- Rating:
Summary:
CSA has been helping stranded travelers since the very early 1990s and has an excellent customer service record. Their website is easy to use, and while the plan selection is limited, each of the plans offers adequate coverage for the plan level and a host of extra benefits.
Editor Review of CSA
The Good: CSA Travel Protection offers a limited set of travel protection plans, which makes it easy to choose the one right for you. All plans include all of the expected package benefits, plus 24-hour emergency assistance services, including a unique Consult a Doctor service that puts worried travelers in touch with a medical doctor. All plans include identity theft resolution services and concierge services as well.
The Drawbacks: CSA travel insurance plans are only available to residents of the U.S. They only offer a limited number of travel insurance plans, but that also makes choosing a quicker process. CSA has no travel medical plans, medical evacuation plans (although evacuations are included in their package plans), and no travel accident plans – only package plans.
The Bottom Line: CSA has been helping stranded travelers since 1991 and has an excellent customer service record. Their website is easy to use, and while the plan selection is limited, each of the plans offers adequate coverage for the plan level and a host of extra benefits.
How to Get a Quote
Quote and buy direct: Get a quote directly at the CSA website. A good choice if you know you want a CSA plan and are ready to enroll.
Compare quotes from all companies: Click here to get quotes from all major travel insurance companies using a comparison tool.
Company Information
Company Website | |
|---|---|
| US Travel Insurance Association Member | Yes |
| Refund Policy | 10-day Free Look Period |
| Travel Insurance Plans | Package plans Custom Custom Luxe |
| Company Contact Information | CSA Travel Protection P.O.Box 939057 San Diego, CA 92193-9057 1-800-348-9505(6am-6pm M-F, 6am-3pm Sat-Sun, Pacific Time) 1-877-300-8670 Fax csa@csatravelprotection.com |
| Policyholder Questions | (800) 348-9505 Para asistencia en Espa~nol, favor de llamar al (800) 318-0179 |
| Travel Assistance/Emergencies | Inside US/Canada: (877) 243-4135 (toll free) Outside US/Canada: call operator & connect to (240) 330-1529 (no charge) |
More about CSA Travel Insurance
The CSA Travel Protection company offers a couple of travel insurance package plans for individuals and families, and a group plan for groups of 10 or more travelers. The individual plans include identity theft services, concierge services, and consult-a-doctor services in the base plan. The short list of plans makes choosing a plan type quick and easy.
CSA Travel Protection is dedicated to providing affordable, yet comprehensive travel insurance and travel emergency assistance services. Their website makes quick work out of obtaining a quote, and you can request claim forms right on their website. You can also save your quotes before buying, which helps when you are still making travel arrangements and want to hold the quote to add those details.
Optional Coverage Available in CSA Plans
- Optional rental car damage coverage for just $9 a day (Custom plan only).
Highlights of CSA Insurance
- CSA’s concierge services include city profiles, event ticketing, hotel accommodations, reservations, pet services locator, and much more.
- CSA plans also include 24-hour emergency assistance services for emergency cash transfers, worldwide medical information, translation services, replacement of medications and eyeglasses, and more.
- Both package plans, Custom and Custom Luxe, have identity theft resolution services included, as well as consult-a-doctor services while on your trip.
CSA Travel Insurance Plans
Custom
Budget-minded and family friendly, this plan includes all the travel coverage essentials
This plan covers all the basics at good limits. Cancellations due to school year extensions can be covered.
Custom Luxe
Top-notch coverage with generous plan maximums and a lot of extra features
Generous plan maximums and loads of features and services make this plan a top-rated plan. It includes coverage for pre-existing conditions in the base plan, as well as supplier default and rental car coverage.
How to Get a Quote
Quote and buy direct: Get a quote directly at the CSA website. A good choice if you know you want a CSA plan and are ready to enroll.
Compare quotes from all companies: Click here to get quotes from all major travel insurance companies using a comparison tool.
Screenshots of CSA Travel Protection Website
How to Get a Quote
Quote and buy direct: Get a quote directly at the CSA website. A good choice if you know you want a CSA plan and are ready to enroll.
Compare quotes from all companies: Click here to get quotes from all major travel insurance companies using a comparison tool.
I wish I had read the reviews about CSA much sooner. DO NOT purchase coverage with them. Although they have policy coverage rules in place they don’t follow their own rules. My fiancé had surgery MONTHS AGO AND WAS DOING WELL until he slipped and fell, to avoid a second surgery he was immediately placed on restrictions and I had to cancel a trip that I had booked in order to take care of him since he couldn’t do anything for himself anymore. CSA told me they would not refund me for my plane ticket because it occurred outside of when I purchased the policy which is FALSE and I even provided documentation showing this. They even had authorization to review medical records. Then they tried to say it was a pre existing condition again FALSE. This is besides the point that the plane ticket was purchased with Delta and a CSA representative told me that if I cancelled with Delta they would not reimburse me the $160.00 fee that Delta charges for cancellation. Had I known that CSA intended to not refund me my money I would have just paid Delta the $160.00 cancellation fee. Atleast I would have been refunded some of my money back. The company CSA is a SCAM and they train their employees how to beat people out of their money for the companies profit. I WILL BE REPORTING THEM TO CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND MAY BE EVEN TAKING THEM TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT IM DISGUSTED. NEVER HAVE I HAD SUCH HORRIBLE BUSINESS. As if i’m not already suffering enough due to my fiancé’s situation. My claim was denied in as little as 3 days. I received a denial email April 19,2018 and they received paperwork April 16, 2018. You can’t tell me this isn’t a pyramid scheme when even if there was a discrepancy with my paperwork someone could have contacted me and atleast asked about whatever they didn’t understand that’s adequate customer service. I’ll tell you why they didn’t because they never intended to refund me. SCAMMERS!
Don’t waste your time or money purchasing the insurance. They will not pay based on the fine print which is difficult to understand for the lay person. The landlord through VRBO had strict cancelation policy and did not refund under any circumstance but offered this trip insurance. Was at Glacier national park during the fires and did not want to stay in their cabin on the west side with the heavy smoke and potential danger. Paid for cabin but did not go, thinking I was protected for reimbursement through the insurance. Guess again. Would pay nothing because it was a trip interruption and not a trip cancellation. Better off to use the insurance on your credit card. They approved the cancellation.
My Homeaway vacation rental 662727 will never offer CSA for guest anymore. Please be aware you as a landlord are NOT protected by CSA. This insurance is a joke. It allows tenants to disrespect it with no consequences. The tenant brought a pet and captured by a security camera but denied the responsibility – Guess what, CSA decided to side with tenants. Denied the claim to replace and to clean the mess.
I have a toddler with severe allergy and we used this place as a second home – welp, thanks CSA for complicating the process – we are going to the attorney route.
We’re sorry to hear about your experience as a vacation rental home owner and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing this review. Please contact us at at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com. We do not have a claim on file with your name and need more information from you to confirm this is a CSA case.
I have to share my most recent experience as absolutely positive!!! A+++ If you follow the terms and conditions this company will follow through. Very helpful on the phone. I had an illness in the family and the claim turnaround time was literally one week, even with the holiday weekend! My check has been put in the mail ( I just got off the phone with yet another friendly representative). I am very pleased. Highly recommend, and very affordable for a piece of mind!
DONT USE CSA TRAVEL PROTECTION!!
My wife and I had a trip planned for Thailand for this upcoming summer. We purchased the CSA’s travel protection insurance policy. Recently, my wife was admitted to a school program requiring her to take examinations during the week of our travel. Also, the recent Zika virus has caused us some concerns and thus we felt it was necessary to cancel our travel plans.
CSA denied paying any of our claims which resulted in us losing $1200. Very unfortunate doing business with these people. They will scam you out of your money and do whatever they can to NOT pay the insurance money that you have identified in your claims.
I highly DO NOT advise working with CSA Travel.
We are unable to find a CSA case that matches the scenario you’ve provided, and we need more information in order to respond. Please send an email to csa@csatravelprotection.com, referencing your TravelInsuranceReview.net posting along with your policy number, case or claim number so we may determine if this is in fact a CSA policy, and then we can respond to your concerns. Thank you.
Total scam. I purchased the premium “cancel for any reason” policy for a trip to the UK believing that I would receive 75% of my loss refunded. I purchased my airline tickets on 2/28/2016 and I purchased the insurance on 3/6/2016. My flight was not scheduled until 4/27/2016. Due to a work event, I was forced to cancel the trip. CSA paid $0. The reason? I didn’t pay for the insurance THE SAME DAY that I bought the plane tickets. It’s buried somewhere in the mouse print of the contract (I still haven’t found it). Avoid this company at all costs.
We are sorry to hear about your negative experience. We want customers to understand the coverage details of our plans and strongly recommend reviewing a sample Description of Coverage/Insurance Policy that should be provided at the time of purchase. We also offer a free look back period with all of our plans to allow customers to cancel their policies within a designated period as long as they haven’t already left on their trip or filed a claim. Please contact us at 1-800-328-9505 so we can discuss your situation further. Thank you.
Don’t waste your money!
Read the fine print before purchasing any travel insurance through this company. As a property manager and owner, I’ve had customers buy policies through this company, after having numerous complaints we no longer offer travel insurance option with CSA.
I feel your pain. I booked a room for my wife and I and eventually we had to cancel because our vehicle broke down. The car wouldn’t start, so my cousin is a mechanic and he’s been working on it and more and more it sounding like it the engine. So being that it’s gonna be really expensive and we don’t have a car to make our trip we submitted a claim. Well over a week later no responses or anything from CSA and we’he called and are put on hold and nothing. We really need our money back because we have to fix this car or get a new car and we are just left out in the cold. Really BAD customer service. CSA is a joke and a scam.
Hi Michael, We’re sorry we have not met your expectations. Our aim is to provide an excellent customer experience. Please contact us at 1-800-328-9505 so we can discuss your claim. Thank you.
Rudy, We are sorry to hear about your negative experience. Travel insurance plans, regardless of provider, include conditions and exclusions. We strongly encourage that customers review a sample description of coverage/insurance policy that should be made available at the time of booking. We also offer a free look back period with all of our plans to allow customers to cancel their policies within a designated period as long as they haven’t already left on their trip or filed a claim. Please contact our customer care team at 1 (800) 348-9505 so we may explain how our plans can help protect travelers from certain unforeseen mishaps that could occur during their trip. Thank you.
These people are true rip-off’s. I recently had to cancel a scheduled trip and the hotel was non-refundable. Well, I just assumed that since I had the CSA Travel Protection insurance I would be able to recoup my money from CSA. I was told that although I had a letter from my doctor stating why I couldn’t take my trip, my particular illness wasn’t covered by them.
I feel that this is total medical discrimination! I was really outraged by their response!
I definitely DO NOT recommend that anyone even consider this company because you’ll only be throwing your money away. I can’t understand how they can be in business as long as they have been. There is absolutely no concern for the clientele in which they are supposed to serve.
I give this company an F- rating!
Thank you for your post to Tim.
I hope more people will feel compelled to share their experience with CSA after reading your review.
We are sorry for not meeting your expectations. We would like to discuss your claim with you in an effort to help you better understand our coverages and policy exclusions and to also better understand your experience. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com
After the last few VRBO tenants, i have received an email that leads me to believe the premium is refunded to the tenants if there is no damage. However, I have not been able to find any info to support or deny this. Please advise.
CSA IS A FRAUD, AND WILL NEVER PAY YOUR CLAIM!
Thank you for posting this question Michelle. We will refund the premium for damage protection if a guest cancels their trip and does not travel. For more clarity on this, feel free to call us at 1 (800) 348-9505.
Terrible company! Don’t waste your money when you need them they will not reimburse you!!
I am a vacation home owner, and use Homeaway for guest rentals. Homeaway allows tenants to purchase CSA Travel Insurance to protect the home from damage from the tenants. Please be aware you as a landlord are NOT protected by CSA. This insurance is a joke/scam. It allows tenants to destroy your home and disrespect it with no consequences to either the tenant or the insurance policy. My tenants from NYE left the house a complete mess, trash everywhere, kitchen sink full of food and dishes, stains on the carpet and damage to my home. The home is located in the mountains of NE Pennsylvania where it gets very cold. The tenants left windows open when they checked out, that night it was 6 degrees outside. Leaving the windows opened caused all of the pipes in the house to freeze, also causing the kitchen faucet to burst. Pictures were provided to CSA for everything including even pictures of the windows open. Thankfully the kitchen faucet was the only damage from the frozen pipes, again other damage was incurred though. CSA sent me a decline notice, for which I promptly called the underwriter. I was advised that since the tenant who is the owner of the policy declined all damage that I would not be reimbursed. What a absolute joke. I asked what if I had a police report, I was advised it wouldn’t change the decision unless the cop saw the tenant causing the damage. Who would ever admit to damaging someones home? How is this insurance protect the landlord? I am out a lot of money from these morons who rented my home all because I let them purchase CSA travel insurance. Lesson learned, I will NEVER let any tenant purchase this policy again. Imagine if car insurance companies operated this way, Oh you didn’t drive your car through Fred’s house even though we have a police report saying you did, ok no problem, claim declined.
I have purchased CSA Travel Ins through Vacations2Go for all of our Cruises. As it goes, you never need your insurance, until you need it. Well my time came when less than 2 months before our trip, my husband had a cardiac event. Within a week, we realized that he could not make that trip. I called Heather, our TA at Vac2goto cancel the cruise and before I got home from the hospital, she had contacted CSA and started the ball rolling. In my email inbox, was the cancellation packet from CSA and it only got easier from there. Within 48 hrs of them receiving the required documentation, I received an email stating that my refund was being processed. About 10 days later, I received my refund check, plus a separate check refunding my insurance premium.
DO NOT USE CSA FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE PROTECTION!!!
I am a vacation rental owner of 4 properties. For nearly 2 years I have been using CSA property damage protection for $3000 worth of coverage with each Homeaway/VRBO booking request I accept. My guests have paid thousands to CSA to protect them in case of damages during their stay at my rental properties in lieu of a security deposit.
I filed my first claim with CSA because a tenant’s pet infested one of my properties with fleas (the fleas then spread to another unit). This impacted the following guest as well. As a result, it cost me almost $4000 in damages, cleaning fees, reimbursements, etc. CSA refused to pay the claim stating that “they only cover broken items that need repaired.”
This company is scam. I will not use them again.
