Andrew and his wife started a travel tradition in 2000: one significant international trip every year. They have traveled to Europe, South America, and Australia.

In the first 15 years, they never experienced any major travel complications. In 2016, that changed.

The couple was preparing for a two-week Amazon River trip in Brazil, scheduled for November. Andrew purchased a travel insurance policy with AXA Assistance USA in August to cover his trip costs – roughly $20,000 – as well as any medical emergencies that may occur during the trip.

A few days after purchasing the policy, he went in for a routine colonoscopy. The doctors found a tumor, and a second medical opinion confirmed the diagnosis.

“The question was ‘what are we going to do about it?’ We really wanted to take this trip,” Andrew said.

The treatment protocol called for radiation and chemotherapy prior to surgery. It was a five week process.

“I wanted to start and complete that before our trip, but this was the end of September, and I couldn’t get in until October,” Andrew said. “So I tried to delay it until after the trip, but the unanimous opinions of the doctors was to start treatment as soon as possible.”

Andrew took their recommendation, and filed a Trip Cancellation claim with AXA for his entire trip cost.

He said the process was relatively straightforward: He called in to get the claim forms, printed out the email they sent, and mailed the filled out forms back. He also included a lengthy explanation of his situation.

“Frankly, I expected that they might do some more questioning, or that they might require me to send more information from the doctors. I was very pleasantly surprised.”

Within two weeks, Andrew’s claim was approved. The check for $19,700 followed roughly a week later.