEW YORK IN A NURSING HOME BEING ACCOMPANIED BY MY NEPHEW,HE TOOK ILL AND REQUIRED BEING HOSPITALIZED,I SUBMITTED HOSPITAL DOCUMENTS,THEY ARE REFUSING TO REFUND ME THE MONEY,I PURCHASED THE TICKETS WITH MY DEBIT CARD,THEY WANT TO ISSUE IT TO THE TRAVELERS,AND MY MOTHER PASSED IN OCTOBER HERE IN VEGAS.AND THERE WILL NOT BUGGE.Desired Settlement: I WOULD LIKE THE MONEY THE TICKETS WERE INSURED FOR RETURNED TO ME OR BACK TO MY BANK ACCOUNT.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

We thank Mr. [redacted] for contacting us regarding Mr. [redacted] and Ms. [redacted]'s Trip Cancellation [redacted]. This response is in regards to the concerns Mr. [redacted] has described in his complaint.

Please note that when an insurance policy is purchased through Travelocity the named Insureds are the travelers in which travel arrangements are booked for. As such, we are unable to issue any payments to any parties outside of the named Insureds/Travelers unless a signed, notarized statement is received from the Insured's requesting reimbursement be made to a non-Insured party.

From review of these pending [redacted], we find that the notarized authorization from Mr. Meyers or Ms. [redacted] has not been received. Furthermore, we have also not received a completed and signed Airline Ticket Authorization claim form from either Insured. Upon receipt of this documentation, we can proceed forward with finalizing these [redacted].

Should Mr. [redacted] have any questions, we welcome him to contact the [redacted] adjuster, [redacted], at ###-###-#### Ext. ##### to further discuss Mr. [redacted] and Ms. [redacted]'s claim.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

Review: Hi,

Took out an insurance policy with travelguard, to cover a skiing trip to Europe. Got injured before departure from my home in [redacted]

Worked with my physician to meet travel guard request and provided documentation. Travelguard, in my opinion, has unfairly and unreasonably stalled, delayed, and denied my claim.

I need your help to resolve this matter.Desired Settlement: Please have travelguard pay the claim, in the amounts specified by the documentation I provided to them.

Hoping travelguard will work with the Revdex.com, provide their end of the story and that we can come to a fair outcome.

I had two different policies with travelguard. My complaint involves the denied claim for Europe ski trip only.

Plese let me know how I can assist your office.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

This response is regarding the concerns of Mr. [redacted] in relation to his Trip Cancellation Claim #[redacted].

In review of Mr. [redacted]'s claim, we find that his claim was denied due to a Pre-Existing Medical Condition. This was determined based on the information provided from Mr. [redacted] and [redacted] that indicated the medical condtiion first manifested itself prior to insurance coming into effect on 3/2/2012 for the trip scheduled from 3/3-3/24/2012. Mr. [redacted]'s policy did not qualify for the waiver of the Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion as insurance was not purchased within 15 days of making the Initial Trip Payment in January 2012.

We have confirmed that Mr. [redacted]'s claim has been properly adjudicated in accordance with the terms and conditions of the policy he purchased based on the information received relating to his medical condition prompting his cancellation on 3/3/2012. Based on the documentation we have received, our position is maintained as the condition causing the loss falls under the Pre-Existing Medical Condition of the policy Mr. [redacted] purchased.

Thank you for the opportunity to review and respond to Mr. [redacted]'s concerns. Please note that we have also attached a copy of our response to Mr. [redacted]'s appeal of the claim denial for reference.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

It all sounds great until you have a claim. They pay the parts where the paperwork is 100% perfect and then find ways to deny payment for anything else. Unless you travel with an attorney who reviews every note your foreign doctor and hospital write they will find an excuse not to cover things.

Review: I purchased trip cancellation insurance for four people for a trip. One of the people has been periodically unemployed, collecting unemployment and couldn't' make the trip. This made all of us unable to make the trip. I just received a phone call stating they were denying my claim for lack of documentation. They never ASKED for the documentation for the unemployment, as I told them to contact the person who was unemployed for his info, as it is not my business to see his financial information. They did not do that despite having his contact information.Desired Settlement: I want them to fulfill the claim, as in their policy they will cover the claim if there is unemployment. There is, there was, and he still continues to have periods of unemployment. They are not following through with their policy as they state. I want my claim to paid.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Please note that we have communicated with Ms. [redacted] regarding her Trip Cancellation claim. After discussions with our company, payment has been initiated under her Trip Cancellation claim. We welcome Ms. [redacted] to contact our company with any additional questions she may have at ###-###-####.

