Poor woman stuck abroad because her insurers won't pay up

[cottonwoolbrain]

I feel really sorry for her and her family, it must be dreadful.

However she didn't tell them she was on medication and had ongoing health conditions - If you are on any medication or have any ongoing condition it does show its worth telling the insurers and swallowing the slightly increased premium upfront. I have epilepsy so my holiday insurance is always a few pounds higher

Hope she manages to pull through :(

woman fights for life on dream holiday but insurer won't pay £200k bill"

WRT pp asking how far back to go, a lot will have a time frame in the questions
I.e any medication for 2 years, hospitalisation for 5 years, heart condition in a life time etc.
Ring the company if you have anything complex or you’re unsure of something.

It’s an awful situation all around and shows the importance of getting the appropriate insurance in place before travel.

Yes, I usually go through the small print and ring if in doubt, but worry about forgetting that for example a DC had some sort of prescribed cream for a rash in the last couple of years. Anxiety is one of my declared conditions and buying travel insurance tends to set it off.

Could flying aggravate any lung complaints ? Lower pressure filthy air for hours on end ?

Some harsh and heartless people on here!
Well I feel sorry for her, even if she was “stupid”. Im not sure the penalty quite fits the “crime”!

But I do agree that she was very foolish and brought this upon herself; travel insurance is pretty cheap, and utterly essential. Just do it properly.

Some harsh and heartless people on here!

I think it's more an expression of people who do follow rules about someone who hasn't. Bearing in mind for all the "oos" and "ahhs", if the insurance company did decide to reward dishonesty, it would be every other customer of them - the vast majority of which did follow the rules - that end up paying.

I feel sympathy but I don't think the insurance company is the villain of the piece

I can't feel sorry for stupidity.
Insurance to me, is a compulsory part of my holiday.
A good few years ago my friends son went on a lads holiday to Ibiza and while pissed, badly broke his leg. Guess what? No insurance. The bill came to £28.000, which as a young lad of 19 he didn't have. My friend ended up remortgaging her house to pay it. He's still paying her back to this day, some 15 years later.
All of which could have been avoided for the sake of a few pounds.

I feel sorry for her but I am with others, she broke the terms of the insurance so getting angry with them is pointless

A friend of mine was absolutely hammered on a quote for life insurance once, years ago because, according to them, she's had diverticulitis or something like that. She hadn't. She had had an exploratory test for it, which had come back negative, but they said they were still counting it!!

People always have the option to setup or donate to a gofundme, and post the link here to encourage others ?

To clarify I tend to feel sympathy towards anyone who is seriously ill in hospital - hence the "poor woman"

I am however, on the insurance company's side on this because she should have declared her ongoing mental health condition. Its not clear whether the inhaler was still needed but she should also have declared that. Last time I took out travel insurance, the questions were time specific - have you been prescribed medication within the last 2 years type questions then asking you to list it. I then paniced because I realised I'd forgotten to declare a hospital stay within last 5 years related to my epilepsy so phoned them up to find my premium raised by 75p!! Seemed good value in comparison to potentially paying out tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Years ago, I set myself on fire (entirely by accident!) in Italy. Insurers coughed up every penny except the excess - A&E, dermatology, 2 nights in hospital, prescriptions and god knows what else - not bad for £7.50 insurance as it was then!

DGRosetti

No one’s saying the insurance company are in the wrong. They absolutely are not.
When I said the penalty doesn’t fit the crime I didn’t mean that the insurance company were penalising her; rather, that the appalling situation she now finds herself in (stuck aboard with £200K bill?) is a pretty hash consequence for leaving something she may have thought irrelevant off a form. The effect a little unequal to the cause.

She was very silly and the problem is of her own making, but I can still feel sorry for her.

A good few years ago my friends son went on a lads holiday to Ibiza and while pissed, badly broke his leg. Guess what? No insurance. The bill came to £28.000, which as a young lad of 19 he didn't have. My friend ended up remortgaging her house to pay it. He's still paying her back to this day, some 15 years later.
All of which could have been avoided for the sake of a few pounds.

Probably unlikely given the alcohol related accidents exclusion

What's probably unlikely?

is a pretty hash consequence for leaving something she may have thought irrelevant off a form.

Unfortunately, life's like that - some tiny actions (or inactions) can have devastating consequences. The thing is, people falling foul of holiday insurance exclusions isn't a new problem, nor can it be classed as "little known". Which rather changes the dynamics. Also, every insurance policy I have applied for has had big print warnings about the need for completeness and accuracy.

I have no sympathy for her.

bloody - probably unlikely that insurers would have paid out even if the lad had taken out insurance

Oh right Aridane. I don't know.
Wouldn't that mean that literally everyone who goes on holiday and needs med care wouldn't get paid out? After all, whether it's a single glass of wine with your evening meal or a full on piss up its still drinking alcohol.
Mine paid out when my husband broke a rib after drinking alcohol. He wasn't pissed, but he had still been drinking.

My current travel insurance does have a clause excluding claims following excessive alcohol consumption, can't remember the exact words but a couple of glasses of wine would be fine, a full on piss up wouldn't.

Financial ombudsman cases are quite revealing on the alcohol consumption issues

Seems its a good idea to get a blood test if you think your insurers will try not to cover you Oh and don't drink 4 times the UK drink driving level !!

The bill came to £28.000, which as a young lad of 19 he didn't have. My friend ended up remortgaging her house to pay it. He's still paying her back to this day, some 15 years later.

So he didn't have an E111 either?

I have a relative who had his appendix out in France, with the E111 the total was less than £30

My daughter was stuck abroad and not allowed to fly home last September, insured with AXA through my bank account. They were beyond fantastic, really made a very stressful situation better in that I only had to worry about her health.

5 star hotel, food, upgraded flights back, private doctor bills paid, no question. At the end of every phone call they asked if there was anything else they could do.

If you don't lie on your application for travel insurance, AXA will pay out.

I have no idea Sashh. I'm guessing not though.

It may seem unfair, but she would be paying a lot more for her insurance if she had disclosed her medication. I know this from experience. If you're in doubt - ask them. Don't make assumptions.

To go to Mexico or the US without full insurance is madness!

Axa are awful. Many moons ago I had growths on my eyelids. No problem, I had health insurance.

Axa refused to cover me. I had had the insurance for 8 years and never usd it. They said it was a cosmetic procedure.

My gp had also referred me to nhs eye hospital. Had an appointment within 5 days, had the growths removed. Ophthalmic consultant said it was really important to have the growths removed as they had a very high percentage of becoming malignant.