PARKER, Colo. — Nancy and Steve Watson thought they'd covered all their bases before they set off on a river cruise in Canada, buying travel insurance in case the worst happened. But when Nancy needed an emergency trip home, the insurance didn't pay right away.
The couple's 10-day cruise through historic French Canada had gone according to plan — until the third afternoon, when Nancy tripped and fell on a broken part of the sidewalk. Her pelvis was broken in three places, and doctors in Quebec City said her elbow was shattered and would need surgery. "They did not want to operate on my arm in Quebec City," Nancy told Steve On Your Side.
"'You need to go home.' And I was thinking that way, too." Credit: 9NEWS But her hip was broken.
She couldn't just hop on a jumbo jet back home to Colorado. No problem, Steve thought. That's what travel insurance is for.
The couple had paid $1,622 for a plan from Allianz Global Assistance that covered all the basics of travel, including a very specific line: "Emergency Transportation Coverage" up to $500,000. Steve assumed that would be enough to get Nancy home. "They said 'we need to see some more hospital paperwork,'" Steve said.
"So we sent them hospital paperwork." The insurance company, Steve said, refused to have Nancy air evacuated back to Colorado. "We're there Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night and Friday," Steve said.
Their daughter, Cory, was working the phones back home. "It was sheer panic," Cory said. "Once we got den.