Travel insurance: Young Melbourne woman left thousands out of pocket after Thailand jet ski accident

[greenchair]

20 minutes ago, Sir Swagman said:

Fortunately you just managed to swerve around making a racist comment yourself there... or did you?

Him making a derogatory  comment about caucasians , i have been told is not racist .Apparently if i make a similar comment about thai ,it's racist. 

Lol. go figure. 

[Fred31]

5 hours ago, lanista said:

Obviously she deserves sympathy and she did the right thing taking out accident insurance.  You have to read the fine print expecially if youre going to Thailand and riding jetskis.

Obviously the jet ski  operators  have no insurance. This is Thailand.     Their  attitude......your fault ,we didnt force you to come here ,farang!

Dont hire jet skis or motorbikes in the Land of Wicked Smiles. 

Phuket and Samui are not quality tourist destinations and Australians know it.

Most bucket shop holiday packages are for Phuket and Bali.  Return airfares and accomodation packages are so cheap to Thailand  the hotel is basically free.

 Probabaly the same as Brits and Germans  going to a rubbish  Greek island  or maybe another off the coast of Turkey.

Yanks can have their bucket shop holiday packages in Mexico.  I can imagine cheap resort beaches there would have thousands of Mexicans selling crap on the beach.

Oor just about anyone going to cheap and sleazy Britain, pretty much guaranteed to get stabbed by some crazy junkie looking for a few bucks. How does it feel to have your own country run down and dissed? Maybe try to be a bit nicer?

[chippendale]

5 hours ago, greenchair said:

There is no need for that racist comment. 

This is about travel insurance. If you want to go down the road of comparing thai women to foreign. Let me show you some pictures of some fat thai past their use by date of 25. 

Then show us some that weigh as much as she does, at least 100kg.

[greenchair]

2 hours ago, Cereal said:

I've read that comment a couple of times. I even read it backwards. I cannot find any racist content in it whatsoever.

 

The word racist gets tossed around with such wanton abandon these days it has completely lost the significance of its meaning. What he said is generally true. SE Asian women tend to keep their figures and looks far after the typical Caucasian Western woman has lost theirs. My wife is 42 and had a body that would make most Canadian teenagers jealous and she is 100% average around here.

Yes, it's never ever racist if it's directed at white people. 

Your wife probably didn't have 3 children and a full time job because her foreign husband gives her money every day to spend her time at the beauty parlour .if i was to say all black people have big fat <deleted> and look ugly, would that be racist? 

This is about a go fund me page. The comment was rude. He's not down at the local bar comparing western women with thai. 

There's a time and a place. This wasn't it. 

[Dave67]

7 hours ago, ukrules said:

Trip of a lifetime my ass, if you go to Phuket these days you're 'slumming it'.

Agree I haven't been there for 5 years Its a tip

[greenchair]

17 minutes ago, chippendale said:

Then show us some that weigh as much as she does, at least 100kg.

No different all. The world is suffering from an obesity problem, thai ladies are no exception. 

[chainarong]

6 hours ago, starky said:

Not at lot of details here but she is 100% covered by Medicare if she is an Aussie. I am assuming she is talking about ongoing treatments as she is it is about being in pain for the rest of her life. No insurance I know of can cover that. I did my Achilles in Thailand years ago was covered by insurance and repatriated home but wasn't covered for all the physio, and the 8 months I had to have off work. But I was young and stupid and in Thailand so suck it up. Bit over the whole someone else needs to pay my freight mentality. Be responsible for your actions.

Don't you worry Starky the barstards have everything covered down in Oz from this case to even obstructing a person on a X walk while looking at your mobile, as I say they cover their <deleted> in OZ, the most over regulated place in the history of man kind, the country of little do's but plenty of Don'ts.

 

[R123]

She took out insurance that covered her when overseas and not in her home country.  Did she ask or did the insurers tell her that coverage was only available for medical expenses etc abroad and not when she returned home, even though the treatment at home was for the accident abroad?

Is it a case of 'buyer beware' ?

Should the insurers have made it clear there was no coverage when she returned home?

The insurers of course will no doubt point to some small print excluding treatment at home; but in reality who reads the small print, which is often couched in obscure terms...

[Toosetinmyways]

9 hours ago, ukrules said:

Trip of a lifetime my ass, if you go to Phuket these days you're 'slumming it'.

Beat me to it.

[Chopperboy]

9 hours ago, ukrules said:

Trip of a lifetime my ass, if you go to Phuket these days you're 'slumming it'.

Agree - Back 15 years ago or so the buzz was that it was going to be a high rollers paradise, not any more..   Phuket today is almost totally trashed - 8 lane roads jambed solid each way, ugly shops everywhere, and bursting with low grade Chinese tourists...

