2023-08-01 23:33:59
A couple from Saint-Tite are stuck in a fight with their insurance company.
Marcial Gauthier had a cardiac arrest in February, while he was in the Caribbean, in Saint Lucia.
Once there, the hospital refused coverage from her insurance company and she demanded immediate payment for the treatment. Impossible to leave Mr. Gauthier in a critical state: the payments therefore accumulate on their credit card, and even on that of their neighbor.
Final balance sheet: almost 70,000 dollars in hospital costs for nine days of treatment.
“If I hadn’t had any money and it was still on the credit cards, would I be down to 200,000 piastres with interest? With 20% of 70,000, it’s starting to work. Can you imagine the stress you have there, you are in a foreign country,” said Marcial Gauthier.
Six months later, the couple has still not been reimbursed by the company. It was thanks to an investment and RRSP withdrawal that they were able to lighten the credit cards.
Cases like this may come as a surprise to other insurance companies. At Voyages Arc-en-ciel, in Trois-Rivières, in 20 years, no unpaid insured file has been recorded. Although the agency has no connection with the situation of Mr. Gauthier and Ms. St-Arnaud, the president said he was surprised to see the amount spent.
“It is the insurer who contacts the hospital directly and as a general rule, it is settled without the intervention of the insured for all that relates to payments”, mentioned Justin Bordeleau.
Communication is very difficult with the couple’s insurance company.
VAT News
“You never talk to the same person and they can’t serve you over the phone. […] It always takes 30 days more and there is always something missing,” added the neighbor of the couple who lent his company credit card, Daniel Hamelin.
The insurance company in question does business with a subcontractor who takes care of travelers who have problems abroad.
TVA Nouvelles attempted to contact the two companies involved. Unable to get explanations about the file.
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#Debts #hospitalized #traveling