Visitors Insurance

We took the ATLAS AMERICA policy for my Father-In-Law that provides the limited 15K coverage for pre-existing conditions. My Father-In-Law had a bypass Surgery 3 years ago and was doing great and had all his check ups done before coming over here.

After three months of stay, my Father-In-Law experienced some chest pain and all symptoms were indicating a possibility of heart attack and we ended up taking him to the Emergency care. The doctors thought that this was serious and they ran all sorts of lab tests on him. Fortunately the test were all negative and he was released after observation for half a day. The bills added up to less than 15K.

The claims department had initially some misunderstanding regarding the eligibility of the claim as the patient was taking medications for the Bypass Surgery that he had three years ago.

I then contacted Jagruti Khatri at Insubuy and explained the whole situation and sent her the medical reports etc. She was extreamly helpful in contacting the claims department and worked with them and was able to revert the decision in record time of less than two weeks.

The claims department has agreed to reprice all claims upto 15K coverage and pay them. I will post an update when that happens.

Thank you Jagruti, for your prompt support and keeping me informed throughout the process. I could not have asked for anything better. Your support is excellent.

Hello

I live in Bay are (San jose ,CA). My parents are visiting me in next month.
I am confuse on which PPO network to select based on my location.

pls help

This was my experience with ICICI-Lombard about 3 years ago. My father was admitted to the emergency. When i called ICICI-Lombard, they mentioned that we had to pay all the expenses to the hospital. Submit all the receipts to the ICICI-Lobard office in India (when you return). They will evaluate and let you know what can be reimbursed.

2 issues with this situation.

1) You need to pay the bills and hope insurance will reimburse.
2) ICICI-Lombard doesnot have any negotiated price for the services. As we all know if the insuarance company is not involved in the rates, the hospitals bill you 2-3 times higher.

General advice - Do not buy health insurance in your home country. Find a local agent and make sure the hospital can bill the insurance company direct and you pay only the deductables.

This complaint is against

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd.
Ground Floor, 32/2, Ashoka Plaza,
Next to Weikfield Company, Nagar road,
Pune – 411014
By
Hemant Kumar Shrivastava
Shivaji Nagar, Amkho Lashkar Gwalior, MP.

In reference to

Policy No. OG-10-1401-9910-00001923
Imdcode : 10013719
Insurance plan chosen: StudentEliteGold(US$2Lac)
(Ref Notification no. 38587775)

I have taken above mentioned policy from Bajaj Allianz when I went for higher study in Germany (from August 2009 to July 2010). This policy not only covers health but also personal liability. During my stay in Germany I accidentally damaged the carpet in my rented apartment for which company from which I got the apartment on rent claimed 3208.07 Euros from me. Considering me as a student they only claimed 1604.03 Euros.
I provided following documents to Bajaj Allianz
1. Filled Personal liability claim form
2. Claim for compensation from the FacilityServices Hannover, Germany (from which I took apartment on rent in Germany).
3. Invoice details to rectify the damage by a separate company in Germany.
4. Photographs showing the damage on the carpet in the apartment
5. Passport/Visa copy (country entry and leaving details)
6. Rental Agreement (According to German Court of Law)
I was covered against any personal liability claim during my stay in Germany (by StudentEliteGold policy from Bajaj Allianz). Even though I was covered under the policy, Bajaj Alllianz rejected my claim for two reasons.

1. Bajaj Allianz was not informed before signing the rental contract with German Agency for rental accommodation.
2. There was no foreign court involved
I insisted that my claim is very well within the policy due to following facts.
1. Policy document nowhere explicitly mentions that I needed to inform Bajaj Allianz before signing any rental contract. Since I went for study abroad, it is very much understood that I would be living in a rented apartment. Almost all students who go abroad for study do stay in the rented apartment and for which they sign rental agreement. Since policy was for my entire stay in Germany, it has to cover my stay in rented apartment. If it is not then policy is misleading and incomplete for the student’s requirement in foreign land. According to section F #6.2 and 6.6.8 in the policy document claim against rental property damage should be very well under the scope of policy.
2. As far as intervention by foreign court of law concern, I have provided all necessary documents, according to procedures followed in Germany. I have also offered Bajaj Allianz to confirm the procedures with their German branch/counterpart. I also offered them to have talk with German agency from which I took apartment on rent. I consulted Bajaj Allianz Manager at Jaipur office, from which I bought the policy, and came to know that my claim should be very well admissible. Besides other necessary document, I provided copy of rental contract (legal from the German rental law perspective).

