Scottish woman’s cliff plunge in Thailand sparks insurance debacle

[Bangkok Barry]

59 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

 

the implication in the first paragraph is that the lady died, later on we find she didn't. the quality of journalism, writing and proofreading is shocking.

 

this site needs to stop simply cutting and pasting badly written and/or inaccurate/misleading articles, they do it all the time. at least the OP should offer some acknowledgement that the article is flawed, attempt clarification and/or explain the reason for posting low quality articles.

 

The implication can only be that AN has the same low standards, or is forbidden by some contract rule from stating that the following article contains factual errors for which AN is not responsible. Being connected with such a poor news organisation as Thaiger doesn't reflect well on AN.

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, rct99q said:

Perhaps we old people are not so selfish. I think about the consequences of my actions and how they may affect my family.

 

I detect a certain degree of 'generational promotion' which conveniently forgets that every generation throughout history has done dumb-s#it and berates following generations for their behavior and actions....  

 

This 'back in my day' stuff... is always comical to read as its devoid of any evidence beyond the convenient and selective memories of self anecdote. 

 

 

[impulse]

1 hour ago, daveAustin said:

People scoff and scorn that the young lady rented a bike. Wow, jeepers, how dare she, stop the effing press! Get a life, old people. It is the best way to see this fair land and, if it is not for you, then so be it, but please avoid denigrating those that want to have fun and enjoy their life as they see fit. 

 

Fun as it looks, it's probably also the best way to get killed in Thailand.  Between inexperience on a rental scooter and lack of understanding Thai driving habits, too many tourists renting scooters go home in an urn.  And even more spend time and money in a Thai hospital.

 

Not to mention that it's generally illegal, unless you have a MC endorsement on your back home DL.  To the best of my knowledge there is no license exemption in Thailand for small scooters like there may be back home.  So the bilateral treaty that allows us to drive for 90 days on just our home country license doesn't allow us to drive scooters in Thailand unless there's a MC endorsement on our home country license.  Which can mean no insurance cover, but that requires reading all 100+ pages of your policy.  And even then...

 

[Bangkok Barry]

7 minutes ago, rct99q said:

Did you review your work before submitting it? Perhaps there were errors, but you overlooked them because of your extensive experience. 

 

A professional journalist always checks their copy before submitting it. If there are errors then you're watched, and if it continues you're out of a job. That's the way the real world works. Here, you become editor-in-chief.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Cute sense of humor do you think?

Rather morbid humour...

[Will B Good]

Just now, hotchilli said:

Rather morbid humour...

Ha.....not dead!!

[tpbon]

3 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Does this not suggest that she died?

They forgot to add "what could have been " before the word death. 

[OneMoreFarang]

27 minutes ago, hansnl said:

It is known insurance companies will do anything to not pay.

And often they don't pay because it is not covered. This is why it is a good idea to read the details. But obviously that is something that most people don't do. It's so much easier to say later: Why does the insurance not pay?

Because you can't read or are too lazy to read.

[garzhe]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Obviously all policies vary....   but I think for the most part, people are not covered if they are not licensed (at home).

 

In this case I wonder if there was any 'Scooter vs Motorcycle' wording in the policy.

 

 

I have a current Travel Insurance Policy for an upcoming trip.... 

The Policy is 117 pages long...

 

The Policy is confusing.

It states I cannot ride a motorcycle without a home license.

It also states in a separate section, Scooter / Motorcycle  >> There's a Special Exclusion (V)... 

 

I can't find a Special Exclusion's section in the Policy... I cant see anything about size of engine that indicates scooter or motorcycle.

 

My takeaway of course is that I'm not insured at all to ride a Motorcycle in Thailand unless I have a home license.

 

(I do actually have a Thai Motorcycle license, but thats irrelevant, this insurance is for overseas and I wont be using a motorcycle).

 

 

My point here - is did the girl really believe she was insured to ride a 'scooter' in Thailand without a license ?

 

Is there any policy wording here that dictates this ?

