Perils of falling ill while abroad (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Perils of falling ill while abroad

9:19am Thursday 2nd September 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

Falling ill abroad is bad enough, but being stricken down by a serious condition and unable to get back home is significantly worse.

That is the plight of 50-year-old self-employed Bradford courier Andrew Ross, who had a heart attack in Prague early last month after attending his son Mark’s stag party, and has been in a coma ever since.

Mark and his mother, Marina, were told the cost of flying Mr Ross home would be at least £10,000, a sum which his travel insurance company, Insurefor.com Ltd, at first declined to pay, due to “a technicality”. Now the company says it will pay up.

Surprisingly, perhaps, not all travel agencies offer travel insurance. One city centre firm says: “We haven’t sold insurance for two years. The amount of money it costs to issue policies means you pay out more than you get back. It’s just not profitable. The European health insurance card is just not helpful at all.”

Stephen Howard, proprietor of Stephen Howard Travel, Wibsey, said the former Labour Government changed the rules under which travel insurance was regulated by the Association of British Travel Agents.

He says: “Travel insurance now has to be regulated by the Financial Services Association. To sell travel insurance means taking examinations every year and monitoring staff for competency in travel insurance.

“The worry was that as a result, because travel insurance is not as easy to get, people wouldn’t bother and we would be left with people stranded abroad with vast medical bills.”

Mr Howard, an appointed representative of the FSA, offers ten-day travel insurance for £21.71 through an intermediary company, ITC Compliance. A client with a medical condition would have to pay separately for a medical screening test.

“If that cost were to prove exorbitant, the client has a 14-day period to cancel the travel insurance,” he added. He reckons he does about £1,000-worth of travel insurance business a month – a decrease on previous years.

For the past nine years, Bradford Chamber of Trade has offered annual travel insurance cover, including the United States and Canada, to up to 1,000 people with a business or family connection to the Chamber’s small business membership. It currently costs £44.

Val Summerscales, the Chamber’s secretary, said they did it through a broker in Shipley, Private Health Partnership. She cited the case of a woman member who last year had to have hospital treatment in Australia.

She says: “She had Meniere’s Disease, a problem with the inner ear that affects balance – it makes you dizzy and nauseous. She thought she had an attack of it, but it was a virus.

“But she had paid a £4 surcharge on her policy, so the £1,200 hospital bill was covered. The European health card only covers very basic treatment; you need the backup of travel insurance.”

The Association of British Insurers, the body that represents the insurance industry, has issued a number of tips for foreign travellers.

“Disclosure is the key. Whether it’s previous medical problems or a recent speeding fine, full and early disclosure avoids any possible problems later. Holding back something that is relevant will be a false economy if it means your claim is later turned down. If in doubt, always tell your insurer.

“The European health insurance card is a substitute for travel insurance. While the card entitles you to any necessary state-provided medical treatment, it does not provide full NHS coverage while abroad, or pay for emergency repatriation to the UK. You need travel insurance for these.

“Make sure that the policy you buy covers you for what you need, don’t choose on price alone, and ensure you compare like-for-like. Also remember that not all insurers are on comparison sites, and if you have specialist requirements, it may be more suitable to contact insurers directly.

“Insurance policies do not contain an ‘Act of God’ exclusion. The policy will set out what is insured and what the main exclusions are. If loss occurs from an event covered, then the insurer will pay out in accordance with the policy terms and conditions.”

After 27-year-old bride Carrie Dudbridge fell from a hotel balcony in Corfu, fracturing her spine, the assumption was that the European health insurance card she and her husband Michael had would cover all emergencies. It didn’t.

Family and friends rallied round to pay £16,000 to private air ambulance company Mediaviation Ltd to fly Carrie back to the UK last month and for the ambulance to take her to hospital.