Q. I purchased travel insurance for my trip to Ireland. As luck would have it, I suffered a terrible fall before I was scheduled to fly back home. So now I've got an insurance claim that requires documentation for every little thing, which is often difficult to get (especially in rural Ireland) and I'm stuck here in another B&B waiting for an available flight home. If I'm unable to get a seat, I may be forced to stay longer than I can afford. All the documents they want will go through a "counselor" at the hospital; not the doctor. This could drag on for months and I could be broke by then. Is there any way to make them pay me now?

A. Unfortunately, the claims process could take several weeks if not longer. And they won't pay any costs associated with terminating the trip early (via the "trip interruption" clause in most travel insurance policies) until they document your visits to a physician or hospital. Of course, you'd also need to submit proof of any expenses incurred, which can only be done after spending the money. If your policy had an emergency medical evacuation clause and you'd been deemed a candidate for medical evacuation, either by commercial flight or a private medical flight, then you would have been able to get a flight home almost immediately.