Hi all, this is my first post and I am a new user.

My mum and dad visited Turkey earlier this year. Unfortunately, my dad fell ill whilst they were there and was referred to a private hospital, as they had insurance with LV.

My dad had a stroke last year but has made a full recovery. He had a few health problems linked to that including having a heart monitor fitted and thought they had declared everything to LV.

However, they had not mentioned the heart monitor in error and when he was sent to hospital in Turkey, they checked his heart and because he had previous, LV would not pay out when my mum went to claim.

He stayed in for 4 days having all sorts of tests done, when he said he was fine and feeling better but they insisted that he stayed so they could do more tests. After 4 days, the bill was £12,000 and the hospital demanded payment when they left.

They could not afford that and paid £6,000 and left.6 months later and the hospital have contacted them and also sent a letter via DHL stating that they have 15 days to pay the balance or legal proceedings will start.

My questions are:Can they chase a debt from a foreign country?Are my parents even liable? They may have signed a document when entering the hospital for treatment, but is it a legal contract?Is the Turkish hospital partly to blame for the cost?

They thought they were getting insurance money, so kept my Dad in for four days when he said he felt better and did not need the tests. In the end, they did not even give any diagnosis.

Any help at all would be so much appreciated. Thanks.

Hello and welcome to CAG.

I've put some paragraphs in your post to make it easier to follow and have flagged your thread to the site team because I'm not sure which forum would be best for you.

My best, HB

Me again.

I'm going to try your thread on the insurance forum to see what the guys know. They will advise you well.

HB

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

They will be along when they can.

HB

I am presuming that your Dad had a heart related problem in Turkey and if this is so then LV would be entitled to decline the claim for a pre-existing condition. Only if you could prove that the health problem in Turkey has nothing to do with a pre-existing condition, could you look to dispute LV's decision.

In regard to Turkey, they are not part of the EU and therefore it is more difficult for the Hospital to pursue your Dad in the UK. They would need to gain a court judgement in Turkey and then try to get a UK court to enforce here. This is not going to be that easy and to make it even harder for them, your Dad should send them a dispute letter by recorded delivery. If your Dad has proof of a formal dispute with the Hospital in the form of a dispute letter, then he could use this if it ever gets to court. The dispute letter should state what you have said in your post. That the Hospital kept your Dad in for longer than required, carried out tests, for which the results were never provided, so therefore no diagnosis was ever discussed. A sum of £6k was paid at the time and it is totally disputed that there is any liability for additional sums. You would even question as to what the £6k paid was actually for, as an itemised bill was not provided at the time. Ask the Hospital for their complaints procedure, so this matter may be taken up with the Turkish authorities.

I am presuming that your Dad had a heart related problem in Turkey and if this is so then LV would be entitled to decline the claim for a pre-existing condition. Only if you could prove that the health problem in Turkey has nothing to do with a pre-existing condition, could you look to dispute LV's decision.

 

In regard to Turkey, they are not part of the EU and therefore it is more difficult for the Hospital to pursue your Dad in the UK. They would need to gain a court judgement in Turkey and then try to get a UK court to enforce here. This is not going to be that easy and to make it even harder for them, your Dad should send them a dispute letter by recorded delivery. If your Dad has proof of a formal dispute with the Hospital in the form of a dispute letter, then he could use this if it ever gets to court. The dispute letter should state what you have said in your post. That the Hospital kept your Dad in for longer than required, carried out tests, for which the results were never provided, so therefore no diagnosis was ever discussed. A sum of £6k was paid at the time and it is totally disputed that there is any liability for additional sums. You would even question as to what the £6k paid was actually for, as an itemised bill was not provided at the time. Ask the Hospital for their complaints procedure, so this matter may be taken up with the Turkish authorities.

Hello. That is very helpful, thank you very much. I will put that together for him. Their worry is that if it gets to court and they lose, they wil have to pay costs and lose everything. I've told them not to worry and that it is unlikely to get that far, but I can't stop them worrying.