Travel insurance warning as NI man loses leg after Thailand motorbike accident

[OnTheRun]

5 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

should have health insurance through his teaching contract

 

My daughter has been working as a teacher, her insurance through the school was very poor. I ended up buying her a decent policy for my own peace of mind, it cost me just over 19K for 12 months.

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, fisherd3 said:

It will be impossible to formulate any private insurance plan in Thailand that anyone can afford when e.g Bangkok Hospital Rayong charges 34,000 thb for first Rabies shot of a course.

But,,, on a recent thread many poters indicated there's no problem with this - if you don't like their charges go elsewhere.

There' also the subjects of ethics and morals.

 

 

[thaiguzzi]

2 hours ago, overherebc said:

The idiot sitting 2 foot off your rear wheel in his pick up or car is just one of the dangers. It would take a long time to list the rest of them.

You could be, maybe you're him, the best/safest/most careful biker in the world but here the roads are full of drivers/riders who 'know' they sre best and that means you are just an annoyance that has to get out of their way.

 

Happy biking. Stay chrome side up.????

Yabbutt.

Life is too short.

If i worried about everybody and their <deleted> buddy on the road, i'd never leave the house, let alone walk out the front door.

Just got back from a village Morlam 10 kms away.

They've been at it since 9 in the morning inc my missus. I turned up on my Triumph for a couple of hours and managed to drag myself away. Must of had 5 -6 pints of Chang poured into my little icky tiny straight glass.

Excellent.

Now at my keyboard with a cup of tea and ready for an afternoon 45 min nap....

Ni nights...

[balo]

19 minutes ago, miamiman123 said:

renting a motorbike....stupid move teacher

SInce he lives here , I am pretty sure he owns it. 

 

Like so many other foreigners who lives and works here, most of them can afford a bike, but not a car when your monthly income is under 50k baht . 

 

I just don't understand why they don't use their brain, being a teacher and all that. Insurance is not expensive here. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2019 by balo

[scorecard]

4 minutes ago, boonrawdcnx said:

Agree with you - enjoy our motorbike tours all around the North!
Fantastic trips up to a week long - never use the main roads if you can avoid it quite country roads with lots of stops - getting to know friendly people and other bikers.

One thing is for sure here you ride for the fun of it - never for speed! And you can NEVER let your guard down when you ride here and never drive fast!

Insurance is mostly useless here even if you purchase first class insurance which I have but I have an additional accident insurance from my home country.
Have been riding motorbikes for 30 years in Thailand and - knock on wood - never an accident.
One car accident though that somebody else caused - still police tried to blame me - but I did not give in to their BS.



Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

And another reminder check the policy very carefully and understands exactly what cover you are buying, limits, etc., etc., before you sign up and pay.

 

And another reminder, plenty of folks have bought insurance without checking the details then discovered all they have is some cash if the flight is delayed / baggage lost etc., and no medical cover at all.

 

Others, never read the policy, discovere too late that the coverage is a bed in a hospital for 10 days but nothing else - no cover for treatments or  medication, equipment used in the hospital, nursing fees, food and doctors fees. 

[thaiguzzi]

1 hour ago, Khaeng Mak said:

Not everyone lives in Nakon Nowhere and enjoys riding around taking in all the sights, sounds and smells, which by the way means watching people picking their nose, suffering the racket of morlam played way too loud on a Vigo stereo system, and sniffing buffalo crap and burning plastic bags.

Really?

I was under the impression that riding a m/c you actually ride past a racket of a morlam in a few seconds, somebody picking his nose in a split second, and ditto sniffing buffalo crap - in a split second.

But you carry on, not enjoying countryside and all that entails.

Carry on loving city exhaust fumes and i'll carry on enjoying views, greenery, sights, sounds and smells, the majority of which are all natural.

You have a nice day too.....

[simon43]

I just don't understand why they don't use their brain, being a teacher and all that. Insurance is not expensive here. 

 

I'm hitting 60 years old, am a lowly teacher, and can still easily afford the premium for my $1.2 million baht expat insurance policy.  Why?  Because I prioritise my expenses, and a decent health insurance policy comes near the top of my list.

 

This guy is young - the insurance premium for him (or his employer) would be peanuts.

