Urgent warning to tourists as £5 Bali mistake cost man £289,687
Listen up, if you're jetting off overseas in the near future, an Australian man has been left with a staggering $370,000 (£289,687) bill after making a seemingly minor $7 (£5) mistake on his travel insurance claim.
His family are urging tourists to read the small print on their holiday insurance and make sure they're covered.
The young Aussie lad has been hit with the bill after getting into an accident and discovering that his travel insurance didn't cover motorcycles something that could have been avoided if he had known to click a single box and pay a small fee of £5 ($7).
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Blake Gibbs, from Adelaide, got into an accident on his scooter in Bali. This happened after he was visiting Indonesia's Lombongan Island earlier this year on a trip with two friends.
While on a scooter excursion, he crashed into a wall and suffered multiple skull fractures.
He was then rushed to Bali's International Medical Centre and sadly put into an induced coma as doctors tried everything they could to save him before he was transferred home in serious condition.
His mother, Rosslyn Gibbs, has spoken out about his travel insurer, Freely, backed by Cover-More.
They agreed to pay for Blake's hospital treatment and medivac but not before asking Rosslyn to sign a form taking responsibility for the bills if they were to deny the claim.
She told Nine News: "They decided to call the medivac team to get him back to Australia because they were concerned he wasn't going to make it."
It turns out that not adding motorcycle cover meant that the travel insurer went on to refuse the payout.
His mother continued: "He could have easily paid it as it was only a few dollars."
In a desperate bid to raise the required funds of $370,000 (£289,687) to cover Blake's spiralling medical bills, the family have set up a GoFundMe page .
Blake sadly remains in intensive care in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
His family hope he will be moved to another ward in several weeks ahead of a gruelling rehabilitation period that will take many months.
His mum is hopeful that he will make a full recovery: "He does little things everyday like he can squeeze your hand or give you the thumbs up."
As well as taking care of her son, the loving mum has also urged others to beware the pitfalls of not reading the fine print and check they're covered for all of their activities.
She pleaded: "Please, please check your insurance papers thoroughly before you leave the country."
Freely told the Daily Mail Australia they are pleased they could help Blake return to Australia and wish him well on his recovery.
The insurer also added a pop-up screen asking if a customer would like to add motorbike cover to ensure that it's prominently displayed when taking out a policy.
Freely told LADbible in a statement: "Firstly, everyone at Freely would like to say that we are pleased we could help Blake Gibb return to Australia after his serious motorcycle accident in Bali. And we wish him the best possible recovery.
"Freely will not and cannot comment any further on the individual or specific details of Blake’s case due to our privacy commitment.
"Purchasing motorcycle/moped coverage as an ‘add-on’ to a travel insurance policy is common practice in Australia.
"Freely’s add-on or ‘boost’ for motorcycle/moped can be easily added to your travel insurance policy when you first purchase it or at any time during your trip before you get on a motorcycle or moped.
"This is clearly explained on our website, www.freely.me and on the Freely app. When travellers to Bali are purchasing our policy, they are presented with information specifically asking if they would like to add motorcycle/moped cover."
They added: "We stress to anyone travelling overseas who is thinking about getting on a bike as a rider or passenger to consider adding motorbike cover to their travel insurance policy."
Amelia Jones