Sincerely,

[redacted].

Review: My complaint consist of two parts: Travel Guard's failure to honor the insurance policy I purchased and Travel Guard's abusive practices involving collection agencies.

My wife and I purchased travel insurance through [redacted]. The insurance company [redacted] uses is Travel Guard Chartis and the insurance is underwritten by National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA. During our vacation, my wife became ill and had to visit a cruise ship doctor and be given medications. Once we arrived on land, we had to take her to Urgent Care for further testing and medicine. Upon returning home, I filed a claim with Travel Guard to which they originally honored a portion of. When I inquired about the remainder of the claim, I was contacted by [redacted] who demanded I refund the portion of the paid claim. From my perspective, I was covered and Travel Guard still owed me money. From her perspective, I purchased the wrong policy. I explained this was in dispute and I would further investigate my claim. I contacted [redacted] directly and tried to confirm in writing that my wife was covered. [redacted] then directed me to their website and explained that the explanation of coverage was available before confirming any purchase. I was able to confirm coverage through the checkout review. Section 2 of the review says, "Why Buy the Travel Protection Plan?" and the following line says "If a family member gets sick..." I then clicked on "Description of Coverage". Under the Description of Coverage / Flight Protection Plan/ Domestic Destinations for Trips booked after June 7, 2011, I further confirmed coverage. Under the section entitled "Trip Cancellation & Interruption", Travel Guard's policy states "The Insurer will pay a benefit, up to the Maximum Limit shown on the Schedule, if an Insured cancels his/her Trip or is unable to continue on his/her Trip due to the following Unforeseen events:" The first event listed is "(a) Sickness, Injury or death of an Insured, Family Member, Traveling Companion and Business Partner. 1) Injury or Sickness of an Insured, Traveling Companion or Family Member traveling with the Insured must be so disabling as to reasonably cause a Trip to be cancelled or interrupted, or which results in medically imposed restrictions as certified by a Physician at the time of Loss preventing your continued participation in the Trip" My wife was sick as confirmed by TWO licensed physicians (the ship doctor and the urgent care physician) As a result of her illness, our trip was interrupted. We were unable to continue our vacation and had to remain in a hotel resting until her health returned. I provided documented proof of the illness from both my insurance company and the physician's office.

The second part of my complaint is towards [redacted]. Without notice, she turned my account over to Summit AR collection agency knowing this account was in dispute as an aggressive bully tactic to get me to refund the money that was legally mine. I was able to quickly resolve the matter with the collection agency ([redacted] was the account manager) through explaining the situation and offering any documentation they needed. Realizing I was in the right, Summit AR quickly cancelled and returned my account to Travel Guard.

After researching Travel Guard's business practices, I have found multiple insurance reviews that clearly highlight the consistent failure of this company to honor their policies. A quick Google search will show that consumers frequently refer to Travel Guard as a "scam", "fraud", and "waste of money".

Since this incident has taken several hours of my time to resolve, I am asking that the Revdex.com assist me in collecting the remainder of my claim, damages for the time and stress [redacted] and Travel Guard has caused which include but are not limited to the following: the time to work out my case with Summit AR, the cost and time to protect my credit with the credit Bureaus, the postage for letters delivered by certified mail, the hotel in California we had to stay out since we were unable to leave Long Beach due to the illness, the transport from the cruise port to the urgent care facility and from the urgent care facility to the hotel, and the stress of protecting my financial standing and credit score.

I hope the Revdex.com can assist in this matter as this will be my first response to Travel Guard's action of turning my claim into collections. If it happens again, I will be turning this over to an attorney.Desired Settlement: All I seek from Travel Guard is an admission of fault and payment on the remainder of my claim.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

This response is regarding the concerns raised by Mr. [redacted] regarding his claimed medical expenses.

According to the claim records, payment was made for medical expenses incurred by Mr. [redacted]’s wife. Upon further review, it was noted that the policy Mr. [redacted] purchased through [redacted] did not extend coverage for reimbursement of medical expenses. Contact was made directly to [redacted] which confirmed the policy Mr. [redacted] purchased did not extend benefits for medical expenses incurred during the course of a trip (see copy of Mr. [redacted]’s policy attached).

