You Want the Best Travel Insurance on Your Side

The travel insurance policies consumers purchase virtually every day are easily dismissed as just another routine part of vacation or an extended leisure trip.

Yet, they offer profound real-world protections when things don't go exactly as planned.

Unfortunately, in an increasingly uncertain world affected by life-altering phenomena like terrorist attacks, political upheaval or natural disasters, travel mishaps may be more prevalent than ever. Officials at travel insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance (AGA) reported recently that AGA engaged 10,000 requests for emergency assistance in connection with a policy coverage area in the U.S. alone during 2017.

Last year, AGA's assistance team responded to 5,000 assistance requests from travelers impacted by a medical emergency or medical condition, said officials. AGA processed 120,000 inbound and outbound telephone calls, arranging medical transportation for 600 seriously injured or ill travelers.

We spoke with Kimberly Seay, RN and AGA's director of assistance services personnel to discuss the real-world utilization of medical and general insurance protections purchased every day by consumers.

TravelPulse: What was the nature of the 5,000 requests you handled in 2017?

Kimberly Seay: Our transports went up about 20 percent last year versus 2016. They can be anything. They could need anything medical from a prescription refill to a CPAP machine. When they call in, it comes to the assistance department. We have a team that [collectively] speaks eight languages. We're there 24/7.

With a [emergency] medical situation, we look at what county they're in and do a lot of thing on the back end. From the case manager side, non-medical it's confirming where they're at and establishing cash-less medical service. We want to take the financial burden away.

They don't know insurance companies but they know who Allianz is.

On the medical side, we'll reach out and get the medical report and follow it. We have our six doctors at the University of Virginia, and we have a chief medical officer who has highly trained in aeromedical procedures.

We will follow the patient' care and, if we need to get them back, we will via something as simple as a commercial flight with an upgraded seat to an air ambulance.

TP: How has your department managed the impact of increasing assistance requests?

KS: The one advantage Allianz has is workforce management.

We have this group of people at our command center who forecast what's going on. Our goal is to answer 80 percent of the calls that come in within 20 seconds or less, with an abandon rate of less than five percent. We want to make sure we're there.

Also, there are times I know we are coming into a busy season-like when Spring Break comes up in April and May. We make sure we have ramp-up time based on where our volume is. Nursing-wise you are always busy but we are able to maintain our quality of care.

TP: What stood out for you when you look back at the services your department provided in 2017?

KS: The craziness of the whole of 2017. It seemed like the world just could not recover.

We started with the China earthquake, then Barcelona, then we had Harvey and then we got hit with Irma. We ended up with the Mexico earthquake and then Puerto Rico. And then we had the tragedy in Las Vegas.

During 2017, we were very proactive in reaching out to our members if we knew they were in a destination impacted by a significant event. Using WhatsApp, we offered to help them.

We always look at where our consumers are traveling so we vet the hospitals in those areas. We're developing relationships with local business and 'agents' I call them. The more we have on the ground the better. We're always trying to make it easier for our members to get what they need in a timely fashion.

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