A 27-year-old man is in a Thailand hospital facing $30,000 worth of medical bills his insurance company is refusing to pay for after a motorbike accident left him with life-threatening injuries.
The man was today reported by other media to be from Tauranga but SunLive has discovered he is originally from Napier, currently living in Perth.
Amy Myles and Sean Kenzie, who is now in a Phuket hospital facing $30,000 worth of medical bills.
Sean Kenzie was holidaying in Phuket when he was knocked off a motorbike by a taxi van last Saturday night.
He split his liver, punctured both his lungs, broke numerous ribs and needed to undergo an operation on his neck to reattach the muscles to his jaw.
So far the 27-year-old has incurred $18,000 worth of medical care.
Doctors are now refusing to give Sean the second operation needed to repair his jaw, which will cost another $8000, until they receive the $18,000 he currently owes – meanwhile Sean's jaw is beginning to set.
But Sean's insurance company is refusing to pay his medical costs because they say he was not covered for riding a motorbike.
Speaking to SunLive today Sean's brother Kane says his brother made it clear to his insurance company he wanted full cover for everything when he was arranging the policy.
'He didn't mind how much is cost; they gave him the premium full coverage insurance. They never said to him motorbikes aren't included.
'He was going to a country where the primary transport is motorbikes.”
Now, Sean's family and friends are desperately trying to find the money to pay for the operation he needs to reset his jaw and to get him home.
'My mum's seriously stressed out.
'His jaw's been smashed to pieces; his bones will start healing in the wrong place.
'We need to come up with $18,000 before they will do any more work on him. The operations we're paying for are the ones that saved his life.”
Kane has been visiting everyone he can think of to get help but has so far only managed to gather $1100.
'I'm spending all my time trying to raise money for my brother.
'We are very much on our own. I don't know what to do; I've done almost everything I can.”
Kane says the longer his brother remains in Thailand the bigger the bills become.
'We're stuck between a rock and a hard place. We can save and save but it just keeps growing the longer he's there.”
A Facebook page titled Save Our Mates Life has been started to try raise money for Sean's rising hospital bill. To donate visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Our-Mates-Life/271193799655116
11 comments
Which Insurance Company??
Posted on 05-07-2012 17:56 | By carpedeum
Which Insurance Conpany is this young man with?? Not a good situation to be in.
SHAME
Posted on 05-07-2012 18:01 | By penguin
Which insurance company is it so we can all avoid using it? Typical of insurers - they so often try to wriggle out from anything!
Insurance Company Name
Posted on 05-07-2012 18:09 | By Sandyshirl
I am sure we ALL want to know the Insurance Company Name then we will all know to stay clear of them. Come on Sun Live - Give us their name. This is absolutely discusting. Typical of an Insurance company not disclosing everything & trying to rip a client off. When you take FULL cover you expect FULL cover. If their is something hidden he should have been made aware of it. What's the name of the COMPANY??
The doctors need castrating
Posted on 05-07-2012 23:24 | By CC8
What happened to the Hippocratic Oath? Do NO HARM...pfffffft!! They are absolute assholes they intend holding this young man to ransom. Half of them probably got their qualifications in New Zealand anyway...taking up spaces at medical school that Kiwis could have used. Once again bloody money comes in front of someones wellbeing... Just fix his jaw,so he is not deformed for the rest of his life. I am sure he is good for the money in the long run!
insurance
Posted on 06-07-2012 04:26 | By ayjay
unless the fella has an international driving permit, and a full d/licence that covers him to ride a bike of the same cubic centimeter-cc- in his home country he will NOT be covered NO insurance company would cover him, its stated in the small print-- the accident rate on the island is the highest in the world
Questions
Posted on 06-07-2012 05:26 | By Arandora
We stay in Thailand for nearly half a year every year and picked this sad story up on a Thailand Forum. The forum is full of stories about motor bike accidents and we regulars are always warning people to make absolutely sure of one important thing before you hire a motor bike and that is you MUST have an International Driving Permit obtained in your own country that confirms that you are qualified to ride a motor bike in your own country. Even though Thai companies will hire you a bike or a car without an IDP it is illegal to drive one. If you do not have an IDP in the event of an accident even if you have been provided with insurance by the hirer or on your own policy it is likely to be invalid because you are driving illegally. I hope when he took out this insurance at home, first he was qualified to drive a bike and second he had an IDP. If not then that is why the insurance company is probably refusing to pay up. It's so easy to hire a bike, so much fun - until something like this happens. Motor bikes are the biggest cause of fatal road accidents in Thailand.
Name & Shame
Posted on 06-07-2012 06:09 | By Linaire
Typical insurance company ... always trying to find a loophole to wriggle out of!! Look how many disgruntled insurance customers have had to go to the likes of Fair Go to get a payout!! And I bet that's just the tip of the iceberg. C'mon Sunlive, you've given us the story .... now give us the COMPANY NAME!!!!
peoples
Posted on 06-07-2012 08:22 | By traceybjammet
when i read the above comments it saddens me to see people want to name and shame without knowing all the details Lets face the fact that no-one writes about all the pay-outs insurance companies do make it doesnt make good reading. While I feel sad for this familys situation I also feel sad at the hate Insurance company attitude its wasted anger
Motorbikes usually excluded from insurance
Posted on 06-07-2012 09:16 | By Phailed
Because of the high rates of motorbike accidents in these countries they're usually clearly excluded from insurance. It's well publicised that motorbikes are the number one cause of accident and death for tourists. Jetskis also dangerous.
Insurance
Posted on 06-07-2012 13:42 | By Real
if they can they will rip you no matter what you are paying for
Posted on 18-07-2012 00:11 | By traceybjammet
on the coverage of this the other night they said that public hospital would take him but he wanted the private. I think that insurance and other contracts are to be read including the fine-print and blame doesnt solve anything lets just hope this young man gets home soon to NZ hospitals that are pretty much free which is why we are very lucky to live here
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