Mr. [redacted] references policy wording regarding his Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption benefit. Please note that while this benefit does provide coverage for medical reasons, it does not provide coverage for medical expenses. This benefit extends reimbursement for forfeited Trip Cost and additional transportation expenses incurred to return to the trip or home. From our review, we can find no evidence that additional transportation expenses were incurred by Mr. [redacted] to return home earlier or later than scheduled. Should Mr. [redacted] had incurred additional transportation expenses to return home or rejoin his trip, we welcome those for review under his Trip Interruption benefit.

While we understand Mr. [redacted]’s concerns, the policy purchased is clear in that medical expenses are not covered under any benefit of the policy. We do recognize that an error was made by the adjuster in issuing the original payment to Mr. [redacted]. For this reason, we will not require Mr. [redacted] to reimburse the payment made in error. However, no further reimbursement will be made for any medical expenses incurred due to his wife’s condition.

Thank you for the opportunity to review and respond to this complaint.

Sincerely,

If you are planning a trip and need insurance, do not use TravelGuard. It is a shrewd business that is quick to take your money with no questions asked, but when it comes to filing legitimate claims, every single piece of red tape comes up through fine prints and contract wording it is simply how they stay operational as an organization.

My girlfriend and I (who are both active duty military) booked a 7 days vacation to cancun all paid for. Since we worked in different positions we had to line up our leave dates to match (which was not easy) and the only days we had off were those 7 days. We were supposed to fly out from el paso to houston to cancun and the reverse on the way back. We got to the airport at 6 in the morning, checked in, and saw that there was a huge line at United. Apparently all flights to Houston were cancelled that morning due to a fire at the terminal and after checking various different combinations of departures and arrivals at a dozen different airports we realized that we will not make it to Cancun that day, thus missing out on one day of our precious leave and almost $900. The airline did fly us to Phoenix and had us stay overnight in Phoenix and fly out to Cancun the next day. The reason we did this is because there were only so many flights to Cancun each day in the entire country and we couldnt risk another missed flight from a small airport like El Paso. Before boarding the flight to Phoenix, I called Travel Guard as well as my travel agent and informed them of the flight. The customer service rep stated that she would file two claims for us and that as soon as we get back we should call them to finish those claims.

A week later we came back and I called travel guard and submitted all of my paperwork (itinerary, receipts, flight changes, etc...). After several emails, I finally got an answer back saying I needed information from the airplane stating why it was canceled and if I submit that my file would be complete. So I contacted United and asked them to retrace back to my old flights (which was not easy since they recycle flight confirmations), and after a couple of weeks, a United service rep emailed me:

Dear Mr;

Thank you for submitting the information I requested. Thank you for contacting United Airlines Customer Care. I am sorry your flight didn't operate as scheduled and apologize for any inconvenience. As requested, on December 9, 2013, Flight [redacted] from El Paso to Cancun connecting in Houston was canceled due to airport terminal problems affecting our operation.

We appreciate this opportunity to be of assistance and look forward to providing you a more positive travel experience.

Regards,

So I forwarded this email to Travel Guard, waited a week, called and the service rep stated he did not receive it. Apparently there is a new email that claims must be forwarded to that I wasnt aware of. So I had to forward this same email again a week later. Total time elapsed since I first spoke with with a travel guard agent is getting up to 2 months and dozens of emails. I've also talked to upward of 5-6 different agents who seemed more interested in pushing my files to the next person than actually processing it. I've also contacted my travel agent during this entire debacle to no avail.

It was just yesterday that I received word that travel guard denied my claims because the delay was caused by the airline. Never mind that fact that their silver policy has this stated:

TRIP DELAY

The Company will reimburse the Insured up to the Maximum Limit

shown in the Schedule or Declarations Page for Reasonable

Additional Expenses until travel becomes possible to the originally

scheduled Destination, if the Insured’s Trip is delayed 12 or more

consecutive hours and prevents the Insured from reaching the

intended Destination as a result of a cancellation or delay of

his/her Trip for one of the Unforeseen events listed below:

(a) the Insured being involved in or delayed due to a traffic

accident while en route to a departure as substantiated by a

police report;

(b) Common Carrier delay;

(c) the Insured’s or Traveling Companion’s lost or stolen

passports, travel documents or money;

(d) the Insured or Traveling Companion is quarantined;

(e) Strike;

(f) Inclement Weather which prohibits Insured’s departure;

(g) Natural Disaster

Delays in common carrier I would imagine covers airlines. But the mistake I made was not reading the fine prints at the bottom of the policy. You see, theres a line in there that said:

The following exclusions also apply to Trip Cancellation and

Trip Interruption:

Unless otherwise provided by this plan Benefits will not be

provided for any loss resulting (in whole or in part) from:

(a) travel arrangements canceled by an airline, Cruise line or tour

operator, except as provided elsewhere in the plan;

But what does that mean? Does that include everything that is associated with the airline and the terminal? Did that just contradict what they said earlier?