I am a vacation rental home owner and I have used CSA for accidental damage protection on my properties for the past 4 years. What I really liked about CSA was that I did not have to bother my guests if I found damage after their stay. Stuff usually like a damaged bicycle or dirty sheets that couldn’t be cleaned. Well, their new policy is to notify the guests EVERY time I file a claim (even on small stuff). Now with every claim I file a get an angry email from the guest saying “how dare I accuse them of damaging something”. Basically their new policy is destroying my relationship with my guests, some of who would have been returning guests but probably not now. I have no choice but to discontinue offering CSA accidental damage protection to my guests. Why make them pay $79 for the policy when I’m basically too afraid to file a claim because the guests will be mad? Thanks a lot CSA for screwing up a good thing.
Just to put things in perspective, in the past 4 years CSA has collected around $12,500 in premiums from my rentals and paid out maybe $500 in claims. Obviously the program is immensely profitable for them so I don’t understand why they want to hassle my guests. I guess they want that extra $500 too.
DO NOT BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE WITH CSA!!! THEY WILL NOT REFUND MONEY EVEN AFTER THEY PUT IT IN WRITING!!!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Can you please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com. More information about your claim is required before we can provide a solution.
scam
after sending my claim in they tell me that they cant cover me due to the embassy delaying visa
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. A dedicated claims team member has reached out to you to discuss the details of your claim. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we can answer any question you have.
Horrible insurance. Booked a rental through Southern rentals for a house in Florida. Found out my daughter is pregnant and she was advised by her doctor not to travel to this area because of the Zyka virus. Cancelled the trip but was refused a refund from CSA. Was told this is not covered under their policy. They would rather see a pregnant woman take the chance of visiting the area instead of issuing a refund. I will never again rent from any company that uses CSA as it’s carrier.
CSA Travel Insurance is useless…Service is not good..
I have cancelled my travel due to my husband changed job and we have moved to different location..Intially they said I am eligible for claim but when I submitted claim they started to say your husband was not scheduled to travel with you so you are not eligible to claim, it’s ridiculous..
Thank you for your review. We’re sorry to hear about your experience and have reviewed the details of the documentation you submitted for your claim. A dedicated team member has reached out to you to provide answers as to why we were not able to pay the claim. However, if you have any further questions, please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com. Providing excellent customer service is of the utmost importance at CSA, and we take great care to work with each individual and offer only the best travel protection products. We are very disappointed when we hear of a circumstance in which a customer is not satisfied and have shared your experience with our team. Thank you again, and we hope that you will consider our services in the future.
Suhasini, I absolutely agree! I got these guys through VRBO, for their cancellation package. The world’s strongest storm ever recorded hit Mexico yesterday. The girl on the phone said that they will not cover the cancellation of my trip, because it doesn’t cover my weather preferences. IT IS A SCAM PEOPLE!!! DON’T DO IT!!!!!
Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry that we didn’t meet your expectations. We strive to provide the best customer service and travel protection products. We recommend that our customers ensure the policy they choose best meets their needs. For more information about our coverages, please visit http://www.csatravelprotection.com or contact us at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com.
I will never waste my money with CSA again and advise everyone else the same.
I had $866 of Trip Cancelation insurance. When my trip was canceled, I called and I clearly asked if was covered. I was led to believe it was so I submitted a claim. I was denied Trip Cancelation claim for my canceled trip then they tried to say that was not told I would be covered in my initial call with them. They are liars and will not pay your claims.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. After reviewing the call in question, we feel that the call could have been better-handled, and we have taken corrective action. Although the situation you experienced does not qualify as one of the covered reasons under the policy, and thus the claim was handled properly, CSA will be reimbursing you directly for the amount claimed. We apologize for the inconvenience. You should have received your payment in the mail, but please let us know if you have any further questions about your claim at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com). Thank you again for choosing CSA Travel Protection. We hope you will consider our services in the future.
Be extremely careful with CSA Travel Protection. I used them to insure trip cancellation on a vacation rental and they denied it because the owner did not have the deposit clearly stated in the rental agreement. I lost both the deposit and the cost of the insurance. Will not use CSA or VacationRentals.com again.
Thanks for your review. We’re sorry that we didn’t meet your expectations. Please call us at (800) 348-9505 or email csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we can provide details about our Trip Cancellation coverage and answer any additional questions you might have about plan benefits, limits and exclusions.
I am insuring all my vacation property renters through this company and I realize now it is a waste of my money. As one of the other people on this website mentioned, the insurance only works if the renter agrees/admits to the damage. In my case a refrigerator was suddenly not working anymore but the client insisted it was not her doing and the repairmen said it could have happened due to a power surge. I mentioned this on my claim, however, the renter said there was no power surge, which she clearly cannot guarantee – there were thunderstorms during her stay and it could have happened during the night while she was sleeping. It is very frustrating as the insurance receives $79 for each of my clients and the claim was only a repair fee of approx. $300. Very disappointing!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. A member of our dedicated claims team has reached out to provide a solution. If you have any further questions about our damage protection plan or claims process, please call us at (800) 348-9505 or email csa@csatravelprotection.com. We apologize for not meeting your expectations and hope that you will continue using CSA in the future.
My partner Michele has metastatic breast cancer. She has done well with treatment, thanks to her attentive physicians. When we traveled recently we bought insurance with CSA knowing that Michele might be called back for chemo based on the results of blood work, scans, or other tests. Indeed, that’s what happened, and Michele had to book an unscheduled flight home at a cost of around $1,000. CSA refused to cover this because “the illness that caused your loss did not commence while on your trip.” In other words, if you are a person with KNOWN heart disease who has a heart attack, you’re not covered. Or if your child has a congenital problem that flares up and requires you to come home early, start writing the checks. And, as in our case, if you have cancer, well, CSA can blame pretty much any illness that acts up during your travel as a “preexisting condition.” I will never, ever do business with CSA again. In my opinion, nobody should.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We are very sorry to hear about your circumstances and apologize for not meeting your expectations. A member of our Claims team has reached out to you to provide a solution; however, we encourage you to contact us at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com to discuss further the details of your claim. Thank you for choosing us for your travel protection needs. We hope that you will consider using our services in the future.
We made the mistake to purchase insurance through a Club Med trip! Prior to purchasing the insurance I explained my step-son’s condition and was assured I would not have an issue. Turns out my step-son was not able to attend the trip due to health reasons and trying to file a claim is a rip-off! Do not purchase travel insurance for trips!! It’s just a way for “insurance companies” to put money in their pockets
Thanks for your feedback. We’re sorry that we did not meet your expectations. Can you please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com to review the details of your claim and better understand your experience?
Thank you for sharing your experience and bringing this matter to our attention. We are sorry that we did not meet your expectations. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy in the hopes that we can provide a resolution. A dedicated claims member would be happy to answer any questions you have. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. We hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward and look forward to hearing from you soon.
This company is a scam. They claim you cancel due to medical reasons.
Never sent a policy to me and now claiming my medical reason is not covered.
Waste of money…DO NOT BUY THIS IS A SCAM!!!!
We apologize for failing to meet your expectations and thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. A dedicated claims team member has reached out to assist in providing a solution. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact CSA directly at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com. Providing the highest customer service and best travel protection products is our goal at CSA. We hope you will consider CSA for your travel protection needs in the future.
It looks like I am also one that has gotten screwed by this company. It appears they can mince words to make whatever valid reason you may have turn into one that they don’t cover. I actually believe after reading so many reviews now that the only real reason for cancellation they will cover is if you die. They should really change their policy Description of Coverage – it can be one page short and sweet.
We purchased the travel insurance for a recent trip to Florida where we rented a house. My husband ended up having to take a class and examination for a certification that was required for his job. We re-scheduled our trip but the accommodations that we had originally rented were not available so I cancelled that reservation. I submitted my claim and the letter received states “Unfortunately, our policy does not provide coverage if you had to cancel trip due to work related events.”
Stated in their Description of Coverage as covered events:
16. Being required to take an academic examination on a date that has been fixed after your coverage was purchased, and the examination date falls within your Trip dates;
To add to this my letter my letter states to refer to the ‘Trip Cancellation Benefit’ which I did (where I found the quoted reason above) and I see nothing that states their reason that I was denied. I also looked through the General Exclusions and found nothing.
One additional comment – I agree with another reviewer in do not listen to an agent you are making travel arrangements with – as they are going to tell you that it covers whatever reason you need to cancel. This is not necessarily CSA’s fault, but it ultimately results in you being mislead from both sides.
So as I said initially – really unless you are planning on death, don’t waste your money with this company. You will be screwed. Definitely will never purchase or recommend this company.
Thank you for sharing your experience. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. A dedicated claims team member has reached out to assist in providing a solution. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact CSA directly at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com. CSA strives to provide an exceptional product and customer service experience. We thank you for giving us this opportunity to service you and hope that you will consider CSA for your travel insurance needs in the future.
Did CSA ever follow up and cover you? I am thinking about purchasing insurance but with all the negative reviews, NO WAY!
CSA insurance is a scam PERIOD. Do not sign up. I did by mistake and cancelled the insurance right away through the merchant I purchased it from. I called and followed up with the merchant to confirm it was cancelled. They did confirm and said to expect a refund within 7-10 days. After about 13 days and no refund I called the merchant again and was informed that it was cancelled but they were not sure why the money was not in my account and gave me direct line to CSA insurance. I called and was told that since I did not placed a call directly to them they refuse to do the refund (even though I cancelled it within 10 minutes from the purchase). I explained what happened and was told basically too bad. I also told them that I will let my credit card know about it – and they told me that I need to do what I need to do – but they will not refund $561. SCAMMERS.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
This insurance is only good if the renter admits that there was damage.
Recently, someone – in a group of six renters (ages 25 – 27) – urinated in an upholstered chair and tried to cover it up. The chair (a lovely piece from Crate and Barrel) is ruined. That’s along with melted pizza cheese on the sofa, and permanent scratches and scuff marks on the maple floor (from rented leprechaun shoes).
The signer initially admitted that there ‘may’ have been damages, but later changed her story. According to CSA: If the guest denies fault, the claim is removed…
That makes this insurance pretty worthless, right?
Thank you for posting your review. We are sorry to hear about the damage to your property and apologize for not meeting your expectations. At CSA we strive to offer the best travel protection products and the highest customer service experience. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
DO NOT SIGN UP IF YOU ARE NOT A RESIDENT OF THE USA
CSA should make it clear that non-US residents are not covered. It is obvious when you give your address whether you live in the US or not, yet they take your money. They promised me a refund when I cancelled but only because I noticed the fine print within 10 days of signing up. I feel they should also refund the money we paid last year since they took it gladly, knowing full well that we would not be covered if something did happen. I agree with others who say VRBO should take them off their website.
Thank you for sharing your experience. We understand a member of our dedicated claims team has addressed your inquiry and has provided a resolution. Please let us know if we may be of further assistance. We strive to provide an exceptional travel protection product and customer service experience. We hope you will consider CSA for your future travel assistance needs and thank you again for reaching out to CSA.
We bought 4 tickets to Spain and declined insurance on the air line web site. When we received the electronic tickets it said we declined coverage but a footnote said check quotes on.insurance plans. My wife looked and saw a plan for $19.95 each with CSA so she asked for a quote. Instead of receiving a quote,it said thanks for buying the insurance but no cost was shown. Later we received a plan description but again no cost was shown. It said we had 10 days to review it but we thought it as the $19.95 plan.. Today we received our credit card account and were shocked to see a charge of $1,142.00. We called immediately and we told we had missed the 10 day review period by one day. We asked for proof that we checked to buy the $1.142.00 but they said it was bought on line so nothing could be done nor proof sent to us. This is clearly a rip off and we are warning others to be sure they find out what CSA.is showing they bought.and the actual cost. This was clearly done intentionally.. .
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
I am sick with a long term illness, had CSA Insurance “just in case”. Turns out I became sicker- too sick to travel now- and they REJECTED my refund because it was an “existing condition”. I am very very upset.. Wasted $600+ their fee of $61.. For nothing, DO NOT BELIEVE they will refund you because something happens!!! F+!
Thank you for sharing your experience. We are sorry for not meeting your expectations. Our goal is to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service at CSA. To review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have, please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com. We hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward and look forward to hearing from you.
CSA, Very Best and Most Reasonable
Let me first say, I am shocked by all the negative comments.
I have purchased travel insurance through this company many times, as they are the company that vacations to go uses. I had never put in a claim with this company until recently.
I was unable to go on a cruise due to a close family member having a medical issue and hospitalized 30 hours before my ship sailed. Besides cancelling the cruise with the cruise line, and vacations to go, I had called CSA FIRST. They read the part of the policy that pertained to my situation, over the phone to me. They also told me what documents I would need, so I could obtain them immediately from the Drs and hospital. Getting the documents needed from the hospital while we were there, was invaluable, as having to get it later would have been almost impossible. They never guaranteed I would be reimbursed before reviewing the whole claim, but when you absolutely can’t go, one takes their chances.
I was so busy and devastated at the turn of the events, I didn’t mail the claim form and information for a couple months. Once I did send the claim in, it only took CSA about a month.
I received a full refund, AND a refund of insurance money. Cost of insurance is never given back by the cruise lines. Not to mention, the cost of CSA travel insurance was cheaper than the cruise line also.
Thank you for your positive review. We’re sorry to hear about the circumstances surrounding your close family member. We are pleased to meet your expectations and look forward to working with you again should you need travel insurance in the future.
Good Experience
My daughters’ (yes, two of them) luggage was delayed by 2 days on a recent international trip. We filed a claim, and CSA had it completed with the check mailed to us within 2 weeks.
Here’s what I will say.
1. Read the fine print of their policy carefully. Don’t take word of an agent about how much insurance you have / what reimbursement you are entitled to, etc. I was reimbursed EXACTLY per the policy, which said they will reimburse to a certain amount, not the statement of the agent we first called to initiate the claim who implied we would get a guaranteed per-person payment amount.
2. Complete all the documentation they require very carefully. As soon as they send you the claim packet, open it and see what is needed. Keep receipts for everything. Keep documentation that is given to you to substantiate your claim (e.g. airline baggage delay pamphlet with our case number, signed courier paperwork to show when and where your luggage was eventually delivered to you).
3. Have reasonable expectations. During the delay we only purchased necessary items – shoes, a small number of clothes, diapers, and wipes. We were reimbursed only for those items we purchased and had receipts for.
4. In a case such as ours, contact the airline and request they write and send you a letter for insurance purposes.
Thank you for sharing your positive experience. We are pleased to have met your expectations, and we hope we have an opportunity to provide travel protection and assistance services to you in the future.
Horrible!
We have vacation rentals in Maui thru VRBO (http://www.vrbo.com/422954 & http://www.vrbo.com/487882). VRBO added CSA as the damage protection insurance. We filed 2 claims, both were approved. But we never receive any payment. The agent that is supposed to be handling our claim never pick up fhe phone or return our call.
