British personal trainer needs £250,000 to get home from Thailand after falling from third-storey balcony and suffering horrific injuries while on holiday

[HappyExpat57]

Just spit balling here, but couldn't they fly a team of specialists in to Thailand to do the surgery at a fraction of the cost? I'm sure some hospital in LOS has the necessary hardware.

[bradiston]

1 minute ago, Dukeleto said:

The devil is in the details, why is there no elaboration on the balcony fall and how that occurred. If this was the fault of the accommodation they were staying at then I am sure we would have read about it but the lack of that information (unless I have not read it) indicates there was stupidity, drunkenness or carelessness involved which any insurance company is going to baulk at paying out for.

Sure, as usual, no details, but you're not surely suggesting he wasn't covered for falling over the parapet of a balcony 30 ft up and fracturing his pelvis? Anybody else managed this feat from there? Lucky to be alive I'd imagine. They'd better wheel him over to the nearest government hospital, if that would make a difference.

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

What is it with travel insurance companies who are quick to tame your money but very slow and playing hard to get when the chips are down and they have to pay? I can't see that this kind of money can be raised quick enough for the young block to be sent home for the urgent treatment he needs.

I believe you have jumped the gun.

 

Consider yourself the insurance company, wouldn't you want to know all of the facts before paying out a claim, i.e. investigate how he fell off of the balcony, e.g. was he sitting on the balustrade or walking on it, or did the balustrade or balcony fail ?

 

I am not defending the insurance company, however they are within their rights to be provided with a police report, at the very least, and perhaps a blood alcohol reading to see if the guy was intoxicated which would cancel his policy, and of course I hope that isn't the case.

 

I am certain if everything checks out, they will pay for his recovery up to the amount he is insured, as for repatriation, most travel insurance policies only go to a certain limit and that wouldn't be anywhere near the amount quoted.

 

I wish him well and don't want to be one to judge what 23 year old's get up to when on holiday's over here, the word reckless, however does come to mind.

 

EDIT: I have never had an insurance claim rejected, that said, if it's not an emergency, they will take the usual time to process the claim, suffice to say, it doesn't appear to be life threatening so as long as he is stable, they will process the claim and causation and then either approve his surgery or deny his claim.

 

They don't just take your money, you have to make sure you read the policy and stay within the structure of the contractual agreement, those that bash the insurance companies are those that have usually stepped outside of the structured contractual agreement IMO.

 

The above said, sure, there maybe some insurers that reject claims, however there are processors to bring them to task, although time consuming.

 

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

As we don't have all the facts, we can't really comment as to why the insurance company are reluctant to pay up, but if they did the right thing and got proper insurance, it's an unfortunate situation. 

I can't see them getting 250,000 quid from strangers so I have no idea as to what can happen now.

There is no way he can fly home without an air ambulance and obviously they can't pay to stay.

However, there has to be an answer- perhaps the UK government can fly him home on a military flight.

Yeah, the British embassy will swing into full action on this, an aircraft's engines will warming up at RAF Brize Norton air base right now because the UK looks after its citizens.......you're on your own mate. A second mortgage on his parents house and an IOU to His Majesty's Government and the embassy will do something.

[BananaStrong]

3 hours ago, Pique Dard said:

but how can he travel so faraway from his country without insurance?

falling from a balcony is strange.  Definitely more to this story, drinking, whatever....

 

When I was a teacher at a GOVERNMENT school, they only gave me like 5000 baht for insurance.  lol.  

 

example:  typical Thailand accident, bills are 1 million.  school gives me 5000 and says Good luck!!

 

Did I take out extra insurance?  of course not.

 

Have you seen teacher salaries?  lol

 

gofundme was always my dream........hurt, not bad, need 100,000...gofundme gives me 10 billion!! yes!!!!  

[Pouatchee]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

However, there has to be an answer- perhaps the UK government can fly him home on a military flight.

Unfortunately, our governments are even more heartless than the insurance brokers. The way they take care of us is by collecting a lifetime of taxes and then forget about us when we are too old to contribute. As others have said, hard to tell and make an unbiased opinion without the facts. Big question is, did they actually buy good insurance from a reputable company? or did they skimp on this.

