Case Study 1

The end to a long planned trip...

As the case study shows, things can go wrong on holiday. You could fall ill or have an accident; you could have money or luggage stolen; your visit might be cancelled or cut short through injury or illness; your family may need to fly out to be with you if there is a serious incident. All these risks and more can be covered by taking out travel insurance.

"I'm a student and 6 months ago I went travelling to Ghana with one of my friends. We had both prepared thoroughly, taking out full insurance and were both equipped with medical kits. While we were abroad I became very ill and dehydrated and was unable to drink due to a kidney infection.

I was taken to a small hospital in the mountains but was still unable to drink or keep any water down. I then had to be taken by air ambulance to a hospital in the capital where I stayed for four days.

Eventually I was taken back to England and had my flight upgraded so that I was more comfortable. I am incredibly relieved that I was prepared and had taken out travel insurance which covered my air ambulance to the capital and my transportation home, otherwise this traumatic experience would have cost me in the region of £50,000 - £100,000"

Typical cost of returning you to the UK.

If you need to be returned to the UK in an emergency it could cost you thousands. Make sure you have adequate and appropriate travel insurance.

    * £30-35,000 Air ambulance (Jet) – East coast of USA
    * £12-16,000 Air ambulance (Jet) – Canaries
    * £10-12,000 Air ambulance (turbo-prop) – Balearics
    * £1,200-3,000 Air taxi (propeller driven light aircraft) – Northern France
    * £15-20,000 Scheduled flight, stretcher and Doctor escort – Australia
    * £9-12,000 Scheduled flight, seated club, with a nurse escort – West coast of USA
    * £1,800-4,000 Scheduled flight, seated economy with a Doctor escort – Mediterranean
    * £100-£800 Scheduled flight, seated economy without an escort – Mediterranean
    * £3,000-£6,000 Scheduled flight, stretcher and Doctor escort – Mediterranean
*costs correct as at 20th March 2007

Case study 2

Surgery abroad. No thanks!

Even routine surgery can be complicated to arrange in a foreign country. Our client was a 55-year-old visiting Vietnam. Falling ill he was advised that he needed surgery, but that it was not urgent that he have it immediately. The client was unable to continue his holiday but was able to consult the 24 hour assistance as part of his 1 Stop Insurance policy and advise the insurers that he would prefer not to have the operation in Vietnam. He asked for help with scheduling travel arrangements to return to the UK.

Consulting with the patient and insurance company the assistance service made all the arrangements and so safely returned the client to the UK and the insurers arranged a partial refund on his holiday.

“Without the excellent cover arranged by 1 Stop I would have had a stressful time arranging the return home myself and have lost a vast amount of money on what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. The arrangements were excellently made and I couldn’t have been happier. Well done 1 Stop!”