We are going to contact VRBO to remove CSA travel insurance option from the reservation process. Is kind of business practice should be outlawed!
Thank you for contacting CSA. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. A dedicated claims team member has reached out to assist in providing a solution. CSA strives to provide an exceptional product and customer service experience. We thank you for giving us this opportunity to service you and hope that you will consider CSA for your travel insurance needs in the future. If you have any questions please feel free to contact CSA directly at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com.
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!!! DO NOT USE!
My wife and I booked a trip to the mountains at 6 months prego. I purchased this Insurance because she is prego and anything can happen. The week before our doc told us we should stay in town so I cancelled our trip. Filled out claim and they don’t want to reimburse us. We had to wait weeks to go back to doctor and he filled out pages on their BS claim form. He provided a “MEDICAL CONDITION” which is what they asked for and its still not enough. Phone call after phone call and weeks of nothing we still haven’t gotten our money back. This is why we purchased the travel protection in the first place. They are so rude on the phone and speak to you like you are a kindergartner in a classroom. I have no clue how they are in business and we still haven’t gotten our reimbursement yet. Its total fraud and I will get my money back in court or a dispute on my CC. Never in my life have I dealt with a worse insurance company. We had a house burn down in 1994 and a totaled car in 2011 and both were beyond professional and got us everything back that was fair. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! I hope nobody ever has to deal with Chanel
Thank you for contacting CSA. We understand a member of our dedicated claims team has addressed your inquiry and has provided a resolution. Please let us know if we may be of further assistance. We strive to provide an exceptional travel protection product and customer service experience. We hope you will consider CSA for your future travel assistance needs and thank you again for reaching out to CSA.
My wife and I just had a bad experience with CSA insurance also. We have been on 61 cruises and we have purchased CSA insurance for most of the cruises. We were supposed to go on a cruise in February of 2015 and my wife’s doctor scheduled her for foot surgery before the cruise. The surgery was three weeks before the cruise and we purchased the cruise and the cruise insurance because the price of the cruise was so cheap. We thought my wife would be able to wear a surgical boot or possibly us a transport chair. The doctor surprised us and said that she could not travel for two months. The surgery was more extensive than we thought it was going to be. We contacted the CSA insurance company and filled out the forms and we had the doctor fill out the forms also to send to the insurance company. We later received a letter stating that our claim was denied because we purchased the cruise after the surgery had been scheduled. We tried to explain that we had thought that my wife would be able to wear the surgical boot or use the transport chair but that did not seem to make any difference. I have contacted my credit card company and they have opened a dispute case with CSA. I usually bring eight to sixteen couples with me on these cruises and I have always recommended to them to buy CSA travel insurance but I will not do that again especially if they think they may have to use the insurance.
Thank you for sharing your experience. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and the highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
Do not waste your money buying travel insurance from this company. Your money will enter a black hole never to be heard from again. They string you along saying additional information is required, but they never pay the claim. We had the chief of nursing call them to explain the details of our claim and show them the error in their logic and why the claim is legitimate. They were either not competent to understand or they just do not want to pay. TRAVEL INSURANCE WITH THIS COMPANY IS A JOKE. Save your money!!
You are absolutely right and I am now finding out the hard way. I posted on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else, not to use this company because it’s a rip off and they are full of it!
Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry that we did not meet your expectations and we apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. A dedicated claims team member has reached out to you to assist in providing a resolution. If you have any questions please feel free to contact CSA directly at (800) 348-9505 or via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com. CSA strives to provide an exceptional product and customer service experience. We hope that you will consider CSA for your future travel assistance needs and that we will have an opportunity to provide the high quality of service and level of care customary to CSA.
Thank you for reaching out to CSA. We are sorry that we did not meet your expectations and we apologize for any inconvenience. We understand a member of our dedicated claims team has addressed the situation and provided a resolution. Please let us know if we may provide any further assistance. You may reach CSA at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com. We strive to provide the highest customer service experience and best travel protection products. We hope you will consider CSA for your future travel assistance needs and that we will have an opportunity to provide the high quality of service and level of care customary to CSA.
After reading the multitude of negative reviews by previously insured travelers, I am concerned about buying a group package on an expensive trip at a significant premium.
Can anybody comment on how best to arm-twist the Company to pay the benefits promised, especially if all the documentation hurdles were met and the claim still denied on an undisclosed technicality? Do complaints to Insurance Commissioner help, or expensive litigation? I would expect a Regulatory body with “teeth” to enforce policy is needed in this unscrupulous industry. Any thoughts for this wary future traveler?
I can’t say enough good things about this company. Our host died on a recent trip abroad and we had to book expensive tickets back to the U.S. earlier than expected. The agents with whom we spoke were compassionate, helpful, and knowledgeable. After providing the required documentation, we received a refund of our additional expenses in a very timely manner. I will buy CSA insurance through DAN again (this is my 3rd time purchasing insurance through DAN, but my first time making a claim.)
Thank you for sharing your positive experience. We are sorry to hear of your loss though we are pleased to have met your expectations. We hope we have an opportunity to provide travel protection and assistance services to you in the future.
After being hospitalized in Holland for 12 days in October, 2014, CSA arranged for our transportation home from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. My flight costs were covered by CSA, but my wife’s ticket had to be prepaid by us to the tune of $3650 and we were assured total re-imbursement. We were later informed that we would get only $2250, per their stated policy. They claimed to have gone back to those many phone calls and found no such promise which has to be an outright lie, Also, while were were re-imbursed for our flight to Barcelona from Amsterdam and for our cruise to Ft. Lauderdale, they would not pay for the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Minneapolis since they got me there from Amsterdam. On that they really had me scratching my head. This is still on the front burner and at this point I would not recommend CSA to anyone.
Thank you for reaching out to CSA and sharing your experience. We are sorry to hear that we did not meet your expectations. We understand a member of our dedicated claims team has addressed your inquiry and has provided a resolution. Please let us know if we may be of further assistance. You may reach CSA at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com. We strive to provide an exceptional travel protection product and customer service experience. We hope you will consider CSA for your future travel assistance needs and that we will have an opportunity to provide the high quality of service and level of care customary to CSA.
DO NOT BUY THIS INSURANCE!
I purchased this for my flight, and it was delayed for 14 hours due to a strike. I stayed in airport, and re-booked my ticket to fly. I was told by csa, I could have forseen a strike!!! and no benefits paid, SHAME!!
Thank you for reaching out to CSA and sharing your experience. We are sorry to hear about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding your trip. We understand a member of our dedicated claims team has addressed your inquiry and has provided a resolution. Please let us know if we may be of further assistance. You may reach CSA at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com. We strive to provide an exceptional travel protection product and customer service experience. We hope you will consider CSA for your future travel assistance needs and that we will have an opportunity to provide the high quality of service and level of care customary to CSA.
I had to cancel a trip at the last minute to care for my elderly mother. I was concerned after reading some of the negative reviews that I would have a problem getting reimbursed. I was thrilled to get my full claim within three weeks without any complications. I will definitely be using CSA again!! Wonderful, friendly experience. I couldn’t be more pleased.
Thank you for your positive review. We are very sorry to hear about the circumstances regarding your mother though we are pleased to learn that we met your expectations. We strive to provide an exceptional travel protection product and customer service experience. We look forward to working with you should you need travel protection insurance in the future.
BUYERS BEWARE!!!
Read FULL disclosure of insurance prior to purchasing. There are ‘fine print stipulations’ allowing CSA to decline a claim, and they will do so. CSA clearly states that if the trip is cancelled you are covered 100%, however after purchasing the insurance details within the policy are supplied and tell a very different story, and please trust me when I say this is insurance may only be applicable for very specific conditions.
The declination of my claim and misleading terminology will indeed be reported to the BBB, and posted on travel threads so people are aware of the facts! This turned a bucket list trip into a nightmare, and now out thousands of dollars.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
I wish we had read about the negative reviews regarding CSA. We had to cancel our trip due to my husband being called in for work on an emergency basis. It was not optional. When I called to check on the claim they let me know then they won’t cover any work related issues. Even though it is not specifically listed in the exclusions they can still deny is what I was told. I plan on diligently petitioning the Homeaway site in getting the CSA travel insurance option removed from the reservation process. Very poor business practice and zero integrity!
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
My trip was in June 2014, unfortunately due to sickness of family member we were not able to go. I thought “thanks god” we have CSA travel insurance plan…but today is November they are still reviewing our file…going back and forward with paperwork from hospitals….CSA travel insurance is Very unreliable, its so easy to buy the plan…BUT if god forbid something happened YOU WILL NEVER GET YOUR MONEY BACK….at least it would be very painful.
Never CSA travel insurance again.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
PLEASE DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS COMPANY. I wish I had read the CSA reviews before buying CSA Travel Protection but it was my first time ever buying insurance even though I used to be a 1K flyer. In September 2014, I bought an airline ticket for my adult daughter to visit her sister who lives/works in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Because she had cardiac surgery several years ago and continues to have heart/lung issues, I thought it best to buy travel insurance, just in case! Well, the just in case occurred the night before she was to depart and she felt she just couldn’t make the trip at this time. I started the cancellation process several days afterwards and didn’t get a response from CSA for at least 45 days then received a form denial e-mail not addressed to me even though I purchased the airline ticket and insurance. I e-mailed back to see what information I was lacking … no response yet. From all the negative reviews I have read, I think you have to die and get a letter from God in order to get a refund, and that’s a maybe. Shame on them for even being in business!
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
I purchased CSA Travel Insurance for my daughter to fly on September 11, 2014 and return September 22, 2014. She was unable to make this trip because of pre-existing conditions (it’s why I bought the insurance). I sent all the requested information to CSA on September 11, 2014 and followed up with e-mails, none of which have been answered. I have not had the courtesy of any kind of response and, of course, have not received a refund yet. I’m wondering why it’s taking so long and why the lack of communication with a customer? I’m now understanding why so many reviews are negative. Don’t waste your money with this company since they don’t respond if you have a claim.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize that we did not meet your expectations. At CSA we strive to provide the best travel protection products and highest customer service. Please contact us at (800) 348-9505 or csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review the details of your policy and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can meet your expectations moving forward.
CSA Travel Insurance Buyers Be Aware!!!
You may be ineligible for claims due to this obligatory requirement:
AFFIDAVIT OF NO INSURANCE
I/we, _____________________________ hereby declare under penalty of perjury that I/we
do not have any other valid and collectible insurance or indemnity coverage, including,
but not limited to, homeowners, renters, or other travel insurance policies that were in
effect during the covered trip.
Thank you for your recent post regarding CSA. At CSA we value our customers and their opinions. Please give us a call at (800) 348-9505 or contact us via email at csa@csatravelprotection.com so that we may review your concerns regarding CSA’s travel protection product. We strive to provide the highest customer service experience and best travel protection productions. We hope that we will have an opportunity in the future to provide our travel protection product and services to you at the level of care customary to CSA.
When our family trip was cancelled due to an emergency medical matter, I received a full refund within less than 6 weeks. During the process, each phone call and email was promptly answered by a professional knowledgeable person. Never a “wait” on the phone or a need to be transferred. The agents gave me their names and direct phone numbers and held my hand through the process. I am a delighted customer and will not only use this service again ( and fervently hope to be able to enjoy the vacation planned rather than the speedy refund) but will recommend that others look into it as well. I appreciate the excellent level of service I was given. It helped ease the disappointment of a missed trip.
Thank you for reaching out to CSA and sharing your positive experience. We strive to provide an exceptional travel protection product and customer service experience. We are pleased to have met your expectations and look forward to working with you should you need travel insurance in the future.
Rental Home Owners who use VRBO stay away from CSA. They post a lie in their email to homeowners when the say “your home is now covered.” It is not covered!!
The policy is in the renters names. If the renter decides to lie about damages, you will receive nothing.
We believe in VRBO and their advice. NO LONGER! We are looking at other services as we were deceived by their and CSA claims. We recently submitted pictures of the damages, quotes, and all needed information. My home was not covered as their ad claims. False advertising at its best.
Do not use CSA.
This is for a travel insurance policy that was bought by the renter, not the home owner. We paid part of this claim, but were unable to pay the full amount because the insured denied any other damages could have occurred. This has been resolved with the BBB as well, and our A+ rating is still in good standing. Home owners who want to be covered should look into homeowners insurance.
I lost my baggage and CSA will not pay for lost baggage or interim expense. They first wants me to file with my home insurance .This is ridiculous. Why do I need CSA coverage ? Please do not waste your money on this company. They have too many bad clasues you do not have time to read . Basically denied coverage for pretty much everything by applying unwarranted clauses which consumer do not read in detail.
In order for your claim to be payable, the reason needs to fall within the parameters of the claim. All replacement baggage items need to be purchased before you return home. Additionally, an insured cannot be paid by two insurance companies for the same thing, and he must go through the initial insurance, such as homeowner’s insurance, first before continuing with travel insurance companies. We encourage our customers to read their description of coverage. There is a 10-day free look, so they can get their money back as long as they haven’t left for their trip.
review about CSA Travel Insurance
I lost my baggage and CSA will not pay forlost baggage or interim expense. They first wants me to file with my home insurance .This is ridiculous. Why do I need CSA coverage ? Please do not waste your money on this company. They have too many bad clause which you do not have time to read and they will use against instead fo paying.. Basically denied coverage for pretty much everything by applying unwarranted clauses which consumers do not have time to read.
In order for your claim to be payable, the reason needs to fall within the parameters of the claim. All replacement baggage items need to be purchased before you return home. Additionally, an insured cannot be paid by two insurance companies for the same thing, and he must go through the initial insurance, such as homeowner’s insurance, first before continuing with travel insurance companies. We encourage our customers to read their description of coverage. There is a 10-day free look, so they can get their money back as long as they haven’t left for their trip.
DON’T give your money to CSA it’s a waste I wish I have done my research. I have talked to a lot of people and saw a ton of forums. Almost no one ever collects. They have unreasonable expectations regarding proof of your reasoning behind your travel plans going up in smoke. Almost no one gets a claim approved. I’m in the military and I will be passing this info along to all my brothers in arms. This place doesn’t consider deploying to Afghanistan as a specific event causing me to miss my trip. I thought they would cause reading the policy they mention that if you have the okay for leave and it is then revoked for whatever reason you are covered. They want things that doesn’t even exist to prove it. I sent proof of my inevitable deployment. That wasn’t enough.
We support our troops and value your feedback, which we’ve shared with our team. In order to be covered, the reason needs to fall within the parameters of the policy. For military personnel, it’s required to get approval prior to taking a leave for vacation. We encourage our customers to read their policies and ask questions before they leave on their trip. They can cancel within 10 days for free as long as they haven’t departed. Also, we are proud of our customer service team and encourage everyone to read what customers are saying about getting their claims paid on review sites like insuremytrip.com.
