5 hours ago, GenX said:

5 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Michael is also facing medical bills of around GBP16,000 after his insurer reportedly asked him to first settle costs directly with the hospital while they review his medical records, before any decision on paying his claim.

Surely everyone was waiting for this part. Here I quoted it for you

Perfectly normal procedure on the insurers part.

3 hours ago, damo1967 said:

The UK grub... and for the record, I donated NOTHING for this pathetic non-man who can not handle or take care of his own life.... PATHETIC excuse for a MAN

Can't you read? He didn't set up the GFM and nobody asked you to donate.

2 hours ago, Brettoj said:

That’s why I self insure. Insurance companies here look first to not pay it out!

Nonsense, again. If only for PR reasons, insurers want to settle claims - as they do with 90% of them.

Insurer probably shifty.

This is not sort of claim they expected when insuring 36 year old tourist, and it expensive, so they dont want to pay.

But as stroke in fact unexpected and unpredictable event by definition - you CANNOT have "pre-existing stroke"... - they know they have to pay. So, they are yanking him around to buy their lawyers time to find some other reason why they don't pay maybe.

And in meantime he gets kidnapped by foreign state steal his passport, which outside Thailand hospital is only done by North Korea intelligence service.

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Article mentions school teacher so I assume (maybe wrongly) he is a teacher here.

Why does SSO not cover him ?

Maybe he was a "teacher" (as so many "teachers" here are) not a teacher, so was not covered.

54 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Working here he should have SSO health coverage.

Only covers those at government schools and not private institutions.

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Does travel insurance usually cover strokes if he didn't have any related health issues?

Yes, emergency treatment would normally be covered.

2 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

He got an insurance, and a credit card as a teacher to pay by himself

He has a credit card? How do you know that?

13 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

insurers want to settle claims - as they do with 90% of them.

Can you back up that claim with links for Thailand?

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Working here he should have SSO health coverage.

Working here legally he should have SSO health coverage.

He went to private hospital, not sure why, but SSO won't pay private hospital usually even for Thai citizen. But then, maybe he went to private hospital because he believed he had better insurance than SSO? Maybe on paper he... did ?

40 minutes ago, klaikangwon said:

In "normal" country not paying bill is only civil matter. It means you can sue the person who did not pay bill, and request court order for court officer to recover the money

He's a foreigner and could very easily leave the country without paying the bill, the hospital has to cover itself for that eventuality, particularly in a case where they know the insurer is not yet paying out. It would, obviously, be impossible for the hospital to sue somebody who was in the UK.

3 hours ago, damo1967 said:

Thank you... I was waiting with bated breath for this news. I can now sleep easier at night. [He should pay the $16k - and wait his Insurance to cover it, but only if he has 'disclosed' everything on his Insurance Application]. Afterall - it is only around 700,000 thb FFS.

What happens if his Insurance comes to the party and pays all his medicals costs? Is he going to track every GFM donation and refund it back to people? Of course not! The UK grub... and for the record, I donated NOTHING for this pathetic non-man who can not handle or take care of his own life.... PATHETIC excuse for a MAN! Grow a pair, and stop acting like a little child that needs a blanket from others covering him.

wow, guy has a serious medical problem , nothing that he caused , and you really attack him, with pure hatred,, maybe you need to check in and get your brain scanned as well, there is something seriously wrong with you

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He's a foreigner and could very easily leave the country without paying the bill, the hospital has to cover itself for that eventuality, particularly in a case where they know the insurer is not yet paying out. It would, obviously, be impossible for the hospital to sue somebody who was in the UK.

You are saying private business can choose to commit violent crime because otherwise inconvenient or likely unfair outcome, at own discretion, which is not how law works in almost any country, and also not how Thai law works on the paper.

But indeed it happens, police know and accept (unless you touch connected person then... life imprisonment) and even the victim does not complain or understand he is being abused...

23 minutes ago, Summerinsiam said:

Only covers those at government schools and not private institutions.

Ahh ok, I missed the part he was working at a private school.

13 minutes ago, klaikangwon said:

He went to private hospital, not sure why, but SSO won't pay private hospital usually even for Thai citizen. But then, maybe he went to private hospital because he believed he had better insurance than SSO? Maybe on paper he... did ?

They do if the private hospital is your registered SSO hospital.

3 hours ago, save the frogs said:

36 seems way too young to have a stroke.

why was he screaming in pain for 3 days? why did he wait so long to go back to the hospital?

Because he was a MAN !

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

They do if the private hospital is your registered SSO hospital.

It is a bit more complicated. Some private hospitals do accept SSO, but only up to SSO rate, not to their "real" private rate, and many private hospitals will not do work for such "low" rate, so do not participate, etc.

43 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He has a credit card? How do you know that?

How you know he doesn't?

3 hours ago, Brettoj said:

That’s why I self insure. Insurance companies here look first to not pay it out!

That is Thai-bashing, ignorant nonsense, insurance companies do not look to deny legitimate claims.

