Travel Insurance Reviews AXA Assistance USA

I would avoid AXA for your travel insurance needs.
We are extremely dissatisfied with the claims and appeal process with AXA. We will never use them again. We submitted our claim four times, the initial claim and three appeals. I can say that this company is not client friendly. They do not reach out, and if you make an appeal, they do not tell you what information is needed for review or clarification. From our experience, it was clear that they did not read our supporting documents, there was no personal contact with the person(s) reviewing the claim nor was that encouraged. You can speak with the marketing people, who will assist you in purchasing their coverage, but if you have a claim good luck.
Our claim was based on the damage and lack of access to the property because of 6 weeks of severe weather and flooding which occurred prior to our scheduled vacation. The flooding damaged the property and washed out roads preventing access for repairs. Yet, the insurance company chose to focus repeatedly on a contract provision that would allow them to deny the claim, rather than consider in our opinion all the factors that went into our making a claim.
The only bright spot in this entire process was the help and encouragement we received from working with a highly professional person at InsureMyTrip, (a company that provides a consumer rating service for travel insurance). This woman encouraged us to focus our frustration and continue to make our appeals providing more information and citing contract provisions to clarify our claims.
AXA’s management is very short sighted. They are difficult, impersonal, and drawn out in their dealings with insureds who make claims. It obvious they are not concerned with repeat business. Their marketing is all “sweetness and light” to get your money, then it is too bad when you make a claim. What would be refreshing is if they were honest enough to just say they are not selling fair and useful insurance, just a contract for the right to sue.

I have done an extensive amount of travel outside the US and never before had I purchased trip insurance. I did so at the recommendation of our travel counselor at China Odyssey Tours for our 20 day trip to China in January 2017, and I am very glad I heeded his advice. Exactly at the midpoint in our trip in Chengdu, my wife tripped and fell sustaining a fracture to her upper arm near her shoulder. Because she was having a great deal of pain and no mobility in her arm, we realized that we must cut our trip short and return home. Our travel counselor cancelled the remainder of our reservations and helped us arrange flights back home. Once home, I contacted AXA to report the interruption of our trip, who told me that I should have contacted them from China before taking it upon ourselves to decide to return home early, explaining that AXA would need to make the determination to interrupt the trip. Without their involvement we ran the risk that our claim could be denied. We submitted a claim nevertheless and included the diagnosis (in Chinese) made by the hospital in Chengdu, a letter from my wife's orthopedist, and all the paperwork showing the accounting for the costs we incurred to cut the trip short and fly home. I also submitted a spreadsheet summarizing the costs. About 8 weeks past with only a confirming email from AXA stating that they received the claim, but I felt that no news meant our claim was not denied. I suppose they were making an investigation in China to make sure the claim was legitimate. Finally, I received an email telling us that AXA would pay our claim with the only exception being that they would not reimburse us for the extra night we needed in our hotel in Chengdu as that was not a covered expense. Overall, we are quite satisfied with the settlement and thankful that we purchased the insurance.

We also had a second claim that we filed with AXA for luggage delay. Delta took all of the passengers' luggage off the flight from Seattle to Beijing due to stronger than normal headwinds causing the need to lighten the weight of the plane. It took 4 days to reunite with our checked luggage. This claim was also honored and included with the insurance settlement.

Recommendations: If you believe you need to interrupt your trip, you need to contact the insurance company before you return home to get their blessing that this is a prudent action given your circumstances. They may direct you to obtain a medical opinion from someone they trust to make sure your claim will pass muster. When purchasing the insurance, I also recommend speaking to a human at insure my trip as they can help you find the best policy to meet your needs.

Bottom Line: Would I purchase trip insurance again. If I am purchasing an expensive tour where I have to pay the entire cost of the trip up front before I leave, I would certainly buy a trip insurance policy again.