[roo860]

Yabbutt.
Life is too short.
If i worried about everybody and their buddy on the road, i'd never leave the house, let alone walk out the front door.
Just got back from a village Morlam 10 kms away.
They've been at it since 9 in the morning inc my missus. I turned up on my Triumph for a couple of hours and managed to drag myself away. Must of had 5 -6 pints of Chang poured into my little icky tiny straight glass.
Excellent.
Now at my keyboard with a cup of tea and ready for an afternoon 45 min nap....
Ni nights...

Nice shirt.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[RJRS1301]

5 hours ago, z42 said:

Travel insurance very rarely covers bike crash injuries, and insurance companies in many cases need social media pressure to actually force a pay out.

 

Wish the injured man as speedy a recovery as possible

Travel insurance is TRAVEL Insurance, not health insurance.

Most policies do not cover use of motorcycles, jetskis, parachuting, mountain climbing equipment or activities.

Travel insurance is for emergency incidents, which occur while travelling, not while earning an income 

[RJRS1301]

16 minutes ago, simon43 said:

 

 

 

I'm hitting 60 years old, am a lowly teacher, and can still easily afford the premium for my $1.2 million baht expat insurance policy.  Why?  Because I prioritise my expenses, and a decent health insurance policy comes near the top of my list.

 

This guy is young - the insurance premium for him (or his employer) would be peanuts.

hope your policy does not skyrocket after you hit the magic 70 

[schvonsky1]

5 hours ago, leeneeds said:

He had previously worked in Thailand and China 

so one would think, he being an educator 

would fully know the risks,

 

  it won't happen to me mentality 

the information is out there , you just got to 

listen!

 

Very true it’s sad what has happened however these days you can set a reminder or tell ya parents to remind ya your insurance will expire at such a date very silly of me to let this happen 

[scubascuba3]

Travel insurance is TRAVEL Insurance, not health insurance. Most policies do not cover use of motorcycles, jetskis, parachuting, mountain climbing equipment or activities.

Travel insurance is for emergency incidents, which occur while travelling, not while earning an income 

 

Many things wrong with your post, when i bought my travel insurance i checked 10 policies docs, all covered motorbikes, usually less than 125cc. For the extreme sport stuff you need to check the policy docs. For example scuba diving is usually covered with caveats 

 

 

 

[simon43]

hope your policy does not skyrocket after you hit the magic 70 

 

It won't.  There are age-band and annual inflation increases that are applied to all insurees - no individual increases. I know the typical % increase for when I hit 70 and it's manageable.

[RJRS1301]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Many things wrong with your post, when i bought my travel insurance i checked 10 policies docs, all covered motorbikes, usually less than 125cc. For the extreme sport stuff you need to check the policy docs. For example scuba diving js usually covered with caveats

 

 

That has NOT been my experience when purchasing travel insurances over many years, and reading the policies. Purchased from major companies from Australia 

[soalbundy]

5 hours ago, fisherd3 said:

It will be impossible to formulate any private insurance plan in Thailand that anyone can afford when e.g Bangkok Hospital Rayong charges 34,000 thb for first Rabies shot of a course.

cost me 3,000 Baht at the government hospital including tetanus shots and testing for adverse reactions

[cardinalblue]

Who caused the accident? No one ever discusses fault coverage should cover auto insurance here....

 

But b/c only a fraction of the driving population has proper insurance, it’s a free for all out here...

[scubascuba3]

That has NOT been my experience when purchasing travel insurances over many years, and reading the policies. Purchased from major companies from Australia 

Ah Australia may be different to the UK, the story is about someone from the UK

[Briggsy]

6 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

should have health insurance through his teaching contract

Clearly you have never worked as a teacher in Thailand. You are lucky if you get paid.

[bkkcanuck8]

5 hours ago, z42 said:

Travel insurance very rarely covers bike crash injuries, and insurance companies in many cases need social media pressure to actually force a pay out.

 

Wish the injured man as speedy a recovery as possible

Fact is that most common travel insurance covers very little that cannot be covered through self-insurance... many have caps that are well below what a leg amputation would cost.  The vast majority buy travel insurance without actually knowing what they are buying, what it covers, what it does not - whether you need to buy additional riders for "dangerous activities" etc.

[rabas]

30 minutes ago, simon43 said:

 

I'm hitting 60 years old, am a lowly teacher, and can still easily afford the premium for my $1.2 million baht expat insurance policy.  Why?  Because I prioritise my expenses, and a decent health insurance policy comes near the top of my list.