So you see, I am disappointed that I lost a day of vacation for no reason along with the 900 dollars we've spent through no fault of our own. Even the airline admitted there was an issue with the terminal. As a traveler who bought insurance, I would hope that if my trip was not covered because of these fine prints, the very least they could do is reimburse my initial payment since our trip got interrupted. But the contrary happened. I was given the go around and ultimately denied two months later for filing a legitimate claim. I understand that as a business you try to make profits and often times insurance companies get fraudulent claims but with travel guard, even a legitimate claim that you paid for must translate well with their contract wording. The money wont mean much in the long run, but that kind of broken trust is hard to ignore.

Review: We purchased a travel insurance policy with Travel Guard...We purchased this travel insurance in the event of an unforeseen emergency. Our trip and tour to Italy cost us $5,600, plus an additional $470.00 to purchase the policy. While we were in Italy our trip was interrupted for I suffered a heart attack and heart failure, which did not allow me to complete my trip. My health was in grave condition. I asked for assistance to fly back a day early to obtain medical help I was denied a flight by travel guard. We incurred taxi expenses totaling 280.00 in American dollars. Travel Guard was informed the day the emergency happened and their level of service poor and their policy promises untrue!!! We asked for help and denied help. I could have died because of their lack of cooperation, service and help. I should sue them , though all I have asked them for is a refund of $470.00 of policy!!! They are claiming a refund of $49.00 in taxi costs is adequate. I purchased insurance to cover me for travel interruption clearly stated in their policy. They will not hold true to their policy. I want my $470.00 money back!! They have delayed responses forever. Do not buy travel insurance from this company!!! They do not keep their policy promises.Desired Settlement: We want our money back!!! $470.00.. Travel Guard insurance policy worthless!!!

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Review: Travel Guard Insurance is refusing to pay a "Delayed Baggage" claim and out-of-pocket expenses incurred. On September 27, 2013, I arrived at Savannah airport from Washington Dulles but my baggage did not. I had purchased travel insurance with Travel Guard and delayed baggage is part of that policy. I did not get my baggage until THREE DAYS later, which clearly, clearly, clearly is delayed baggage. I had about $41 in out-of-pocket expenses during that three-day period to cover necessary items that were in the suitcase that I did not have. I had called the company on the day of travel and on the following day and was told by two representatives that I did have a claim, but that the Claims Department was not open until Monday. On Monday morning, I called Travel Guard, only to be told by two other representatives that no, I did not have a claim. Travel Guard says that I was "home," and not on the trip and therefore I am not entitled to any reimbursements or claims. My baggage was delayed for three days. Again, three days. And again, three days. It didn't matter whether or not I was "home." I had no baggage. IT WAS DELAYED. I cannot repeat that enough times. I am completely disagreeing with the company's assessment, especially when I was told by two agents that I did have a claim.Desired Settlement: I would like for Travel Guard, which I feel misrepresented itself (and which could be considered fraud), to pay the Baggage Delay claim of $300 AND, because of the enormous amount of time spent on this issue, I would also like a complete reimbursement of $34 for the policy.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Review: I filed a claim for a refund from travel guard co. for a trip that I had booked with bookit.com on 6-5-2013 I received a letter on July asking for additional information I fax the additional information on July 5th then I call a week later to see how long it would take to complete my claim and they stated another 2 weeks so 2 weeks went to several weeks I called them and asked what was the delay they stated that they had to contact bookit tour to verify my information which would take another week or so I then replied why they didn't contact bookit tour when they first received my information rep couldn't give me a answer why I then called the first week of August I was told that they received a reply back by bookit tour so I then replied so why isn't someone processing it no response but the reply was on August 7 th and I said to the rep it was been two days since you have received the reply why haven't been process for a refund rep replied the person that it handling the claim may be on vacation or out of the office I then replied do they just let the claim just sit there until the person returns why don't they have someone to handle the claim if the person is out of the office. I then asked to speak with a supervisor he then put me on hold for a couple of minutes then came back to say that one wasn't available I asked if he could then transfer me to the claims department lori came on the phone from claims department I asked her if she could get a supervisor she stated that one wasn't available she said that she would transfer me to the voicemail of a supervisor. I left a message then a supervisor did contact me back and said that she left a message for the lady that is handling my claim on Monday I am very upset that they would take this long to give me a refund in several of my conversations with the company that I was on disability and I needed the refund to send to my son oversize and that he needed the money.Desired Settlement: Check

