Help!!! I'm being ripped off £10K by AXA!!!

mkoprulu

Sorry i forgot to add the reply for the last question while ranting, we didn't inform the insurance until she had to be taken to hospital as emergency, because the insurance wouldn't cover unless it's an emergency anyway... You see, you have to break something, or be bleeding to death before you are covered by these leeches. Anyway, from the first instance i called them until like 3 weeks ago when they first tried to refuse the claim, i never heard any disapproval, or a statement like "we can't cover that" or anything...

Astaroth

mkoprulu wrote:

You mean Financial Ombudsman when you say FOS right?

So you want to trust to doctors in UK more?

FOS = Financial Ombudsman Service - sorry for using acroymns

I didnt say that UK doctors were either better or more trust worthy simply that the majority of people from the UK would trust a "UK" doctor more than a Turkish one - correctly or incorrectly (in my opinion)

mkoprulu

Sorry i wasn't pointing my rage towards you anyway. I had to get it off me.

EdInvestor

I really think you're going to find it difficult to get AXA to pay up for this one. Travel insurance is meant to deal with unexpected medical events which crop up in a foreign country while on holiday, where in a serious emergency you may need repatriation back to your own country (ie the UK).

It's not designed to enable resident foreign nationals to return to their own country and obtain free private medical treatment at the UK insurer's expense for a matter that seems to be related to a pre-existing condition which hadn't been mentioned, because they believe their own country provides a superior standard to what's available in the UK.

You can try the FOS but IMHO it's highly unlikely they will find in your favour.

susieb

I cant add any comments about your claim, but just thought I would say (as someone who is allergic to bees and wasps), that you cant have an allergic reaction the first time you are stung, its only on subsequent times that an allergic reaction can happen.

mkoprulu

thanks ts_aly2000! I appreciate it.

EdInvestor,

This was an emergency that happened abroad. It doesn't matter if it happened in Turkey. It could have happened in Kongo, for all that matters. We were not going to go to another country for holiday just because we would look dodgy in case something happened to us, were we?

If they can prove there was any unlawful/forged event, they can do whatever they want. Refusing to pay for the claim for an unjustified reason is not something i will accept.

If they considered and decided that my wife's condition needed repatriation back to UK, I'm sure they would have told me so??? If everytime i call up (they didn't bother calling) to let them know what was happening (She's taking tests, she's diagnosed with Cushing's, She's coming out of the hospital, we are looking for an operator, she's going back for surgery, she's coming out again, etc) and all they say was OK, than it's not my problem. If they said, "no sir, you have to take your wife back, or we won't cover her", or "we are arranging for her repatriation back to UK" then i wouldn't have had to get loans and paid for her treatment there. I did it in the knowledge that she was covered, which was the impression that i had since no negative response was coming back from the insurance at any step of the way.

I don't understand how you find her previous condition (PCOS) to be related to her current one, but if they can prove that it was related, then they will have to prove this too. But believe me, it's not related. Neither PCOS is a symptom/pre-condition of Cushing's nor vice versa.

Oh and i'm planning to get a proper insurance from Turkey anyway, so that i can get proper treatment next time i really need it.

I can't believe how these companies are so keen on ripping people off when it comes to claiming from them, whereas their services look so assuring when it comes to sell them... There are loads of people out there doing all kinds of scams, including insurance scams. I just wish i wasn't this honest and i didn't go by the book all the time, and that i were one of those people. I wouldn't have been complaining for my hard earned (borrowed, not earned yet) money then. I would have been too rich to care...

mkoprulu

susieb wrote:

I cant add any comments about your claim, but just thought I would say (as someone who is allergic to bees and wasps), that you cant have an allergic reaction the first time you are stung, its only on subsequent times that an allergic reaction can happen.

That's interesting :idea:

I had no clue this was the case. Thanks for the info. So we still don't know if my wife is allergic or not Well, i really wonder what the new GP's reaction will be if she's stung again...

Wyndham

mkoprulu:

As with any area, there are good doctors and bad doctors. And no one is perfect and they are often overworked and don't have enough resources. This is the NHS of today. However, I'd still rather have it than not, I just think it needs shake up.

And I'm sorry you've had bad experience with it, but I'm not sure this is the place to vent your anger.

If medicine were easy, we could all do it. It isn't, and often the same symptoms can show for several illnesses, and the doctor needs to make an educated assessment, but may be wrong, especially in rarer cases.

I know, I have a rare condition, and it's taken ages to get the treatment right (years!) But I persisted and saw lots of doctors, who mostly said 'this is what it is' (which it wasn't) but was the most likely explaination for the majority of the population so I don't blame them for that.

I'd also say that I realise why you are angry, but being this angry with anyone from AXA (or anywhere else) is just going to get their back up and make them less sympathetic and more likely to stick to the rigid rules. I'd advise a more softly softly approach - which I know can be hard when you are angry.

dunstonh

I'm still a little lost on the diary of events (i.e. pre-existing or linked condition). However, the AXA claims dept would be relying on medical reports and perhaps the discussion on why it would be declined would be best positioned with your GP or specialist who has access to the medical records.

I would say the best course of events is to:
1 - get in writing the exact reason why the claim is being refused.
2 - go to GP/specialist with that letter and ask them if that is correct or not.

I have dealt with cases in the past where notes have been mis-read or misinformation from doctors notes has caused issues. Once someone is control of the diary of events and the reasons it is then easy to track down the problem or issue involved. From that you can either get a result one way or another.

EdInvestor

mkoprulu

In April 2006, we went to Turkey for holiday. While there, she went to her gyneacologist who did some additional tests and found out that her cortisol levels were higher than expected and referred her to an endocrynologist to look at.

The endocrynologist measured her blood pressure as 180/120 which was dangerous and told her to stay there until she was diagnosed properly. Therefore her return ticket on 30th April was not used.

On 7th May 2006, she was taken to hospital as an emergency due to hypertension and tachycardia which was about the time our story begins.

Insofar as high blood pressure produces no symptoms, I think we can see from this that if your wife had been a normal British holidaymaker, by the time she had to be admitted to hospital as an emergency, she would already have been back in the UK for a week and no longer covered under the policy but again the responsibility of the NHS.

Oh and i'm planning to get a proper insurance from Turkey anyway, so that i can get proper treatment next time i really need it.

That is the right approach. It is well known that many people have significant difficulties in adjusting to medical treatment norms in cultures different from their own.There exists a substantial business in providing health insurance to expatriates of many nationalities so they can obtain treatment they feel comfortable with.

I'm sure there is an appropriate insurance policy for your needs. Re the AXA l policy, if you were told the claim would be met before she was admitted as an emergency,and several times later, and you have incurred considerable expense based on that commitment, then you may have a case for getting at least some of the money back.

If you follow that course I hope it doesn't set a precedent so that all expats residing in the UK and holidaying in their home countries are denied travel insurance because they are perceived as at high risk of committing what the insurers would probably regard as abuse.