PARKER, Colo. — Nancy and Steve Watson thought they'd covered all their bases before they set off on a river cruise in Canada, buying travel insurance in case the worst happened.
But when Nancy needed an emergency trip home, the insurance didn't pay right away.
The couple's 10-day cruise through historic French Canada had gone according to plan — until the third afternoon, when Nancy tripped and fell on a broken part of the sidewalk. Her pelvis was broken in three places, and doctors in Quebec City said her elbow was shattered and would need surgery.
"They did not want to operate on my arm in Quebec City," Nancy told Steve On Your Side. "'You need to go home.' And I was thinking that way, too."
But her hip was broken. She couldn't just hop on a jumbo jet back home to Colorado.
No problem, Steve thought. That's what travel insurance is for. The couple had paid $1,622 for a plan from Allianz Global Assistance that covered all the basics of travel, including a very specific line: "Emergency Transportation Coverage" up to $500,000. Steve assumed that would be enough to get Nancy home.
"They said 'we need to see some more hospital paperwork,'" Steve said. "So we sent them hospital paperwork."
The insurance company, Steve said, refused to have Nancy air evacuated back to Colorado.
"We're there Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night and Friday," Steve said.
Their daughter, Cory, was working the phones back home.
"It was sheer panic," Cory said.
"Once we got denied pretty quickly, it was like, wait a minute, what? You're not getting her out?" Cory said.
Running out of options, the family decided to go it alone.
"I said, my wife cannot continue with this pain," Steve said.
They found an air ambulance company that could fly Nancy from Quebec City to Centennial Airport in Colorado, for a cost of nearly $50,000.
They cobbled the money together and got Nancy home. The surgery was successful, and she got better.
While she recovered, Steve and his daughters kept fighting with the insurance company.
"Out of the $47,000 that I submitted, they paid us $17,002.55," Steve said. "So they shorted us 30 grand."
Steve On Your Side talked to the Watsons in May, after they'd been fighting the insurance company for months. When we asked Allianz why the policy didn't cover Nancy's transport, they told us they didn't cover it because both Nancy's doctor and Allianz's medical team deemed she wasn't stable enough to travel — something the Watsons disputed.
But after Steve On Your Side started asking questions, something changed. The Watsons sent us a short email, telling us only that their claim was "satisfactorily resolved." When Steve On Your Side checked back with Allianz to see what changed, they would only say the claim was resolved.
This is a good reminder for anyone: When you buy an insurance policy, read it before you travel. That can make it easier to deal with any problems that arise along the way.
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