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

We thank Ms. [redacted] for her comments and concerns regarding her Trip Cancellation claim. Please note that payment was initiated on Monday morning. The check will be issued this afternoon. Ms. [redacted]'s adjuster will follow-up with a phone call to confirm.

Should Ms. [redacted] have any questions, we welcome her to contact our Claims Department at ###-###-#### to speak with her adjuster, Lindsey, at extension [redacted].

Sincerely,

Review: I was informed that my insurance (purchased on March 8th) was non-refundable after my flight was canceled. A charge was executed on my card, despite the flight being canceled. I was informed there was "nothing we can do" and that I would be purchasing insurance for a ticket that didn't exist. This is poor business, and I will not being doing business with them again. According to them, I have purchased a service that is unusable, and I am stuck with the consequences.Desired Settlement: Refund insurance cost deducted from my credit card, due to a lack of service provided.

Business

Response:

RE: Revdex.com Complains # [redacted] Unfortunately we are not able to review the complaint until we have the policy information. We have tried to contact the customer via the phone number that was provided and were not able to connect successfully. We have emailed the customer requesting more information, including their policy number. We will await their reply. Our company always strives to give the finest quality service to our customers, while administering the contract as it is written.

Review: We purchased Travel Guard Insurance for a plane ticket to South Africa for my wife with family there. Travel Guard advertised that they would refund the price of an airline ticket if for unforeseen circumstances the traveler (my wife [redacted]) could not make their flight.

When we purchased a plane ticket for my wife, our mother had already been scheduled for lung surgery that was "deemed" fairly routine. After receiving information from the surgeon that the hospital stay would be short, we planned my wife's trip accordingly to the time the surgeons said our mother would be out of the hospital and relatively recovered. Our mother went into the hospital and had her surgery, however, the doctors then found other problems which required an unanticipated longer stay in the hospital. At this point the surgeon's could not tell us how long that stay would be and could not tell us what condition our mother was in (she is an ** year old woman, now **). We had to make a decision about my wife's travel. My wife decided not to travel to South Africa. We did not know what the condition of our mother was and we were very concerned. Again, we KNEW our mother was going to have surgery before we made plans for travel and planned according to the information given to us by the surgeons! We cancelled the plane trip due to our mom's deteriorating condition and unplanned longer stay in the hospital which was undetermined how long at the time we had to make our decision.

The plane ticket was for May 21, 2013. We contacted Travel Guard the day before the plane reservation to notify them that the plane will be missed and requested information on how to make a claim to get our money refunded for the ticket which is what Travel Guard claimed that the insurance is for (due to unforeseen circumstances). On June 27th, 2013 we had collected the hospital and doctor documents that Travel Guard required and submitted them to prove our claim. This was almost 3 and a half months ago (4 months from claim initiation). The company makes a claim that all will be resolved in 30 days! I have made countless calls to contact travel guard and RARELY are they returned. There system is set up where you basically never get a real person and usually a computer that states you'll be contacted in 48 hours which only sometimes happens. I was assigned a representative [redacted]. She was extremely unhelpful. She always had an excuse as to why the claim hadn't been processed and always required more and more information. Then, I was assigned a new representative [redacted]. Same thing went on.They kept saying they needed more and more medical records. Finally, we provided them with official medical records where the surgeon even in his own records documented that we were not able to make the flight due to the change in condition of our mother in the hospital! The last I heard they were supposed to be waiting for records that I personally handled at the hospital for Travel Guard directly! This was well over a month ago. My last contact with Travel Guard was the letter attached below which was almost a month ago. I have received no response again! This is worse than poor business practice! We have more than proven our need to not make our flight due to our mother's condition and an unscheduled extended stay in the hospital. My last letter is below.

