Disney Disaster - Reclaiming Medical costs help please!

mostly

where theres incompetence theres still blame and a claim.

yellowmonkey

Wow

lurking through this thread tonight I hope to god I do not have to come here for advice.

ym

Donnie

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I am really sorry that the holiday was such a disaster, and pleased that at least some of the costs can be claimed back.

My own experience with travel insurance is that the excess means that in a case like this, the amount of medical expenses that you can get back are minimal, probably not enough to justify the effort of claiming. So, had the OP done as everyone says she should and taken out insurance, it would have made virtually no difference to the final outcome (apart from perhaps receiving compensation for the ruined holiday).

The real importance of travel insurance is that if something seriously bad happens, where the cost of treatment runs into many thousands, the insurance company will pick up the bills. And for travel within most of the EU the EHIC card provides a reasonable degree of protection against this kind of thing. So, although I always have insurance when I travel, I often wonder why.

Personally, I don't skimp on the quality of my travel insurance and I pay extra for having an Excess Waiver.

So, if there is a problem, at least there is no worry of waiting around in a public hospital abroad nor concern for the bill afterwards.

Too many people see travel insurance as a botherly afterthought and skimp on it as much as possible. More fool them.

Hopefully, despite the banal protestations of the OP, people will take this as a stern warning to provide amply for themselves and loved ones.

Donnie

abijanzo wrote: »

Oh my gosh.

I hope you have all enjoyed your moral debate at my expense. Of course none of you have ever made a mistake and so are free to cast your stones willy nilly.

I came asking a simple question - can I reclaim my medical costs and received some advice from one poster that was very useful - Thank you again for that.

I dont think I need say more about the negative comments I have received. I am just glad that I, and most of the people I know are not so quick to appoint themselves judge and jury and hurl accusations. I do think the implications that I neglected to gain insurance purposefully and therefore am a bad mother are disgusting and those that hurl abuse like that on these forums are in my opinion cowards. I doubt you would be so quick to accuse if you did meet me in person.

I will not go into details of how the mistake occurred as it is completely irrelevant to my request for financial advice - as are most ofthe replies to my post.

It is a sad state of affairs when people are so quick to judge and insult - it does make me wonder what kind of lives people like that must lead...probably quite lonely....


Please feel free mods to close this thread as I have received the advice I needed and have a claim form in the post from the nice lady I spoke to who kindly informed me I could claim even without a card.

Happy New Year to you all.

If you'd like to 'give something back' to those posters you found to be helpful, perhaps you could let us know of your success in re-claiming some of your expenses.

It could be useful for someone in similar circumstances.

I rather suspect that this will be the clause concerning your possible claim:
You may be entitled to reimbursement of any contribution you have made where the actual cost of your hospital treatment abroad, minus the amount of the contribution you have made towards the cost of your treatment abroad, is less than what it would have cost the NHS to have provided the hospital treatment in the UK. Reimbursement will be limited to the difference between the amount it would have cost the NHS to treat you here and the actual cost of the medical treatment you have received abroad, minus the contribution you have made towards the cost of your treatment abroad. You are not entitled to be reimbursed an amount greater than the contribution you made and you might not recoup all of it.

We will wait and see.

vikingaero

abijanzo,

It is sad that some people see fit to revel in other peoples misfortune. It's easy to make a simple mistake and suffer the catastrophic consequences. People seem to eager to have their 10p without considering that Forum Etiquette on the right

---

> Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps. There's a world of difference between a difference of opinion than inferring stupidity or bad parenting.

My advice would be to hop onto Moneysupermarket and buy an annual policy before you forget. We've booked for Disney Paris in April and Eurotunnel wanted £57 for a 5 day holiday. We took out an annual policy with Columbus for £37!

Donnie

vikingaero wrote: »

abijanzo,

It is sad that some people see fit to revel in other peoples misfortune. It's easy to make a simple mistake and suffer the catastrophic consequences. People seem to eager to have their 10p without considering that Forum Etiquette on the right

---

> Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps. There's a world of difference between a difference of opinion than inferring stupidity or bad parenting.

My advice would be to hop onto Moneysupermarket and buy an annual policy before you forget. We've booked for Disney Paris in April and Eurotunnel wanted £57 for a 5 day holiday. We took out an annual policy with Columbus for £37!

Give it a rest, vikingaero, with your 10p's worth you are as guilty as anyone of dragging the episode onwards.

