Medical expense whilst on business trip

jdonice

Hi
Would like to know my position.
I was on a business trip (in the US) with work where I started to get an infection in my tooth.
It got so bad I went to visit a Dentist whilst out there he took an xray and on first inspection said it was my wisdom tooth which was infected.
I was due to fly back to the UK in the next few days and had to decide whether to have surgery(for removal) or risk boarding a 10 hour flight with an infection, which could actually cause more damage.
At the time I tried to speak with my HR in Dallas but they were unable to give me any clarity on the process for going for surgery.

I had to make the decision so I opted for the surgery.
This was in September 2012. Today HR has told me they will not be paying my expenses.
They informed me they didn't have adequate travel insurance for its UK employees.
I have asked for the certificate for employee liability as per the UK act. This hasn't been given to me.
I have been fobbed off by my company and to make it worse my personal travel insurance only covers me for holidays not business trips.
Surely Employers should cover their employees when on business trips and if not they should have some due diligence to inform their employees they are not covered on trips.

I am thinking going to the CAB but if anyone can shed some light that would be great

Thanks
T

Jox

I'm sorry but I don't think this was an emergency for you, it wasn't life threatening and you didn't have clearance to proceed from your HR.

Ask for the travel insurance details and call them yourself to check what they cover.

Takeaway_Addict

Shouldn't you have due diligence to check what you are covered for before going on a business trip?

SarEl

Employers liability insurance - which I assume is what you mean because there is no such thing as employee liability insurance - does not cover this anyway. The insurance covers liability to work related injury or illness, that is, what is caused by the employer. The employer did not cause an infection in your tooth, and the work you do did not cause it.

This is a matter for travel insurance, and it is a general policy stipulation that you must have the insurers agreement before incurring costs for "elective surgery" - anything which you do not have to have. They ought indeed to have adequate cover - but that depends on what you call adequate cover. Given that the condition was not life threatening, and you were days from returning to the UK, the insurers are likely to have told you to return an have the tretament in the UK - and in fact this may be what the insurers have said and that they have declined to pay. This would not be inadequate insurance cover - it would be normal insurance cover!

Russe11

Jox wrote: »

I'm sorry but I don't think this was an emergency for you, it wasn't life threatening and you didn't have clearance to proceed from your HR.

Ask for the travel insurance details and call them yourself to check what they cover.

Any infection can be life threatening, response time is critical on any infection in the head, can cause permenant damage in any part of the body, but is more of a issue near or in the brain. An infection if left even from only a small issue can worsen over the space of 12-24 hours let alone over the space of a few days, this could lead to a case requiring hospitalisation.

Of course it very much depends on the type and strain of infection, without seeking medical attention and expertise then you can't make the decision.

If it was the medical opinion that preventative action should be taken, then the correct procedure should be to contact the insurer first.

paddyrg

If a licensed medical practitioner told you NOT to fly, then you have a medical problem and should discuss it with your medical line of your travel insurance.

It is almost always limited to 'emergency pain relief' for dental work, fwiw, so even if you weren't insured, you'd be in a similar position having to pay for it yourself anyway!

ILW

A toothache is very unlikely to kill anyone in a day or two.

Did the dentist say it could be that serious?

KiKi

Agree with most other posters on here. I'm abroad at the moment and my travel insurance very clearly states that only absolute emergency treatment will be covered - ie, immediate pain relief, or being taken by ambulance to hospital. Anything more has to be agreed with the insurance company first, and unless you are told you cannot fly by a medical practitioner, most insurance won't cover it.

So whilst it would have been helpful for your company to let you know you weren't covered, you equally made an assumption. You made a choice for surgery - I'm not sure what risk a 10 hour flight would have, any more than it did to leave the surgery, call HR, make a choice about what to do, then go back for surgery (ie, there was probably at least 10 hours between being told and having the surgery). Clearly it wasn't life threatening or they would have removed it there and then.

So even if your employer did have cover for medical treatment, or even if you had cover, chances are this specific treatment wouldn't have been paid for by insurance. I'm making assumptions here, of course, but from what you say you probably have a lot more to lose by causing a fuss than what you may have to gain.

Was it very expensive?

KiKi

Jox

I'd be interested how much the operation was in the US, I had my wisdom tooth taken out in the UK privately 2 years ago and the cost to the insurers was just over £1000...

j.e.j.

Jox wrote: »

I'd be interested how much the operation was in the US

I dread to think.. I've heard about the cost of medical bills in the US :eek:

So, just to recapitulate (for the sake of anyone reading this), if someone's going on a business trip abroad they should check that they have adequate health insurance cover themselves, and not assume that the company will cover them for this?

ILW

j.e.j. wrote: »

I dread to think.. I've heard about the cost of medical bills in the US :eek:

So, just to recapitulate (for the sake of anyone reading this), if someone's going on a business trip abroad they should check that they have adequate health insurance cover themselves, and not assume that the company will cover them for this?

Most policies will only cover emergencies. This appears not to be the case.