[redacted]. and [redacted] 9-8-13

Claim # [redacted]

Travel Guard

Claims Department

Attn: [redacted]

Dear Ms. [redacted],

I am writing to inquire why this claim is taking so long? It has now been 3 months since the claim was made. The advertising states that it only takes 30 days? With the last documents sent in, one of the lead main surgeons (Dr. [redacted]) dealing with our mom's hospital care even comments in the official records that my mother had to stay in the hospital an extended amount of time and that due to this information, he was aware that we had to make a decision on whether [redacted] was to proceed with her travels. Due to our concern for the health and life of our mother we had to make a hard decision to forgo the travel plans and stay close incase our ** year old mother got worse or passed away. The reason is clear. The doctors records verify all the facts. We do not understand why this is not a clear cut easy decision to approve our claim? We would greatly appreciate your help in getting final approval for our claim! Thank you for your help and time!

Sincerely,

[redacted]Desired Settlement: We have more than proven our verifiable reason for not making the plane flight. We have been more than patient waiting for Travel Guard to remit our cost for a plane ticket. Four months is a ridiculous amount of time to wait. Our desired outcome is that Travel Guard honors their insurance commitment and refunds us the airplane ticket cost.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

This response is regarding the concerns raised by Mr. [redacted] on his wife's Trip Cancellation claim.

The purpose for additional review was due to the fact that Mrs. [redacted]'s policy does not provide coverage for loss due to Pre-Existing Medical Conditions. As such, medical records were required to rule out the condition causing the loss being a Pre-Existing Medical Condition. Upon further review of those records, we were able to identify that the reason noted on the Attending Physician's Statement claim form completed by [redacted]'s doctor show the conditions causing this loss as falling under the Pre-Existing Medical Condition exclusion.

However, further review of these medical records also showed a change in [redacted]'s condition showing additional medical conditions not previously diagnosed or discussed in the medical records occuring in May 2013. Based solely on these conditions found only in the medical records requested, we have been able to find a payable medical condition to allow for reimbursement of this loss.

Please note that this claim is currently with Mrs. [redacted]'s adjuster, [redacted], for finalization. She will be contacting the [redacted]'s to confirm the amount of payment after her calculations are complete. Should the [redacted]'s have any questions, we welcome them to contact [redacted] at ###-###-#### Ext. #####.

Sincerely,

[redacted])

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Review: Purchased travel insurance for my trip to Detroit on 9/2. unfortunately my brother in law passed away. Travel Guard requested when I filed a claim the Death Certificate. I advised them that I did not understand why they required that level of detail. Due to issues with Identify theft of deceased persons, my family does not allow that type of information to leave their possession. The agent I told this to, advised me to just send in the docuementation that I had, which was the funeral program, the signed document from the Funeral Director, and I included a map where he was buried. I did this last week, and yesterday received a reply back that they wanted the death certificate. My first issue is that they want this level of detail, and when I inquired about that they did not reveal at the time I purchased the ticket. I do not even recall receiving an email with the details of the policy. They need to include that information prior to people purchasing their insurance. I am upset because the agent I spoke with made it sound as if they would accept the documentation that I did have, and am very disappointed that they did not honor that, and again asked for a death certificate. I checked with various people who have purchased other travel insurance, and they have never been asked to provide that information. Not only that Death Certificates are not cheap either. I want to report them, and I want the money for the ticket back, as they agreed. My next call is to the State's Atty.Desired Settlement: Refund, and improvements to their notification process for people prior to purchasing the insurance. If I had been given this information prior, especially knowing that I had an ill relative, I would not have purchased the insurance and would have sought another means of insuring my travel.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern: This is in response to the concerns raised by Ms. [redacted] regarding her Trip Cancellation. According to the information provided, Ms. [redacted]’s trip was cancelled due to the passing of a family member. Please allow us to express our sincere condolences to Ms. [redacted] for her loss. A copy of the death certificate or a physician’s letter showing cause of death has been requested since certain General Exclusions apply to the policy. Proof of loss is required in order to continue processing the trip cancellation claim. Please refer to the policy wording, which states in pertinent part: Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Proof of Loss. The Insured must provide Travel Guard documentation of the cancellation or interruption and proof of the expenses incurred. The Insured must provide proof of payment for the Trip such as canceled check or credit card statements, proof of refunds received, copies of applicable tour operator or Common Carrier cancellation policies, and any other information reasonably required to prove the Loss. Claims involving Loss due to Sickness, Injury, or death require signed patient (or next of kin) authorization to release medical information and an attending Physician’s statement. The Insured must provide Travel Guard with all unused air, rail, cruise or other tickets if he/she is claiming the value of those unused tickets. Once we receive the required information from Ms. [redacted], we can continue to review the claim. Should Ms. [redacted] have any questions regarding the information needed to review her claim, we welcome her to contact the claims analyst, Nicole Niewiadomski at ###-###-####. Thank you for the opportunity to review and respond to Ms. [redacted]’s concerns. Sincerely, Matthew [redacted]

