In September Jeffrey Miller, a travel lawyer and consultant in Columbia, Md., wrote a piece in the trade magazine Travel Weekly titled “Losing Faith in Travel Insurance.”
After 15 years of encouraging travel agents to sell such policies, which can pay commissions of 25 percent or more, he wrote, “I no longer believe travel insurance to be a vacation staple.”
In the last year, Miller said, many friends and clients had complained about insurers denying apparently legitimate claims. Confusion reigned over what policies cover.
After his article was published, he said, he “got a lot of grief from the industry.”
In separate letters, Brad Finkle, president of the U.S. Travel Insurance Association in Richmond, Va., criticized the Consumer Reports and Miller’s articles.
Finkle wrote that the “vast majority” of travel-insurance claims were paid and that consumers needed to take responsibility for reading their policies. Only travel insurance, he added, covers most losses from trip interruptions and cancellations, the most common claims.
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