Brits with £11k medical bill trapped in Dubai over travel insurance small print
Published
| Last updated
A British couple are currently stuck in Dubai with an enormous £11,000 medical bill that they cannot afford.
Husband Mick, 54, from Doncaster, says he and his wife Kat, 54, from Glasgow, visited Dubai after he received a job offer.
Unfortunately, just a couple days into the trip on April 25, Kat 'had an episode with full body spasm' in the shower.
"Thinking it was maybe a stroke, we spoke to the hotel staff who took her to the hospital close by," Mick has explained in a GoFundMe page set up by a man named Craig Cowell.
"After some tests & charges of £1,800, they said she needed to stay overnight at a further cost of £3,000.
"With nothing left financially, we explained this so they sent her back to the hotel with some tablets stating she would improve in 4-5 days.
"I contacted the insurance people who said we could claim this back."
It wasn't long until Kat was readmitted to hospital after another episode.
"I went out shopping, and came back and she's on the floor," Mick told The Mirror.
The husband claimed he heard one of the doctors say their travel insurance covered 'everything up until here', but future treatments would have to be from the couple.
Mick says the travel insurance, provided by Barclay's bank, refused further charges because the specific trip did not start and end in the UK.
After visiting a number of hospitals for countless appointments, the couple have been left with an £11,000 bill.
Mick now claims that the hospital is holding his passport as collateral.
Since Kat needs a fit to fly note, along with help getting on the plane, they are currently stuck in Dubai.
He said: "If you understand the mental anguish that my Mrs has gone through, I've seen it, I'm sat here watching it.
"I'm trying to help her out, and I said to her today, 'we can guess what's wrong all day, but you need to be seen'.
"She had an MRI, but they came back and said the MRI was clear and that they couldn't see what the issue is. They said she might have a virus in her spinal column.
"That was pretty much the only diagnosis we got working with this."
The Foreign and Commonwealth Development (FCDO) told the publication: "We are providing consular assistance to a British couple in Dubai.”
Mick wrote on the GoFundMe page: "DO NOT take your insurance for granted. [...] I have paid this for the last 10 years with travelling a lot & my first claim is worth nothing. Be aware. Don't go through what we are dealing with right now."
If you wish to donate, click here.
LADbible has contacted the British Embassy Dubai and Barclays for comment.