Review: Upon booking a flight with Frontier Airlines I purchased the travel insurance offered for my flight by Travel Guard.My daughter and I were scheduled a return flight to our hometown on Saturday, Jan. 17th, 2015. My daughter developed a cough and earache in the days leading up to the flight. On Friday, Jan. 16th at approximately 11am I contacted Travel Guard and asked them how I would file a claim to changed our flights. The lady I spoke to was very friendly and informed me that illness and the costs incurred were covered up to a total of $800 ($400 per person) and specifically included the increase in airfare. She told me it was very simple and that all I needed was a doctors note. I made an appointment at a local clinic that evening after travel guard closed, and based on the doctors recommendation changed our flights to the next available flight from FLL to SDF costing me a total of $535.16. On Travel Guards next day of business I called to file the claim and was told that there was specific paperwork that needed to be filled out by the doctor. I was not told this prior to the doctors visit in an out of town city. I was also told that the change in fare wasn't covered. I explained that this had all been cleared the previous Friday by an employee of Travel Guard who made it seem very simple. Instead I was given a medical release that I needed to sign so that travel guard could contact my childs doctor to prove this wasn't an ongoing issue, and several other documents to fill out and return. After no correspondence from Travel Guard I was refunded $150, just the fees required to change the flights, and not the difference of the cost of the flights. The difference of the cost of last minute flights is an incurred expense, and is not specifically named as something that is not covered, and I was told that it was!Desired Settlement: I would like Travel Guard to refund by full amount of $536.16, as well as the cost of purchasing the Travel Guard insurance in the first place.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Review: The advertisement came in as part of buying our flight tickets to India (Departure May 20th, 2014) via budget air by auto select option of the travel insurance. After we bought the tickets we realized it was included in the travel with ticket pricing. But recently my husband's company provides a similar emergency travel assistance free insurance. We tried to cancel the Travel Guard insurance and they would not refund the money. We paid into something that we are not going to use it as we have nearly duplicate insurance. Here is the transcript of the emails:Desired Settlement: I want full refund of money, if they are concerned with good ethical business practice.

Business

Response:

After corresponding with the customer on 05/14, Travel Guard made a resolution and refunded the customer in the full amount. We appreciate our customers and their business.

Thank you,

Travel Guard

Adminsitration Department

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Very pleasant conversation with [redacted] from Travel Guard, tons info on claims condition.

We are looking to buy travel insurance to Asia, and conclude the quality of insurance many times coming out when you filing the claim.

[redacted] has been very helpfull, corteous, patient thru all the clausules.

We seems going to purchase Travel Guard.

phone 800-826-4919 option 2 then option 2.

[redacted],Orange County.

My wife entered hospital on second day in Lima, Peru, and had to cancel remainder of trip including Machu Pichu. Travel Guard was absolutely fantastic in refunding even though I only submitted paperwork 11 months after the trip (I procrastinate terribly with paperwork). They had only one question and then cut checks after their review. It helped that I had all receipts.

Review: I filed a claim for reimbursement for my cancellation costs for a trip that was originally scheduled for July 3, 2014 through July 7, 2014 and subsequently cancelled. This trip was to my knowledge booked on June 29, 2014. At the time of booking I also purchased travel insurance through your company for this trip.

I visited my physician on June 26, 2014 for a routine checkup and since I also have allergies and was coughing constantly he decided to treat me for an upper respiratory infection and bronchitis. He was aware that I was planning a trip out of town at that visit and did not suggest I change my plans. He did, however suggest that if I didn’t get better in a short amount of time that I would need to revisit the issue and possibly add some medications to my treatment plan. I was instructed to call back if I did not improve rapidly. I called my physician on June 30 and he added an inhaler and Singulair to my treatment. At that time he did advise me to cancel my trip since there was worsening of my symptoms. I had no problem cancelling because I was under the impression that I would not be out of pocket any expenses due to my purchase of travel insurance.

