to think you don't go on holiday whilst having a high risk pregnancy and without adequate insurance

[Defenderwife]

Woman gives birth after food poisoning whilst on holiday in the Dominic Republic.

She had a cervical cerclage so knew she had a high risk pregnancy.

Her insurance didn't cover her entire pregnancy.

They are now stranded with a premature baby in a foreign country with no financial help and are relying on donations and GoFundMe.

I have made a donation but inside I feel almost angry. Why on earth have they let themselves be in this situation? That poor poor child.

[meditrina]

"Yes, don't you need a fit to fly certificate or chit from your doctor?"

Yes. From 28 weeks.

So not for her outward journey but yes required for her return leg. But doctor's fit to fly (which she may have had) does not cancel the obligation to inform the insurance company of relevant conditions. And cerclage must surely be one of them.

With a doctor's fit-to-fly, she may well have been insurable, though it would be vastly more expensive. But less expensive than the circumstances they're in now.

[RomComPhooey]

Yeah, I get that roast it - I was using it as example to show that you have to truthful in all aspects of an insurance policy, not just the bits pertinent to your claim, or else the contract is void. Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I could have been. I have no sympathy with the couple in this scenario.

[TheStripyGruffalo]

"Sharon Halls and Daniel Compton’s holiday insurance covered medical costs up to 29 weeks of pregnancy, but little Evie was born after 28 weeks and six days at 10.45pm Dominican time. Due to the difference in time between the two countries, Evie’s care now has to be funded from the couple’s own pockets." from the EADT website. If it's correct then the insurance company are being unreasonable to split hairs like this.

[TheExMotherInLaw]

I was in exactly that position; had a holiday booked, fell pg, needed circlage, was advised not to go, so we cancelled.
End of.
However, I can understand kind people helping to bail them out of the position they are now in.

[RomComPhooey]

And the smoker example was not my relative. In my case, my relative had failed to disclose the full extent of their illness. It was a 'fair cop' on the insurance company's part, but the ramifications for immediate family were dreadful.

[milkmilklemonade12]

sleepy I've spent all my wages on chocolate and frilly knickers can you dig deep and feed my children please? And also pay my mortgage. I forgot about that.

Because, empathy.

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

Gruffalo - that is the parents account. It doesn't mean it was why the insurers won't pay.

[TheFairyCaravan]

If they are declared, you can insure yourself for everything else, but not the pre-existing condition.

That's not true. The point of declaring them is so that they are covered.

When we went on holiday in April I was 10 days away from having surgery. I wasn't covered for anything related to that, but all other pre-existing conditions If they are declared, you can insure yourself for everything else, but not the pre-existing conditions were covered.

[AyeAmarok]

They really aren't Gruffalo, the couple flying to a different time zone does not make the woman less pregnant.

That's like saying if you fly laps round the world you get younger!

[TheWitTank]

I do feel very sorry for them and I really hope they get back safe and sound to the UK with a healthy baby.
I was a bit with their thinking behind this trip though. Why the bloody fuck would you fly to the Dominican Republic while very pregnant and classed as high risk? Sheer stupidity. Insured or not, I wouldn't be flying across the world with a high risk pregnancy away from my support network. If they needed a trip, surely a UK based one would have sufficed. I just can't get my head around why a sunny holiday is worth risking your babies life over.
Anyway, it's done now, of course it wasn't their intention to be in this situation so good luck to them.

[scifisam]

I have sympathy for their situation while at the same time thinking that they are the ones who caused it. It's just a stupid decision to make when you're that far gone in a risky pregnancy. Even if they had thought insurance would cover it, they still took the risk of getting substandard healthcare for their child. They could have gone to the Canaries or something (Spain, so EU, and has good healthcare) if they really wanted an island beach holiday.

Daft buggers. Hopefully they, or at least others, will learn from it.


Quote: yy pre-existing conditions aren't covered.

If they are declared, you can insure yourself for everything else, but not the pre-existing condition.


My travel insurance policy specifically includes the conditions I've declared. There are lots of them so my insurance is extortionate, but I wouldn't travel without it.

Life insurance often doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, and nor does private medical insurance, but travel insurance does.

[QuickNameChangeToRant]

Call me skeptical but I can see people seeing this sort of thing and going "well it doesn't matter about being insured, in fact it's better as we can get more money by crowd funding... And we get famous too"

I thought this too. We're fast becoming a nation that relies on everyone else to pull us out of our self-made, avoidable messes.

