Backpacker, 24, who broke her neck in pool diving accident in Thailand stranded there unless she finds £60,000 to fly home

Sophie Wilson may never walk again – and now she needs £100,000 for medical bills and a flight after her insurers refuse to pay out

by Claudia Tanner

 

 

- Sophie Wilson was injured a week into her dream six-month Asia trip

- Fellow traveller pulled her from pool and prevented her from drowning

- Insurance firm deemed her injuries were a result of 'a reckless act'

 

A young backpacker who broke her neck in an accident is stuck in a hospital in Thailand unless she raises £60,000 to fly back to the UK.

 

Sophie Wilson had always dreamt of travelling the world – but was injured just a week into her trip after she dived into a swimming pool and misjudged its depth.

 

The 24-year-old was rescued from drowning on 1 December by a fellow traveller who pulled her from the water. She was rushed to hospital, unable to move or feel her legs.

 

Her head wound was stitched up at a local hospital and she then had to endure a three-hour trip to a main hospital “in agony” without any pain relief, she claimed. Sophie arrived there drifting in and out of consciousness and her family say it was “touch and go'” whether she would survive.

Full story: https://inews.co.uk/news/backpacker-gofundme-broken-neck-thailand-stranded-pay-60000-fly-back-to-uk/ 

 

-- INEWS 2018-12-14

People need to know which *Insurance firm this is who considers diving into a pool a reckless act...  yes, ok, she misjudged the depth, but thats exactly what insurance is for - cover for mistakes. 

 

It seems extremely strange that an insurance company could escape such a claim.

 

Edit: it seems its this company https://www.insureandgo.com

 

and lots of complaints of refusal to pay....https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1381601

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 20187 yr by richard_smith237

She was unlucky not reckless, as previous poster, would love to know the insurance company

I have just read the insurance company involved is called, Insure & go.

Typical insurance company, if they can avoid a payout, they will.

The only happy people here are the shareholders, as their dividend will not be reduced by paying out on, what most people would see as, a genuine claim.

Nothing short of scandalous.

Diving into a swimming pool now considered reckless? The insurance company needs to be suitably shamed and harassed.

41 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

People need to know which *Insurance firm this is who considers diving into a pool a reckless act...  yes, ok, she misjudged the depth, but thats exactly what insurance is for - cover for mistakes. 

 

It seems extremely strange that an insurance company could escape such a claim.

 

Edit: it seems its this company https://www.insureandgo.com

 

and lots of complaints of refusal to pay....https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1381601

 

 

 

 

 

Are there any companies offering travel insurance which includes diving in their regular package?  I have never seen it not listed as an exception that is not covered, its just too dangerous, the fact that it happened in a pool will not make any difference to them, had she not been training to dive it would have done, but with scuba gear on they wont pay, standard practice, so no need to name as its all of them.

The insurance company are scum basically. The Thai hospital will be cashing in no doubt. I guess crowdfunding is the only option, not many people in Britain have that kind of money at the moment. I hope she recovers. 

People need to know which *Insurance firm this is who considers diving into a pool a reckless act...  yes, ok, she misjudged the depth, but thats exactly what insurance is for - cover for mistakes. 

 

It seems extremely strange that an insurance company could escape such a claim.

 

 

and this is exactly why i canceled my  insurance policy. i decided to basically insure myself. also taking into account at the premium rises once your committed to the insurance company after a few years they start to ramp up the premiums which makes you feel its almost impossible to leave them.

Edited December 14, 20187 yr by catman20

TV posters rightfully look down on 'go fund me' tourists who are too cheap to buy insurance, and I completely agree with this. This girl had insurance... who knows whether she bought the cheapest she could find or not, but the fact remains that insurance companies are a bunch of unscrupulous 1%ers who refuse to pay when it is time. I have had my own ordeals with BUPA and would put crap in their mouths if I could. 

 

Best of luck to her

Edited December 14, 20187 yr by LazySlipper
typo

18 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

Are there any companies offering travel insurance which includes diving in their regular package?

My interpretetion of the story.

This is not diving as in scuba, this is diving as in having fun in a hotel pool (jumping in head first type diving).

Sounds like a money maker for the insurance company. They could probably consider simply visiting Thailand “a reckless act” in itself.

54 minutes ago, flipperphillips said:

I have just read the insurance company involved is called, Insure & go.

Yeah, insure and go suck. This needs to be followed up. There will be a parent company and they need to be held accountable.

60,000 quid seems over the top and seems another scam.

5 minutes ago, Crossy said:

My interpretetion of the story.

