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My wife and daughter had planned a trip to visit my recently widowed sister-in-law in Minnesota. My sister-in-law has two young children, so my wife was planning on taking her sister's family for a vacation in Minnesota. We purchased tickets from Delta airlines and reserved rooms in a country Inn. At the same time, we purchased travel insurance from Access America, which was suggested to us by the Delta Airlines web site.
Four days before my wife and daughter were to leave for Minnesota, my sister-in-law called us and told us that her son was hospitalized and that he would be remaining in the hospital for a week or more. In response to this, my wife needed to cancel the vacation. We obtained all the necessary documentation and filed it with the AccessAmerica. They immediately denied the claim, saying that the reason for hospitalization was not covered by the policy. Furthermore, even if it was, the insurance would only cover my wife, but not my daughter, since the relative was my daughter’s cousin. Cousins are not covered on the policy, according to the insurance agent. When I called up and complained to the agent, they said that I could appeal the decision. I asked the agent to email me the information on how to proceed. She promised to do it within the day.
A day passed and there was no email from Access America. I called again. Again the agent promised to send me the information before the end of the day. Again no email. Finally I got on the web site, and emailed my request. After 5 days, I finally received an email address to ask for an appeal of my case. ([protected]@accessamerica.com) A series of delays followed and by searching twitter I found that several people had complained about AccessAmerica. AccessAmerica staff must have been looking for tweets, so they responded and indicated that one could get better service by emailing help.[protected]@accessamerica.com. I promptly followed this advice, and that did result in a very quick denial of my appeal.
I feel that AccessAmerica insurance is useless and discourage anyone from purchasing insurance from Access America.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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Dear @MMeth1,
We're sorry wewere unable to provide coverage in your particular situation. What we need to stress is that travel insurance is like any other type of insurance, in that there are terms, conditions and exclusions that affect coverage. Trip cancellation coverage is for specific "covered reasons" outlined in your policy. We provide a list of covered reasons in the insuring policy, which we urge everyone to read when they get it so there's no mistaking what's covered and what's not. Plus, we offer a 10-day free look, with the opportunity to cancel the policy at no cost if it doesn't meet your needs.
Thanks for giving our claims experts a chance to review your claim and appeal.But, your wife and daughter's trip was unfortunately impacted by a reason not covered in their individual policy.
I am currently deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan. I had a family trip to Disney World scheduled during my R&R period in March, but due to "wartime incidents" which delayed military flights for several days, I could not get back to the States in time to get to my home in Dallas. Aware that this was a possibility, I bought the AccessAmerica trip insurance when I booked my tickets. I used frequent flyer miles, so I had to pay $200 to have the miles reinstated to my account. The customer service reps at AccessAmerica were quite rude, and the 3 of them I spoke with would only recite their standard clause, but could not explain to me why "acts of war" did not count and did not matter. I am very disappointed that my favorite airline (American) would associate with such a company as AccessAmerica. Needless to say, I am spreading the word as fast as I can here in theater: stay away from AccessAmerica--they are not military friendly. At this point, I really, truly don't want my $200 reimbursed, but as a matter of principle, I want to ensure that my fellow troops as well as the general public avoid supporting AccessAmerica.
Try contacting your local congressman to get these ### to do the right thing. Thank you for your service.
Thank you for warning the public about Access America. Unfortunately most people do not realize that this company is notorious for denying claims and leaving folks in a lurch. I appreciate your service to our great country and I am sorry that your airline would associate with these crooks. I would question any travel provider that has anything to do with Access America. If you had called the agency I work for, we would have immediately said- oh you're deployed? Well be advised, delays would fall under acts of terrorism, etc. and made sure you knew exactly what was and wasn't covered. More companies are more concerned with making the sale, even if it means selling something that will not work for you. Nobody should travel without adequate insurance, and companies like Access give reputable agencies a bad name. It is a real shame that they are allowed to stay in business. Read any article by consumer travel advocate Chris Elliot, and you'll see that Access America is at the epicenter of every problematic situation.
Hello,
It’s Access America’s Help Team here. We are very sorry to hear that you have had a frustrating time and greatly appreciate your service to our country.
We see that you’ve posted before, but we hope that you’ll email us at help.team@accessamerica.com with your name and policy number so that we can investigate your claim. Our travel insurance programs generally provide coverage if an active duty military person is reassigned or has their personal leave revoked. But, like any type of insurance, travel insurance has terms, conditions and exclusions that affect coverage. We provide a list of covered reasons in the insuring policy, which we strongly encourage all customers to review when they receive it.
We do hope you’ll email us.
Thank you,
Jackie, Access America Help Team