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Has anyone used TinLeg travel insurance?


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Has anyone used TinLeg Travel Insurance? They appear to be owned/started by Squaremouth; they were founded in 2013; they are administered by Seven Corners; and they are underwritten by American Modern Insurance Group (which is A+ rated). I am taking an expensive cruise this year and need the travel insurance. Their prices are quite a bit cheaper than anyone else and they offer what I need. They offer cancel for any reason at 75%, for less than most policy costs without CFAR. I am interested in giving them a try but I would appreciate any advice that I can get from some of you wise :cool: travelers.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was initially concerned about the lack of responses, but I guess that is because this is a new product. I was very comfortable with the underlying insurance company. Their medical coverage is primary and they offer cancel for any reason (75%) at a very reasonable price. The 1 coverage that was missing was coverage for a missed connection. I just booked an earlier flight and decided to take that small risk. I purchased this insurance last week for a $35K trip and the cost was far less than other companies and I am very happy with the coverage. Good luck on the decision for your trip.

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  • 1 month later...

About to flip the switch and purchase with TinLeg also. We have always used CSA for our trips. Now, with elderly parents at home, we are looking for CFAR included in a policy. TinLeg comes in with a much lower rate than any other insurance provider. I guess my hesitancy is due to the name....lol

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About to flip the switch and purchase with TinLeg also. We have always used CSA for our trips. Now, with elderly parents at home, we are looking for CFAR included in a policy. TinLeg comes in with a much lower rate than any other insurance provider. I guess my hesitancy is due to the name....lol

 

I made the purchase about a month ago. I have also used CSA for all my past trips. When I saw I could get the 75% CFAR for less than the CSA policy without that option, I decided to give it a try. My trip is scheduled for September and buying an expensive trip 9 months in advance makes me a little nervous. I liked the CFAR option for a reasonable price. I hope neither of us has to find out how good or bad Tin Leg is :).

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  • 4 months later...

I'm in the process of buying travel insurance for a $10k trip and also found Tin Leg to be the cheapest for what I need. The only problem I have is that if you look at the reviews on SquareMouth you will see a lot of complaints about this company--taking days to get a response, denied claims, and computer errors. On the surface it looks like they have a 5 star rating but when you dig through the reviews you will see differently.

 

Also, who names their company SquareMouth or Tin Leg--not very professional IMO.

 

I'm going to pass because of the complaints and the name; plus, I'm always skeptical of the lowest price in any purchase.

Edited by st.zoomer
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On the surface it looks like they have a 5 star rating but when you dig through the reviews you will see differently.

 

 

The AM Best ratings you see are for the insurer's underwriter only -- in this case American Modern Insurance Group. They have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of Tin Leg's coverages, their customer service, or their claims paying record.

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The reviews overall are just about worthless since 95% of the buyers say they didn't make a claim but they still give the company a 5 star rating for being able to purchase the insurance easily, having "peace of mind" after buying the policy, or some other nonsense. The only reviews I care about are the ones where the policy holder tried to make a claim.

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The AM Best ratings you see are for the insurer's underwriter only -- in this case American Modern Insurance Group. They have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of Tin Leg's coverages, their customer service, or their claims paying record.

 

I believe you are wrong about that--the heading states: "Reviews, Sales and Service Ratings for Tin Leg".

 

A bit more investigation reveals that Tin Leg is actually serviced by Seven Corners. I'm not sure what that means to the customer, if anything, since Seven Corners also shows higher priced policies for sale on the SquareMouth site.

 

I imagine that SquareMouth and Tin Leg are companies owned by college kids since no professional would choose names like those or would brag about having free beer on tap in their office:

 

freebeer_zps39c5f2d8.jpg

It's almost impossible to tell which insurance company is the right one to get your policy though. I imagine they all would fight you tooth-and-nail if you ever had a major claim. My wife needed a refund once because she was sick on a cruise and it was a nightmare just to get back a couple of hundred dollars--I can't imagine trying to get a refund for thousands of dollars from any company.

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I believe you are wrong about that--the heading states: "Reviews, Sales and Service Ratings for Tin Leg".

 

A bit more investigation reveals that Tin Leg is actually serviced by Seven Corners. I'm not sure what that means to the customer, if anything, since Seven Corners also shows higher priced policies for sale on the SquareMouth site.

 

I imagine that SquareMouth and Tin Leg are companies owned by college kids since no professional would choose names like those or would brag about having free beer on tap in their office:

 

freebeer_zps39c5f2d8.jpg

It's almost impossible to tell which insurance company is the right one to get your policy though. I imagine they all would fight you tooth-and-nail if you ever had a major claim. My wife needed a refund once because she was sick on a cruise and it was a nightmare just to get back a couple of hundred dollars--I can't imagine trying to get a refund for thousands of dollars from any company.

