Travel insurance - inflight injury

BobbySox18

My mum is currently on holiday in Greece and whilst on the plane caught her freshly made cup on tea on her tray and tipped it over herself at the start of the flight.

Now I don't know the full details, only that she was treated with ice packs - the indident has resulted in serious 2nd degree burns on her upper and lower legs and as a result has been in and out of hospital for the last 2 days being treated. The photos are pretty bad, to me it looks like she was barely treated.

This has so far cost her €200 in taxis fees, €50 treatment and now means she cannot go in the sun or pools for the 2 weeks while she is there. Hopefully once healed a little better she can go in the sea though and the reps have been amazing.

Now my questions would be:

Are these fees something normal travel insurance covers?
And is it normal to serve boiling hot drinks on a plane?

Thank you for the replys.

katejo

BobbySox18 wrote: »

My mum is currently on holiday in Greece and whilst on the plane caught her freshly made cup on tea on her tray and tipped it over herself at the start of the flight.

Now I don't know the full details, only that she was treated with ice packs - the indident has resulted in serious 2nd degree burns on her upper and lower legs and as a result has been in and out of hospital for the last 2 days being treated. The photos are pretty bad, to me it looks like she was barely treated.

This has so far cost her !!!8364;200 in taxis fees, !!!8364;50 treatment and now means she cannot go in the sun or pools for the 2 weeks while she is there. Hopefully once healed a little better she can go in the sea though and the reps have been amazing.

Now my questions would be:

Are these fees something normal travel insurance covers?
And is it normal to serve boiling hot drinks on a plane?

Thank you for the replys.

Sorry to hear what happened! My guess is that an insurer would first expect your Mum to get treatment using her EHIC card. Did she have one? I have just had hot tea on a flight but fortunately had no accident. i did however see a small news item (perhaps in a magazine on the flight) which suggested that drinks should be served at a lower temperature.

Here is the item which i saw. It is from the travel/holiday section of MSE Cold in-flight tea?
30th Jun 18 at 4:50 PM
#1
Apparently at least two airlines have reduced the temperature of water boilers / hotcups to around 80° C in recent months to minimise the danger of scalding.

Just wondering whether anyone has noticed this? That's about right for fancy white and green teas but I would have thought normal tea would taste pretty unpleasant made at that temperature.

BobbySox18

Thank you for the reply katejo. I'll have a look in that section.

lisyloo

I would expect the taxis to be covered if they were necessary (presumably they were) and are receipted.
The treatment will be covered as long as it wasn!!!8217;t something that would be covered for free by an EHIC (European health insurance card).
Her excess would be deducted if applicable to the medical expenses section.

BobbySox18

Yeah, she does not drive on her own as the mountain roads in Kefalonia are scary enough without taking the crazy locals into account.

She does have a card and has used it, but needed bandages etc from a chemist which I assume is not covered by the card. At least she did not ask.

System

Taxi cost should be covered my daughters were for the person who was with her to get to/ from visiting her .

lisyloo

If the bandages were available on prescription then she should have paid the prescription charge and not bought them privately.
This isn't a criticism, just pointing out that the insurance company MAY expect the EHIC to be taken and used and items obtained on prescription where possible.


I hope her insurers are not too picky. Perhaps you could let us know whow she gets on?


Good luck and advise her to keep receipts for all expenses.

BobbySox18

Thanks is for the replies. I'll make sure she is aware to use her card at the pharmacy.