Dear Tripped Up,
I’m a 68-year-old solo traveler who was on a tour of Sicily in June 2022, once I fell getting off a bus, breaking a number of ribs, vertebrae and a pelvic bone. I had bought the RoundTrip Choice plan from Seven Corners Travel Insurance, so I referred to as, anticipating they might assist coordinate my medical care with Italian-speaking docs. But they instructed me to hunt assist by myself, save the receipts and file a declare once I acquired house. Our tour information was an angel, arranging drivers to take me backwards and forwards to the hospital and even decoding by speakerphone with docs. Days later I acquired a physician to fill out a kind (which I needed to Google Translate for him) saying I may journey house, so long as I used to be in a reclining place. My household chipped in to purchase a business-class seat for the return flight, a day-and-night journey from Palermo to Munich to New York to Jacksonville. Seven Corners lastly paid $5,772 for my payments and missed journey, however refused to reimburse me for many of my business-class fare. Far worse, I consider they failed to supply me the help they promised, basically leaving me to fend for myself and leaving me unable to speak with hospital employees. I’ve registered complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the state insurance coverage businesses of Florida and Indiana (the place Seven Corners relies), however I’ve gotten nowhere. Can you assist? Helaine, St. Augustine, Fla.
Dear Helaine,
What a terrifying ordeal. And additionally a priceless reminder to solo vacationers that though seeing the world by yourself may be exhilarating, it may also be perilous. Fall unwell or get harm in a spot the place you don’t communicate the language (or don’t perceive the well being care system) and who will probably be there that can assist you?
Seven Corners says it would, based on its web site, boasting of “a 24/7 multilingual team available to help with travel emergencies,” together with assist discovering medical care and second opinions in addition to “interpreter referrals” and medical evacuations. The web site recounts the reassuring story of Makenzie, a 22-year-old who fell unwell close to the French-Belgian border. Seven Corners employees are portrayed as springing into motion, chatting with her docs, arranging for a member of the family to fly in, and ultimately reserving Makenzie “a lay-down seat to ensure maximum comfort” on her return to California.
You clearly didn’t get the Makenzie therapy.
To discover out why, I combed by means of your coverage and the opposite paperwork you despatched me, talking at size and exchanging emails with Greg Jung, Seven Corners’ government vp, and even asking a Times colleague, Ilaria Parogni, to translate that kind your Sicilian doctor crammed out from Italian doctor-scribble to straightforward English.
Source: www.nytimes.com