How Do Travel Medical Insurance Claims Work?
Angela Borden | Apr 5, 2024
Once you've bought Seven Corners Travel Medical Insurance, it helps to know a little about the steps in the claims process if you have an illness or injury while traveling. Understanding how we pay claims can play a part in improving your claims experience.
What Is Travel Medical Insurance?
Travel medical insurance provides high limits of medical coverage to help with medical expenses if you get sick or hurt while traveling internationally. For U.S. residents traveling internationally, two key elements — medical maximums and deductibles — work together to determine coverage for your travel medical claim.
If you aren’t sure about some of the terms you see in this article or
your plan document, you can find explanations of coinsurance,
copayments, medical maximums, and more in our guide to travel medical insurance terms.
How Do I Make a Travel Medical Insurance Claim?
The information below applies to travel medical insurance for U.S. residents traveling abroad. If you have or are thinking about purchasing a trip protection plan, visit our blog about the travel insurance claims process.
To file a travel medical insurance claim, you or your medical provider must submit the required information to Seven Corners. This can be done through your Seven Corners account.What documents do I need to claim travel insurance?
What documents do I need to claim travel insurance?
You may need to file more than one type of claim form for us to efficiently and carefully review your claim. This most often includes a proof of loss form and a payment authorization form. You’ll find these forms in your Seven Corners account.
You will also need to supply original itemized medical bills and receipts, and proof of payment. Depending on your situation, different or additional documents may be necessary. For example, if your injury is a result of an accident, you might also need to submit accident details and a police report.
Submitting the required documents at the time you first file your claim can help the process move more quickly as there will be less back-and-forth collecting information.
Is there a time limit on travel insurance claims?
Most plans have a timely filing limit of 90 days, meaning that if you file after that 90-day deadline, your claim may be denied. For this reason, it is always recommended that you file your claim as soon as possible after the incident.
Travel Medical Insurance Claims Procedure
The steps in the travel medical insurance claims process are outlined here and in the infographic below. In this hypothetical scenario, let’s say you’re a U.S. resident traveling to Spain. You get appendicitis on your trip, and you have Seven Corners Travel Medical Insurance. Here’s what happens next.
1. You file a claim.
After you submit your claim, you’ll receive a notification that we’ve received your submission. Once we receive all the necessary information, we will review your claim and a licensed claims advisor will contact you if something is missing.
2. You pay the deductible.
Let’s assume you’ve been billed $20,000 for treatment. You have a $100 deductible, which you selected when you purchased your Seven Corners Travel Medical Insurance plan. You pay the deductible, so the remaining balance on your medical bill is now $19,900.
If you’re wondering about coinsurance, Seven Corners Travel Medical Insurance plans for U.S. residents traveling internationally have 100% coinsurance. That means the plan begins paying after the deductible is paid.
It’s important to note that some other plans do have coinsurance that would apply and may require you to pay a percentage of your medical expenses.
3. Insurance payment is made.
If your claim is approved, and the remaining balance falls below the medical maximum you selected when the plan was purchased, Seven Corners will pay the rest of the medical expenses.
In our example, if you chose a $500,000 medical maximum, the remaining expenses ($19,900) would fall below that limit. In the end, you will pay $100, and Seven Corners will pay the remaining bill in full.
What happens if an insurance claim is denied?
Travel medical insurance claims can be denied for different reasons, including claims made for treatment before your plan’s effective date, which is the date your coverage begins, or for care that was routine or preventive. Learn more about these commonly denied travel insurance claims.
What’s the Next Step?
If you’re ready to submit a claim now, get started by logging into your Seven Corners account. You may want to collect receipts and other documents related to your situation before you start.
Contact us with questions about how to access your Seven Corners account or how to submit a claim.
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