 

 

[off road pat]

9 hours ago, ezzra said:

All too familiar story, people have lots of money to spend on holiday but buying a basic insurance coverage is a waste of money for them, however, no travel insurance will cover a leisure vehicle accident, so even if she had a cover that would not have applied in this case...

My European travel insurance covers all accidents, ALL !!!

 

[NanLaew]

9 hours ago, lanista said:

You pay peanuts you lay down with monkeys.

Who can forget the Brits who were threatened  by a  rifle wielding jetski thug ( JJ )  in Phuket  some years back.

Mixed metaphors much? I think they sayings are "When you lay with dogs, you get up with fleas" and "When you pay peanuts you get monkeys"?

 

Either way, yes, we had all forgotten about the Phuket jetski thug since it was about 10 years absolutely ages ago.

[stevenl]

4 hours ago, R123 said:

She took out insurance that covered her when overseas and not in her home country.  Did she ask or did the insurers tell her that coverage was only available for medical expenses etc abroad and not when she returned home, even though the treatment at home was for the accident abroad?

Is it a case of 'buyer beware' ?

Should the insurers have made it clear there was no coverage when she returned home?

The insurers of course will no doubt point to some small print excluding treatment at home; but in reality who reads the small print, which is often couched in obscure terms...

No, small print doesn't exist anymore.

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, Chopperboy said:

Agree - Back 15 years ago or so the buzz was that it was going to be a high rollers paradise, not any more..   Phuket today is almost totally trashed - 8 lane roads jambed solid each way, ugly shops everywhere, and bursting with low grade Chinese tourists...

 

 

What does Phuket have to do with this?

[Ulic]

I was under the impression Australia had universal health care where x-rays and scans

would be covered. Not sure if she thought she had some kind of disability insurance but

as far as I am concerned she was naive if she thought emergency travel insurance would cover

medication and other miscellaneous expenses for life.

[geoff65]

20 hours ago, Cranky said:

What have you got against Aussies?  No licence needed for a jetski and how in hell do you know if she has experience or not, she may be the Aussie jetski champ for all you know, which is clearly not a lot.  Poor kid probably just got run in to by some nutter and is totally blameless.

Got nothing against Aussies ( I am one) but what I do have a problem with is people with no common sense and don't think before they act.

[utalkin2me]

Insurance is a flawed system. You are paying someone who necessarily will do all they can to work against you. And the people who do the most screwing over are the ones getting raises and promotions. 

[tirekicker]

Koh Samui and Phuket the so-called "smart city"  the whole area has become a dump and the way it heading can only become worse. 

[starky]

On 8/27/2018 at 9:34 AM, lanista said:

I dont think thats right. Medicare covers almost everything including operations but aftercare including specialist care having returned to OZ after a jetski crash in Thailand  is pushing it.

Thailand is well known for its total lack of safety standards.

 

You pay peanuts you lay down with monkeys.

Who can forget the Brits who were threatened  by a  rifle wielding jetski thug ( JJ )  in Phuket  some years back.

Cost them 35,000 baht from memory.

Did you read what I posted? That is exactly what I said. Is comprehension a problem for you? Mixing metaphors certainly isnt.

[wotsdermatter]

According to her fundraising page, Ms Kaiser faces years of pain, and is trying to raise funds to undergo surgery which she hopes will help her long-term

 

Yet another attempt to have others help pay for her injuries.  How many is that this year?  She is supposed to expect to experience discomfort and pain for years to come but even though she had injuries, including spine damage, has that really been established.  Having had two spinal injuries and subsequent operations, it is possible but not absolute, depending on where and what the damage actually is and the skill of the surgeon(s) involved.  If she does have serious damage the sooner it is seen to the better and she should return to Australia as soon as possible for treatment, although her insurance coverage will pay if she stays in Thailand. There are very good surgeons here but of course, it is her choice.

 

'nuf sed

[starky]

On 8/27/2018 at 11:16 AM, Cranky said:

What have you got against Aussies?  No licence needed for a jetski and how in hell do you know if she has experience or not, she may be the Aussie jetski champ for all you know, which is clearly not a lot.  Poor kid probably just got run in to by some nutter and is totally blameless.

So did the Aussie jetski champion have a blindfold on or is she legally blind? how fast do these <deleted> things travel she didn't see someone heading straight for her mate? Leave it out

[starky]

3 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

Insurance is a flawed system. You are paying someone who necessarily will do all they can to work against you. And the people who do the most screwing over are the ones getting raises and promotions. 

And...? All insurance is gambling. Car insurance is betting against yourself that you won't have an accident your car stolen etc. All other insurance is the samec. Copious amounts of money paid backing against yourself year after year that something may happen. What's your point?

