Crippling Cost of Repatriation
The financial impact of paying for repatriation from abroad, due to injury or illness, can be crippling. In the past 12 months two members of my family have needed to be brought home and this has highlighted how much it would have cost if they didn’t have the required insurance cover.
The first incident took place at Easter. My sister was taking a week’s holiday with a friend in Spain. On the day before she was due to fly home she and her friend decided to go to a nearby go-karting track for a little fun. Unfortunately the fun turned to near disaster when my sister crashed into the barriers.
She hit her face on the steering wheel and was rushed to the local hospital in a lot of pain with a stream of blood pouring from her nose. The local hospital did an excellent job of stitching up a nasty gash in her nose but they recommended that she should be flown home immediately. This required a nurse and a couple of seats on the next available flight that very day.
The second problem has just recently occurred. My 18 year old nephew has just spent the summer travelling in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Nepal. While in Nepal he became seriously ill. Unable to keep anything down he quickly became dehydrated and had to be admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu. The doctors recommended repatriation and so he was booked onto the next Scheduled flight with his travel companion. His illness was diagnosed in the UK to have been caused by a parasite that was probably picked up from contaminated drinking water.
These examples serve to reinforce the need for adequate travel insurance cover. Without it my family would have been required to foot the repatriation bills, and these can be incredibly high. For example, the cost of an air ambulance from the USA to the UK can cost anything from £30000 upwards and the cost of an air ambulance from the Canaries can be as much as £16000. Even accompanied scheduled flights can be extortionately expensive at around £10000 upwards for a flight from the Med and £3000 upwards for a flight from the United States.
So be certain to ensure that your travel insurance covers you for repatriation and whatever you do, don’t leave home without it.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
It would be a big mistake travelling anywhere without the correct cover, and you store illustates that. I hope you sister and your nephew have fully recovered.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
From what I have seen that is a sad reality of traveling to other countries when you become ill. There are services out there that will assist you in flying home, but offering an insurance policy would certainly be very helpful and help minimize the cost.