A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against a Canadian travel insurance company after it denied a $175,000 claim for an air ambulance.
According to a report from Vancouver Sun, the claim stems from his attempt to transport his wife from Germany to the US for emergency medical treatment after she contracted COVID-19 and pneumonia while on vacation in 2022.
Stephen McNally is suing MSH International (Canada) Ltd., a BC-based travel insurer, after it refused to cover the medical air transport of his wife, Fiona McNally, who passed away in 2023.
The lawsuit, filed in British Columbia, claims MSH wrongfully denied the couple’s claim for emergency transportation to an American hospital, as was stipulated in their policy.
According to court documents, McNally’s wife, who held both Canadian and American citizenship, fell ill with COVID-19, pulmonary pneumonia, and aspiration pneumonia.
The couple, who reside in Florida during the winter and in Nanoose Bay, BC, during the summer, had taken out the travel insurance policy to ensure coverage for serious health emergencies. McNally’s suit contends that the policy included provisions for air ambulance transportation to her home country should emergency care be needed.
The couple departed for Europe from Washington state on July 12, 2022, and after 10 days in Europe, Fiona McNally was hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Frankfurt. By August 1, Stephen McNally had contacted MSH to initiate a claim, with plans to transport her via air ambulance to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where her doctors said she could receive the necessary intensive care that was not available on a commercial flight.
The lawsuit claims that McNally worked “diligently” between August 1 and August 15 to supply MSH with all required documentation to expedite his wife’s return. On August 15, McNally said he was assured by MSH staff that he could proceed with the air ambulance arrangements and file the claim afterward. However, later that same day, MSH allegedly “informally” denied the claim, advising McNally to submit a formal claim instead.
Fiona McNally was flown home on August 22, but in December, MSH issued a formal denial, stating that Fiona’s condition could have been managed in Germany, making the costly air ambulance unnecessary. MSH also asserted that the transportation had not been pre-approved or pre-arranged through them, which they say was a condition of coverage.
The lawsuit argues that the insurance policy’s language did not require that Fiona be treated only where the medical issue occurred. The policy allows emergency air transportation to “the nearest appropriate facility” or to a hospital in Canada or the policyholder’s home country, McNally claimed.
McNally is seeking $175,000 in compensation for the air ambulance costs as well as $100,000 in damages for alleged bad faith and punitive damages, citing misrepresentation and a breach of duty for good faith and honest performance in the contract.
Vancouver Sun noted none of the allegations has been proved in court.
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