Access America insurance

I found Access America to be about 25% less expensive than Travel Guard.

My TA basically sells Travel Guard. I e-mailed him, and he said that he
knew Access America was less expensive, and they used to sell it. He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim. He said
he would sell me Access America if I wished (or of course I could buy it
direct).

So, I'd like to find out if any of you have bought Access America and
had to file a claim, and what your experience was.

Jeff Gersten wrote:
I found Access America to be about 25% less expensive than Travel Guard.

My TA basically sells Travel Guard. I e-mailed him, and he said that he
knew Access America was less expensive, and they used to sell it. He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim. He said
he would sell me Access America if I wished (or of course I could buy it
direct).

So, I'd like to find out if any of you have bought Access America and
had to file a claim, and what your experience was.

We have used them before, but I don't remember if we ever filed a claim
with them. The reason we stopped using them is that pre-existing
conditions are very important to us. If you purchase Access America with
pre-existing coverage, cancel the cruise before final payment and then
transfer the insurance to another cruise, you lose your pre-exisitng
coverage. This may or may not be an issue for you, but we were upset
when we found we were cruising without the pre-existing coverage.

sue

Jeff Gersten wrote:
I found Access America to be about 25% less expensive than Travel Guard.

My TA basically sells Travel Guard. I e-mailed him, and he said that he
knew Access America was less expensive, and they used to sell it. He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim. He said
he would sell me Access America if I wished (or of course I could buy it
direct).

So, I'd like to find out if any of you have bought Access America and
had to file a claim, and what your experience was.

My wife and I have used Access America on a couple of occasions and
were pleased with it. We filed a claim after an medical expenses on a
cruise and were promptly reimbursed.

Patrick

On Tue, 6 Apr 2010 18:04:18 -0400, (Jeff
Gersten) wrote:

He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim.

Hi Jeff,

I have never had Access America fight a claim that they should have
paid. On the contrary, I have been very happy with their service to
my clients. FWIW, I buy Access America for my trips.
--
Ray Goldenberg 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
Lighthouse Travel http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lighthousetravl
Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ray.goldenberg

We've filed a few claims with them too - one for a cruise cancellation
due to medical and no problems.

Barbara

On 4/6/2010 5:04 PM, Jeff Gersten wrote:
I found Access America to be about 25% less expensive than Travel Guard.

My TA basically sells Travel Guard. I e-mailed him, and he said that he
knew Access America was less expensive, and they used to sell it. He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim. He said
he would sell me Access America if I wished (or of course I could buy it
direct).

So, I'd like to find out if any of you have bought Access America and
had to file a claim, and what your experience was.

On 4/6/2010 5:04 PM, Jeff Gersten wrote:

I found Access America to be about 25% less expensive than Travel Guard.

My TA basically sells Travel Guard. I e-mailed him, and he said that he
knew Access America was less expensive, and they used to sell it. He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim. He said
he would sell me Access America if I wished (or of course I could buy it
direct).

So, I'd like to find out if any of you have bought Access America and
had to file a claim, and what your experience was.

I don't know about the commission structure, but I'd have to consider
that your TA could be giving you advice based upon his best interests,
and not necessarily yours.
We used Access America when our cruise was canceled (midway through
it) in 2000 - they promptly paid.

Mark

"Mark (SF)" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/2010 5:04 PM, Jeff Gersten wrote:

I found Access America to be about 25% less expensive than Travel
Guard.

My TA basically sells Travel Guard. I e-mailed him, and he said that he
knew Access America was less expensive, and they used to sell it. He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim. He said
he would sell me Access America if I wished (or of course I could buy
it
direct).

So, I'd like to find out if any of you have bought Access America and
had to file a claim, and what your experience was.

I don't know about the commission structure, but I'd have to consider
that your TA could be giving you advice based upon his best interests,
and not necessarily yours.
We used Access America when our cruise was canceled (midway through
it) in 2000 - they promptly paid.

Mark

There are any number of reasons why different people could have different
results from the same insurance company. One reason is what the industry
calls underwriting at time of loss, a gentle term for companies that tend to
turn down a lot of claims. Some claims are cut and dry, for instance when
the ship doesn't sail. Other claims can be questionable, for instance a
hazard you could pretend. Some companies turn down all questionable claims,
some turn down most, some turn down a few. Reputations get made. Some
companies are zealous about keeping their policy holders honest.

In short, one experience doesn't establish a trend, but several similar
results do.

Harry Cooper

On Apr 18, 6:23*am, "Seehorse Video" wrote:
"Mark (SF)" wrote in message

...



On 4/6/2010 5:04 PM, Jeff Gersten wrote:

I found Access America to be about 25% less expensive than Travel
Guard.

My TA basically sells Travel Guard. I e-mailed him, and he said that he
knew Access America was less expensive, and they used to sell it. He
said, however, his experience was that they fought every claim. He said
he would sell me Access America if I wished (or of course I could buy
it
direct).

So, I'd like to find out if any of you have bought Access America and
had to file a claim, and what your experience was.

I don't know about the commission structure, but I'd have to consider
that your TA could be giving you advice based upon his best interests,
and not necessarily yours.
We used Access America when our cruise was canceled (midway through
it) in 2000 - they promptly paid.

Mark

There are any number of reasons why different people could have different
results from the same insurance company. *One reason is what the industry
calls underwriting at time of loss, a gentle term for companies that tend to
turn down a lot of claims. *Some claims are cut and dry, for instance when
the ship doesn't sail. *Other claims can be questionable, for instance a
hazard you could pretend. *Some companies turn down all questionable claims,
some turn down most, some turn down a few. *Reputations get made. *Some
companies are zealous about keeping their policy holders honest.

In short, one experience doesn't establish a trend, but several similar
results do.

Harry Cooper

Agreed, Harry.

However, when a TA makes a statement like that, and multiple others
report no problems for them (or their clients, for TA's) one has to
consider that possibility. Also, I believe you've been on this board
for a few years now - do you recall any discussion of problems with
Access America? (and you KNOW that we would hear of them, given the
temprament of many on this board)

So, while I don't know enough about the specifics to make any
accusations, it does raise suspicions.

And Peter - just because I'm a big believer in using a TA for cruises,
and have been very happy with Ray and most of our prior TAs, doesn't
mean that I have any illusions that they ALL act with only the best
interest if their customers at heart. (...but the good ones who want
to stay in business DO).

Mark

On Apr 18, 6:23*am, "Seehorse Video" wrote:

....and since you also mentioned George by name, Peter, I've never used
him as a TA, but I know many others that have, and I trust him and -
yes, I consider him very credible, (FWIW)