The OP wasn't backwards in coming forward with her 'mudslinging' tactics. So let's put the whole tired episode to rest....and wait for the OP's report on the matter of reimbursment(If she would be so kind).

reme-bod

Can somebody please point me in the direction of the forums giving financial advice as once again I seemed to have stumbled into the "Lets all put our oars in, sound off with mouth music and pat ourselves on the back for not being in the same unfortunate circumstances as others and therefore we are much more suited to pass judgement and advice on issues totally unrelated to the original post" forum.

To reiterate Yellowmonkey's comments, I hope I never need to come here for financial advice as I may get lambasted for allowing myself to get into that position in the first place!

Now, I'm goint to cycle to work without specific cycle insurance, no BS approved helmet and no lights on my bike (it is 1040am)... anyone care to pass judgement?

Or perhaps someone could give me advice on how to claim back the cost of a Christmas card, envelope and second class stamp that never arrived at its intended destination. Unfortunately I didn't remember to send it First Class recorded or get Securicor to courier it for me, so I'm expecting a huge backlash for my negligence.

Maybe 20 years breaking rocks with only bread and water... What do you think? Donnie? DKLS? care to put on the black hat and pass sentence?

Donnie

reme-bod wrote: »

Can somebody please point me in the direction of the forums giving financial advice as once again I seemed to have stumbled into the "Lets all put our oars in, sound off with mouth music and pat ourselves on the back for not being in the same unfortunate circumstances as others and therefore we are much more suited to pass judgement and advice on issues totally unrelated to the original post" forum.

To reiterate Yellowmonkey's comments, I hope I never need to come here for financial advice as I may get lambasted for allowing myself to get into that position in the first place!

Now, I'm goint to cycle to work without specific cycle insurance, no BS approved helmet and no lights on my bike (it is 1040am)... anyone care to pass judgement?

Or perhaps someone could give me advice on how to claim back the cost of a Christmas card, envelope and second class stamp that never arrived at its intended destination. Unfortunately I didn't remember to send it First Class recorded or get Securicor to courier it for me, so I'm expecting a huge backlash for my negligence.

Maybe 20 years breaking rocks with only bread and water... What do you think? Donnie? DKLS? care to put on the black had and pass sentence?

So where was your financial advice? I'm guessing that you are just another lurker sticking a useless unwanted oar in.

It must be the idiot season. :rolleyes:

duchy

No it isn't a crime to travel without insurance but as the OP discovered to her cost it is very expensive if you don't !
I'm a bit confused though-who do you think has liability that you'd be able to make a claim. You said stomach flu so I'm assuming you mean your child caught a virus-that isn't anyone's fault -it was just bad luck. If he had gone down with food poisoning (in which case so would others) in a Disney resturant or if he'd say slipped on a wet floor and got injured-then that is provable as someone else's "fault" so can be claimable sometimes. A simple virus he could have picked up anywhere (even at home before you left) is not in the same catagory.
I used to work with holiday insurance companies repatriating people home from holiday and that job really brought home to me how many things can go wrong and how it really is very unwise to travel without insurance. From what I learned I nowdays wouldn't even travel on a day trip to France without insurance covering not just medical cover so I can use the best available and quickest care and have the cost of drugs covered (we forget how expensive drugs are because we only pay prescription charges which are a fraction of the real cost) as well as covering additional costs to get home if the original travel arrangements can't be used.
Please anyone thinking "I'll sort out the insurance later" DON'T ! Do it the day you book your holiday so you can't forget (and it also covers you if something untoward happens before you go and you have to cancel).
I'm sorry your holiday was ruined but I honestly don't think you have anything to gain by attempting to try to claim unless you told your agent you did want insurance and they didn't issue it-which doesn't appear to be the case from what you've said. I hope he's fully recovered now which is of course the important thing !

reme-bod

Donnie wrote: »

So where was your financial advice? I'm guessing that you are just another lurker sticking a useless unwanted oar in.

It must be the idiot season. :rolleyes:

More to the point where is your financial advice? I've suggested phoning DWP to see if a retrospective claim can be made (see post #29) - does that not equate to some form of financial advice - even to your small blinkered mind? I have also PM'd the OP to give a detailed description of how I went about it. I suppose you will want evidence of that too?

I don't recall you being elected as the voice of the people to whom everyone must bow down and agree with unreservedley. You're guessing I'm another lurker sticking a useless unwanted oar in... well I haven't seen too much useful advice coming from you whereas others on this thread have actually contributed. Try not to guess too much and stick to what is factual.

And yes, you're right. It certainly is the idiot season. What's it like in pole position?

I'm bored of this now.