ON JUNE 17, 2014, I CHECKED THE WEB-SITES FOR THE BEST TRAVEL PROTECTION INSURANCE FOR MY 12 DAY TRIP (FROM JULY 17-29, 2014) OUT OF THE COUNTRY. MY TRIP HAD BIG PROBLEMS BUT SO EVERYONE KNOWN “CSA TRAVEL INSURANCE” WAS WORTHLESS. I WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER GIVING MY MONEY TO ANY PERSON STANDING ONTHE STREET. THE CSA PROTECTION INSURANCE PROVIDES PROTECTION SO THEY DO NOT HAVE TO PAY ANY CLAIMS.
I WILL NEVER PURCHASE INSURANCE FROM “CSA”. I SHOULD HAVE GONE TO AMERCIAN EXPRESS. IWM
Thanks for reaching out to us. We take customer service very seriously. It looks like we need to get more information from you to respond. Please call us at (800)348-9505, or send an email to csa@csatravelprotection.com.
My experience with CSA has been cumbersome and very frustrating. This is the first time I’ve purchased insurance and when my father -in-law had to have brain surgery, thought that I was covered. NOPE. All I get is the run around and requests for more medical documentation.
Wish I had done more homework and read these reviews. It seems as if CSA has an excuse for everything except Yes.
We’re sorry to hear about your frustration, and thanks for bringing this to our attention. Our records show that one of the forms you sent in wasn’t complete. We notified you of this already and are awaiting documentation from you. We need this to process your claim as quickly as possible. Please call us or email us to expedite this process. You can reach us at (800)348-9505, or send an email to csa@csatravelprotection.com.
I bought a CSA policy through Diver’s Alert Network. Good luck trying to collect if you have a claim.
I ended up in an emergency room in Israel. We filed a claim. First CSA denied that they had sold me a policy. Then I sent proof of purchase. Now they have continued a run-around for more than 6 months requiring multiple forms, repetitive information, follow up phone calls, email exchanges and still no payment on a clear claim. I would never buy this insurance again.
You purchased a DAN product that does not involve CSA. We’ve reached out to DAN, and they are working with the travel insurance company to resolve this issue. They have already been in touch with you and will continue to follow up with you directly.
The travel insurance offered by DAN is CSA. It says so right on their website.
I bought this insurance because it was listed at the bottom of my invoice for a event in BIG BEAR California for a firework and dinner event. I thought well my son is going through depression lets get away and enjoy the 4th of July as a family to try to help him feel better and get away from the city and hectic life for a few days. My son went to his therapy session and his friends are not able to go on the trip so he revealed to me and the counselor he did not want to go. I thought no problem I have the travel insurance my son is depressed and I will get my refund. WRONG! The lady on the phone was very polite but sent me the rules on filing a claim. If you have a mental break down or depression or even anxiety which my son suffers from all these conditions this does not qualify you for a refund. I will never purchase this travel insurance again. I warn anyone that is offered this insurance have the buyer beware because unless there is a nuclear War you are not going to qualify for a refund on your trip. I am so disappointed in these types of scams it is ridiculous. Please be careful before you buy this insurance it is just another company trying to get money for doing nothing and not helping the consumer get a refund.
In order for the claim to be payable, the reason for the trip cancellation needs to fall within the covered parameters of the policy. We encourage our customers to read their description of coverage, and we offer a 10-day free look on all of our travel insurance plans. Customers can cancel their coverage and get a full refund if they aren’t completely satisfied as long as they haven’t left for their trip.
DON’T COUNT ON CSA FOR ANYTHING
Choosing CSA for travel insurance for our Holland biking tour with a week in London was the worse decision of this trip. Having suffered with sinusitis prior to the trip, the infection returned after I finished the prescribed regimen of antibiotics a week into the trip. One day before leaving Holland for London, it was clear I was too sick to continue the trip and decided to cancel the London part of trip and return home before my sinus infection got so bad to preclude flying. We called CSA’s emergency number and explained the situation and asked if they could help us change our tickets to return home. We were told there was nothing they could do. The first flight we could get to return home wasn’t until the next morning, and had to stay one night in a hotel at the Schipol Airport, Amsterdam. The cost to change the tickets on short notice and the hotel bill was almost $2,000. We filed a claim with CSA and were told they would cover only the hotel costs we incurred of $247. They found our claim valid enough to pay our hotel costs, but not our flight expenses for the return trip. Not only did they refuse to help us when in The Netherlands, they used every loop hole in their arsenal to get out of paying us anything but a pittance for our travel expenses to return home. Never, never, never choose CSA for anything. If you do and have a claim, you’ll get nothing but their legal mumbo-jumbo as to why they won’t pay and will give you no support while traveling.
In order for the claim to be payable, the reason for the trip interruption needs to fall within the covered parameters of the policy. In this instance, trip interruption for medical treatment or illness was not a covered reason. The policy requires in person treatment at the time of interruption. Travel Delay does not have the same requirements, so we did reimburse you for the hotel. Our records indicate that there was no mention of medical treatment or illness during the call; therefore, we would not be able to offer you help finding a facility. We encourage our customers to read their description of coverage, and we offer a 10-day free look on all of our travel insurance plans. Customers can cancel their coverage and get a full refund if they are not completely satisfied as long as they haven’t left for their trip.
We had to cancel a cruise to the Mediterranean because my wife broke her hip. CSA is refusing to pay for the change fee for the airline , and our hotel fees, because the travel did not occur on the exact date that the cruise was sailing . My wife has very serious jet lag issues, and we were arriving in Venice 72 hours before the cruise sailed. Our return flight was a few days after the cruise returned to Barcelona. American Express charges $330.00 per ticket to make any change, it does not matter if the ticket was issued for the date of the cruise departure or any other date.
CSA is treating the travel insurance policy as if it only covers the cruise dates, and not the travel dates. Nowhere does the policy state that.
Ironically, this is the insurance company selected by RCI for its members, and they do have resorts that people use in the port cities.
Thank you for your feedback. We paid the claim for the cruise and to reinstate the cruise certificate back to your account, which was very close to the policy maximum. After reviewing your policy, it does include the cruise dates, but not the travel dates. We recommend that all of our customers read their policy closely. CSA offers a 10-day free look so you can review your policy and get a full refund if you aren’t satisfied, as long as you haven’t already left on your trip or filed a claim.
I agree with Karel. Very displeased with the treatment I received on behalf of CSA reps Karl and Alberto. I could not have felt worse about canceling my trip to Bahamas and on top of that the insurance company I paid for is giving me a hard time about providing specific documentation. They send condescending emails and phone calls. Very deceptive, very bad business, I’ll never use them again, and I will tell all my friends not to use them.
The reason for the trip interruption needs to fall within the covered parameters of the policy in order for the claim to be payable. We encourage our customers to read their description of coverage, and we offer a 10-day free look on all of our travel insurance plans. Customers can cancel their coverage and get a full refund if they aren’t completely satisfied as long as they haven’t left for their trip.
We have used CSA for 15 years and have been very happy with their support. We were traveling with another couple who were boarding a smaller plane and gave their carry-on (with meds, camera and jewelry…..I told them no jewelry when traveling) to the agent at the door to the plane. Because it wasn’t locked and the workers put their hand in to grab the camera, the luggage was “lost”. The airline couldn’t find it. The hotel we arrived at tried and couldn’t find it. We contacted CSA and their agent found it!!!! It was delivered to the next hotel. We were caught up in an airline strike in Europe. Delayed for 2 days…CSA paid. No problems.
CSA handled a claim for me last year when I injured my back and had to have emergency surgery. In spite of a very complex billing process, their claims rep., Adam Martin, did an EXCELLENT job getting all of the 27 bills processed and paid. Although the process was very long and drawn out (not CSA’s fault), he stuck with me through the entire situation.
That’s the good news……..unfortunately, the bad news is that their medical evacuation team was HORRIBLE. They were the most uncaring, uncooperative group of people I have ever dealt with. They ignored a letter from my surgeon stating that I couldn’t fly home and gave me an ultimatum to fly home within an unapproved time-frame after my surgery or they wouldn’t honor the evacuation part of the policy. Too bad…
I continue to purchase CSA insurance for all of my trips, hoping this was an unusual event.
I have used CSA travel insurance many times. I always go through insure my trip to compare plans and CSA has always come out on top. This started the first time I had a trip go bad and had no travel insurance ending up with significant medical bills because of the need for emergent surgery with an orthopedic group that did not participate with my insurance company. Of course at the time, whether they participated or not was furthest from my mind particularly after all the narcotics given in the Emergency Room. Only after did I find out they did not participate and I had a significant outstanding bill.After that I began purchasing travel insurance and not need to make use of it until this year. My experience with CSA was nothing short of wonderful. They quickly told me what to do at the time of injury to document my inability to continue on the planned trip and after returning home told me what was needed to complete the claim. The speed with which they paid the benefits was astounding. I will definitely be purchasing all my future travel instance with CSA.
I have to say that I searched online for finding a good company for travel insurance and CSA came as one of the best. Unfortunately, my experience with CSA has been quite the opposite. The customer service experience at times was good but and at others times it was terrible.
Now, they just rejected my claim, which wasn’t a lot of money and was for the trip delay because of a medical reason. As far as the customer satisfaction is concerned CSA has been one of the worst. On top they seem to deny valid claims. I am definitely not insuring with them the next time.
We need additional information from you about your specific situation in order to respond. Please call us at (800)348-9505, or send an email to csa@csatravelprotection.com.
DO NOT BUY THIS INSURANCE IT IS NOT WORTH IT! FIND A WELL KNOWN COMPANY THAT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU! NOT A RELIABLE COMPANY!
I went to Brazil on vacation and so I purchased this insurance. Well of course I missed my first flight because of a delay and missed all my remaining flights. As a result I had to have my fiance’s parents purchase domestic flights and bus tickets. I reimbursed them as a result. I filed a claim with all my information and also my travel agent’s information so they could coordinate the info. It took months to get responses from their rep and they keep saying that information is missing yet I gave them all the information that I have. If they put a little work into it they could talk to my travel agent but clearly they haven’t and won’t.
If I could give them a lower rating I would and I WILL NEVER purchase their services again and I hope this helps you in finding the proper company that will take care of you especially in a crisis.
My apologizes for the delay in handling your claim. Customer satisfaction is important to the team here at CSA and we appreciate all feedback.
While the review says the policy is available for Canadians, the top of page 7 states it is good for US residents, and for Non residents IF THEY ARE TRAVELING TO THE US … Inferring not for elsewhere …
Wow, I just got off the phone after reading your comment Ian, and sure enough even though I booked my vacation to Mexico from Canada thru Air Canada vacations, the girl on the phone at CSA told me that I cannot be insured thru their plans, only if I’m traveling to the USA. On the website, I entered all my info to book emergency medical and trip cancellation for myself and husband, and it let me through all the way to the payment page, and I nearly gave my credit card info. I would have paid for insurance that I could haven’t used, and I believe that CSA needs to make it VERY clear on their booking pages that it’s NOT available to Canadians. For example for your address when you have to select state, you can select ‘other’ since the provinces aren’t listed, and for zip code, it splits the field into two boxes allowing us to enter a postal code, so at first I really thought I was good to go. Good thing I decided to google it and came across your post, and then I phoned CSA and spoke to an agent confirming that it IS NOT available to Canadians traveling outside the USA. Fix your website CSA!
Hi Ian,
Thanks for the comment. We strive to maintain accurate information on the website, and I appreciate your pointing out the error. We are updating the wording now.
Thanks again,
Damian Tysdal
I had an absolutely terrific claims experience with CSA. This is the letter I wrote in praise of the company’s handling of our medical claim, and I think the letter says it all:
“Richelle – Thank you so much for your caring and competent attention
to all of this. Having been a lawyer for more than 42 years, you can
imagine how many claims professionals I have dealt with, and so I can say
from a lot of experience that your handling of Mary’s and my claims has
been outstanding. Because of professionals like you, I will continue to
recommend CSA to anyone who asks for my advice.”
Thanks for sharing your good experience with us. We’ll be sure to let the team know.
Incompetent claim analyst/Mr Kochalka / sending contradictory e mails containing incorrect statements in order to delay claim resolution and/ or deny benefit payment .
Unable to reach upper management .
Deceptive business practice .
Thanks for your feedback. According to our records, your claim has been processed and payment is on the way. It can take up to 60 days to receive the appropriate documentation to process these types of claims. We’ve received everything and have released payment for both the trip interruption portion of the claim and the medical claim.
CSA seems to be very proud of their rating from the Better Business Bureau. If you are still considering CSA after reading the comments on this website, please go to the http://www.bbb.org site and look at the history for CSA Travel Protection. There are a large number of complaints, but it appears that BBB does not lower the rating for a company as long as their is a response received. It does not matter that the customer was not satisfied with the response, just that the company responded. Please take heed and do not do business with this company.
Thank you for your comment. We are proud of our rating with the BBB and encourage everyone to read the customer comments at http://www.bbb.org as well as the customer testimonials at http://www.csatravelprotection.com/.
We have been totally satisfied with both the value (coverage vs. cost) and service provided by CSA.
We have used CSA travel insurance for four trips. On three of those, we had the misfortune to need to file a claim (an injury on a Kilimanjaro trip, a death in the family and trip cancellation, a missed flight connection). In all three instances, the claims process was easy to negotiate (yes, you do have to provide documentation for the loss, and that is a minor hassle, but you’d do the same thing with any insurance claim). We found the customer service representatives we talked to routinely courteous and knowledgeable. Claims were settled in a timely fashion (no, sorry, it won’t be instant — compare experience with an auto accident claim) in all three cases, with inarguable payments.
We didn’t choose to have occasion to file a claim, would have preferred not to. But when the events arose, CSA did it’s part in an efficient and effective manner. We will do business with them again (and, in fact, have recently).
The carping about coverage in this set of reviews, it seems to me, come largely from people who did not understand what was and was not covered by their policy contract (yes, CONTRACT, with responsibilities and obligations on both sides).
Thank you for taking the time to write this. We really appreciate it and have shared it with our customer service team.
Read the fine print! I recently traveled from the US to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. The flight was cancelled because of a major fire at Nairobi Airport and I had to pay for a new ticket to Kilimanjaro and to change my return flight. My claim for reimbursement was denied because only delays caused by weather, mechanical breakdown of the aircraft or an organized labor strike were covered! This means that if my flight had been cancelled because of a thunderstorm over Nairobi airport it would have been covered but a major fire that shut down the airport for three days causing all major airlines to cancel hundreds of flights was not a covered “cause for your loss”.
