Mr Hill Was backpacking in Cambodia when he developed sepsis as a result of infected mosquito bites. He has spent two months in hospital including two weeks in a coma and several more on life support. He is now preparing to be flown home.
Thankfully Mr Hill had appropriate travel insurance through Flexicover and the insurer is picking up the bills for his treatment and return home. The total bill for his treatment and medically assisted flights could easily run into tens of thousands of pounds. According to the ABI, one recent claim for an air ambulance repatriation of a seriously ill British holidaymaker from the Canary Islands back to the UK included a bill of £23,000 for the flight alone.
Recent research carried out by Gocompare Travel Insurance revealed that only 73 per cent of British holidaymakers always have travel cover when they go abroad and a worrying one in 12 (eight per cent) say they NEVER bother with it.
The most common reasons why holidaymakers don’t take out travel cover are that it’s too expensive, that they usually forget, that they can’t be bothered and a belief that insurers won’t pay out anyway. Seven per cent just feel that ‘they won’t need it’. Georgie Frost, Consumer Advocate at GoCompare, commented: “Stories like this bring home just how important it is to have appropriate travel insurance when you go abroad. Thankfully Mr Hill had taken the sensible step of getting travel insurance, he received life-saving treatment and will hopefully soon be on his way home to his family following his awful ordeal.
“Unfortunately, cases when families and friends have to club together or crowd fund bills for treatment and repatriation when holidaymakers haven’t taken out even the cheapest of travel insurance policies are all too frequent. Medical bills can be huge, especially in places like the USA, and the cost of repatriation from long haul destinations can be astronomical. Whilst no one wants to think about the chances of them having a serious accident or illness on their holiday, sometimes things can go wrong.
“A few minutes spent arranging travel insurance for less than the cost of a bottle of posh sun cream will give you the peace of mind that that if the unthinkable happens, you and your friends and family won’t have to worry about how to pay the medical bills.”