Based on my above arguments Bajaj Allianz accepted to review my claim. Next time they argued that I should have informed the company about rental contract while I was buying the policy. They said that premium term would have varied accordingly. It was completely baseless argument. They showed that they just do not want to pay my claim. When I insisted that their argument is baseless, as it is obvious for any student, going abroad; to sign a rent agreement and it should be well within the policy. On my argument they offered partial payment but not full, that too after many months of my filing the claim. When I re-insisted that according to policy document there is no reason for declining the full claim they denied me my claim.

I went for higher study on loan and after coming back to India I didn’t have job for many months. I not only face financial difficulties but also faced mental agony due to non acceptance of my genuine claim by Bajaj Allianz. I filed my claim in August 2010 and this is April 2011, such a long time for claim processing and finally denying the claim has caused lots of mental and psychological pressure on me. I belong to middle class family and it is very tough at my end to hire a separate lawyer to file a case against Bajaj Allianz.


With the help of this forum, now, I demand reimbursement of full claim amount (1604.03 Euros) and due compensation against mental and financial suffering caused by Bajaj Allianz. This policy has not proved friendly to students going abroad for study. I have already paid 1114.5 Euros to German company and rest 489.58 Euros are still need to be paid by me.


Regards,

Hemant

I travelled to USA in September 2006 and had my travel insurance from Cholamandalam but wasn’t aware that this was the worst travel insurance one can have! The policy which I had covered all the

usual things such as lost baggage, delay in baggage, lost passport, medical reimbursement, cancel trip and delay in flight. On my way back to India, I had a flight from Chicago to India that was delayed by 24 hrs.

When I came back to India, I claimed for my ’Trip Delay’ from Cholamandalam. And this is when my worst nightmare started. First of all, they asked me to provide them with a proof that the flight was delayed. I provided them with all the communication that I had from my airlines in which they clearly stated that the flight was delayed by 24 hrs. As if this was not enough for Cholamandalam, they asked me to provide them with a letter from airlines stating the delay. Why the heck shall I provide them with the letter when I have already given them the ample proof from the airlines that the flight was delayed??. When the airlines provided them the letter they asked me to get a letter from airlines stating the "Reason for Delay". Now this is something which is least expected. I mean I am travelling and my flight was delayed, which my airlines has clearly said, Why should I be bothered about the reason for delay and if insurance company need it so desperately why shouldn’t they ask the airlines about the reason?? All said and done, the airlines also satisfied them with the reason.

Something bigger and unexpected waited for me, now Cholamandalam asked me to produce the bills for the expenses made during the period of delay. Come on guys, I am not asking for reimbursement; I am asking for the claim of ’Trip Delay’! Why the hell do you need the bills ?? My flight was delayed, which has been stated by my airlines, now just give me my claim. I took a taxi from airport to hotel, the taxi driver didn’t gave me any bill and I didn’t bothered for it too because I never thought that I would be asked for the taxi bill for the ’Trip Delay’ claim...strange ??!? Isn’t it..!??!?

Finally they closed my claim case saying that they cant give the ’Trip Delay’ claim until and unless I provide them with the bills.

PLEASE DON’T get your travel insurance from CHOLAMANDALAM.

The article in Silicon India suggests that the Indian insurance laws are extremely uncertain.

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/US_upset_with_Indias_insurance_laws-nid-81466.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber

As the insurance marketplace in India is comparatively very new (compared to the U.S.), it is advisable to purchase the insurance from the U.S. based company.

I want to let everyone know about the scam(s) being run by most of the Medical Insurance Company's especially for parents holding Visitor Visa's.

My parents visited US 3 months back and I have done good amount of research and after inquiring about various plan details got medical insurance from ICICI.
My parents paid around $1400.00 for 6 months.

