# travel insurance



## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi ALL

just thought i would give my observation

a neighbour here on site was found in his van curled up and a lot of pain in his neck by his wife she had just been out to book a flight home to hopefully see her mother who only had a couple of days to live

we took him to hospital and it took a couple of days for tests ect to give a result to his wife NOT GOOD shadow on his lungs and windpipe distorted by the growth and pressing on a nerve causing the pain and no doctor in portugal would touch it


any way to cut this short wife contacted insurance and then the trouble started 

firstly needed a signed paper allowing the insurance to contact the gp to check pre existing medical conditions

then insurance said must he must go back to the hospital to get a health certificate from a consultant but hurry as saturday and the consultant leaves at 1.30 pm and it will need faxing to them asap

all done then insurance finally agreed to fly both home from faro to manchester later today and wife could fly with him rather than a medical person x cab each end

he feels a lot better walking but difficulty speaking so hopefully they can sort him out quickly when he gets home

we did advise him to just get the next available flight home but as he had insurance he expected them to sort it which they did in the end but in my mind it just took to long sorting out all the paperwork at a time when help is most needed

barry


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Just remember that any insurance company must make sure that there is an actual medical emergency rather than it just being someone saying they are unwell. Would you expect a car insurer to agree to repairing a car without anyone (other than the owner) saying it has been damaged.
I have had dealings with the medical services in Portugal when my sister was taken ill many years ago (ended up being repatriated by air ambulance) The Portugese medical system is slow and they dont like losing the money that treating/operating on foreigners can generate.

Andy


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## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi andy

yes i do fully agree with you but his guy was in a lot of pain from what ever was pressing on his distorted windpipe and trapping a nerve and the tests showed large shadows in his lung area

it just seemed that they should explain the procedure a little more so that when the hospital discharged the guy with pain killers his wife and some good friends could make sure they had all the relevant information from the hospital to proceed to
help the claim go through 

and not just ask him to go back to the hospital quickly on a saturday morning to get a certificate from a consultant that was going off duty in a couple of hours so that they had proof of what was wrong with the guy

i think portimao hospital was fine in treating him and doing all the tests even giving his wife copies of all the xrays and scans to take back to the uk on discharge 

we did suggest to him and his wife that the best place was to just get on a plane asap and go to his gp as an emergency patient 

but them not being in the right mind wanted the insurance to cough up but right fully this would take time

what did not help the couples decision making was that they have a german shepherd dog that they also wanted repatriating but in the end a kind couple have taken him on and will take him back to the uk when they go home

we also packed away there m/h and the site allowed us to put it in a nice spot by some permanent english residents till
the such time as it can be repatriated my the vans insurance if that is needed 


barry


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I am not aware of ANY travel insurance that will repatriate a pet in the event of a medical issue with its owner. (Its usually a specific exclusion in fact) 

It might be worth anyone who travels with a dog etc checking that issue BEFORE they need it???

Andy


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## MEES (Apr 20, 2006)

In my experience all insurance is fantastic until you need to use it!
We ha a horrendous experience with Saga when my 85 year old mum fell in Spain and broke her shoulder :-(


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Mrplodd said:


> I am not aware of ANY travel insurance that will repatriate a pet in the event of a medical issue with its owner. (Its usually a specific exclusion in fact)
> 
> It might be worth anyone who travels with a dog etc checking that issue BEFORE they need it???
> 
> Andy


ADAC did when I was insured with them.

See p2/3...

Pete


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