 

Or did she rent a motorcycle / scooter without any consideration to insurance ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

No mention of a license in the article but for a tourist to drive any vehicle legally in Thailand you need a license from your home country and an international driving permit from that country. I believe most tourists don't have both and bike renters will be unlikely to tell you this legal requirement. Insurers will insist that you must be driving legally otherwise they may not pay out.

[Brock]

Terribly written/translated story. How did she fall to her death/non death off a cliff. How was the motorbike involved.. If she used the bike, to get to a scenic view, where she walked to close to the edge, the bike was non contributory so should not be a factor in the claim. If she rode the bike off the cliff, then ok..

[Zack61]

She died and lived to tell her story. I find this a bit spooky. 

[hkblademan]

1 hour ago, daveAustin said:

People scoff and scorn that the young lady rented a bike. Wow, jeepers, how dare she, stop the effing press! Get a life, old people. It is the best way to see this fair land and, if it is not for you, then so be it, but please avoid denigrating those that want to have fun and enjoy their life as they see fit. 
 

Regards insurance: this is the very reason why I self insure here because you can bet your bottom dollar that those greasy b’stards will try to avoid paying out to the nth degree. I will insure a flight for cancellation and baggage but will not hand over money to these thieves for anything else. If I crash, empty my bank account and throw me in the river when it’s all gone, but I Will not give ‘money for nothing’ ! 🙂

And what happens if you kill or disable someone and you can’t afford to pay their bills? 

 

[arick]

No driving license for anything over 50 cc's

Edited February 5 by arick

[Cabradelmar]

The salient point is you are on your own when renting motorbikes overseas (that should be everyone's default going in position). Tourist love scuba, ziplines, bungee jumping, motorbikes, sitting in cages with tigers, you name it... and I bet you all those activities are not covered by insurance when overseas. And not to blame the victim, but it seems she took a plunge because of operator error when riding her rented motorbike -- (which further begs the question... was she wearing a helmet... yet another reason to get your claim denied) -- which leads to the final point... Don't rent a motorbike on holiday if you never ride at home.

[arick]

10 minutes ago, garzhe said:

No mention of a license in the article but for a tourist to drive any vehicle legally in Thailand you need a license from your home country and an international driving permit from that country. I believe most tourists don't have both and bike renters will be unlikely to tell you this legal requirement. Insurers will insist that you must be driving legally otherwise they may not pay out.

Licenses from the United Kingdom do not need an international driving license however you need a motorbike license she's only licensed to drive anything under 50cc

[NoshowJones]

12 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And often they don't pay because it is not covered. This is why it is a good idea to read the details. But obviously that is something that most people don't do. It's so much easier to say later: Why does the insurance not pay?

Because you can't read or are too lazy to read.

There is no need for 100 pages of conditions on insurance policies, just like legal jargon and small print it is all there to try and give the insurance companies

an excuse to refuse claims.

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, garzhe said:

No mention of a license in the article but for a tourist to drive any vehicle legally in Thailand you need a license from your home country and an international driving permit from that country. I believe most tourists don't have both and bike renters will be unlikely to tell you this legal requirement. Insurers will insist that you must be driving legally otherwise they may not pay out.

 

Agreed....  the law actually exists in Thailand that it is illegal to rent vehicles (bikes and cars) out to tourists who do not have a License.

In recent years the fallout of so many unlicensed tourists being injured and killed on motorcycles has led to announcements of crack-downs on rental establishments and reiteration of the law... 

 

... Of course, this involves policing, so none of this happened, there has never been any enforcement or followup beyond periodic announcements. 

 

Rental companies do not check, they just do not care and why would they, there is no impact on them and when an unlicensed tourist does have an accident, they go after them for the repair costs anyway. 

 

( I wonder if this lady was also forced to pay for damages to the motorcycle ).

 

 

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, hkblademan said:

And what happens if you kill or disable someone and you can’t afford to pay their bills? 

 

The same thing that happens to the millions of Thai's who ride around unlicensed and who can't afford to pay the bills... ??

 

 

 

 

 

[The Fugitive]

3 minutes ago, hkblademan said:

And what happens if you kill or disable someone and you can’t afford to pay their bills?