The policy's name it self mentions Cash Less claim policy meaning
no payments/approvals required at the time of service and their US tie up United Health Care would take care of all the charges.

Unfortunately, my father had developed Heart Symptoms and on the advise of a family Doctor living remotely had to contact ICICI for finding out about any specific group to be visited.

We were told that, I need to pay the consultation charges and if it is more than deductible of $100.00, need to file for Claim.
I was ready for that but asked about any diagnostic tests prescribed, they had suggested the same pay and claim policy.
I argued with them about policy details and the ICICI representative was suggesting the same.
Later, I was told to visit a Doctor and send them Prescription for tests so that they would pre-approval.
At this point , I was pretty sure nothing is going to work out with this policy and it is a scam.
But still sent them all the test details.
ICICI never responded even after 2 weeks and kept on dragging requesting the same documents over and over.
Most ridiculous part was they operate without a Toll Free number and every time we need to keep on updating every representative.
Thank god with advise from my family Doctor, I sent my parents within a week.
After reaching India, my father was undergoing tests and one day suddenly developed severe Heart stroke and was rushed to hospital and got operated.
He is safe and stable now and is recovering.
Meanwhile, ICICI did come back after 4 weeks with a pre-approval, with $ 800.00 limit.
They dont have any pre-negotiated rates with any hospital in USA.
I asked how about United Health Care tie up.
They answered that United Health Care is a payment agency for ICICI in USA.

Hi
on 11th March 2011 I have applied for travel insurance for my wife (customer Id 38223242 )for 50 days from 13th March 2011. Bajaj had deducted payment from my credit card on 11 th March. Our travel plan was scheduled for 13 th. and we both are in UK now .. till today i have'nt any policy numbers or any details about my policy , i have been asking for this till today (24 th March).

So far no response from them.

I would request you to kind look in to this matter.

i had one travel insurance for my Spain study tour but because of visa cancellation i did not made my journey. now talk with tata aig people .they told me u got.this insurance through thomas cook.so you talk with them.then i talk with thomas cook people but they not give me exact answer .so please advoice me what i have to do?i got this insurance in september 2010 and my visa was cancel at octuber 2010 .i have 270 and 180 days two insurance .my policy will expiry date in December 2011.so please tell me what i should do for this pb?

Hi,
Please find below my case details:

1- I purchased the ICICI LOMBARD International Student Health Insurance policy in August 2007.
2- I was hospitalized in Chicago, USA in July 2008.
3- I forwarded all the required documents to ICICI LOMBARD and also provided contact information of the respective people where the claim was supposed to be settled.
4- Somewhere around in the month of December 2008 onwards, I started getting calls from collection agencies in USA to pay the medical bill. I always redirected them to ICICI LOMBARD and ICICI LOMBARD never entertained them. (as per the collection agency's medical client whose bill is pending)
5- As of today, ICICI LOMBARD still hasn't paid an amount of $768. This has been reported to my credit history in USA and since then, my credit is badly affected.
6- If my calculations are correct, its around 2.5 years since they haven't paid the bills and I am emotionally, financially and mentally very much harassed by these people.
7- I again communicated with the ICICI LOMBARD people to pay off the bills about 4 weeks back but still, there is nothing done from their end. I simply receive emails from them saying that my case is on high priority.

PS: The entity 'InternationalSOS' handled the transactions for my claim in the year 2008 on behalf of ICICI and I am still trying to convey them how badly I am affected by this. But still no results.

I have all of the email communications from ICICI LOMBARD about this situation and they have clearly mentioned that they haven't paid the bills. According to them, they were waiting for the original invoice to be sent to them for the past 2.5 years. They never got in touch with me again saying that they haven't received the invoice and so they weren't able to pay the medical agency. Instead, they kept mum about the situation thinking that they will save $768.

I am also in talks with a couple lawyers on filing a case against both ICICI LOMBARD and InternationalSOS in this regards (both in USA and in India). After searching through Google, I saw this dedicated forum for Indian's who would want to file complaints against such big companies.

Kindly help me on exactly what is my situation here and how should I proceed. I really don't care about the compensation part here as I can also donate the complete compensation I receive to any charity or NGO. But I really want them to realize how much I am suffering because of their negligence.