Tokio Marine HCC Insurance Review & Complaints: Travel Insurance (2023)

Tokio Marine HCC Insurance is a large international insurance company formed by the merger of U.S.-based HCC Insurance Holdings and Tokio Marine, Japan’s largest insurance company. Among the branches of insurance offered by the group is travel insurance, which is the only product aimed at the personal insurance market.

About Tokio Marine HCC

HCC Insurance was originally known as Houston Casualty Company, created in 1974 to write aviation insurance. Following years of growth and expansion, HCC was acquired by Japan’s largest insurance conglomerate, Tokio Marine, in 2015. The company now operates as Tokio Marine HCC.

The main focus of Tokio Marine HCC is commercial insurance, covering a wide variety of industries with specialized and packaged products. The company writes very little in the way of personal insurance, with travel insurance being the only non-commercial line. Travel insurance is available for personal as well as business travel.
The U.S. headquarters of Tokio Marine HCC are in Houston, Texas, with international offices located in many countries around the world. Travel insurance is sold through independent agents.

What are their travel insurance products?

Tokio Marine HCC has several lines of travel products. The Atlas line is a series of travel medical insurance plans for individuals, families, and groups. There are also long-term ex-pat plans, student plans, and group corporate plans.

Atlas Plans

The Atlas product line is available at the base level, Atlas Travel, as well as the Atlas Premium level. There is also an Atlas Group product and a multi-trip option.

Atlas Travel offers a range of maximum limits to choose from, starting at $50.00 ($10,000 is the maximum for travelers over 80) and going up to $2,000,000. Deductibles can be selected from between $0 and $5,000. Emergency medical evacuation is covered by up to $1,000,000 and coverage is included for a wide variety of medical situations, including AD&D.

This travel insurance plan has a basic level of trip coverage as well, including trip interruption coverage up to $10,000, lost baggage coverage of $500, and travel delay coverage at $100 a day after 12 hours.

Atlas Premium offers very similar medical coverage limits, although travelers over 80 can get $20,000 in coverage with this plan. There are a few medical limits that are higher, but most are the same. The main upgrade with this plan is the trip coverage, which doubles in every category.

Atlas Multi-trip covers the traveler for a full year, regardless of how many trips are taken during that time. The maximum limit is $1,000,000 on this policy, with a deductible of $250. Trip coverage matching the Atlas Travel plan is included.

Atlas Group is a travel plan for groups of five or more traveling together. It provides the same coverage as the Atlas Travel plan at a discounted rate.

You can purchase as many as 365 days of coverage if necessary.

StudentSecure

StudentSecure is the company’s medical plan for students studying abroad. Coverage is available at four levels: Smart, Budget, Select, and Elite. Each level offers increased medical limits and coverage, starting at $200,000 for Smart up to $1,000,000 with Elite. Deductibles also decrease with the higher coverage limit.

Smart is the only plan that does not have any pre-existing condition coverage – the rest have various waiting periods. All the plans have some prescription drug coverage, but only Elite covers vaccinations. The Smart plan is the only option that does not have maternity coverage.

All the plans include dental coverage, but preventative and emergency medical.

GroupSecure

Groupsecure is a business travel plan that is aimed at companies looking to provide insurance for employees traveling on business. It is offered as either a medical or an accident plan, and both can be purchased to create a package. Details of the coverage are not provided.

Other Coverage

Tokio Marine HCC lists an international ex-pat medical plan and a trip interruption plan on their website but does not underwrite either of these. The ex-pat plans are listed by three different companies, while trip interruption re-directs to the Nationwide website.

How to get rates

We ran a quote for the Atlas Travel plan for a 30-year-old traveler with a one-week travel period.

The rate returned for a $1,000,000 maximum coverage policy with no deductible was $13.37. With a $500 deductible, it dropped to $9.66. Coverage can be doubled, up to $2,000,000 for $13.58, only a few cents more. For such a high limit and low deductible, the original quote is really very reasonable.

The Atlas Premium plan gave us $2,000,000 in coverage with no deductible of $29.96. With a $500 deductible, the rate came back at $25.27. Unless you are seeking higher limits for trip coverage, the increase in premium to go up to this policy may not be worthwhile.

How to file claims

Tokio Marine HCC has a pretty robust claims section, offering helpful how-to videos to walk customers through the claims process. These videos are also available in a print version. There is also an FAQ section filled with questions and answers.

A claimant statement PDF is offered on the website to be filled out and submitted, and customers can also check claim status online. An email address is also provided for claims inquiries.

Unusually, however, there is no claim phone number listed. In the contact section, a general customer service phone number is listed.

What are the ratings and consumer reviews?

Tokio Marine HCC has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and there have been no complaints listed in the past three years. There are two reviews that have been left on the site. Both reviews are negative and list complaints regarding claims on travel medical plans.

There are five reviews on Pissed Consumer, all of which pertain to travel insurance. The complaints cite slow claims responses and denials, but the volume of complaints is very low.

We also found 54 complaints under a Yelp page for an address in Indianapolis, which is not the company headquarters but does appear to provide customer review for Tokio Marine HCC’s travel medical plans. This address may be for the medical insurance branch of the company. The Yelp ratings give an overall one star out of five, and again complaints surround denied claims.

The complaints are similar to those we see for all travel medical companies, and the volume is not high for a big company like Tokio Marine HCC.

What are Tokio Marine HCC financial ratings?

Ratings of Insurance Company Tokio Marine HCC Group holds has a financial strength rating of AA (Very Strong) by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, and A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company.

Is an Atlas plan worth buying?

Navigating the US’ complex healthcare system is one challenge faced by most international travelers when visiting the US. A lot of people who visit the US are surprised when they learn about the difference between PPO networks and out-of-networks.

Not only does it have the advantage of being a popular visitor insurance plan for international visitors to the US, but once the deductible is met, it covers 100% of medical services both within and out-of-network.

Does Tokio Marine HCC offer COVID-19 coverage?

The epidemic/pandemic exclusion has been updated, including an exception for COVID-19, allowing for COVID-19 to be covered as any other eligible sickness.

What’s the bottom line?

If you are seeking primarily travel medical coverage, with trip coverage as a secondary concern, Tokio Marine HCC has good plans at good prices. They have a good reputation and very solid financial backing.