Insurance company refuse to pay health fees for sick woman

Mar 15 2010 by Liz Walker, The Journal

A NORTH East woman had to be bailed out of a Tunisian holiday by her grandparents after her insurance company refused to pay health fees.

Gemma Harris was left fighting for her life and without any way of paying for hospital bills after insurers decided a visit to her doctor two months earlier had invalidated her cover.

The 22-year-old was struck down with pneumonia and says all she wanted was to return home to be with her family in Linton, Morpeth.

But her passport was confiscated and she was told she could not leave hospital until she had paid the bill of almost £5,000. Her insurance company claimed that although she had disclosed she had asthma she had not notified them she had seen a specialist about the condition two months before she travelled.

Desperate to get Ms Harris home, her grandparents and legal guardians Sidney and Maureen Chapman, both in their 60s, had to empty their savings and take out an emergency loan to raise the cash.

Mrs Chapman, 65, had to jump on a last minute flight and bring Gemma home, carrying an oxygen canister on her knee to help her breathe.

Now back in the North East, Ms Harris has spoken out to warn others to check their policy’s small print and is calling on insurers to take more action to make sure people know what they have to declare.