[Lucky Bones]

23 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Just spit balling here, but couldn't they fly a team of specialists in to Thailand to do the surgery at a fraction of the cost? I'm sure some hospital in LOS has the necessary hardware.

Not sure about the latter part of your post but I like "spit balling". A new one to me.????????

[mania]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Kieran, of Castleford, West Yorkshire, fell three storeys from a hotel balcony 

Why did this fall occur?

If faulty / unsafe hotel balcony the hotel should pay

If because drunk or stoned he should pay & could be why travel insurance is not paying out

[Olav Seglem]

They say they are "fighting insurance company". But does it say travel insurance???

Guess maybe insurance company have asked for police rapport, and something written here that is "no good".

[Lucky Bones]

49 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

People do not just 'fall' from balconies. Either the building is at fault or he is at fault. 

 

As for the insurance company, they could simply be waiting on his blood alcohol level before paying out or refusing to due to it being his own fault.

 

That said, there should be no reason why the hospital and authorities could not have made that decision within a few hours of it happening.

It happens regularly.

Refer to my earlier post.????????

[Jerno]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

What is it with travel insurance companies who are quick to tame your money but very slow and playing hard to get when the chips are down and they have to pay? I can't see that this kind of money can be raised quick enough for the young block to be sent home for the urgent treatment he needs.

What is it with Insurance companies?  Very simple: They are there to pay out the fewest possible claims for the least amount of payout using every possible loophole and fine print and care absolutely ZERO about their clients.  They are not there to help you whatsoever, they are there to make profit....end of story.  Sad but true.

[swm59nj]

There are some specifics of the story left out.  As to how the accident occurred. People are quick to blame the insurance companies.  But it  goes according to the policy you have.  There are always certain rules and restrictions.  Especially with travel insurance.  
All insurance companies are not crooks.  I have health insurance from the job I had before I retired.  It covers me domestically and internationally.  During the time I  have it  I had numerous procedures and health issues.  They always paid and never challenged anything.  I have had this policy since 1998. 

[kingstonkid]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

As we don't have all the facts, we can't really comment as to why the insurance company are reluctant to pay up, but if they did the right thing and got proper insurance, it's an unfortunate situation. 

I can't see them getting 250,000 quid from strangers so I have no idea as to what can happen now.

There is no way he can fly home without an air ambulance and obviously they can't pay to stay.

However, there has to be an answer- perhaps the UK government can fly him home on a military flight.

With the number of Brits lately that are getting hurt might as well call it the bkk shuttle with weekly flights.  Actually if you had seats for others you might make a few quid.

[proton]

For less than 250k he could get the operation he needs here

[Mywayboy]

Travel insurance companies are Axeholes when it comes too paying out.

[Blumpie]

She has travel insurance, but let's just pretend she doesn't so we can gabber about this for 30 pages.  ????  

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

18 minutes ago, proton said:

For less than 250k he could get the operation he needs here

And this is possibly the problem.

 

The insurance company will decide whether air ambulance or similar evacuation is medically necessary. Usually such evacuation is only authorized if appropriate medical care isn't available in country.  The article did not state that the doctors said adequate treatment was not available in Thailand.

 

Not much detail in the story as to the issue with the insurance.

 

[bradiston]

File under Daily Mail rubbish. Don't know why AN keep copying their thoroughly misleading, badly researched, short of data articles. Same for the girl mashed up in Koh wherever on her bike. Maybe deflection from all the NHS woes back home.

[KannikaP]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

However, there has to be an answer- perhaps the UK government can fly him home on a military flight.

So you mean us taxpayers fund his return?

[sateuk]

4 hours ago, ukrules said:

I'm going to guess that there's some kind of exclusion involving either an unsafe building or alcohol consumption.

 

I'm hoping it's due to the balcony not being high enough, at least there might be someone to sue.

 

I've heard that some insurance policies will deny any claim if you've got any detectable alcohol in your blood.

Considering a lot of people like a drink or two when on holiday that kind of negates the usefulness of the policy for what might be a large percentage of the persons stay. One glass of wine might be enough to negate your insurance. Buyer beware.

 

Time will tell I guess.