This is not diving as in scuba, this is diving as in having fun in a hotel pool (jumping in head first type diving).

That was my impression as well... hence why it was a problem that she misjudged the depth (you're not going to do so to your detriment scuba diving in any pool).

I do not know if her family is aware or which company or is , but she or her family can file a complaint with the ombudsman against insurance company and may well win . They can also take insurance company to court. 

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

People need to know which *Insurance firm this is who considers diving into a pool a reckless act...  yes, ok, she misjudged the depth, but thats exactly what insurance is for - cover for mistakes. 

 

It seems extremely strange that an insurance company could escape such a claim.

 

Edit: it seems its this company https://www.insureandgo.com

 

and lots of complaints of refusal to pay....https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1381601

 

 

 

 

The insurance company is named in news article in newsnow.uk.com

She should be contacting the Spanish underwriters and making lots of loud noise on the net.

Diving into a shallow pool is reckless and irresponsible.

And what are the chances she had been drinking??

I will give nothing but hope she has a full recovery...

 

I can only see the insurance getting away with that if she was drunk when she dived into the pool but theres no mention of that. If it's just for diving in a pool then that should be contested by the girl.

So if i have a car crash and get injured my insurance can refuse to payout and tell me driving in thailand is reckless??????

Typical insurance scam coupled with a typical scamming Thai hospital ???? 

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

People need to know which *Insurance firm this is who considers diving into a pool a reckless act...  yes, ok, she misjudged the depth, but thats exactly what insurance is for - cover for mistakes. 

 

It seems extremely strange that an insurance company could escape such a claim.

 

Edit: it seems its this company https://www.insureandgo.com

 

and lots of complaints of refusal to pay....https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1381601

 

 

 

 

Sorry that article for insurance company name  is in newsnow.co.uk

1 hour ago, bartender100 said:

She was unlucky not reckless, as previous poster, would love to know the insurance company

Insurance company is named in article in newsnow.co.uk

22 minutes ago, LazySlipper said:

 I have had my own ordeals with BUPA and would put crap in their mouths if I could. 

 

Currently going through a 'system error' as BUPA call it. Does scare you when you depend upon them when in need.

10 minutes ago, Prissana Pescud said:

60,000 quid seems over the top and seems another scam.

Exactly, this should be BIG in the newspapers, the insurance plus the hospital have to be in the spotlight.

5 minutes ago, MARK74 said:

I can only see the insurance getting away with that if she was drunk when she dived into the pool but theres no mention of that. If it's just for diving in a pool then that should be contested by the girl.

So if i have a car crash and get injured my insurance can refuse to payout and tell me driving in thailand is reckless??????

Very few pools, especially pools at hotels allow diving. Most have posted rules that say no diving. If that's the case in this situation then the insurance company may be in the right. 

7 minutes ago, BestB said:

I do not know if her family is aware or which company or is , but she or her family can file a complaint with the ombudsman against insurance company and may well win . They can also take insurance company to court. 

Yes, that will be of great comfort to the young lady as she lies in hospital, in a foreign country, having a debt of $135,000 and knowing the insurance company will protract the settlement until 2030. 

38 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

Are there any companies offering travel insurance which includes diving in their regular package?  I have never seen it not listed as an exception that is not covered, its just too dangerous, the fact that it happened in a pool will not make any difference to them, had she not been training to dive it would have done, but with scuba gear on they wont pay, standard practice, so no need to name as its all of them.

She was not diving. She was diving into a pool. No reason that should not be covered. She hit her head on the bottom of the pool. 

 

Insurance companies and banks are the modern equivalent of mafia organizations. One must do alot of research before committing to a specific company. Many like BUPA are famous for underpaying or not paying at all. 

In cases like this I think the Embassies should have some kind of repatriation scheme in place I know years ago the UK government did as a friend of mine was stranded in Israel and they paid for her to get home, she did have to pay it back before she could leave the country again.

Thailand used to have something similar about getting their citizens back from a foreign country

 

Its generally not a good idea to dive into a shallow pool. With regards to all accidents an insurance company will have in their small print that the insured should at all times be considered to have taken reasonable care and attention. 

Assuming the above information on the insurance company is correct this is their cheapest of the cheap backpacker policy.

 

iag_mf_pw_rcstd_0918.pdf

 

It covers swimming and even scuba (with restrictions), but the blanket get-out is on page 9

"We will not pay for any claim arising or resulting from you being involved in any malicious, reckless, illegal or criminal act."

If the pool had clearly posted depth markings or No Diving signage they have their get out ????