That's my fear. Ordered to pay their hospital bill which includes prolonged I.T.U. care, brain surgery, rehabilitation then care for the rest of their lives. Compensation for injuries caused ontop.

[Tom Parkinson]

I was chatting with a casual acquaintance at a cocktail party years ago. I asked him what he did for a living. He said he was a lawyer for an insurance company. I asked him what that entailed. He said in all seriousness, “Mostly I send threatening letters to old ladies telling them to accept our measly settlements or else…”  Pretty much sums it up, in my opinion. 

[The Fugitive]

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

The same thing that happens to the millions of Thai's who ride around unlicensed and who can't afford to pay the bills... ??

Members of my Thai family have received bills from our local community hospital after receiving treatment for injuries caused when they came off their moto's. They had neither riding licences nor insurance. Fortunately, no other road users were injured. I understand this is normal as National Heath Service's elsewhere will not provide 'free' treatment for road traffic injuries. This being what motor insurance is for.

[Chongalulu]

2 hours ago, JackGats said:

I don't have any travel insurance. I live in TH and I have world-wide coverage (Cigna). Whenever I file a refund claim there a box to tick regarding whether the claim is because of an accident or not. Up to now I never had to tick the box.

 

A friend said he had once a light motorbike accident but he lied about it. He reported instead having fallen somewhere. 

 

So if I rent a motorbike a good move is to see to it that it doesn't exceed 125cc?

You won't be covered for any scooter that you rent in Thailand. 125cc is a red herring. AND you have to have a licence for the vehicle in your own country in any case. Basically that boils down to almost no one hiring a scooter in Thailand.

[cardinalblue]

Are these articles written by brain dead people? Bottom feeders 

[proton]

3 hours ago, roo860 said:

Absolutely, that Thaiger News is a load of <deleted> 

The Thaiger should re name it's self to the Buffalo, proof reading seems beyond them.

[Chongalulu]

22 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

There is no need for 100 pages of conditions on insurance policies, just like legal jargon and small print it is all there to try and give the insurance companies

an excuse to refuse claims.

”100 pages" ? I've told you a million times before not to exaggerate. ! 😆

Seriously,there's not more than about 1 page of the main exclusions and motorcycle exclusion will be in there. 5 - 10 minutes reading tops. Fact is people don't read their policy at all. 

[wealthychef]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

“I had to put the costs of the transfer onto my credit card before they would transfer me."

 

The young woman spoke through a medium as she rebuked her insurance company for refusing to pay her for her death.  

[richard_smith237]

13 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

I understand this is normal as National Heath Service's elsewhere will not provide 'free' treatment for road traffic injuries. This being what motor insurance is for.

 

Thats a new one for me.....  I always thought Medical Health care under the 30 baht scheme covered all Thai's for anything.

 

 

[lavender19]

People on here always banging on about their own fault. No insurance. Even when you have it, the slimy insurance companies will always find a way not to pay

[KannikaP]

29 minutes ago, arick said:

Licenses from the United Kingdom do not need an international driving license however you need a motorbike license she's only licensed to drive anything under 50cc

According to gov.uk, you need a 1968 International Driving Permit to accompany your UK Driving Licence.

The IDP is merely a translation of you home licence, so if that says Motorbike, the IDP should be valid.

[richard_smith237]

6 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

38 minutes ago, arick said:

Licenses from the United Kingdom do not need an international driving license however you need a motorbike license she's only licensed to drive anything under 50cc

According to gov.uk, you need a 1968 International Driving Permit to accompany your UK Driving Licence.

The IDP is merely a translation of you home licence, so if that says Motorbike, the IDP should be valid.

 

IDP not required for tourists with a UK license wishing to driver in Thailand - there are reciprocal agreements in place (in much the Same way, an IDP for a Thai License is not required in the UK).

 

You are correct regarding endorsements though (which is a little more technical than 50cc and involves speed capability rather than size - 50cc is the generalised term most of us are using to refer to these lower speed motorcycles as more of a colloquialism than anything else).

 

 

Edited February 5 by richard_smith237