 

Probably a bit of alcohol involved and definitely a low balcony most are dangerously low here

[smedly]

4 hours ago, ukrules said:

They don't want to help, that's the message I read. I wonder who his insurer is and why they're dragging their heels on paying?

my guess would be that the insurance company is questioning the bill

 

I would be also

[Artisi]

2 hours ago, bradiston said:

I'm always curious to know how you fall out of a 3rd floor balcony, or any other balcony. I guess the insurance company is asking the same question. If the balustrades are dangerously low, don't go out there.

Because the height of Thai balcony rail / panel are very low compared to western standards, I've  some less than 1m, this is about or even  below the tip-over point for an average farangs height. 

As a previous poster pointed out - stay well away from Thai balcony rails,

for 2 reasons 

1. Low 

2 Insecurely fixed into the floor /wall. 

[James105]

8 minutes ago, smedly said:

my guess would be that the insurance company is questioning the bill

 

I would be also

A very, very quick google search suggest that this cost should be about £65,000 on a learjet.

 

https://www.iasmedical.com/asia/air-ambulance-thailand/#:~:text=Our medical transportation services from,The number of medics required

 

Not surprised the insurance are questioning this.   

[shackleton]

Looks like a lot of  people speculating on what type of  insurance cover the couple have 

I am sure they know what they are covered for 

Why don't they say what was not covered as to why  the insurance people are not paying out 

Hence the Gofundme 

[Classic Ray]

Thailand has many fine surgeons who could repair him locally for far less than £250000. Maybe they can negotiate that with the insurance company.

[superal]

Can only react to facts and not conjecture or undeclared details . Fact is that he is in an expensive hotel namely "Bangkok Hospital in Phuket " and they know how to charge farang fees . Question is could the further pelvis repair operations be carried out in a government hospital at reasonable rates . Indeed was the Bangkok hospital the only choice and they maybe rewarded the carrier who took the injured man there ? Goverment hospitals in Thailand have a duty of care where the patient is treated first and payment is secondary , unlike private hospitals where it is the other way round i.e. show proof of finances before we start taking care .

All travel policies that I have had do not exclude alcohol at a reasonable level but do exclude it to an excess along with any recreational drugs . If a policy excluded alcohol it would have very few takers . 

To those who crticise travellers for not having insurance ( I agree ) , just take a look around the expat communities in Thailand that have many over 70 year olds without health insurance because of the high ins; premiums and live here on month to month pension incomes .

[dddave]

5 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

If you read the linked article, it seems they have Travel Insurance  "Eleven days after the incident, Shauna said they were still in an 'exhaustive and tiring fight' with the insurance company."

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've written before about my friend who was hit by a car in Pattaya. Sadly he later died from the injuries.  His travel insurance company is still refusing to pay, constantly demanding arcane hospital documents, etc.   Eventually, it will probably have to go to arbitration for his family to get reimbursed anything.

[Pedrogaz]

I wonder why so many people fall from balconies in Thailand?

[Smokey and the Bandit]

They need to name the Insurance Company and the Insurance Company needs to explain what is going on?

[Smokey and the Bandit]

18 minutes ago, superal said:

Can only react to facts and not conjecture or undeclared details . Fact is that he is in an expensive hotel namely "Bangkok Hospital in Phuket " and they know how to charge farang fees . Question is could the further pelvis repair operations be carried out in a government hospital at reasonable rates . Indeed was the Bangkok hospital the only choice and they maybe rewarded the carrier who took the injured man there ? Goverment hospitals in Thailand have a duty of care where the patient is treated first and payment is secondary , unlike private hospitals where it is the other way round i.e. show proof of finances before we start taking care .

All travel policies that I have had do not exclude alcohol at a reasonable level but do exclude it to an excess along with any recreational drugs . If a policy excluded alcohol it would have very few takers . 

To those who crticise travellers for not having insurance ( I agree ) , just take a look around the expat communities in Thailand that have many over 70 year olds without health insurance because of the high ins; premiums and live here on month to month pension incomes .

This is part of the problem, they sent him to probably the most expensive hospital because he did have insurance?

The private hospitals then can gouge the insurance company?