The reason for the trip interruption needs to fall within the covered parameters of a claim in order for the claim to be payable. An airport fire is not a situation that is covered by your policy.
We encourage our customers to read their description of coverage, and we offer a 10-day free look on all of our travel insurance plans. Customers can cancel their coverage and get a full refund if they aren’t completely satisfied as long as they haven’t left for their trip.
Wow, I WAS going to purchase your insurance for the cruise that I just booked on Vacations to Go. After reading all the reviews, none of which were good, I’ve decided to go with another insurance carrier which I have used in the past. Maybe you should look at your reviews and fix what is broken…
Good thing you didn’t use them. You would have never gotten your money back. These bad reviews outweigh the few good ones I’ve read on here.
Booked with CSA and had to cancel my trip. I sent in the claim form and heard nothing back. After several weeks I called in and was told who my claims adjuster was but she was not available. I was told that she would call back within 24 hours. She did not. When I finally reached her she said that I had not included certain paperwork and they had sent out requests for the info. Three weeks passed and I was told they were waiting on some information to come back. I said from whom and when they told me I called them and they said that if CSA would fax the forms they would send them back ASAP. I called my claim adjuster who was not available again and left the fax number with a request that she call me to confirm that they had gotten it and sent the fax. No call back. I called a week later and tried to contact the adjuster – not available. I then asked for a supervisor and she told me that a claim check was to be issued this week. The overall claims process on their end took two months.
The next time, I think that I will use my regular insurance company. Their TI insurance my be a little higher but there always seems to be information about your policy and claim available, and they want to help. Dealing with CSA and my claims adjuster was not very satisfying.
We’re very sorry to hear that your experience was not ideal, but we’re glad that we were able to collect the right documentation and pay your claim. We’ll pass this information on to our customer service team as well. Thanks for your feedback. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Filed a claim to cover the cost of a taxi from Newark to Laguardia in order to catch the flight United booked us on after cancelling our original flight. CSA took five weeks to process the claim and provided no updates on the process until I requested status updates via email. They denied my claim saying that United told them the flight was cancelled due to “air traffic control/flow control” and that is not covered by my policy. Their denial letter provided no option to appeal even though our flight was cancelled because of a weather delay that caused the flight crew to time out and the airline had no other crew available. Since this is a small claim I am not pursuing it any further (congratulations CSA you didn’t have to pay me $65). Avoid this company. Review there responses to other comments on this website to get a sense of how this company will weasel its way out of paying any claims.
Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your frustration with the claims process. Unfortunately, we would need additional information from you about your specific situation in order to respond. Please call us at (800)348-9505, or send an email to csa@csatravelprotection.com. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
CSA Travel Protection is beyond awful. I was stranded alone, with little English spoken, in a 3rd world hospital with only denial of service from CSA & their various minions. I could have died. They eventually paid some medical bills. They are underwritten by Stonebridge Insurance & deal with another intermediary in Europe. Buyer beware.
We’re sorry to hear that you were in the hospital and that you experienced frustration with your claim. Our emergency medical assistance is designed to help our customers find a provider from our list of carefully vetted facilities close to where they are who speak their language. Customers can call into our 24-hour hotline to get this information. When traveling abroad, it is important to understand that facilities may not look like those in the United States. When CSA chooses facilities, it ensures that they meet medical standards of care and have the proper equipment and staff on hand for the particular issue its customers are facing. If they need transportation to the facility, we can help arrange for that as well, whether it is emergency transportation, a taxi or just directions. We have doctors and nurses on staff in our emergency assistance center who coordinate care with the local doctors and facilities from the time our customers step through the door to when they arrive back home to ensure they receive the care they need. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Claim#13019369-01
It appears this company Takes great joy, in distrusting everyone that files a claim. My flight was cancelled, had to fly out the next day. My rental in spain was obviuosly shortened by the delay. submitted proof of my claim as directed to do.then the obstacles began..why did you pay in cash?..amount paid was read incorrectly by the claims, obviously it is hard to decipher between 1087.86 and 10.87 she questioned, but obviously reading and comprehension are not her strentgh, then i was told they were following up with the rental comapnay and Delta ..i called them both..not one person had contacted them from CSA..enough said..re submitted rental agreement and delta’s xplanation for the delay…still waiting..oh boy..the benefits are good, but not that good if they are not paid
Thank you for providing this feedback. We understand it can be frustrating to gather the paperwork required to complete a claim. Without knowing who you spoke with at the rental company or Delta, it is difficult to provide more insight. When we work with a carrier to confirm information, it may be through the corporate headquarters instead of the local office. Based on our records, we are showing that we received confirmation from the carriers on the delay, and the claim was paid within two weeks. We hope that you found the resolution to your case satisfactory. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Worst ever sales !!!! I had such a bad experience
With the rudest customer care associate . They
Have absolutely no idea of what is required …. Had
to cancel within 5 mins of purchase !!! Stay as far
As possible .
We are so sorry to hear about your experience and want to take this opportunity to thank you for providing your input. We will share this with our customer care team so that we can learn from it. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Very disappointing coverage. Our luxury river travel excursion in central Europe was aborted and then substituted for with a third class bus tour , with poor eating and hotel accommodations arranged at the last minute. We were unable to escape from this horrible experience that we would never have purchased because of the difficulty and expense of making alternate arrangements at the last minute. We were trapped into something we would never have purchased by an interrupted and substituted trip. CSA’s response was that our enjoyment was not their concern. So as a result we were not covered for the non-delivery of what we had purchased, which was the reason for purchasing insurance to begin with. I am sure had we managed to shoulder the expense of leaving the bus tour , they would have also invented another excuse not to honor their obligation. It’s a waste of money if you are in good health. I suspect if we were fortunate enough to have a health catastrophe interrupt out trip we would have enjoyed some coverage.
Thank you for providing your feedback, and we are very sorry to hear that you did not find your trip enjoyable due to the itinerary changes made by your travel supplier. Unfortunately, our policies do not provide coverage for a change in itinerary. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Very disappointed in this company.
They “say” they will provide hurricane protection if you purchase the policy BEFORE the storm is named…but this is not entirely true. I purchased a policy BEFORE TS Dorian was named, however it was on the same day it was named (I purchased early in the morning….it was named later that day.)
I called to verify coverage and they said all policies purchased on that date or after do not have Dorian protection. Their site ought to say that….it is very misleading. I am glad I called and was at least able to get my money back….now hoping my vacation doesn’t get wiped out by this storm.
Thank you for your feedback. It’s important to remember that the intent of insurance is to protect you from unforeseen risks. Hurricane Dorian had been getting tracked for days prior to being named a tropical storm, so even though it was not named until later that day, there was already knowledge of the storm. The date of coverage is available on the company site for full review prior to purchase and does state that the coverage goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. the day after you buy. We understand that there is a lot of information, which is why we offer a 10-day free look. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
One of the worst insurance companies. Don’t get travel or any other insurance with this company.
I submitted detailed claim with documentation in May 2013 and then again they sent me a claim form to fill out and send. I tried filling out the form online and it had problems where the entries I made on page one would get transposed on the second page where the entries I made would disappear. I tried 3 times and got tired and called them and left message for a claims analyst as advised by the customer service person answering the phone. Never heard from him ever. Then again after a month or so I get another email saying ” you did not submit a claim on this reference number and if we don’t hear from you, we will close the case.” So, I sent a detailed reply to that. Again yesterday, I received another email saying the same things again.
Horrible business to deal with. Don’t waste your money getting your insurance from this outfit. It is as good as not having any insurance and you end up paying several hundred dollars in premium which you could save or find another insurance that is a business with integrity.
The mantra or company slogan should read .You pay…We do not
We’re sorry that you experienced confusion and frustration during the claims process after your recent trip. In order to respond to your situation, we would need additional information about your specific situation. Please call us at (800) 348-9505, or send an email to csa@csatravelprotection.com. CSA is committed to its customers and holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Don’t buy this for damage from renters.
I tried it and they denied coverage on a small claim for about $110. The renters damaged the bedroom door. Hey, that’s why we bought damage insurance for damage or loss from renters. Nope, sorry, they would not cover it because it was deemed “intentional” . That’s the whole point.
Just collect a damage deposit, like we’ve always done in the past. Nice experiment and a small loss and lesson learned.
DO NOT PURCHASE THIS IF YOU ARE MILITARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They require you to provide them with information that is a PII Act and OPSEC violation. My husband and I are now out 1000.00 because I do not want to send them his canceled leave form.
I purchased this through a booking at Gulf Winds East in Destin FL. The GM Ardel is married to someone who was active duty, but failed to explain the policy to me about what is required from AD members. She of all people should know that you can’t send orders containing information about troop movement. Or photocopying your ID Cards to prove military for discounts.
CSA has an exclusions, that I have called Customer service to see if I would be excluded.
The exclusion #6 states
participation in organized amateur and interscholastic athletic or sports competition or events;
I purchased travel insurance to cover a yoga retreat to Peru, and asked them if a yoga retreat could be defined as an organized amateur sport /event after I purchased their plan. They said they did not think so, but unless I placed a claim they could not define the definition for me. Not to define what they mean by “Organized”, “amateur”, or “event”? such unclear language, and I am supposed to take the risk and find out after the fact if I am covered or not? Which is their way of putting risk on to the consumer.
Who oversees these people and allows them to write policies like this that unfairly put the burden on the consumer due to hazy language. Another carrier said they needed to be notified within 24 hours of an emergency. So if you are in a coma or in emergency evacuation situation you are supposed to notify them in 24 hours or you are not covered? Is there a commissioner than reviews these policies and gives them the green light to charge a customer and then deny them claims they thought they were entitled to?
I agree with Jonathan !! SAVE YOUR SELF THE AGGRAVATION!!! They try and find every way to deny your claim!!!
This is B.S. We’ve filed three claims, all settled expeditiously and fairly. No effort to deny our claims, under the terms of the policy (as stated…you really do have to read it).
DO NOT BUY CSA DAMAGE INSURANCE IF YOU ARE A HOMEOWNER THAT RENTS. They don’t cover even the most elementary items damaged. They are slow 6-8 weeks to review claims and then are always looking for a way out even when you have before and after pictures.
The Editor Review mentions drawbacks to CSA: Only available to residents of the US and Canada.
I have recently purchased a policy via the CSA website. A few hours later, in reading the fineprint, I found that the policy could only be puchased by US residents. I phoned CSA and they confirmed that residents of Canada could also purchase the policy, except residents of Quebec! The policy was canceled immediately and I was reimbursed the US amount less the conversion fee.
Question, how can a website allow such a transaction? If I had not read the fineprint and called CSA, I would have assumed I had a valid insurance for my vacation and would have had a very nasty surprise if/when I would have produced a claim. Not very professional!
Only their employees write good comments. See for yourself
Hey Jonathan…
I’m not a CSA employee and we have had multiple good experiences with CSA travel insurance.
Do Not, I REPEAT: DO NOT BUY CSA TRAVEL INSURANCE. THEY WILL FIND LOTS OF WAYS TO DENY YOUR COVERAGE!!!!
I am more than happy with CSA- infact everythng i am reading is here is the total opposite of my experience. I am studying abroad in Europe and have had numerous issues here. I had to be rushed to the hospital, had a huge bill, dental bills, problems with my braces, even had to go to the dermatologist because of weird skin lesions. I simply filled out the forms, faxed them in along with the bills, and a check was issued to me within 10 days and my husband was able to deposit the money in my account, where i was then able to withdraw and pay the bills off here- even in euros! Every agent has been positive, calls brief, and everyone kind and helpful. Im abroad for a year so i needed a good insurance. 5 stars.
Totally agree with Stephanie. Our experience — claims for events during three different trips — has been very satisfactory.
DO NOT BUY THIS INSURANCE!!!
My wife and I have been going to Pawleys Island, S.C., for 30 years. Now that we are retired, we have to save in order to afford to make the trip. We saved money for one year and rented a cottage on the beach (the same one we rented two years ago) and were scheduled to go in August.
I became ill in August, but we were not worried, since we had paid for the insurance, thinking it would be smart since we were going around hurricane season this year.
My illness was a first-time episode of PTSD flashback to the past–including my childhood and extreme events that I reported on as a veteran journalist (46 years as a working journalist).
I was hospitalized for three days until stable and then transferred to an outpatient clinic for a month of treatment.
We were so thankful we had the insurance!
Don’t you buy the things this company tells you. We are out $2,000 as a result. CSA denied my claim, saying the PTSD was an “existing condition.” My doctors (personal physician and psychiatrist) said this was not the case and supported my claim, not once but twice.
So far, I have received on letter saying my claim was denied. I have since sent another letter telling CSA that I intend to inform the BBB, the Consuper Protection Agency and the State Atty. General’s office if they do not send me my money.
In my opinion, this company has stolen my $2,000. What else can you say? I paid them their fee for the protection. No where did I read that mental health issues were not covered in any of the literature they sent me. So, I can only conclude that they stole my money.
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS BUNCH!
I intend to write the people I said I would write as soon as I am sure CSA is not going to respond to my latest letter. Everyone who has been abused by this firm should write the San Diego BBB, the State Consumper Protection Agency as well as the State Atty. General.
I also intend to write the State’s Insurance Administration to complain.
I’m sorry that you suffered a PTSD flashback, I’ve heard how awful they can be. However your policy does state that any type of mental breakdown is not covered.
Rest assured that I fully intend to send information to the agencies I mentioned in the above comment.
I also want you to know that I am fully researching the federal (which means law of the land) Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). That Act requires group health plans such as yours and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as co-pays, deductibles) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) applicable to mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical/surgical benefits.
I do not intend to let this go, not until you send my money back to me. I paid your company $100 and the Realty company $2,000. As far as I’m concerned, both entities took my money for nothing. You were not harmed and neither was the Realty company. They didn’t even have to clean the place we intended to rent because we gave them plenty of notice that I was ill and could not fulfill the rental because I was in the hospital.
As I told you, my family at first thought I was having a stroke. That is why they called an ambulance, which took me to the Fort Sanders Regional Hospital ER in Knoxville, TN. The ER doctor determined (after 10 hours stay in the ER) that I had suffered a PTSD episode and sent me to a local inpatient care facility for mental health recovery. From there I went to an outpatient status for a month.
I will leave it to the state insurance commissioner, the state consumer protection agency and the state attorney general’s office to determine if this constitutes viable health coverage and responsibility on your part from the contract you sent me, which did not mention mental health in the contract that I saw and signed.
Fred Brown
Mr. Brown;
I am not affiliated with CSA Travel Protection. I came to this website to find out if this would be the best insurance for me to buy for my daughters flight home for Christmas. If you look at the top of the page you will see that this page is called “Review of CSA Travel” No one, NO ONE, who posts a comment here are associated with CSA.
