Colombia Forum

bickmed
Joined 2015
Posts: 197

8 years ago

Our Experience with SURA Global Overseas Travel Insurance

8 years ago

We have private Medical Insurance with SURA (Salud Clasico Familiar) which also includes a travel insurance option with Assist card, covering the individual for three months from date of departure from Colombia. The Assist Card insurance covers most countries, however in some countries, they have no affiliates so that you will need to pay Medical Expenses and then claim back.

We used this coverage for a trip through the USA, Australia and Asia recently and this was our experience (good to diabolical).

My wife and son both required medical treatment in Australia. The Assist Card agents were very helpful and responsive; they found affiliated doctors quickly, in an area near to us, and arranged the visit so that the billing and payment would be direct between the Medical centre and Assist card. They were prompt, respectful and followed up on our medical case.

So far so good.

The issue commenced when my wife required hospital treatment, and my son required a further appointment with the specialist. Assist Card had no direct contacts with either, and stated that we would be required to pay and then claim back from the company. On both occasions, Assist Card were provided the relevant medical details, and we had email written permission to proceed.

This is where the nightmare commenced regarding re-imbursement. For the hospital visit, once complete, we provided all the details to Assist card who stated they would contact the payments department and pay / resolve direct. This never occurred, and we received a late payment notice from the Hospital, and then later, a debt collection agency was employed.

We continually emailed the requests through to the Assist card help line, and we always received a response, however in the sense that they were working on the claim. Getting fed up, I was calling often, however now needed to be put through to claims departments, starting in Argentina, then Peru, then Colombia. It has been impossible to obtain a coherent response, or speak to someone directly in claims. Our SURA agent has also taken up the case and has basically come back to us and said it is impossible to deal with this company.

We will continue to chase our claim, and conduct personal visits to the office, however just be aware that this appears to be the standard for this company when making claims. Our bill is a few thousand dollars, I cannot imagine what would occur if it was something more serious involving lengthy hospital stays or repatriation costs.

We have used World Nomads before, and their service and payment of claims was very quick and professional.

One good thing reference the visits where assist Card had an affiliation with the doctor was that there was no, ‘member contribution per event clause. They paid 100 %

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