Florida Medical & Travel Insurance Info B4 You Go!

Sarjsmith

Thanks for your response Dacouch and FHBrit; we are not service related but the response is appreciated.
Quentin: I'm not sure how valid your points are, but as someone as who has never been to America before, the OP has has raised many points, many of which I would never have dreamt of, as an Englishperson in America. They have given me points of reference to research further before our trip, especially living in foreign climes! and I really appreciate them, especially as there is no personal benefit to the OP in raising them.

jeanniebeanie_2

Quentin wrote: »

The criterion that FH Brit used when recommending aviva was based on his debt collecting experience with them (as you will see from the quote from him I posted).

You will see that he didn't comment on how they dealt with claims (how could he, when he admitted he saw very few!)

FH BRIT QUOTE " I put travel insurance claims (UB04's I am sure you know what they are!) in more times than any regular traveler 100 fold (in one week) more than they would in their lifetime." QUOTE


Claims that are declined or not paid in a timely manner WILL be referred to a Debt Collector. Surely as purchasers we should have an interest in these?
Who better placed than the debt collector to see how many of these cases there are against each company? Some claims may be declined for good reason, but when the numbers really stack up against a single company (AXA) as opposed to certain others -Fortis, Aviva, Tesco, Barclays- ALL of which have been SUGGESTED by FH Brit - then alarm bells should ring.

It is up to each individual to check the terms and exclusions of any policy they then buy- there is no ‘one size fits all’, but at least FH Brit has tried to help us through the maze of companies as a starting point.

Perhaps you could furnish us with YOUR suggestions and your reasons for them. This is in no way a sarcasm- I would genuinely be interested- I have not yet made my purchase.

Forgot to add: I was not suggesting you HAD a hidden agenda at all, Quentin, merely that IMHO FH Brit does NOT!

dacouch

Sarjsmith wrote: »

Thanks for your response Dacouch and FHBrit; we are not service related but the response is appreciated.
Quentin: I'm not sure how valid your points are, but as someone as who has never been to America before, the OP has has raised many points, many of which I would never have dreamt of, as an Englishperson in America. They have given me points of reference to research further before our trip, especially living in foreign climes! and I really appreciate them, especially as there is no personal benefit to the OP in raising them.

The advice I gave still applies, you will find a lots of insurance brokers around UK military bases in Germany (They also tend to be travel agents). They deal with the local Germans and the UK forces so have English speaking staff (Usually army wives who worked in insurance in the UK before their posting). They tend to offer both German policies and policies they have negoitated with UK companies so you can get your policy in English.

The two I have had ealings with are Culpecks and Girkes here are links http://www.girke.com/ http://www.culpeck.com/

FH_Brit

Jeannie - Wow thank you for your kind words and support - very humbling but it's people like you that make me stay posting. If it was for the nit picking people that get on MSE just to dig holes in other postings, I would have been long gone.

Unfortunately Quentin has in the past "argued" with me and I take it with a pinch of salt. However it would be easy to ignore, but then it looks to other posters that you have backed down and then they ignore any advice you have already posted. So something in explaination (like below) is needed to allow the good people here to see that some people "live to critisize" others.

I normally look at how many posts compared to how long a MSE Member, make your mind up if people are genuinely trying to help (spending time around their job, or "living" on MSE (because they have nothing better to do?).

There are of course others (like Dacouch) who spends a lot of time on here genuinely hellping people - I often wish other Insurance Brokers were as honest and helpfull as he/she is.

Quentin, what you do not understand is that if a IC does not come accross my desk, it means they are responsible enough to get claims settled in a timely and professional manner.

My patients are placed with me (in "Bad Debt") 120 days after discharge from the hospital, 45 days after that they are reported to the credit reporting agencies (the ONLY way to stop this is a zero balance). If an IC is good enough to stop their customer, my patients (and possibly posters to MSE) being reported as a bad debt for seven years, then that IC deserves my support and I will continue to reccomend them until they change their ways.

As I have said in many posts, I always "suggest" and never "instruct" -- that is I advise people that any reccomendation that I may make is based purely on my experiences with that IC and that it is my opinion and the reader should always check the facts and never take my word, or that of any other poster as "correct or wise" -- I advise people to not buy on price alone and make sure they are adequately covered and then, and ONLY then, compare prices.

One tends to be degrading to the MSE users if all you do is 'pick holes in posts" - people here are NOT idiots, they can read and they have enough intelegence that they can make ther own minds up based on ALL the postings available.

I only hope that if you ever travel to Florida you will consider what I post, if not you and I may be talking in a "professional way" and like many others whose "friends" have told them, or they have read on the internet that we (debt collectors) cannot do anything to them and tell us to place the bill in an "unpostable" place, they then tend to find out later that they are placed with Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union, as a bad debt for seven years (and even if they pay - it stays on their credit file for 7 years) or they are refused visa waiver programme to return to the USA or even, find that they are refused entry altogether.

jeanniebeanie_2

FH Brit, you are very welcome. I am gathering all the information I can at the moment before I buy my insurance and I would like to tell everyone here why and briefly about the case I referred to earlier.

The couple were friends of my parents who had holidayed in Florida for many years and simply just kept renewing their annual policy. They never thought to inform their insurers when the husband was put on blood pressure medication- common sense maybe, but they had paid the premiuim months earlier and filed the policy away.

Unfortunately the husband suffered a major stroke whilst in Florida and after much prolonged and expensive treatment- involving being air-lifted etc- he died.

His traumatised widow is now being pursued for unpaid bills totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars as their insurance was voided. Her solicitor (more worrying expense) is trying to negotiate a waiver/reduction on compassionate grounds with some of her multiple creditors. She has been told though, she could lose her home and all assets.

So, I say thank you to FH Brit and others like you (again) for sharing your experience. Raising awareness about the many pitfalls concerning insurance- which most of us will never realise until it's too late-might help prevent a tragedy we all hope will never happen resulting in a more desperate situation than we ever thought possible.

FH_Brit

Jeannie, if your friend was at our hospital I can REALLY help (and we are the biggest Orlando Hospital group so there's a good chance) and save some solicitors fees too!

PM me if you are intersted
I'll need at least your friends husb's name to see if I can help
Other info (check with your friend first before giving me anything)
Hospital Name
Date o Service (date in hospital)

jeanniebeanie_2

Wow! I hardly dare breathe! As I said she is a friend of my parents and does not live in my locality. I will get in touch with my parents and try to get the details together. I will not take up any more space here, but hope to pm you soon.

Jeannie

hartyfd

Hi FH Brit

My OH changed our contents and buildings and decided to go with Direct line as they offer free family world wide cover, do you think this is a comprehensive enough poilcy. IE have you had dealings with them? I have read the cover but will be calling them on Monday as they don't mention certain basics that I would expect (not in reference to medical things though, they cover delayed baggage but don't mention lost) so this has made me think some what.

dacouch

Hartyfd (From memory) DL exclude damage / loss of baggage that occurs once you have handed your baggage over to the airline.

Apart from that they are pretty good on claims (I thin FH will confirm he does not have any major problems with them) and it's not that bad a policy

FH_Brit

Hartyfd - Yes Dacouch is correct - Direct Line are pretty good compared to most but please make sure your cover is adequate for any journey that you may take.

See FCO for advice on particular destinations - they will advise on insurance levels that they recommend;
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/

If your free policy does not cover enough, you may be able to "top up", call them and ask if not then get additional coverage.

Happy trails!