I feel like you have verbally assaulted and threatened me based on your assumption that I am employed by CSA. Even if you didn’t know I wasn’t associated CSA your hostility towards me is unacceptable.
This is not group insurance and all your threats against them will be a waste of time on your part. The policy clearly states under the GENERAL PLAN EXCLUSIONS of your policy that it does *NOT* cover mental, nervous, or psychological disorders, or being under the influence of drugs or intoxicants, unless prescribed by a Physician. This is the same for any type of travel insurance you purchase.
I am sorry that you are suffering from PTSD, but I am not to blame for the fact that you didn’t read the policy.
Regards,
Cindy
I have been reading the fine print on many policies today. I have noted CSA as well as all others have the following exclusion: 2. mental, nervous, or psychological disorders; There are 22 exclusions on CSA policy.
This could be the reason you were declined. Sorry for your experience.
Please read the fine print before you buy! the plan sounds wonderful and they might pay off some of the money, but CSA will look for any loophole(s) not to pay you. We went to Florida and were evacuated from St. George Island because of hurricane Isaac. The evacuation notice was given on a Sunday at 4:30 pm and we were told to leave the island by 8:00 am on Monday. We left right away because we have a small baby and didn’t want to take chances (winds were very strong already). It was four of us and we had to spend one night in Georgia, and luckily found a place in Hilton Head where we could vacation for the rest of the week. They called us back from the rental property in Florida on Tuesday afternoon and told us that it was safe to go back, but it was too late because we were already 9 hours away. After a couple of letters, and phone calls explaining in detail to the agent what had happened, CSA didn’t want to reimburse any money spent that Monday for gas, hotel, nor food (though it’s spelled in the contract that they should). They also didn’t take into consideration we HAD to leave on Sunday afternoon instead of Monday morning and ended us charging us for 2 nights of vacation. So at the end, they paid us some of the money, but not all what we were entitled to. The woman (Susan) didn’t even acknowledge my letters. By the way, I did get a sample of their contract before I purchased the insurance, and I also called them before we headed to Florida knowing that there was a storm that had a chance to become a hurricane. Their explanation and language was so vague on the phone… just as vague as some of their statements in their policy. They have terrible customer service, and it’s not worth the money, in my opinion. If a hurricane doesn’t do it, I don’t know what else would!!!
I was vacationing during Tropical Storm Debby. A tree actually hit our cottage and this company will not pay. I will tell everyone I know not to purchase insurance with them. Just read their reviews. I’m just telling myself that this was a good learning experience. This will me the last cent they will ever receive. Spread the word. Do Not Purchase CSA Travel.
Hey Andrea,
Does your policy (well…you DID read it, didn’t you??) say anything about damage to your vacation cottage? Did you actually check to see if such an event might be covered?
Look, an insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurer, with specified responsibilities and obligations on both sides. If you imagine something is covered that is not specified, YOU, not the insurance company is at fault.
DO NOT PURCHASE THIS INSURANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They JERK you around – DO NOT PAY OUT ON CLAIMS.
I have purchased this insurance with extra “cancel for any reason” rider – cancelled the day of the trip because I got sick. They denied the claim because I did not cancel more than 48 hours in advance. They denied the claim again, claiming I have not seen a doctor in person on the exact day of cancellation.
I did a project for school and spent an accumulated 3 hours on the phone with their service representatives, trying to dissect their Custom Comprehensive plan as a secret buyer. For all of those who bought a plan with this company: do your homework. From what their call center confirmed, ALL their plans are refundable within a period after you buy the insurance so you get some time to see if the coverage is for you. It’s unreasonable to assume that you’ll pay money for a policy and you’re automatically covered for whatever your heart desires. Most insurance companies, not just travel, have to place limitations on coverage because if they paid all their claims, they wouldn’t be in business. I’ve read a lot of the complaints on here and it wouldn’t surprise me if most of these people didn’t read their policy. You’ve paid tens, if not hundreds of dollars for a product and you did not read the “contract” associated with it? Doesn’t seem fair to place all the blame on the company that offered the product. Their customer service center is available every day and they are easy to talk to. Make sure you request a copy of your full policy, read it, and write down any questions you might have and then call them so they can explain what you don’t understand. While the policy is long and boring to read, it will be good for you to know whether it’s even what you’re looking for. I researched 2 companies but this one stood out because of everyone’s friendly manner. Their claims are processed in about a month if you gave all the info they asked for. Most of the expenses you would have (medical, additional flights) are on a reimbursement basis so you would need to pay and then submit a claim.
Very good and well thought out review. As a travel agent I can verify that very few people read and make sure they understand the contract. And to try and claim that a pet is a family member is a classic example of this. I’m sorry for the loss of such a loved pet, but try that with your personal medical insurance and see how far you can get.
It is sad that so many people make assumptions on what is acceptable and then blame a negative resolution on the insurance company. EVERY insurance company has similar policy conditions. Be it travel or personal insurance, everything that happens is never covered. Reading a homeowner’s policy is so full of exceptions that at times they almost seem worthless. Example – look for clauses about “Acts of God.”
The bottom line is that when comparing companies ALWAYS compare apples to apples. Bad mouthing a company because a policy holder did not read and understand their policy is a waste of everyone’s time.
Your are correct, I asked for and received documents from CSA Travel so I could read the language of the coverage in advance, but in my opinion their business practices are misleading, deceptive and unethical, and they do not do what is right and ethical. I asked to receive the language of the policy in advance so that I could read it before buying their policy. They sent me a document titled “description of coverage” that stated the plan covered job loss. After buying the policy in their confirmation email they attached the same document that said it was our policy document and it stated it covered job loss. When one of us traveling had job loss and we tried to collect on the policy, they refused saying that job loss was not covered, and that the two documents they sent us titled “description of coverage” was not the actual policy and the actual policy did not cover job loss. Thing is, they never provided the actual policy even when asked in advance, and not even after we bought the policy. Turns out that we could only get the actual policy by calling and asking specifically for it to be sent. A friend who is a insurance fraud investigator for the state, said they should have sent us the actual policy not a document listing non-covered items as covered. In process of filing a complaint through the state department of insurance. We will never do business with CSA again..
I am in complete agreement with your statement that their business practices are “misleading, deceptive, and unethical.” I had purchased insurance for a trip to Beirut 2 months in advance. Just before leaving for my trip, a car bomb killing 8 and injuring 80 others ruptured the peace in Lebanon, a country that had not seen a similar attack since 2008. An insurance agent with CSA proceeded to tell me that the car bomb was not what their company would define as a “terrorist attack,” even thought the US Department of state and the UN Secretary General publicly declared it as such. Because CSA did not “consider” this event a terrorist attack, it was not covered under their policy, which expressly states that a “TERRORIST ACT means an act of violence, other than civil disorder or riot, (that is not an act of war, declared or undeclared) that results in loss of life or major damage to property, by any person acting on behalf of or in connection with any organization which is generally recognized as having the intent to overthrow or influence the control of any government.”
My point is, even though their own policy directly stated that they cover terrorist attacks, and even though this attack was labelled a terrorist attack by the US Government and the United Nations, for pete’s sake, I received an email saying that CSA simply did not “consider” this event to be a terrorist attack, so I would not be reimbursed for my unused travel expenses.
My claim was denied. Our two week vacation was cut short because our pet dog
passed away. The house sitter called with the bad news. So we interrupted our
vacation to burry our family member in a Pet cemetery where we had paid for a grave
site right next to his brother. Our last week of prepaid vacation and a theater show we had
purchashed non refundable tickets for were not used. I was surprised to read that our
pet is not a ‘FAMILY MEMBER’ and my claim was denied.
I would NEVER use this CS Travel Protection setvice EVER AGAIN !
I’m sorry to hear about your pet… I’m a pet owner and dog lover myself, but I don’t think any insurance would cover you for that… I just read through some of the other companies on here and didn’t find anything about a pet dying.
Again, sorry for your loss.
Liars and thieves!! Purchased coverage for an around the world “trip of a lifetime” for 3 of us. Was injured on the third day and required emergency evacuation home from SE Asia. Thier international call collect number was blocked from recieving collect calls. They jerked us around about arranging to be seen at and payment for ER care in Asia so they would treat me (you must prove and get approval from insurance company or pay cash to be seen in the ER there), then took 2 days to arrange the medical evacuation. Then refused to pay for all non-refundable airfare ($5,000) as they had ommitted the one word, “airfare” under trip interuption benefits (very unusual in the industry) on page 13, Section F, 1st para, 4th line, of a 29 page policy! They even refused to reimburse us for the 2 days of hotel costs while they dragged thier feet arranging for the evacuation. Every time we t/t them they were totally non-committal and told us to incur the expense and pay for it, submit it when we got home and they would then decide if they would cover it, but never agreed anything was covered. Have bought travel insurance several times from other carriers, had a couple of claims, and did not experiance the BS as with these guys. Vote with your pocketbook and take your business elsewhere. It is clear they burn those with claims as it is the very rare case the claim is enoough to make it worth suing, and they count on that. Wish someone would organize a class action suit, I would be pleased to be a plaintiff!
I think you need to put your situation a bit in perspective. Would you still be alive in a third world company if you didn’t have insurance? It might not have been as fast as you have prefered, but lets be honest, we are talking about a country that has a ton if political issues, ton of medical issues, and you are upset that you didn’t receive faster treatment? Thats like complaining that the homeless shelter didn’t have serve your food fast enough. Be thankful you are alive and were taken care of at all.
I am a past customer and understand the trip interruption field far better than you. the interruption does not pay for unused air because it pays for the additional air. insurance is not about making money or getting rich, its about making you whole. if your return flight home is valued at $500 but they purchase you a same day flight home for $750, they are not going to re-imburse you for 500 when they just paid $750 to return home.
Additionally, every insurance company will not guarntee payment until they have an opportunity to personally assess the damage… hence the reason auto insurance companies send a person out to look at the vehicle.
People like you annoy me beyond belief. Are you also upset that your Automotive insurance didn’t cover your oil change? or that your home owners insurance didn’t pay for the pool that you wanted to add?
Read your policy… know your policy.. Travel insurance is not a, “Hey, something i didn’t like happened so I deserve $$ for it… its insurance, not a money any time you want just the way you want..” but judgin by your post, you probably have a hard time reading ALL 29 pages.. my god, who do they think they are? 29 pages?? must of been too much for you.
Me think thou protest to much!! Is it customary for you to attack and demean those who crticize your company. I was in Singapore, one of themost stable countries in Asia, and who has MUCH better medical care than the US, but they do require guarantee of payment to treat non-residents. I SHOULD BE GREATEFUL I WAS PROVIDED WITH MEDICAL CARE I BOUGHT INSURANCE FROM YOU COMPANY TO PROVIDE?? YOU SUMED UP THE PROBLEM PEOPLE HAVE WITH YOUR ATTITUDE!! Bought a policy and should be greatful I was able to finally get you to to provide the medical care and evacuation you policy provided for? The policy guaranteed no out of pocket costs for emergency medical care, but gettng them to arrange that was a “problem”. A medical evacuation should not take 2 days, there were flights available, they just could not get it together. I bought insurance to “make me whole”, which it did not. The amount they spent getting me home was far less then the cost of our unused, non-refundable airfare (10 more flights). Your post is indicative of exactly what the proble with your company is, attack those who criticize your claims handling process, try to portray them as ignorant and stupid, but guess that’s the only way you can try to argue, to TRY TO DRAG THEM DOWN TO YOUR LEVEL. BTW, our insurance commissioner is evaluating what they are going to require for disclosures as they agree that the manner the policy was written may in fact be misleading, exclusion by omission.
I don’t think that the response to you mark came from a CSA employee. That person says they are a past customer, so I wouldn’t say “your company”
Sorry to hear of your situation.
Mark, we’re very sorry to hear about the circumstances of your trip and that you are unhappy with CSA’s response. Medical treatment and emergency evacuations outside of the US are complex activities, even in the most favorable conditions.
While we don’t know the specifics of your claim based on this report here, many of our travel insurance plans offer to reimburse for additional costs associated with an unexpected return home due to an accident. Since the policy covers the cost of the trip home, also reimbursing a traveler for unused airfare would enrich versus prevent additional expenses, which is how insurance is designed to help policyholders.
We proudly stand behind our products and services, hold an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and pride ourselves on providing the best possible service and coverage we can for our customers. For any questions about CSA and its policies, please contact us at (877) 243-4135 or csa@csatravelprotection.com.
You left the word airfare out of only trip interupption coverage, in the middle of a 29 page policy. I was injured on day 3 of a 6 week trip and all I wanted was to be reimbursed the cost cost of replacing the trip, minus the used airfare and hotels. You misrepresent that to reimburse for unused airfare (18 tickets) would “enrich” us, even though we used 1 as this happened at our 1st stop and we had to just turn around and go home. And it still cost us $1,000pp to get back to where the trip was interrupted. All we wanted was sufficient reimbursement to replace the trip, minus the portion we used. Isn’t that what travel insurance is for, to make you whole? I would also point out that the lack of coverage for unused airfare is an abberation in your industry, it is something your competetors do cover, and had we known it was not covered we could have pursued other options, but I admit it, I missed the omission of the word airfare, in one line in the middle of a 29 page policy, so guess it’s my fault for not having a law degree!! Justify it anyway you like, you still ripped me off!
I’m afraid I have to agree that CSA completely misrepresents their policy details. I purchased the Custom Luxe insurance plan for a trip last fall. Because the coverage limit was very high for trip interruption ($7650) and very low for trip delay ($150), I called a number of times to quiz the CSA representatives about the difference, and when a delay becomes an interruption, before purchasing the coverage. I finally received a clear answer that when a flight is cancelled, that constitutes an interruption. So the higher limits apply, right? No. Even though CSA agreed that I experienced a trip interruption from my cancelled flight, they still applied the trip delay limit of $150 per day to my expenses. Despite the fact that I experienced an overnight interruption in a foreign country, in a city that has only one hotel where rooms were $350 per night (because they can! They know the airport is closed, all flights are cancelled, and there’s no way to leave, as there are no roads out), CSA’s reply was essentially, “that’s how we pay.” So with an expensive hotel, meals, and transportation, all legitimate, covered expenses, I was reimbursed only the $150 trip delay maximum for my $550 in expenses. There is nothing in the policy that states that one incident can be subject to two different limits, and they could not quote anything that allows them to refuse to pay. They agreed with all the proven expenses, they just wouldn’t pay for them. I’d never use them again, and I’d warn anyone else away. I thought the policy was deliberately misleading the way it was written. I experienced only one incident; it was a trip interruption as defined by the policy; CSA inexplicably and indefensibly used trip delay limits to refuse much of my claim. Period.
