Every time my wife's parents travel to the US we get them insurance. Their most recent visit was the first time we actually needed to use it, and it was just minor.

After they arrived they both quickly got sick, not flu type symptoms but a weird spot on the neck, dizziness, and a couple other things I can't remember. It seemed like it could be serious so we took them in. Doctor examined them, said they were okay and we went home. Filed a claim with insurance.

Insurance asked for medical history. They literally don't have any, nor was it really relevant as they weren't diagnosed with anything. I think the insurance wanted to claim pre-existing conditions (which they don't cover). They still refused to pay anything. The bill wasn't even that much, maybe a few hundred dollars? It was less than what I paid the insurance!

Name and shame, please.

Report it to your state's insurance commissioner.

^

Look up contact info here:

https://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm

> You should be able to get insurance for your insurance

If this doesn't exist it seems like an opportunity worth investigating. Your premiums would essentially be paying for consumer research on insurers (this should also include so-called "extended warranties," which is a huge market). The relative costs of premiums for different insurers should drive consumers to more trustworthy insurers, which should improve the insurance marketplace for everyone.

It's possible it just may not be economically viable though.

In Switzerland, it fairly common to have Legal Expenses Insurance, which might help you against your other insurance (e.g. homeowner's policies often include it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_expenses_insurance

Of course, whether THEY will pay out on a claim is a separate question.

"Have you been a victim of an insurance fraud? You have believed insurer's promises and they betrayed your trust? We can insure you against that. You can trust us, we promise!"

> I always wonder when I buy insurance, if I need it will they actually pay out.

I think that's every insurance purchasers worry. The insurance companies have people who work for them to look for ways to deny your claim. But if the claim is straightforward, obvious and well documented, they will pay out unless you are dealing with unscrupulous insurers.

"But if the claim is straightforward, obvious and well documented, they will pay out unless you are dealing with unscrupulous insurers."

I think this a fallacy (unless most insurers are unscrupulous). It is very common for insurance companies to reject the claim initially and hope you'll go away.

What happens when the "insurance for your insurance" (level 2 insurance?) refuses to pay? You get level 3 insurance for this case? What if they are all equally corrupt? Which they probably should be, since it's in their interest not to pay up?

For large businesses that's a huge market, it's called re-insurance. State Farm buys a policy that (for example) protects itself against hurricane claims in the state of South Carolina for 2018 against a Reinsurance company.

Yeah but that's for the insurer. Getting "insurance insurance" would be for the customer, to protect getting screwed over by their original insurer, who has chosen the short-term option of rejecting a valid claim, but which results in long-term loss of trust in the entire industry. The only solution being...more insurance? Crazy.

I could see something like "If you need to make an insurance claim, we'll provide you a lawyer and/or other professional bureaucracy wranglers to push the claim on your behalf." I'm not sure of the exact best pricing model, but it could save the customer some serious money to have a professional involved in the claim, and arranging it ahead of time in case you need it seems reasonable. Probably this is just having a specialist firm on a specific retainer contract.

The solution in the United States at least is that states regulate insurance and you can complain to them. I'm not sure about overseas.