Repatriation costs after accident within UK

SueLSE

This my first time on the forum. We live in England and have had friends staying with us from Northern Ireland. They had EasyJet flights booked to fly back to Belfast last Saturday. But on Saturday morning, she fell in our shower and broke her hip and is now in hospital near us after surgery, and recovery is very slow. Her husband has been staying with us, but now needs to move to a hotel as we are unable to keep him due to other commitments. They are desperate to get back home. They have a worldwide travel policy, (their son lives in the USA so covers them for visits) and their daughter has tried to get some help from them, but they do not seem to be able to. Their policy should cover them within the UK, they had 3 nights booked in a hotel before coming to us,  and obviously there are no medical costs as treatment is covered by the NHS. But to get home they probably need a medical repatriation. If this had happened in eg Spain, it would be no problem, but the insurance company seem to be refusing any responsibility within the UK, especially as it will involve a flight or ferry journey. Does anyone know if this should be covered by the travel insurance? They have already lost the flights home, and are now building up costs with hotels, meals, travel costs to hospital etc for him.

born_again

All going to depend on the T/C of the policy.
So they need to dig it out & check it does cover UK travel.

debsy42

If it's NHS hospital to NHS hospital they the NHS should arrange the repatriation at no cost to the patient or need for insurance policy. Has anyone asked at the current hospital about repatriation being arranged? If not, ask to speak with the nurse in charge or ward manager for the ward where your friend is and they should be able to speak with their site team to get the ball rolling. Won't happen straight away as obviously your friend needs to be stable enough to travel, the logistics need to be organised and an available bed at the receiving hospital but this should be straightforward. I work at a hospital in London and repatriations happen more often than you'd think. Best wishes to your friend that she gets home soon.

35har1old

SueLSE said:

This my first time on the forum. We live in England and have had friends staying with us from Northern Ireland. They had EasyJet flights booked to fly back to Belfast last Saturday. But on Saturday morning, she fell in our shower and broke her hip and is now in hospital near us after surgery, and recovery is very slow. Her husband has been staying with us, but now needs to move to a hotel as we are unable to keep him due to other commitments. They are desperate to get back home. They have a worldwide travel policy, (their son lives in the USA so covers them for visits) and their daughter has tried to get some help from them, but they do not seem to be able to. Their policy should cover them within the UK, they had 3 nights booked in a hotel before coming to us,  and obviously there are no medical costs as treatment is covered by the NHS. But to get home they probably need a medical repatriation. If this had happened in eg Spain, it would be no problem, but the insurance company seem to be refusing any responsibility within the UK, especially as it will involve a flight or ferry journey. Does anyone know if this should be covered by the travel insurance? They have already lost the flights home, and are now building up costs with hotels, meals, travel costs to hospital etc for him.

As they have moved on from paid accommodation and have been staying with you it's likely that the travel insurance will no longer cover the trip

Voyager2002

35har1old said:

SueLSE said:

This my first time on the forum. We live in England and have had friends staying with us from Northern Ireland. They had EasyJet flights booked to fly back to Belfast last Saturday. But on Saturday morning, she fell in our shower and broke her hip and is now in hospital near us after surgery, and recovery is very slow. Her husband has been staying with us, but now needs to move to a hotel as we are unable to keep him due to other commitments. They are desperate to get back home. They have a worldwide travel policy, (their son lives in the USA so covers them for visits) and their daughter has tried to get some help from them, but they do not seem to be able to. Their policy should cover them within the UK, they had 3 nights booked in a hotel before coming to us,  and obviously there are no medical costs as treatment is covered by the NHS. But to get home they probably need a medical repatriation. If this had happened in eg Spain, it would be no problem, but the insurance company seem to be refusing any responsibility within the UK, especially as it will involve a flight or ferry journey. Does anyone know if this should be covered by the travel insurance? They have already lost the flights home, and are now building up costs with hotels, meals, travel costs to hospital etc for him.

As they have moved on from paid accommodation and have been staying with you it's likely that the travel insurance will no longer cover the trip

It will depend on the precise policy wording. The policies that I have seen simply exclude holidays that are entirely within the UK unless a certain number of nights of paid accommodation have been included. Nothing to say that the entire holiday must be in paid accommodation.

daveyjp

A friend's wife gave birth very prematurely 200 miles from home while they were on holiday,  NHS arranged the move back to the local hospital by medical helicopter.

Hoenir

daveyjp said:

A friend's wife gave birth very prematurely 200 miles from home while they were on holiday,  NHS arranged the move back to the local hospital by medical helicopter.

There's differing levels of care units for Neonatal cases. 

sheramber

. Their policy should cover them within the UK,

They need to read the policy document to establish wat cover it gives.

I have seen policies that cover the uk state they do not cover medical expenses in UK , as treatment is available on NHS.  That avoids people  going on holiday in UK and then ckaiming for orivate medical treatment.

Have the hospital advised that the wife's conditin is suitable for her to transfer to NI?

SueLSE

Thanks for all replies. We have now established that the NHS is responsible for getting her back to a hospital near her home in N Ireland, but it’s not been easy for the powers that be to recognise that NI is part of the UK! Hopefully this will happen this weekend. And they do understand that insurance won’t cover their treatment or repatriation, as that’s all on the NHS.  But her husband has now had quite a bit of additional cost, cancelled flights, hotel bills, travel expense to and from the hospital, new flight back home etc etc. I guess it’s down to the T&Cs on their policy, but I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on it? It seems to be a black hole in travel insurance. 

DullGreyGuy

It all depends on the terms of your policy and UK cover varies significantly. 

Looking at the Post Office as an example they cover:

• Medical Repatriation, excluding Medical Expenses 

• Additional Travel and Accommodation Costs 

• Hospital Benefit

• Repatriation of Remains

You also need to check the terms on a person staying with the unwell/injured party, some require you get pre-approval and most will judge if it was "medically necessary" for them to have someone stay with them.