 

We had a large claim (last minute cancellation of entire vacation - air, cruise, hotel - although hotel wasn't pre-paid, so no loss there), and TravelInsured paid remarkably promptly once all the paperwork was in.

We purchased this through TripInsuranceStore, and they sent us a letter with suggestions about filing the claim. Steve and the others there said to let them know if there was a problem, but there wasn't.

[Only problem was with getting appropriate email acknowledgement of documents. Once we started speaking with someone by phone to get verification, everything went very smoothly.]

 

We were expecting a lot of grief and nonsense after reading about the problems others encountered, but the experience wasn't anything like that.

 

We got an advance phone call to let us know a check was being mailed, and a few days later, the check arrived.

 

We will stay with TravelInsured in the future, as the insurance isn't any good if the claims don't get paid.

And we thank TripInsuranceStore for recommending this insurer and specific policy as being most suitable for our needs.

 

We purchased the insurance to have medical coverage, including for pre-existing conditions. We never dreamed that we'd be cancelling the entire trip on short notice for a medical emergency.

 

However, we realized that IF this had happened just a few days later, we would have been away from home already, and possibly on the ship. Then things would have gotten MUCH more expensive.

 

By the way, how does Squaremouth have "no physical telephones"? Do they just "talk into the air"?

Or did they mean no landlines? Or "just" earpieces and microphones/etc.?

 

GeezerCouple

Edited by GeezerCouple
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The reviews overall are just about worthless since 95% of the buyers say they didn't make a claim but they still give the company a 5 star rating for being able to purchase the insurance easily, having "peace of mind" after buying the policy, or some other nonsense. The only reviews I care about are the ones where the policy holder tried to make a claim.

 

I don't know anything about Tinleg but I will say that reviews are worthless.

All travel insurance companies have poor reviews. Why? because people get upset when their claims are denied. Why are these claims denied,,,, because the claim wasn't part of the covered plan and the consumer didn't/won't read that and accept it.

Travel Insurance is too regulated and heavily monitored by State Insurance Commissions to just upset everyone and willy nilly deny claims.

 

Myself,,, if I perceive I've received bad service or been wrongly treated,,,, I'll write a review. If everything goes as expected,,, I NEVER write a review.

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We will stay with TravelInsured in the future, as the insurance isn't any good if the claims don't get paid.

And we thank TripInsuranceStore for recommending this insurer and specific policy as being most suitable for our needs.GeezerCouple

 

I looked that this site and it is more "personal" than the others I saw. The only problem I have is that they want $1262 for the coverage I want (including "cancel for any reason") and I can get a similar coverage for as low as $847 at AXA Assistance USA (InsureMyTrip.com) or a bit higher at a couple of other places. So, I'm still thinking about what to buy.

 

By the way, how does Squaremouth have "no physical telephones"? Do they just "talk into the air"?

Or did they mean no landlines? Or "just" earpieces and microphones/etc.?

GeezerCouple

 

That was a question I had. I suppose after a good workout in their gym, a couple of beers, and a nice nap, they can use "telepathic communication".

 

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I don't know anything about Tinleg but I will say that reviews are worthless.

...

Myself,,, if I perceive I've received bad service or been wrongly treated,,,, I'll write a review. If everything goes as expected,,, I NEVER write a review.

 

I agree with that however in this case it is a bit different. Looking at the complaints Tin Leg had the person who responded to these complaints often agreed with the policy holder saying that Tin Leg had made a mistake, something was overlooked, or it was a computer problem on their end that caused the issue.

 

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SquareMouth has a "Zero Complaint Guarantee" but I don't think it means much:

We work on your behalf. If any one of our clients has a complaint against a provider that cannot be resolved to our satisfaction, we will remove the provider from our site and no longer sell its products.

Since the complaint only has to be resolved to SquareMouth's satisfaction, and since Tin Leg is owned by SquareMouth, what's the chance of Tin Leg being removed from their site?

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I looked that this site and it is more "personal" than the others I saw. The only problem I have is that they want $1262 for the coverage I want (including "cancel for any reason") and I can get a similar coverage for as low as $847 at AXA Assistance USA (InsureMyTrip.com) or a bit higher at a couple of other places. So, I'm still thinking about what to buy.

 

 

 

That was a question I had. I suppose after a good workout in their gym, a couple of beers, and a nice nap, they can use "telepathic communication".

 

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I agree with that however in this case it is a bit different. Looking at the complaints Tin Leg had the person who responded to these complaints often agreed with the policy holder saying that Tin Leg had made a mistake, something was overlooked, or it was a computer problem on their end that caused the issue.

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

SquareMouth has a "Zero Complaint Guarantee" but I don't think it means much:

We work on your behalf. If any one of our clients has a complaint against a provider that cannot be resolved to our satisfaction, we will remove the provider from our site and no longer sell its products.

