TRAVEL INSURANCE FINE PRINT

Thai hospital refuses care for Kiwi man

NZ NewswireJuly 14, 2012, 11:01 am

Staff at a Thai hospital are refusing to perform surgery on a New Zealand man because he can't pay the bill for previous operations, according to his family.

Sean Kenzie, 27, was seriously injured when he was knocked off his moped last week and has been in a Phuket hospital since.

Both of his lungs were punctured and collapsed, his kidney was ruptured and he broke a number of bones including his jaw, his mother Nadine Mouritsen told Fairfax.

He is now conscious but his family say he needs surgery that hospital staff are refusing to carry out until a $16,000 hospital bill is paid.

Ms Mouritsen says family and friends are trying frantically to raise the money.

Mr Kenzie has travel insurance through Covermore but after the accident he was told this did not extend to riding scooters or mopeds.

Ms Mouritsen said care at the hospital had been largely okay, but there were one or two incidents which were worrying.

"There was an instance where he wasn't getting any of the medication he needs, and that was when we called Foreign Affairs and they must have helped because that night he was given his medication."

Peter’s Comment

Shame on Covermore. They should change their name to Coverless. It’s not good enough to have the exclusions buried in the fine print or subject to interpretation by Philadelphia lawyers.

Thai authorities should take some responsibility also if they want to protect their vital tourist trade.

When the New Zealand Government enacted an accident compensation law in 1974 it applied to all accidents without taking fault or residence into account.

I Googled Covermore and some good reviews. But then came the bad ones. Two things arise from this; insurance companies need to be more customer and public image orientated and customers need to be aware that contracts are signed in the expectation of having a wonderful holiday, but claims are made under stress, disappointment and confusion. READ THE FINE PRINT!

Dont rely on the included car excess !

- Bad

Terry Shuker posted this on Jun 30, 2012

This was our first need to claim on travel insurance - although we have always taken it with Covermore.
The insurance cover states that they will cover the cost of out-of-pocket excess on car rental damage. They won`t - without a fight! We had a small ding with our car, getting it back into the Europcar depot in Lyon, France. Europcar charged us just over 1000 euros for repairs and when we returned home we put in a claim accompanied by all the paperwork. Covermore refused to pay the bill unless we supplied the original workshop repair invoice - something the customer is not given. We had 6 months trying to contact the repair garage in Lyon in our limited French before we could get the requested repair sheet. The garage said it was an `unusual` request but eventually sent it (all in french and largely illegible). Only after 9 months and a threat to go to comsumer affairs did we get a cheque from Covermore. Imagine if we had had to go back to a garage in Mongolia or Zimbabwe or somewhere remoter than France!

Refund of payment of Cover for Travel Insurance

- Terrible

Vicki Smith posted this on Jun 29, 2012

I have been dealing with Sarah in relation to obtaining my refund on travel insurance. After numerous phone calls and unanswered emails I then receive an email on the 29 June stating that I was to contact my Doctor and resolve this in a timely manner. Where is the customer service from CoverMore - does not exist. Quick to take the money but don't want to give it back. Unhappy customer.