” I missed the omission of the word airfare, in one line in the middle
of a 29 page policy”
I’m sorry, but I find this embarrassing as an adult. I have a 12 year
old daughter who just finished reading a 300 page book and got an A on
a test about the book she read. If i told her she only had to read 29
pages I think she would jump for joy.
I don’t think you need a law degree to buy or even understand
insurance, you just need patience. How long, honestly, how long does
it take to read 29 pages (actually less than that because its 29
pamphlet pages)? Lets say it takes 2 minutes to read each page (high
estimate), that’s less than an hour to read the whole thing. With a
flight to Asia, you are looking at least an 8 hour flight out of
anywhere in the US, so you could have read the policy 4 times on your
flight out. Not saying I would have, but lets be honest, you are
upset at the company because you didn’t read the policy.
As adults, lets set good examples for our children. Don’t blame
McDonalds because you gained weight or the sun because you got
sunburnt. We all make mistakes, just take responsibility for your
actions.
Doesn’t seem like you understand the point behind travel insurance. There’s a difference between reading something and comprehending what you’ve read. I doubt your daughter or any normal adult could win a legal case against a travel insurance company’s lawyer regarding an unpaid claim after reading through the document once, twice or even three times. The fact is, insurance companies make more money by not paying out as much as some people anticipate based on the general understanding of the terms of the insurance. Oh yeah, you’re a condescending jerk.
CSA treated me GREAT unlike TRAVEL GUARD I would stay away from TRAVEL GUARD 100% of the time.
1st i do not know yet if they will cover my medical bill that wasn’t covered by my health insurance.
i got sick on our trip. i ended up at Dr’s 2 times. before going to DR i tried calling the hot lines CSA provided.
consult a DR, medical referral = which i was told that i pay for everything and when i return i submit expenses to them to see if they are covered ,
and i really don’t know what their ” no out of pocket medical expense thing is about ???
the consult a Dr is a 3rd party thing. the 1st day i called they never heard of CSA , the 2nd day i called they know about CSA but didn’t want my policy number.. after 30 min of answering their personal questions they then asked for credit card = came down to no CC no connect to consult a Dr. = i passed. then i tried medical referral = no referrals … ended up calling my medical provider..
when i returned home i submitted the bills to my medical insurance. they covered 80%. i then submited the remainder to CSA… seems like i should just submit the report from my medical provider on what they covered and the explanations on what they didn’t ???
CSA required me to submit the 2 Dr. reports,
proof that i paid for the Dr’s visits/medication ( copy of the visa slip i signed was not good enough) they wanted copy of check. i sent them copy of my visa bill .
proof of our age ( including my wife),
trip itinerary ,
proof i paid for the trip ( the total amount , no invoices,)proof of payment= i sent them copy visa bill .
signed medical release for each Dr’s ,
and copy of what my insurance covered and didn’t cover. they also suggested i include copy of checks i received from my insurance
i’m waiting to hear from them to see what they cover…
looking back it wasn’t worth my time i was on the phone trying to speak with them on services they could provide to me whie i was sick..
bottom line, the numbers & services they say they have while you are on your holiday didn’t provide me any services.
if they pay or don’t pay my claim i will not be doing any business with CSA in the future.
All I can say is, people, read your policy. How many times do you purchase something not knowing what you are purchasing? Do you buy a car without knowing what type of car it is? No. All insurance companies have terms and conditions. If you intentionally burn your house down because you don’t want it anymore, is your home owner’s insurance going to buy you a new one? I don’t think so. Insuance companies take risks in what they do, and therefore have to minimize their losses, which is why they have the terms and conditions.
What a condescending tone your post took. It didn’t provide any kind of review nor help. All you did was sound obnoxious.
and what purpose did your post serve? pot calling the kettle black!
Never, ever deal with this company! I had purchased travel insurance from them because it was offered by my tour company through CSA. When I got sick a few days before my planned trip and had to cancel, I filed a claim with CSA. After 3 months of constant procrastination, my claim was finally denied. The reason: I didn’t get sick on the day the insurance kicked in, I got sick the day before. If you read the fine print in the policy, you’ll see that if you contract an illness one day before your policy begins – even if it’s life threatening and you’re hospitalized, your claim will be denied.
Of course, insurance companies don’t become wealthy by granting claims.
This is one company that anyone should avoid using – at all costs!
They said the same thing to me. Why would they sell insurance when they do not plain to pay?
Insurance is incase something happens, it’s not after something happens.
Does this sound crazy: buy a car from the dump that was in an accident and then call your insurance company and ask them to fix it… They will laugh at you!! Same concept!
I wish I would have read these comments earlier or I would have never considered buying insurance from this crappy company. Why even buy travel insurance at all if they won’t reimburse you for anything?
I know! I stopped buying car insurance because the don’t pay for my gas and my oil changes… The other day I asked them to wash and vacuum it, and they said no!! Never buy car insurance!! They don’t cover oil changes!!
I had purchased trip insurance through CSA for a vacation rental in Hatteras NC. Hurricane Irene hit and infrastructure on was destroyed. Highway 12 was un-passable and the only way to reach Hatteras was by ferry reservation. The reservations for the ferry filled up almost immediately and by the time I learned that there was a ferry and a reservation on it was required there were no longer any reservations available. CSA has partially denied my claim stating that I could have made it on the ferry and stayed a partial amount of my scheduled vacation days and is only refunding me for the days they claim I could not be there. CSA claims that North Carolina DOT records show that ferry reservations were available but has provided me no prof of such documentation.
CSA is offering me roughly 30% of my vacation loss. This is unacceptable. I am contacting your department and seeking advice from my attorney.
I have the same problem and I never cashed the small check for the portion they agreed to cover. I now have a letter from CSA requesting documentation as to why I feel that I am owed more money. The problem is how to prove the ferry was booked and that they told me to expect long lines (up to two hours), to bring water, and that they could not guarantee ferry reservations back home.
Have you or anyone else had any luck ?
We had a trip to the outer banks scheduled when hurricane Irene hit. This travel insurance company cheated us and many others out of our money. I would not recommend using them. Working now to see if our credit card company will help us. Be very careful when purchasing travel insurance!!!
Dear Frank (who posted on Oct 19, 2011 ), The same thing happened to us. My attorney has suggested filing a Class Action Suit against CSA and the Realtor who sold us the insurance. I’m sure there are many, many more people out there that has had the same thing happen to them and had their claim denied by CSA. There’s actually even more with our story, but sounds similar to yours. DO NOT BUY FROM CSA. Buy trip insurance from a company you trust.
Did anyone eve file a class action law suit? if so, let us know. I would love to join in. It makes no sense why they would offer travel insurance, not send you what is covered until right before the trip then don’t cover when there is still an evacuation and no way to access the destination.
Stacey, no, we never did file a class action lawsuit. After speaking to the realty company that sold us the policy from CSA and explaining that they would also be named in the class action lawsuit, they (the realty company) reimbursed our money.
I came back to this website to see what’s happened since I posted my first message. We’re planning another vacation, and of course the realty company that we are using this time is selling CSA. Luckily we don’t have to buy it, and we can buy a plan through any company of our choosing. Hopefully the company we choose this time is better. Seems like they all have really, really bad reviews.
Don’t forget though, the realty company that also sells trip insurance to you, is only doing it because they get a commission from it. They have a vested interest in selling it to you and making it sound like their trip insurance is the best.
I’d just be real curious to know whether any other travel insurance company (goodness knows there must have been thousands of people affected by Hurricane Irene) also had complaints about reimbursement for claimed losses.
My bet is that you would find that your experience with CSA is mirrored by the experiences of policy holders with any other travel insurance provider for the same losses.
my trip was cancelled due to hurricane irene. i had travel protection with csa. i purhased it the day i made my reservation which happened to be the day irene became a hurricane while way out at sea. essentially my policy did not cover irene even though this is explained in NONE of their literature. Furthermore, after Irene had cut off the outer banks i called csa to make sure i was covered before i used the money to travel to another beach. they assured me it was but alas, a month later, i get a letter stating i will get absolutely no refund.
The company does NOT answer their phone. Horrible company to deal with. Claims are not paid, phone system provides no way to speak to a representative. Paying their premium is like flushing money down the toilet.
Stay clear.
I had purchased travel insurance with CSA because they were recommended by STA travel. I bought the insurance over the phone, they listed all of the benefits, and told me briefly about their cancellation policy. The representative told me that I could cancel up till the day of trip and that I just needed to explain why; for example death in family, illness, work issues, ect.. , no big deal. Well I ended up cancelling trip due to a panic attack. It took over 3 months to wait to be refunded from airlines before I could begin claim process. I had a doctor form filled out explaining my illness. Well, 4 months after I cancelled trip I have received notice from CSA saying unfortunately they are unable to provide benefits for my claim because they do not consider a psychological disorder a medical condition. I really would not recommend this company, they wasted my time, and money.
I had a CSA policy and it clearly stated it did not cover for any kind of claim related to psychological disorders. Read your policy people!
Recently on a trip in the Turks, (May 2011) my husband became sick and had to be medically evacuated to Fort Lauderdale, FL. It seemed to take a while for the flight, however, CSA, and European handled this and everything we required wonderfully. They were fantastic during his hospital stay and even after discharge allowing him to stay nearby in a hotel until able to travel by plane. They arranged our transportation to the airport, booked our flights out of Lauderdale into Charlotte and had transportation waiting to take us home (60 miles away). I cannot recommend this company enough! They went way beyond the call on our demise and I will be forever grateful for their help and quick reimbursements for everything. THE BEST!!
Looking for insurance for a Vacations to go cruise in Oct. I’ve bought CSA for other trips , but never had a claim. Thanks for all the info. I’m afraid to use them now.
Purchased insurance offered by rental company, only to be told you will not pay for our vacation loss due to evacuation advisery in effect and no ferry reservation for day of arrival or departure. Explain your great insurance to the world on face book where you are being verbally destroyed. remember word of Mouth
I guess I should have checked this portion of the CSA website last year. I was in the same situation as several other writers. I had a prepaid vacation several weeks after Irene hit. If Hatteras Realty is still using CSA, they are making a huge mistake. Not only was my claim denied, but they had he nerve to send out a letter 5 months later to see if you wanted to request another review of your claim, which they never send a response to.and did not honor. I don’t know how they would expect anyone to get on to an island that lifted an evacuation for a few hours only to put it back on. I will never purchase any products through this company or Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company. In my opinion, they are misrepresenting their product. If anyone would like to join me in a class action law suit as a result of the denied claims from Irene, please post it here. I will be exploring what is needed to do this.
When I got married in 2005 on the Outer Banks of NC, I had rented several vacation rental homes for my family to stay. My aunt had a stroke 2 days before she was due to arrive in the house, so she and her family did not come. We got ALL of our $ back from CSA (except for the insurance fee, which was less than 7% of the total cost) – very nice and easy to deal with. My aunt’s doctor had to fill out one form, which he did with no problem.
Nice, easy to deal with company. Would definitely use them again.
I purchased a CSA vacation insurance policy in conjunction with a Saturday-to-Saturday beachhouse rental in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
The rental house is on Hatteras Island. Hurricane Irene washed out NC 12, the road to the island, at the end of August. I understand from speaking with a CSA representative that the trip insurance only covers interruptions in road service within 15 days of the event (the hurricane), so that portion of the policy does not apply.
There is another way to get to Hatteras, and that is by reserving a trip on a ferry boat from either Swan Quarter or Cedar Island to Ocracoke Island. Unfortunately, all ferries to and from Ocracoke are full during both weekends we would be traveling. I asked the CSA representative about the common carrier portion of the vacation policy. He informed me that although the common carrier definition includes “boats,” in this situation, ferries are considered to be “taxicabs,” and therefore are not covered. He further explained that common carriers provide transportation “from one destination to another” whereas taxis provide “back and forth” service.
This interpretation does not make sense on many levels. The ferries operated by the North Carolina Department of Transportation are not sightseeing watertaxis. They are equivalent to air, bus, or train service in that they provide transportation from one terminal to another. Taxis, on the other hand, can travel anywhere within a local area. The ferries also require reservations and advance payment like air, bus, or train service. Taxis do not require reservations and are paid after the trip occurs.
I’m hoping a CSA supervisor will review this situation and make it right. However, based on the other comments here, I doubt it. The representative I spoke with on the phone was not rude but obviously had no interest in helping me. I regret that Hatteras Realty uses CSA to insure guest vacations.
July 2011
I don’t understand the past comments. I found this company to be wonderful on several levels. While traveling in Peru a friend got very sick and was hospitalized. Representative from this company was a great help and checked to see how things were progressing. To make the trip even more interesting while hiking in the Andes we were caught in a freak blizzard and had to turn back. CSA reimbursed us for the trek plus the extra hotel nights. They were always pleasant and very helpful. This is the only company I will ever use.
This is an excellent company. We travel on average 2-3 times a year, and for the last 5 years always bought insurance from CSA. Unfortunately, we had one interrupted trip and one expensive canceled trip, both for medical reasons. In both cases CSA was absolutely perfect and refunded all our losses without any unnecessary hassles within a very short time. Representatives were always competent and friendly. I could not remember any other service company I dealt with lately with this quality of service. Read carefully all the negative reviews – there is something wrong with all these people’s claims. And no, I am not affiliated with CSA Insurance in any way.
CSA Travel Insurance is a fraud; it is impossible to collect a legitimate claim. Stay away from them
B.S., Sergio. We’ve had three claims over the past six years, on three different trips, for three different reasons. All have been handled in a timely and expeditious manner.
Just forgot to mention in my review that the stuff is extremely rude! And the company indeed make everything possible to avoid a payment. My claim is not that big, but how long does it take to process it? I can imagine what other people have to go throu with larger claims. Try to avoid purchasing CSA Travel protection if you can.
Another unhappy customer! My lost baggage items claim had been filed at the end of February, 2011. Today is June 11, 2011 and my claim is still in a process. CSA claims expect their clients to do a job for them, i.e. contact an American Airlines to get a formal status on a lost baggage. This is rediculous for following reasons: a) airlines are not very responsive; b) airlines don’t cover 99.9% of the items and finaly we buy insurance for the purpose of having a peace of mind! When the claim process takes forever and turns into a headache, there obviously something is very wrong with the company. I’ve used CSA for a long time, but this is my first time of dealing with claims. I have huge doubts I’ll buy CSA insurance again.