[oldrunner]

This young lady has my sincere sympathy. She could just as easily been killed, as are so many on Thai roadways. At 78 I'm covered for everything from toe nails to skin rashes at 75% and it only cost me 20 years of AF service. Same protection for my wife who will likely live much longer than I. 20 years goes fast, not likely 20 more.

[utalkin2me]

8 hours ago, starky said:

And...? All insurance is gambling. Car insurance is betting against yourself that you won't have an accident your car stolen etc. All other insurance is the samec. Copious amounts of money paid backing against yourself year after year that something may happen. What's your point?

My point is it is flawed. If people had any backbone we would get rid of it altogether.

 

Look at it in the example of health insurance. If we assume we have one million dollars to cover health for x  number of individuals, with insurance some percentage goes to the insurance companies. Not those individuals have one million, minus insurance company profits. And the real kicker is they are fighting to make those profits higher, which means you necessarily lose as much as possible. Without insurance the individuals would have exactly one million in health care costs at their disposal. Flawed. 

[Sheryl]

On 8/27/2018 at 7:03 AM, starky said:

Not at lot of details here but she is 100% covered by Medicare if she is an Aussie. I am assuming she is talking about ongoing treatments as she is it is about being in pain for the rest of her life. No insurance I know of can cover that. I did my Achilles in Thailand years ago was covered by insurance and repatriated home but wasn't covered for all the physio, and the 8 months I had to have off work. But I was young and stupid and in Thailand so suck it up. Bit over the whole someone else needs to pay my freight mentality. Be responsible for your actions.

She is saying the travel insurance paid fully for all costs in Thailand and it is costs after coming back home to Australia that she is out of pocket for. I too do not understand why it is not covered by Australian Medicare.

 

Naturally travel insurance covers you only while on the trip, not after return home. And policies generally have as a condition, that you have cover in your home country.

[Sheryl]

10 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

According to her fundraising page, Ms Kaiser faces years of pain, and is trying to raise funds to undergo surgery which she hopes will help her long-term

 

Yet another attempt to have others help pay for her injuries.  How many is that this year?  She is supposed to expect to experience discomfort and pain for years to come but even though she had injuries, including spine damage, has that really been established.  Having had two spinal injuries and subsequent operations, it is possible but not absolute, depending on where and what the damage actually is and the skill of the surgeon(s) involved.  If she does have serious damage the sooner it is seen to the better and she should return to Australia as soon as possible for treatment, although her insurance coverage will pay if she stays in Thailand. There are very good surgeons here but of course, it is her choice.

 

'nuf sed

She has already returned to Australia and it is medical costs in Australia she is complaining about. Why, I don't know.

[Sheryl]

On 8/27/2018 at 2:42 PM, R123 said:

She took out insurance that covered her when overseas and not in her home country.  Did she ask or did the insurers tell her that coverage was only available for medical expenses etc abroad and not when she returned home, even though the treatment at home was for the accident abroad?

Is it a case of 'buyer beware' ?

Should the insurers have made it clear there was no coverage when she returned home?

The insurers of course will no doubt point to some small print excluding treatment at home; but in reality who reads the small print, which is often couched in obscure terms...

This is a universal feature of travel insurance policies. They cover you only for care abroad and, if necessary, for medical evacuation back to your home. Care once you get home, is not part of the travel policy. You are no longer traveling. You are expected to have health cover at home and  many policies require you to confirm you have health cover in your home country when you apply.

 

This is why travel insurance costs so much less than full health insurance.

 

Nothing strange or untoward re the travel insurance, which reportedly paid in full for all expenses while abroad, and may also have paid for her return travel if it entailed extra costs to her. 

 

What is unclear in this case is why Australian Medicare does not cover her medical costs now that she is back home.

 

 

[salavan]

More TV propergander to try and force immigration to implement compulsory insurance

[Ks45672]

13 minutes ago, salavan said:

More TV propergander to try and force immigration to implement compulsory insurance

You can be pretty sure they will have agents selling it to people getting off the planes in the airport soon...... Or immigration won't let them in

 

Nice little money spinner 

 

 

[Airalee]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

What is unclear in this case is why Australian Medicare does not cover her medical costs now that she is back home.

It appears that it is in fact covered.  I did a little digging and in the following article it was stated:

 

“Ms Kaiser has started a fundraiser for treatment to have a spinal cord stimulator installed to reduce pain.

She estimates the surgery through the private health system, would cost around $40,000 while the waiting list in the public health system could be up to five years.” 

 

 

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/travel-news/australian-miss-universe-hopeful-broke-after-jet-ski-accident/news-story/5803c14e4b74b83dc8dcca0ae40673fa