It’s a question I hear all the time Why should I buy Travel Insurance?, shortly followed by, Why should I buy the best (more often than not the most expensive) travel insurance?.
Well what better way to answer those two questions than to provide a real life example of why its pertinent to have Travel Insurance and to make sure you have the right level of coverage.
Today I was hiking through through the local mountain ranges in our late Autumn heatwave here on the outskirts of Melbourne where I ran into a fellow hiker, “Matt” *not his real name. We got to talking, the weather, places we’ve been, places we’re going in the future. All the usual chit chat that you have when you take a breather and socialise on a hike.
I told Matt I was heading to Patagonia this year hiking between Photography Expeditions to Antarctica and that I was out getting some miles on my legs to ensure I was in shape and fit for the long walks.
Matt shared that he’d been to South America last year but his trip didn’t end too well. Actually it ended up with 9 weeks in hospital.
Matt had an unlucky fall. A railing on a balcony at his accommodation gave way seeing Matt fall from a bit of a height whilst travelling in Lima, Peru. Something very simple that could happen to anyone of us. Matt’s fall left him with a broken Pelvis and skull. Not the best way to wind up a holiday and definitely not something that was planned. Things can happen that easy.
Matt was rushed to hospital and given the best treatment on offer in Lima. He said the Hospital was good, clean and he was treated well. After 4 weeks in Lima it was decided he needed further treatment. Unable to stand, sit or anything of the like being in traction from head to toe. Transport was going to be a real issue but he needed to get to the US to get the treatment he needed to make a full recovery.
A Learjet (yes we’re talking Rockstars and big time CEO luxury Learjet) was chartered with appropriate medical staff and flown from Texas down to Lima whereupon Matt was taken laying down onto the plane and flown to Texas for further medical treatment. After his treatment he was flown another medical facility in the pacific half way back to Australia and then he was flown home.
To see Matt out there hiking today on the hill after a broken Pelvis and a smashed skull is inspiring. Those were not minor injuries at all and Matt has seemed to have made a full recovery and he’s now out preparing for a trip to Kakadu at the end of next month.
All in all a good result from a very dicey and potentially life threatening situation. But the key to this story is that Matt had Travel Insurance and he had GOOD TRAVEL INSURANCE.
Without good travel insurance, Matt most likely wouldn’t have gotten the medical treatment he needed. Theres no assurances he would’ve received great treatment at the Lima based hospital unless he could pay himself whilst he was there. And he surely wouldn’t have been able to afford leasing a Learjet and Medical staff to ensure he got the right treatment he needed, let alone in a physical condition that he could organise these things for himself.
Rumour has it the 2 days of flying and Medical staff for the Learjet was billed to the Insurance Company at $120,000 USD.
Whilst money is no object for most of us when it comes to health. The $300 it costs for Travel Insurance to mitigate a medical bill of that magnitude can be the difference between a holiday accident with a happy ending and a holiday accident with ongoing implications.
Matt had his unfortunate fall at his accommodation in town, in the more remote locations that some Photography Expeditions are conducted, extraction costs can well run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Travel insurance doesn’t just cover your medical expenses, it can cover all sorts of unforseen expenses such as rental car excesses, cancelled flghts etc so there are many other positives for having travel insurance.
Please make sure you read the Product Disclosure Statement carefully when buying Travel Insurance so you can make sure you have the right cover you need.
On all my Photography Expeditions Travel Insurance is mandatory. And for Expeditions that include remote locations such as Antarctica, Greenland, Svalbard etc its mandatory to have travel insurance that covers evacuation and recovery.
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