[TheStripyGruffalo]

Perhaps I should start a go fund me page to pay for my pension because I can't afford the contributions?

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I read the news story - either I missed it, or it didn't say whether their insurance policy covered just them, or whether it covered their baby, if it was born whilst they were on holiday.

I haven't been abroad whilst pregnant, so I have no knowledge about health insurance for a pregnant woman - do policies automatically cover the baby if it is born during the holiday, or do they have to have specific cover for the baby, in the event it is born during the holiday?

If you need to have insurance that specifically covers the baby as well as the mum, that might explain why Evie's care is not being covered, despite her being born when her mum was less than 29 weeks pregnant.

[Loungeroomlizard]

I refused to go to Suffolk from the midlands in my high risk pregnancy! Too far from our specialist unit...

[AbbeyRoadCrossing]

It's daft to go abroad if you're fit, healthy, not pregnant etc without insurance too as you never know, you might fall and break something. That's why it's called insurance.
Even with a normal pregnancy things can change - in my 1st placenta praevia was detected at 20 weeks, in my 2nd a blood condition was detected at 28 weeks. So you never know, a low risk pregnancy can change one day. So it's worth insuring for cancellation at least.
A fit to fly is not insurance, it just allows you to board the plane.

I've had friends with normal pregnancies give birth abroad, luckily close to term and in the EU. But even if your medical care is covered you still have hotel bills, travel to the embassy to get baby a passport, new flights back or hotel bills whilst you wait for the baby to be allowed to fly, etc.

If you don't insure it's up to you. But it's a gamble and you could face a massive bill.

[bettyberry]

Glad I'm not the only one thinking it was a selfish and stupid decision to travel given the known risks

[FuzzyWizard]

The company isn't splitting hairs. She was 29 weeks pregnant. Trying to claim that she was less pregnant because she flew west is silly and they are chancing their arm. She got pregnant in the UK. Her pregnancy was dated by medical professionals in the UK, she was 29 weeks pregnant, surely? They took a risk by taking insurance that only covered part of their holiday. There are people who choose not to declare all medical conditions for travel insurance or take out cheap insurance without really checking what it covers, occasionally that catches them out. It's unfortunate but not anyone else's responsibility. If they were my friends I'd definitely offer some money to help but not for strangers. The insurance company shouldn't be forced to pay out. It just encourages people to not pay for the level of insurance they actually need and will push up premiums for everyone else.

[Wolpertinger]

It's totally not true that you aren't covered for declared conditions.

The insurance company expects you to declare everything. In response they can decide a) to cover you but make you pay more for the cover or b) not to cover you.

Option a is the most likely - even patients with advanecd cancer can get travel insurance but it's v v expensive and they have to be honest about how advanced it is

However something like costs of delivering a baby an insurance company isn't going to want to cover - it's not insurance if you pay £20 and in return they know they have to pay £££££s for your delivery and baby care in 6 weeks time. So they have a cut off after which you aren't covered during your pregnancy.

[aBrightNewDay]

Well, the company has been named now so I'm sure their PR dept will put out a statement soon enough.

[ProcrastinatorGeneral]

They were dicks. It's biting them on the arse. The only empathy I have is for the poor child born to such fools.

[definiteissues]

In relation to choosing to go there, I don't think they chose the location, they went for a friends wedding

[LeChien]

Unless I've read it wrong, on their go fund me page, they're saying the baby was just over 12 weeks premature - surely that would be 27 weeks +, not 28 weeks +.
I know it's neither here nor there in the scheme of things though.

[cleaty]

You can get travel insurance that doesn't cover you for pre existing conditions. Or you can pay more, and get everything covered. Sometimes, no one will cover you for a pre existing condition at any price.

[specialsubject]

it does seem that the insurance was to end that night; not clear if they would have been home by then if things had gone to plan.

the baby is very premature so let's hope for a good outcome. The child won't be able to travel for months so they are also stuck there. No earnings, living costs. Not good at all and some very expensive 'empathy'.

family and friends working hard to help. I'm afraid that this is the risk of uninsured travel - you give your loved ones the unattractive choice of going bankrupt or not helping. A lesson for everyone, even on a few days abroad.