My daugther and her husband got this insurance, then they couldnt take their trip because, now get this “”He was moved up on the Heart Transplant list at Cleveland Hosptial” and the doctor told him not to go out of town in case they called him!!!!!!!!!!!!! This so called company said that wasnt a medical emergency!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If that isnt a joke I dont know what is. I would tell any1 to save their money and not use this company.
CSA/Stonebridge is a fraud outfit. They will do anything to deny your claims. Do not sign up with them. I suspect some of the positive reviews are paid shills for the company. Avoid them at all cost.
My review is strongly positive and I am just a satisfied customer, not now or ever an employee of CSA. If you think the company is fraudulent, document your allegation and file it with the insurance commissioner.
We purchased insurance for c0mbination cruise and land trip including air. This is the first time we had used CSA. I chose them after reading current reviews and looking at pricing for what they offered compared to others I had used previously. My husband had to visit the doctor on the ship. When we got home I called and was told I would be sent the forms to file, or could go on line. When I never recieved the forms I went on line a printed them. I filled them out and made copies of the required documents and mailed them. Three days after they received them we got a call saying the claim had been approved and we would receive it in 7-10 days. It arrived 4 days later for the full amount. I’d rate them a 5 except for never receving the information promised and the need for some information that seemed unnecessary for the claim. But they paid and did it promptly, which is the most improtant factor. We will use them again.
I always get Travel Insurance hoping I never need to use it. On a 2 week cruise in Feb 2011 this insurance was used. I had a severe asthma attack. Wish people would think before they use so much perfume. One lady with so much perfume on her body made me get so sick and I spent time in Hospital onboard RC cruiseline. I called CSA insurance as soon as I got home. The customer service rep was so helpful. She emailed me forms to fill out. I submitted forms with bills and Doctors notes thinking it will take months until I receive my payment. What a surprise! Within one, (yes 1) week I received a call. from a male reviewer who advised me that he reviewed my claim and my check is in the mail. WOW!! Within another week I received my check! Fantastic company. I am planning another trip and the travel agent uses another Travel Insurance. I advised her no way will I take that insurance, I will purchase insurance through CSA on my own. If you are traveling this is the insurance that pays you right away, so purchase it. Thanks so much for being so fast. Linda
After reading all the negative comments in addition to the complaints filed at the better business bureau i will not use them.
Stonebridge Travel Protection will NOT cover any expenses incurred should you need to change a flight due to illness. Since that is the basic reason for taking out the insurance and the fact that this company will not cover in the event of illness, I would NEVER waste the extra money for this “protection”! BUYER BEWARE!!
This to correct my previous post. After speaking with CSA agent and further reading of the exclusions I now realize that CSA was correct in denying my claim. Be sure to read all exclusions.
Will not pay. complete waste of your money. You’ve got a better chance of winning the lottery than collecting from this insurance co. CSA insurance is a total fraud. Disappointed that Collings Rentals sells this insurance.
I am about to travel overseas and comparing insurances.
I see all the negative comments about CSA and I sympathize with them.
To be fair, I wanted to register my good experience with CSA and just wanted to balance out a bit.
I was in Peru during the month of June 2010. Back pack stolen from hotel lobby. Lost my passport, documents etc. Took me about 2 weeks to straighten out passport/documents to get back to US
I called CSA overseas emergency help. The lady, from the first day, was very responsive and responsible. She called my hotel promptly during the following days to check on my status.
After I got back to US, I filed the claim and received reimbursement without any problem.
Four stars because, they interpret “trip interruption/delay/cancellation” differently and some payment is lost. Otherwise they paid most, I recall.
My mother and I had to cancel are cruise in Dec 2008 due to my mother being hospitalized and CSA paid us both back promptly.
I have read my policy front to back. I had my Boyfriend who is a paralegal read them and CSA is just plain horrible.
for the past 6 days I have been without my luggages in Senegal, I have contacted CSA since the first day to report delay…now lost bags which contain my malaria medications and every item of clothing I own. They have done everything they can to place the blame of the lost bags on me, from stating that I called the wrong number to not contacting them soon enough. I mentioned that i was feeling sick and haven’t been able to keep food down. The rep was cold and rude and went on to tell me that even if they had called me back it wouldn’t have worked because Senegal has terrible telecommunications infrastructure. Yes i really needed to know that while going on 5 days without anything to help me feel better.
if you can afford it, find another coverage. I wish I did.
Buy from them. They are a great company that is always willing to help and answer questions. Don’t believe these reviews… these people are dumb!
These reviews are incredible. People really need to read the policies and what they cover before they purchase them. I bet all of these bad reviews are from people who were too ignorant to look closely at the policies they were purchasing.
I have used several times and they have been GREAT. I have never had a problem with them ever… it’s probably because I choose the right plan and read what it offers!!
so which travel insurance should we go, looks like everyone sucks ?
Sure glad I read these reviews before purchase. Sounds like a nightmare ready to happen. Guess I’ll keep shopping. Thanks for the reviews.
This company is deceptive and unwilling to pay legitimate claims. STAY AWAY from them….they are bad. I will be doing everything possible to see to it that they either have their license revoked to do busines in the state of Fl or they lose customers.
WITH ALL THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS LISTED ABOVE, WHY WOULD ANYONE DEAL WITH CSA. IN FACT, I HAVE LOOKED FOR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OTHER POLICIES AND FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND POSITIVE REMARKS FOR ANY TRAVEL INSURANCE PROVIDER. PRETTY SAD. I HAD JUST ABOUT DECIDED ON CSA BUT THAT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN NOW. THANKS FOR THE REMARKS.
My mother and I purchased travel protection from CSA for a cruise to the Greek Isles.
Our return flights were via Rome, New York, Chicago. Upon landing in New York, we were told that our flight to Chicago had been cancelled due to weather problems, which resulted in an overnight stay in New York.
I immediately called CSA and spoke with a very helpful service rep. She verified that any expenses incurred would be covered, told me exactly what documents I would need to file a claim, and then assisted me with flight and hotel accommodations.
Several days later I filed a claim and received reimbursement within three weeks.
I had a very good experience with CSA and highly recommend them. I would definitely use them again.
Stay away from these people! You have been warned!
It’s clear from these posts – why bother challenging these folks? My bust, I always get screwed when I buy things based on a naive expectation of mutual fairness. This is just another parasitic organization happy to take something for nothing. (Feed the poor instead!)
I’ve been trading emails and mails for my trip interruption in May 2010. It’s been 5 months and Jacob Johnson from the claims department has been nothing but a JACKASS in handling my claim. This company steals from the consumers and is nothing but a fraud. Stay away from them. You are better off with using your c/c for travel interruptions.
My Mom was on vacation in England when she fell and broke her hip. They will do whatever they can to avoid paying legitimate claims. CSA SUCKS!
HELLO
I’M 67 AND PLANNING ON A TRIP TO ITALY SOON WITH A GROUP. FROM CLEVELAND, OH TO FCO, ITALY FOR 12 DAYS. HOW MUCH WOULD THE INSURANCE COST BE?
THANK YOU,
CAROL
I was wondering about others experiences and I too had a horrible time getting a claim paid for baggage delay. It was 3 years ago and i was traveling in Africa. The airline did not get my bag to me before I departed on a safari so i paid someone to get my bag for me at the airport and cross over from Zambia to Botswana. I paid him $200 cash and when I filed the claim, CSA wouldn’t pay indicating that was not what their baggage delay was for -it was for me to buy new items. The policy language indicated, “For necessary personal effects” not stating that I had to buy new items. My bag was necessary and personal. I filed a complaint with the CA Insurance Dept. and got my $200 back from CSA, but they did not claim any wrong doing. I’m traveling again and looking at insurance firms and will keep away from CSA again.
WOW!! I was going to purchase this..Thanks for all the reviews
The insurance commisionners should ban this company from selling insurance – Vacations to go should NOT encourage clients from buying from them.
Do Not buy from this company – they do not follow throught w/your claims.
Do not buy from them – they do not pay you when payment is due!!! They refund us less then what we paid for the insurance when the Iceland volcano erupted
just flush the money, thats how good this company is.check bbb in san diago for more info
This company is a nightmare to deal with if you need to file a claim, they have a clause for everything.I lost 6000.00 for a Alaska Cruse in 2009,Doctor said wife was unable to travel due to current and past health problems.Save your money on this one.
After many trips to Mexico I decided to buy travel insurance for a wedding trip to a small town outside of Puerta Vallarta. I fell and broke my ankle, a compound fracture and needed surgery before I could return home. I liked that I was assigned a case coordinator and that I could talk to a nurse about my options. This was a painful and challenging process, very expensive too as everyone wanted cash or credit cards for payment.
The only frustrating problem was I was unable to get a wheelchair arranged with transportation to the airport and home even though I was very clear I could not walk at all. Most of my frustration was with my own medical insurance company, their ability to help me process the medical documents never did come out right even though they did not pay any portion of the out of network claims.
CSA accepted the final denial of my insurance even though the numbers didn’t match and paid my entire claim which was several thousands of dollars. I would recommend them and use them again!
We purchased this insurance and was told after we had to cancel our flight that this was not covered. I would strongly urge others not to buy this, as we are exploring legal options. It is companies like this that give the rest of the insurance a bid reputation. They mislead you before the purchase by making you think they are with the airline you are buying the ticket from. Once you agree to buy the insurance, you find out that it is not the airline. We thought we were buying this from Air Tran. I don’t know what other airlines are associated with them, but I intend to avoid those that are as well.
I always think it is funny to see these types of reviews about CSA travel insurance, this company does not try to keep from paying out, if anything they pay out more than they should, if people would just read their policies they would understand why their claims aren’t being paid. Take my word for it, when you read insurance, read your policy
Complete rip off. I took insurance on a cruise and had to cancel due to airlines cancellation and we would not make it in time for cruise to leave. We bought it, the small print doesn’t matter, because when you buy it, you don’t what your heading into. So instead of feeling secure your out mucho dollars. Also they don’t write and tell me they won’t honor it, they call me on the phone with no number or ID. I will never recommend them.
Totally useless for travel cancellation.
The policy excludes all reasons for trip cancellation. SOme provisions for trip cancellation are located under medical reimbursement. Looks sneaky..
It is not worth purchasing a travel insurance from CSA as a protection against trip cancellation.
There is no one to attend to phone calls and people are rude.
Pls do not spend anything with this useless company.
Do not buy travel protection from CSA or stonebridge travel protection offered y airtran or other airline it is a scam and will find any reason to deny your claim. I will be reporting them to consumer affairs. There policy state that they cover natural disaster it a lie, because my wife was flying from haiti earthquake and her claim got denied since it was not the airline that change her travel plan. I repeat do not trust this people because the more claimed the denied the higher payout fo employee. So the incentive to help you or approve your claimed would be detrimental to them keeping with the jones.
Company is very devious and will lie to deny a claim.
Before leaving on a trip to Europe, I purchased a policy from CSA because I was going to several cities with flights in between and a cruise at the end. I read carefully the brochures of many companies and then I spoke with CSA and was assured that I would be covered from “home to home and everything in between.”
Fortunately, I asked for and brought along a doctors claim form. This was invaluable. When I got sick in Paris, it was very difficult to reach their emergency line but I had the doctors form. We had to return home missing the rest of the trip.
CSA changed our flights back and reimbursed us for the cruise because I had the doctors form. They denied the our intra european flights.
After calling again the sales office I was again assured that I would be covered. Both of us recorded the telephone conversation and then I sued them in small claims court. At court, they could not produce their recording but I had mine. I lost the case. As it turns out, the language is more restrictive in the contract than the brochure although they appear identical. The judge said that a written contract superceeds an oral contract.
Go figure! They can and do say anything until there is a problem
this is the worst company and watch out for travel agents that sell them they make good commission on selling this crap . i purchased a flight ticket…a few days before i was to travel
i tripped landed up with wrist surgery they did not pay as they claimed 6 yrs before i had carpal tunnel surgery and that may have been the cause they are garbage they lie they sold me their best policy which covered pre existing conditions not that this was avoid these liars like the plague. i think they employ retards that only know how to say no save your money save your health go elsewhere
i feel cheated once again as i can only leave a single star which is poor they deserve a 5 star minus
this is the worst company and watch out for travel agents that sell them they make good commission on selling this crap . i purchased a flight ticket…a few days before i was to travel
i tripped landed up with wrist surgery they did not pay as they claimed 6 yrs before i had carpal tunnel surgery and that may have been the cause they are garbage they lie they sold me their best policy which covered pre existing conditions not that this was avoid these liars like the plague. i think they employ retards that only know how to say no save your money save your health go elsewhere
CSA clearly have an agenda to deny legitimate claims. We had a delayed connection/flight that caused us to potentially miss the start of a purchased tour. So we had to buy an alternate flight to ensure we caught the tour on time.
CSA denied the claim saying that the original flight was not delayed enough hours. Despite no other flight on the same carrier the same day.
Do NOT go with this company they clearly are sharks. I would never purchase insurance from them again.
DO NOT PURCHASE INSURANCE FROM THIS COMPANY, THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO NOT PAY CLAIM, I HAVE FILE A CASE AGAINST CSA CLAIM DEPT!
Very poor service and unhelpful claims representatives. Very slow to reimburse and deducted 25% from the reimbursement for destroyed luggage because I didn’t have the original purchase receipt (though the contract didn’t require it). They also tried to get me to pursue a claim against the foreign airline before considering my claim. This too, was not in the insurance contract.
Be smart, shop elsewhere.
I took CSA for a trip i made to India in Dec 08. on paper everything looked good, but when i had the incident abroad, i became furious with their service. First of all they didn’t want to deal with my case because i saw a doctor 5 days after the incident had happened – they have a clause that says you must see a doctor within 5 days, but when you get sick, on foreign soil, who counts the days? but there was more. the lady that was handling my claim was very very cold, not rude, but you could tell she wasn’t interested in helping at all!, and found every possible excuse to reject my claim. Since i was dissatisfied with her handling, i decided to speak with a supervisor, but guess how many phone calls it took to finally speak with one (did you say 5? 10? – keep going….), and even after i pleaded my case, i never heard back again, i’ve tried since to follow up, but get rejected every time (I am writing this review on June 09 – half a year later!)
bottom line is, CSA to me is a scam, their customer service is horrible, and i don’t recommend anyone buying their services.
After reading the three reviews previously posted about CSA, I would not even consider using them.
You cannot collect from this company. They are very, very rude.
I submitted a claim due to our ship being delayed due to mechanical problems. CSA ONLY paid for our hotel night and food. My claim for the extra fees to re-book a flight was denied. They said this fell under Trip Delay not Trip Interruption and I was denied the reimbursement of $300. Be very cautious using this company. I do not recommend this company.
CSA Travel Insurance sucks. It is the worst of the companies i have ever dealt with.