Travel Insurance Reviews Comprehensive Plans

Please read!! Our Ireland trip was planned for April 2020 but obviously Covid got in the way. At that time, if I cancelled we would have received back 100% since the policy was purchased pre-Covid. We still hoped to travel to Ireland so I asked about moving the trip to a later date instead of making a claim but wanted to be sure my coverage would stay the same. I was told I could move it with the same coverage. I kept the policy instead of making a claim and in January 2021 I moved the travel dates to July 14-25 which seemed reasonable for the Ireland to open for travel.

On May 31, I was informed by our tour company that Ireland wouldn't open to US travelers until July 19. We were landing on July 15 so we would miss it by 4 days. I tried to change our dates but was unable. On June 29, I cancelled with our tour company. Two weeks notice seemed like a fair amount of time to give notice to a small family owned tour company. July 19 was a government set date that I had no way to get around.

I contacted C&F in late July to let them know I was submitting a claim. They promptly sent me an email with a list of documentation required to support the claim. I provided everything. I only claimed the tour company deposit which was $1466 of a $6100 policy. Our plan was to use the flight credits in the future.

In late August I received a call from a C&F agent stating that I had been approved for reimbursement but for only 75% for Cancel for Any Reason. I asked why I wasn't getting 100% since it was a pre-Covid policy and was told that based on her "research" I was actually able to get into Ireland starting on January 26, 2021 which she had read on the US Embassy for Ireland's website. I explained that January 26 couldn't be possible because it didn't open until July 19. I was told to provide documentation and/or website links to prove that date.

Within a few hours, I provided the supporting links including one directly from the US Embassy for Ireland's website which states that non-essential US travelers were not allowed in until July 19, 2021 without quarantining for 2 weeks. I did not point out that in all her "research" she failed to notice that the January 26 date was for travelers coming INTO the United States not into Ireland. I assume it was an honest mistake but simple internet research supported the July 19 date that I indicated on my claim.

This morning I received a call that my appeal was denied. I'll still only receive 75% CFR because I did not provide proof that we couldn't enter Ireland on June 29 (the day I cancelled). Ireland has been closed since Covid started which they no doubt know. So I provided proof that it didn't reopen its borders until July 19 BUT they want to me prove that I couldn't enter 20 days earlier (when I cancelled). No joke. Sure sounds like a shell game to avoid paying the additional 25%.

I realize it's only 25% but its about principle now so I'm having InsureMyTrip mediate. I'll update my review when this resolved.

I found claim approval to be excessive. My wife was unable to travel due to an injury, and we provided the doctor letter, indicating she could not travel. I went through the effort to get a refund from the airline on my own (thus saving Nationwide money). My claim to Nationwide was for only small advance trip reservations (i.e. museum tickets for my wife) that could not be refunded. My claim material was very well organized & documented, including the doctor letter proving she could not travel. Despite this, Nationwide required me to provide evidence that she was not on the final flight confirmation, plus evidence that I received the flight refund (which I didn't even include on the Nationwide claim!). This required my time to locate numerous documents and resubmit the claim... which I felt was totally unnecessary.