In travel insurance, the average claims process ranges from two to four weeks, depending on how quickly you can submit the necessary documentation. If your child encounters an emergency or another covered event, they will want to start preparing for a claim immediately.
Whether your child is insured under an individual or group policy, your role in the claims process (if needed) is to push your child to take care in keeping all documentation. Documentation is incredibly crucial to a claims process.
A claim will only be paid if you can prove proof of the loss, as well as proof of payment. This applies largely to a trip cancellation or interruption situation. Your child must provide evidence of the prepaid and non-refundable trip costs to demonstrate what was lost because of an emergency.
Claims will also require evidence of the emergency that is causing the cancellation or interruption of the trip. This will change depending on the reason for the claim; for example, if the trip is cancelled due to a medical emergency, the insurance company will need to see a doctor’s report.
For claims involving travel delay, baggage or medical emergency, organized documentation will streamline the process as they are paid on a reimbursement basis. Save any receipts, invoices and proof of delay or lost baggage, because your child will pay up front and then file a claim to cover the expense.
While medical claims do work largely on reimbursement, the travel insurance company will make exceptions and can set up a guarantee of payment if your child is hospitalized and cannot cover the expenses on their own. This does depend on the hospital or medical facility accepting their guarantee, however. If the guarantee is accepted and the emergency is a covered expense, the travel insurance company will pay the hospital.
Medical evacuation is another matter. For situations where your child cannot receive adequate care at the initial hospital, or you feel an evacuation is necessary, you would need to contact the travel insurance company directly. They will work with the doctors on staff to make the determination on whether or not it’s necessary, and then will handle the evacuation themselves.