Since the complaint only has to be resolved to SquareMouth's satisfaction, and since Tin Leg is owned by SquareMouth, what's the chance of Tin Leg being removed from their site?

 

Re your "The only problem I have is that they want $1262 for the coverage I want (including "cancel for any reason") and I can get a similar coverage for as low as $847 at AXA Assistance USA (InsureMyTrip.com) or a bit higher at a couple of other places."

 

I'd suggest you contact Steve and the others at TripInsuranceStore.com by *phone* and discuss both your own needs/desires for insurance coverage AND ask them specifically about the AXA plan you have in mind.

(In many cases the brokers - perhaps NOT including Squaremount/TinLeg - sell the same or similar policies from many of the same insurers. Because insurance is regulated, chances are the pricing is the same.)

 

They'll help with your specific situation.

 

I know that they suggested this particular coverage for us (and we compared quite a few before making that initial decision) because of our ages. Other insurers upped their premiums at our ages more than TravelInsured, so that made a big difference, at least for now, for *us*.

 

We also selected CFAR, because our main concern (or so we thought!) was if a sudden and important consulting request came in, DH would be very, very reluctant to say "no".

We agreed that he'd be able to relax and enjoy the planning and anticipation more IF he knew we wouldn't lose all of the pre-paid costs.

(We *frequently* have to cancel and re-book cheap domestic flights for just this reason, but the costs are so low that we don't mind, and it's been better than waiting until the last minute for *all* domestic travel, and always pay the highest fares, or have the flights sold out - that happens more often these days, to be sure.)

 

We are looking into making arrangements for our own health insurance to have better coverage overseas (and on ships!), so that we can get either (or both) of a lower-cost policy, or one where we can make the first payment much later (and *still* get coverage for pre-existing conditions).

That means we need to be very sure that the two policies work together the way we'd need them to, obviously.

 

What surprised us was that our claim was paid promptly and without any haggling. We were dreading that...

 

GeezerCouple

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I'd suggest you contact Steve and the others at TripInsuranceStore.com by *phone* and discuss both your own needs/desires for insurance coverage AND ask them specifically about the AXA plan you have in mind.

GeezerCouple

 

I sent them an email with all the information about the trip--if I don't hear back I will call them to see what they can do.

 

Thanks...

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We used Squaremouth/Tin Leg to insure our Baltic cruise that we were supposed to take last May/June. We had to cancel the entire trip due to my "little cardiac" issue. We officially canceled the cruise and airfare on May 27 and notified Tin Leg on May 29. They were quick to send out the claim forms, they have been very very very slow to do much of anything else since then. There have been numerous phone calls and emails between me, Square Mouth and Tin Leg/Seven Corners. To date, they have refused to cover my deposit of $500 because I used a Celebrity gift card that I got for credit card points, they did, finally pay the rest of the cruise fare and the $300 per person airline change fee but they are balking about paying for a pre-paid hotel that our travel companions paid for (we paid for their airfare) and asked for more documentation. I sent in what they asked for, and 2 weeks later they asked for it again. More phone calls, they admitted they could not find it--it was emailed and the email did not bounce so I emailed it all again, had to email yet another time to get them to confirm they got it this time...was told yes we got, it will be 5-7 days before claims can look at it....So, yes Squaremouth has intervened and tried to help, but the bottom line for me is they were that helpful, their standard line is "well, 10 days for a reply is pretty much standard in the industry". I won't use them again, I won't use Tin Leg again. This morning I spent some time on the phone with Steve and Kim from Trip Insurance Store and we settled on a Travelex Select policy for our replacement cruise for next May. Steve was very very knowledgeable and through in getting all of the details for this trip including were we using any gift cards, credit card points etc. I feel a lot more confidant about this policy. When I bought the Tin Leg policy I did not think about a lot of the details because I thought I was in great health.......Well now I am.....I think

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We used Squaremouth/Tin Leg to insure our Baltic cruise that we were supposed to take last May/June. We had to cancel the entire trip due to my "little cardiac" issue. We officially canceled the cruise and airfare on May 27 and notified Tin Leg on May 29. They were quick to send out the claim forms, they have been very very very slow to do much of anything else since then. There have been numerous phone calls and emails between me, Square Mouth and Tin Leg/Seven Corners. To date, they have refused to cover my deposit of $500 because I used a Celebrity gift card that I got for credit card points, they did, finally pay the rest of the cruise fare and the $300 per person airline change fee but they are balking about paying for a pre-paid hotel that our travel companions paid for (we paid for their airfare) and asked for more documentation. I sent in what they asked for, and 2 weeks later they asked for it again. More phone calls, they admitted they could not find it--it was emailed and the email did not bounce so I emailed it all again, had to email yet another time to get them to confirm they got it this time...was told yes we got, it will be 5-7 days before claims can look at it....So, yes Squaremouth has intervened and tried to help, but the bottom line for me is they were that helpful, their standard line is "well, 10 days for a reply is pretty much standard in the industry". I won't use them again, I won't use Tin Leg again. This morning I spent some time on the phone with Steve and Kim from Trip Insurance Store and we settled on a Travelex Select policy for our replacement cruise for next May. Steve was very very knowledgeable and through in getting all of the details for this trip including were we using any gift cards, credit card points etc. I feel a lot more confidant about this policy. When I bought the Tin Leg policy I did not think about a lot of the details because I thought I was in great health.......Well now I am.....I think