 

This guy is young - the insurance premium for him (or his employer) would be peanuts.

"premium for my $1.2 million baht expat insurance policy."

 

Sorry, which one? $ or Baht? I've not seen cheap International expat insurance for people in their 60s.

[simon43]

Sorry, which one? $ or Baht? I've not seen cheap International expat insurance for people in their 60s.

 

Off-topic, but useful info.  My $500,000 USD annual cover policy with Healthcare International cost me $80 USD premium per month at 59 years old.  I recently upgraded to a $1.2 million USD annual cover with David Shield at $143 USD monthly premium, rising to $173 USD when I'm in the 60-64 years old age bracket (I'm 60 in June of this year, but still pay $143 until renewal next March).

 

That's all $ USD, not Thai baht ????

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

[bristolgeoff]

If  the family paid better than begging on the go fund page.like many do

[4MyEgo]

Everyone living in Thailand who is able "age permitting" SHOULD have medical insurance, at a bare minimum for emergency situations. no excuses.

 

Some have mentioned, his employer should have covered him, but how can that be if we don't know what's in his contract and or was he on his way to or from work as most insurers will only cover the to and from work situations.

 

The article said his insurance just expired which tells me that he forgot to renew it and was not part of his employment agreement, that said, not only do I make a diary note about a month out to renew my policies, just in case my insurance broker slips up, as they recently did with my car insurance, fortunately for me I was on the ball this time and they renewed it before the policy lapsed.

 

As for the car registration and motor vehicle/motorcycle licenses, I cannot believe they do not send you a notice in the post, talk about being behind the times. I once went without registration for a month because I though the renewal was in the following month, now if I got into an accident, I am sure the insurer would have said, rightfully so, we are not paying because your unregistered, so the onus is on all of us here in the LOS to be totally all over it, because "Duty of Care" is lacking somewhat here.

 

Hope he has a speedy recovery and gets used to his unfortunate new situation.

[4MyEgo]

56 minutes ago, rabas said:

"premium for my $1.2 million baht expat insurance policy."

 

Sorry, which one? $ or Baht? I've not seen cheap International expat insurance for people in their 60s.

David Shield accept Xpats to 64 years of age I believe as new applicants and do not boot you out, they even cover pre-existing conditions over 5 years old, subject to their approval and of course an additional fee to the policy if you accept it.

 

Cheap Xpat insurance is how you look at it, my cover of a million US dollars costs me about 160 baht per day or two beers, I consider that cheap enough for my private health cover, no excuses not to have cover unless your birth date falls after the health insurers entry birth date. Naturally there are other options if you planned your life well and didn't have any issues like an expensive divorce, i.e. self insure.

 

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Some have mentioned, his employer should have covered him, but how can that be if we don't know what's in his contract and or was he on his way to or from work as most insurers will only cover the to and from work situations.

It's a requirement of Thai law that all employees are in the SS system.

No need to know the details of his contract.

No SS = illegal working without paying tax, SS or having the correct VISA.

[The Deerhunter]

 Something like nearly 70% of the road deaths here are Motor cyclists I believe I read somewhere.  I have bike and car licences here but would not ride if at all possible.  We see real scary stuff.

[Thaiwrath]

5 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Everyone living in Thailand who is able "age permitting" SHOULD have medical insurance, at a bare minimum for emergency situations. no excuses.

 

 

Well, I am 58, so "age permitting" as per your suggestions.

However, due to pre existing conditions, it is far more advantageous for me to self insure, leaving funds in a fixed deposit account. Although my conditions are not life threatening, my premiums would be extortionate, and anything connected to my respiratory system, digestive system, nervous system (I have neuropathy), to name a few, would not be covered. I also have no problems using Government Hospitals, so the cost to me would be exceedingly less than the rip off Private hospitals here.

[dcnx]

7 hours ago, overherebc said:

Unfortunately the belief in 'it only happens to other people' is a hard one to dispel.

It’s called the Normalcy Bias. It’s a thing.

[Spock]

7 hours ago, Letseng said:

 

And most travel policies are for 45 or 90 days only. If he is here to teach than travel insurance won't do it. 

Regardless, he has my sympathy. Get well soon.

 

Never had a problem getting travel insurance for much longer than 90 days.