Using our network to resolve a dilemma
A young traveller in Chile faced a major dilemma after admission to hospital with dehydration. Following treatment, the Santiago hospital refused to accept written confirmation of insurance to cover medical bills. The hospital withheld the patient’s passport, preventing further travel plans. Intana Global used close links with Lloyds of London underwriters to contact a local agent. The agent immediately provided cash to cover the bills, and the traveller was discharged without delay.
The whole story
Providing simple assistance to an insured person is a common occurrence for Intana Global. When we were asked to authorise medical expenses to cover a young traveller’s overnight treatment in Santiago for a minor illness, we expected to get the patient discharged from hospital immediately to continue traveling through Chile.
Unfortunately, it was a classic case where an overseas hospital has no experience of dealing with an insured international patient, and the hospital refused to accept written guarantees for payment. It withheld the patient’s passport and prevented further travel. The patient had insufficient funds to pay the bills, so we had to take an innovative approach:
- We consulted our underwriter contacts at Lloyds of London
- Lloyds agency department called its Santiago agent to ask for help, reassuring the agent that we could be trusted to reimburse the funds if the patient’s bills were paid in cash
- After we contacted the agent 30 minutes later, a representative was immediately despatched to the hospital with cash
- The patient was discharged without delay to continue travelling
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