Travel Guard has repeatedly denied payment for my cancelled trip stating that they need additional medical information which has been provided to them by virtue of the Claim Form and additional follow up requests made to my physician. They are just stalling in hopes that I like so many others will simply drop my claim. That is very obvious and it is also obvious from other complaints that this is their policy.

As was CLEARLY stated on the Claim Form which was completed by my physician, he did CLEARLY state that at the time of purchase of my insurance on June 26, 2014 I was able to travel. He also CLEARLY indicated on this same Claim Form that he advised me to cancel this trip on June 30, 2014 and also advised that he did not perform an examination on that date. Nothing has been presented to Travel Guard that was not clearly accurate and truthful. The very fact that they have strung this claim along and continue to ask me to jump through hoops in providing additional medical information after having received this form from a Board Certified physician certifying that yes I was indeed able to travel when booking and when purchasing insurance but that my condition worsened and became bronchits to the state that I was then unable to travel and after receiving medical records from this same physician. It is obvious that Travel Guard is deliberately extending this matter in order to impede my claim and to perhaps encourage me to forego my claim. Their travel insurance appears to be a scam and con and others should be made aware of their inability to make a claim and have it paid timely or in fact at all. I purchased this insurance in good faith and I expected the company to honor the claim in the same respect. I made a demand to them on September 26, 2014 to pay the claim within ten (10) days which they have not done. I respectfully request your assistance in this regard and in making sure that it is public knowledge that Travel Guard does not honor its claims. Payment of the $383.69 claim was demanded. I have had no further response from them and did not expect that I would - their approach is to hope that the claim goes away.

Donna [redacted]Desired Settlement: Full payment of the disputed claim in the amount of $383.69.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Review: On August 11, 2014, I submitted a claim to Travel Guard under policy # [redacted] on behalf myself and my wife, which I had purchased in January 2014 for travel between July 1st, 2014 and July 11th, 2014, for Trip Cancellation resulting from the death of my wife's grandmother. The total claim amount covered the charges we incurred as a result of having to re-book flights through both [redacted] and LAN Airlines - in total we claimed $1422.74 or $711.37 per person. Our coverage for the policy states that we are eligible for $750 of coverage per person in the event of Trip Cancellation - however, we were only paid $250 total or $125 per person, as Travel Guard will only pay for the change fees we incurred for changing our [redacted] flights.

The information relayed to us both via the policy documentation and via the Travel Guard claim specialist that we spoke to prior to changing our travel was that all of our travel should be covered in the policy for the dates covered, regardless of the supplier.Desired Settlement: We would like Travel Guard to pay the difference between what they initially paid ($250) and the full amount of the claim ($1422.74) for a total of $1172.74.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Review: I filed a travel claim with Travel Guard. They gave me the full amount $1929.18. A year later, they asked for the money back. I refused, explaining to them that I supplied all of the appropriate documentation in the past. They then turned the matter over to Summit Account Resolution, a collections agency. I explained to them that the claim was legitimate as evidenced by the documentation and that I would not be returning the money. After another year of dealing with them, they put an adverse account on my Trans Union Credit Report.Desired Settlement: I would like my credit report to be cleared of this by Summit Account Resolution or Travel Guard.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Review: We had to cancel our trip because our daughter was sick and potentially could be hospitalized. When I filed the claim for our travel insurance I waited for several weeks for a response. After calling for every day for over a week unable to speak to an actual person in the "Quality Assurance" department I reached an agent who explained that my claim was denied based on the doctors notes and that is all she would tell me. I asked how that would cause the claim to be denied and she said that our policy was not in effect when our daughter became ill, which is not true and the doctors notes do not say anything about prior illness of which their was none and I have documentation from regular check ups that I turned in as well showing she was in perfect health until the day before our travel. I have spent the last week calling every day, never able to reach a person in the "Quality Assurance" department and everyone else at Travel guard says I have to speak to that department and they cannot help me. I have left numerous messages daily and emails, none of which have been returned, except for one automatically generated email.Desired Settlement: I would like our claim of $4,255.56 to be paid by the insurance company as our claim fell within all the requirements of the contract.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,