‘My husband had a stent fitted on holiday – but Co-op won’t pay his £10k hospital bill’
Dear Katie,
Last October, my husband and I went on a two week cruise from Seville to Tenerife. Halfway through the cruise, my husband became very sick and the ship’s doctor diagnosed jaundice and other complications.
When we reached Funchal, Madeira, we had to disembark the ship and my husband was hospitalised and had a stent installed.
We notified our travel insurer, Co-op Insurance, with which we had platinum level cover, and after 10 days in hospital his surgeons said he was able to return to London.
Although we requested that Co-op Insurance pay the hospital bill and to book our flight home, it gave us no indication of when this would happen, so we went ahead and booked the flight ourselves.
Now, over seven months later, we have not received any compensation or assistance from Co-op Insurance whatsoever. In spite of numerous phone calls and emails to Co-op Insurance, we have just been shunted from one department to the other.
Whenever we have chased, twice we have had to resubmit our claim forms with all the receipts attached (which each was a lengthy, time-consuming process involving many pages of information), as Co-op Insurance had seemingly “lost” them.
Since our return, my husband has been treated by the NHS for obstructive jaundice complicated by pancreatic cancer. We feel that Co-op has treated us, for many years’ loyal elderly customers, with disrespect in our time of greatest need and vulnerability. We have wracked up a bill of over £10,000, which we would like paid.
Regards,
– BH
Dear reader,
I was really sorry to hear about all your husband’s health troubles, and how they had severely impacted this cruise which you had been so looking forward to. You had travel insurance in place, and therefore a reasonable expectation that should something happen while away, you would receive assistance and financial recompense.
However, to your horror, neither materialised.
By the end of your ordeal, you were £10,000 down, and you feel all Co-op Insurance has done is continually delayed your compensation. After such appalling treatment, I was only too happy to step in and ask Co-op Insurance why on earth it had let you down so badly.
It explained that as per the requirements of its travel insurance policies, if a policyholder is taken ill whilst on holiday, contact should first be made with Zurich Assist, which is one of its “travel partners”. It said it “appeared” that your cruise company failed to do this, despite having a copy of your travel insurance documents.
However, it explained that under these circumstances, whereby Zurich Assist haven’t initially been contacted, the customer may pay for medical costs for an interim period whilst the claim is being assessed and medical documentation, records, receipts etc are being provided. This was the case in this instance.
However, following Zurich Assist having been contacted by you, and being made aware of your husband’s condition, communication broke down between Zurich Assist and the “claims reimbursement agency” which was assigned to process the claim.
Happily following my involvement, your claim has now been settled in full including interest, and additional compensation for the inconvenience caused. A full investigation is also being conducted by the underwriter to make sure that “processes and procedures” are as robust as they can be. I wish you and your husband all the very best.
A Co-op Insurance spokesman said: “We are extremely sorry for the delays in processing Mr H’s claim, and for any distress this has caused.
“Working alongside our underwriting partner, Zurich, we strive to maintain a high standard of service for our customers, however we acknowledge that in this instance those standards were not met.
“Due to a miscommunication during the claims handling process, this resulted in the delays experienced by Mr H, which we sincerely apologise for.
“I can confirm we have now spoken to Mr H to offer our deepest apologies and resolve this issue, including making a full settlement, as well as additional compensation for the inconvenience caused.”