50 minutes ago, Summerinsiam said:

Only covers those atI worked for a large private school

52 minutes ago, Summerinsiam said:

Only covers those at government schools and not private institutions.

I taught at a privately owned school for over 20 years and had Social Security cover. If you pay tax, I believe you can get cover

I paid 400 baht a month. It came in very useful a couple of times.

A limitation was you could only use it at a specific hospital but I believe that restriction may have been lifted.

1 hour ago, klaikangwon said:

Insurer probably shifty.

This is not sort of claim they expected when insuring 36 year old tourist, and it expensive, so they dont want to pay

Garbage. The possibility of claims is something that insures make allowances for in the premiums that they charge their clients. It doesn't matter if they get a huge claim, they can afford it and are (re)insured also to cover themselves in the case of large claims. A claim at the level of the one in this discussion is just a drop in the ocean to an insurance company.

4 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Garbage. The possibility of claims is something that insures make allowances for in the premiums that they charge their clients. It doesn't matter if they get a huge claim, they can afford it and are (re)insured also to cover themselves in the case of large claims. A claim at the level of the one in this discussion is just a drop in the ocean to an insurance company.

You live in interesting world where everything work exactly as elementary school teacher explained it.

Insurance companies pay claims for two reasons: 1. risk of sued if don't pay 2. risk of losing client in future with reputation of non-payment.

In this case, well, so unusual not much reputation risk, and bill so large it worth it to maybe get sued - can always settle at last moment anyway, but actually most "normal" people do not try it, and especially if they just bankrupted by... non-reimbursed medical bill...

Reputation risk/pressure ebing also why I say name the insurance company. Name is not secret. "I am client of X Co. Ltd." no defamation. Not if name is hidden they can do what they like... almost

56 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

insurers want to settle claims - as they do with 90% of them.

Can you back up that claim with links for Thailand

Why? Is his insurer a Thai company?

But easy for anyone to check...

"While there is no single published statistic for all claims across the entire market, data from the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) indicates that major life and non-life insurance companies in Thailand generally maintain claim settlement ratios (CSR) between 95% and 99% for standard, valid policies. [1, 2, 3]

The remaining few percentage points do not mean these are simply "stolen" from policyholders. Here is how the claims and payout process actually breaks down:

1. Life Insurance Payouts

For life insurance—which covers death, maturity benefits, and riders—the settlement ratio is usually above 98%. [1]

• Top Performers: Major companies in Thailand (like Thai Life Insurance) operate with high efficiency and typically pay out almost all valid death and maturity claims without contest. [1, 2]

2. Health & Medical Insurance

Health policies face the highest rate of claims disputes, though the vast majority are still resolved in the customer's favor.

1 hour ago, klaikangwon said:

He went to private hospital, not sure why, but SSO won't pay private hospital usually even for Thai citizen. But then, maybe he went to private hospital because he believed he had better insurance than SSO? Maybe on paper he... did ?

...and maybe he has, his claim has not been denied.

1 hour ago, klaikangwon said:

You are saying private business can choose to commit violent crime because otherwise inconvenient or likely unfair outcome, at own discretion

No, very evidently, I am not saying that at all, why would you suggest that?

46 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

49 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He has a credit card? How do you know that?

How you know he doesn't

I didn't claim that he doesn't have one - you claimed that he does have one.

37 minutes ago, klaikangwon said:

26 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Garbage. The possibility of claims is something that insures make allowances for in the premiums that they charge their clients. It doesn't matter if they get a huge claim, they can afford it and are (re)insured also to cover themselves in the case of large claims. A claim at the level of the one in this discussion is just a drop in the ocean to an insurance company.

You live in interesting world where everything work exactly as elementary school teacher explained it.

No, I live in a world in which I know how insurance works, not in a world in which the only agenda is to ignorantly slag off insurance companies.

19 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Why? Is his insurer a Thai company?

But easy for anyone to check...

"While there is no single published statistic for all claims across the entire market, data from the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) indicates that major life and non-life insurance companies in Thailand generally maintain claim settlement ratios (CSR) between 95% and 99% for standard, valid policies. [1, 2, 3]

The remaining few percentage points do not mean these are simply "stolen" from policyholders. Here is how the claims and payout process actually breaks down:

1. Life Insurance Payouts

For life insurance—which covers death, maturity benefits, and riders—the settlement ratio is usually above 98%. [1]

• Top Performers: Major companies in Thailand (like Thai Life Insurance) operate with high efficiency and typically pay out almost all valid death and maturity claims without contest. [1, 2]

2. Health & Medical Insurance

Health policies face the highest rate of claims disputes, though the vast majority are still resolved in the customer's favor.

fake news, you focused on life insurance, we are talking about travel insurance

39 minutes ago, klaikangwon said:

Insurance companies pay claims for two reasons: 1. risk of sued if don't pay 2. risk of losing client in future with reputation of non-payment

More nonsense. Insurers pay claims because they have contracted with the client to do so if the claim is legitimate.