Cheltenham dad stranded in Turkey following horror crash

“@gallopingbear

If you read Home_Please's comment (and he or she seem to be well informed about the circumstances) they are saying that the poor chap was not allowed to go back on the same aircraft as his girlfriend on medical grounds. From the article and comments, this seems to be because he had a collapsed lung, and the flight (if not on a special plane where the cabin is pressurised to sea-level) would have been life-threatening for him. Her injuries, bad as they are, don't appear to include injuries to the lungs, thus enabling repatriation quicker on a conventional plane (with lower cabin pressure). It appears to be that the group was split on medical grounds (if Home_Please is correct and I have no reason to doubt him or her), and so distressing as it may be, that's the way it is.

The issue is that the insurers don't want to fund the special flight (the cost of which is in the tens of thousands I believe) when there is the alternative of putting him up in a hotel until he is fit to come home on a normal flight. This is, I'm afraid, fairly normal in cases where there is lung injury that is likely to improve. Unless he can show medical grounds why immediate evacuation is necessary (for example, if he can show that he needs medical care that is not available locally), then it is unlikely that the insurer will meet the extra costs. It is even more unlikely that the embassy would foot the bill, since the insurer is covering the medically necessary costs as far as we are told (although if this is not true, then it would be a different case altogether).

This doesn't mean that I am unsympathetic, just realistic.”

“It's pretty horrible that his girlfriend was flown home, so splitting them up. I gather from the article that her injuries were worse than his, and yet he, needing some hospital treatment himself, was not allowed to accompany her over here-and he is not fit enough to take a normal flight.
It's rather confusing and I bet somebody organising the transfer over there screwed up. I think they deserve a little more sympathy than this forum is allowing. They were on holiday together, and in a group, and yet a couple has been split up and one of the group left behind. This is not acceptable by anyone's standards. After such a traumatic experience the family should be together. I cannot imagine the concern, pain and frustration everyone involved must be feeling. Surely in this case the embassy could step in and have him home soon?”

“1) What is the treatment for broken ribs - rest
2) He's been put up in a hotel - pretty restful!
3) They will fly him home when he is fit to fly.
4) Ask if they will pay for surface travel if the wait for a flight is too long!”

“"He needs to be back here with his family where he can receive the right treatment."

"Anthony......has been discharged from hospital and is being put up at a hotel"

Clearly he has received the right treatment and has been discharged.

Home_Please,

"In the meantime he is stranded on his own, his partner is seriously ill in hospital and needs his support and his young son is crying because his dad cannot get back."

OK, so this has gone from a medical emergency evacuation to what is, essentially, a "a nice to have". There is no medical emergency here, he is just delayed and is awaiting a more fuller recovery to enable a flight home. Sincerely, I do have sympathy with his plight but I assume that he is either not living with his son or decided to go on holiday without him. I have no doubts that those looking after his son will be putting his mind at rest that his dad will be home soon, again, not a medical emergency. Neither is it a medical emergency that he fly home to be at his girlfriend's side.”

“Not much of a miracle - I have a annual policy from the same people (you gave the details in the previous post) and the documents are sitting on my desk for when I travel.

Sadly, although I understand the distress it is causing, decisions by the insurers will be taken on medical and cost grounds only.

As a diver, I have seen this a few times as diving accidents generally mean that commercial flights are not a possibility for a week or two due to pressurisation issues. It is very difficult to get a sea-level evacuation approved if the medical prognosis is that a normal flight will be possible within a few weeks (even if it is upsetting to the victim and family). I usually carry two insurances when diving (the normal one and an expensive specialist diving one), but that won't guarantee a sea-level pressurised evacuation unless the medical decision is that a commercial flight cannot be taken for weeks (such is the price of the specialist flight and crew).

I am very sorry that the family is in such a difficult position at the moment and I hope he (and his girlfriend) recover soon.”

“Mr_Pedantic

Yes of course it does, indeed by some miracle you have managed to quote the exact wording of one of the claims conditions. However, he has been there over 2 weeks now and will not be able to fly back by way of a commercial flight for at least 7 days. In the meantime he is stranded on his own, his partner is seriously ill in hospital and needs his support and his young son is crying because his dad cannot get back. So what is reasonable really depends on all the circumstances and not just cost”

“Presumably the insurance document has a clause requiring the insuree to accept their decisions concerning a suitable, practical and reasonable solution to a medical emergency including the return to the UK. This usually means that the company (even the most expensive travel insurance) won't reimburse the cost of a sea-level pressurised air ambulance (which is incredibly expensive) if the medical advice is that the patient will be fit enough to fly home normally in a week or two. Companies only reimburse what they have to, not necessarily the insuree's preferred solution (if it is more expensive than a possible alternative). Not having access to the facts (and therefore accepting I could be wrong) I suspect that there is no medical reason for an immediate and extremely expensive evacuation when paying for an extended stay and a normal return flight would be much cheaper. If insurance companies simply pay the most expensive option because the customer would like it and not for a valid medical reason, we would see our premiums rise even more.”

“by the_mogul

Hi, the limit of cover is 10 million, so there is no issue with cover, as I said, Anthony has been told it costs too much”

“@Home_Please

Is the reason because the cost of the flight goes above the limit on policy for medical? If so could try to get insurers to pay the max cover and then you could see if can pay the rest? If could get on credit could look for fund raising to pay cost after as sure people would be willing to help, realise pretty urgent so wont have opportunity to raise first. Or else could try approachinga charity of some sort that may be able to help with funds?

Realise long shot but may help.”

“The Insurance was arranged through the Natwest. The policy is underwritten by UK Insurance Limited, which until last week was wholly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (the bank bailed out by the tax payer, of which we, the general public, are the majority shareholder in). It includes brands like Direct Line and Chruchill and is one of the largest personal insurance companies in the UK. RBS, I understand, is still the majority shareholder of the company. The policy expressly covers "additional travel expenses needed to return [him] to the UK on the advice of [their] medical advisor" and defaqto gave it a 5 Star rating in 2010. Anthony has a text message from the air ambulance company that his girlfriend flew back with, saying that they had been advised by his insurers that he could only fly back by AA sea level ambulance, hence he was unable to accompany Shelly home. They are now saying that it is not medically necessary for him to fly back this way, and therefore he has to stay there until he is deemed fit to travel on a commercial flight (which by the way will be 7 days after he has a clear Xray). Anthony says that he was told by an insurance company representative that an AA sea level flight would cost too much.”