If this isn’t enough warning, we don’t know what is: One claim for emergency medical treatment in the US cost £768,000 – or, as the Association of British Insurers (ABI) put it, the equivalent of working over 25 years on an average UK salary of £27,500.
Highlighting the importance of insurance for British travellers abroad, the ABI said six-figure medical bills are not far-fetched anymore, noting that the abovementioned claim included £60,000 for repatriation via an air ambulance.
Another example from the US – which is visited by 3.8 million people from the UK annually – was treating a brain haemorrhage and a broken shoulder suffered by a traveller who fell off a cycle (£252,000).
In other countries visited by Brits, here are some of the emergency medical bills paid for by their travel insurers:
- £136,000 for treating insect bite complications in Chile – including paying for a nurse to escort the traveller home.
- £125,000 for surgery following a jet-ski accident in Turkey.
- £81,000 for ongoing costs of a holidaymaker who contracted pancreatitis in Greece.
“While most travellers enjoy their breaks, falling seriously ill overseas is stressful enough without the added worry of how to pay for potentially very expensive medical bills,” said Mark Shepherd, ABI assistant director, head of property, commercial and specialist lines.
He continued: “Yet incredibly an estimated one in four travellers still travel without insurance, despite the fact that the average cost of a single trip policy can be less than what a family spends on snacks at the airport.”
The ABI said travel insurers are helping 3,000 travellers every week who need emergency medical treatment while abroad – with the cost of the average medical claim at £1,300 rising 40% between 2011 and 2016.
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