Imagine enjoying a carefree vacation only to be hit with a 100,000-pound (Rs 1,05,66,245) medical bill because of a simple mistake on your travel insurance form. That’s the nightmare a British family experienced. Now they are warning other travelers about the importance of diligently reviewing their insurance policies to avoid costly blunders.
According to the BBC, West Sussex residents Roberto and Masha Katalinic brought their daughter Katya to Kenya for a Christmas family vacation. When her parents returned to the UK in the new year, Katya decided to stay on for a yachting stewarding course in South Africa and tragically experienced a brain hemorrhage. Waking up in an unfamiliar hospital, the 18-year-old found herself unable to speak or read, feeling utterly helpless in her situation.
“I lost the ability to speak and read, and it was pretty much like being a newborn baby,” she said. “I had no idea about anything.”
The family’s hopes for their daughter’s treatment were dashed when their insurer, Axa, denied coverage for her 100,000-pound medical bill, citing incorrect information on the application form.
Axa ruled the policy invalid because Miss Katalinic’s trip to South Africa had started in Kenya, not the UK.
“There may have been ‘the journey must start in the UK’, which I assumed; well, it started in the UK; it didn’t start anywhere else. The journey started here, in Midhurst, in the UK,” Mr Katalinic told the BBC.
Miss Katalinic is now issuing a warning to others: “You see stories about other people and you think how awful it is to happen to them, but you never really realise things will happen to you, so just make sure everything’s in order, that you are covered, and everything will be OK.”
In a statement, Axa told the BBC: “The declaration presented at the point of purchase asks that the purchaser confirms all details are true, including ‘that anyone named on the policy is travelling from and returning to the United Kingdom’ and that ‘your trip has not yet started’.
“On this occasion, the responses provided were not aligned with Miss Katalinic’s situation and this was only uncovered following her claim. The policy was cancelled after we realised it was invalid and the full premium was refunded to Miss Katalinic.”