 

Yes, that's what we liked immediately from Steve and his colleagues. They are pro-active in asking questions, trying to get the best policy for one's needs/preferences, and taking into account ages of the travelers.

 

We also figured that they wouldn't want to sell policies from an insurance company that doesn't pay when a claim is made, or makes the process unbearable, because let's face it... we'd be complaining to Steve and the others, too, and asking for their help.

(I'm sure they'd help if they could, but I'm also sure that they'd rather not deal with those problems, and the best way is to use insurance vendors who don't have "problems" with claims.)

 

All we know is that with our first policy, we had a large claim (and a huge disappointment along with health scare!), and no complaints with the claim process. And that's what counts, after all.

It's EASY to be "satisfied" if a claim isn't needed, right?

 

GeezerCouple

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I did get a response from Steve but he said he didn't use AXA Assistance since he didn't know if they paid their claims or not and that he wasn't interested in trying out a new company.

 

He also said he couldn't match their price but that if I liked AXA's certificate I should just buy their plan.

 

A bit of research on AXA shows that it is a large world wide company and is used by some US companies like MetLife to handle their travel insurance plans. However, I can't seem to find any information, good or bad, about how AXA handles their claims. Guess I'll keep doing some research...

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Pretty honest of Steve.....others would have just pushed you to buy what they are selling.

 

That sounds like Steve!

 

We asked him about a policy that we heard described here on CruiseCritic.com. He said he was looking into a policy with coverage like that, but hadn't yet found something he liked, but he was still looking.

 

There was another annual policy that he mentioned, and we discussed why it would NOT work in our particular situation. He probably could have sold it to us, without warning us about the one possible mis-match.

 

GeezerCouple

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Well, I went ahead and purchased the policy from AXA Assistance USA since it appeared to be a reliable company. It has a good record with the BBB and is the company used by both MetLife and Aetna for their travel insurance plans.

 

I would have used Steve if he had been within $100 or so but the difference was over $400 which was almost 50% higher.

 

Thanks for the info about Steve--hopefully, I won't have to find out how AXA pays their claims...

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I read all the comments about Tin Leg with interest since I was the one who started this thread. I agree with Mr. Click's comments, and I hope that I don't need to use my "parachute". I am leaving for my 24 day tip in a month. Out of interest for another trip I will be taking, and my need for future travel insurance, I did a quick quote for the AXA Assistance USA Gold Plan. I added CFAR to the quote. It was interesting to see that the policy quoted was underwritten by American Modern Home Insurance Company, the same company that is underwriting my Tin Leg policy. In my policy I opted for my medical coverage to be primary, not secondary, because I am on Medicare and I wanted the extra level of protection that the primary coverage provides. Before I bought the Tin Leg policy I read and re-read the actual insurance policy several times and compared it to other plans that I have used in the past. I also called Squaremouth/Tin Leg and asked a lot of questions about the coverage. I was impressed with the level of service with my questions and I didn't hear any beer taps operating in the background. I even took an extra step and had the Insurance Director at my employer, before I retired, review the policy and the underwriter (American Modern). He gave it a thumbs up. I also agree with klfrodo's comments. People who are satisfied with their travel insurance generally don't get on line and tell the world how happy they are. After reading the complaints listed for many of the travel insurance companies, it was very obvious that the purchaser did not fully understand exactly what was covered and what wasn't. It was clear to me after reading many complaints that what they were asking for would not generally be covered in a normal travel insurance policy. Well anyway, st.zoomer and I are both happy with the policies we bought and I am sure that neither of us want to report back that we had to find out who was right about the level of customer care we received after filing a claim.

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Trip cancellation was the farthest thing from my mind when I bought my Tin Leg policy, I was much more concerned about health coverage while we were away. Funny how things got turned around. The real lack of customer service response is the biggest problem I have had with Tin Leg. It is bad enough that they refuse to consider my use of a gift card from Celebrity as a covered form of payment but then they ask for a lot of extra documentation that I sent in an email after a long phone conversation and they a/ don't acknowledge getting it, b/ lose it and c/ fail to acknowledge the second time I sent it all until I asked a third time. I really don't understand why this all, both buying and filing a claim has to be so very complicated.

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