Injured Phuket tourist taking donations

A Kiwi man is taking donations for massive medical bills after his travel insurance failed whilst on holiday.

Travel Insurance News - 19/07/2012

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A Kiwi man is taking donations for massive medical bills after his travel insurance failed whilst on holiday.

Twenty-seven-year-old Sean Kenzie had a collision with a taxi just hours after the start of his holiday three weeks ago in Phuket, Thailand. Sean’s injuries, which included a broken jaw, a split liver, neck damage and a collapsed lung, have required surgery and prolonged care in Phuket’s Bangkok hospital.

Kenzie had taken out travel insurance before departing on the holiday, however the provider refused to pay for care, which has thus far totalled in cost to more than NZ $26,800. The family said it is struggling to pay the bills but has thus far raised some NZ $18,000 in donations via the internet.

Kenzie’s travel insurance company, which has not been named, had specifically excluded motorbike accidents in Thailand from the policy in which Sean said he understood was “full coverage”. Kenzie’s girlfriend to reporters from the Phuket Gazette that she has since learned the firm offers motorbike accident insurance as an add-on. She said that Sean wouldn’t have hired a motorbike on his first day in Thailand if he had known it was excluded from his insurance contract.

Meanwhile, Sean’s family have said that being turned down was “stunning” and that it was very strange for motorbike accidents to be excluded when it is one of the country’s primary modes of transportation.

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