Author Topic: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.  (Read 5075 times)

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Offline KKOB

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Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« on: September 05, 2015, 14:06:46 PM »
Whilst I have sympathy for the family for their loss I don't think the hospital has any alternative but to hold the body until the bill, or at least a substantial part of it, is paid.

A Turkish hospital has refused to release the body of a British tourist for funeral until his family settle his £25,000 treatment bill. 

Ray Kippin had taken out travel insurance before the trip but it was void after he had wrongly put down the date of an operation to fit a stent to his heart.

Now the private Turkish hospital where he was treated has told the 53-year-old's grieving family they need to settle his £25,000 treatment bill before they will release his body. They also need a further £4,000 to cover the repatriation of his body.


And, as for the daughter's comment 'It is harrowing to know my father is over there all alone......' What ? He's dead !

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3222859/They-holding-father-ransom-Turkish-hospital-refuses-release-body-British-tourist-family-settle-25-000-bill-three-days-intensive-care-treatment.html

Offline SteveJ

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2015, 14:42:05 PM »
Blame the insurance company not the Turkish hospital! They are the ones who have decided to invalidate his policy because he put down the wrong date for his operation.

Name and shame them and then they can be bombarded with bad publicity in the hope of a reversal of their decision and a payout which will lead to the eventual return of this man's body to his family.

Offline Scunner

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2015, 15:09:19 PM »
His premium would have reflected the dates and history of his health as declared. You can't blame the insurance company!!!

Offline Lotty

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2015, 15:12:30 PM »
It is not really the insurance company's fault either, much as I feel sorry for the family, it sounds like this man deliberately put down that his operation was a month earlier. Like all insurances they will pick up any mistake/omission or exaggeration because they never want to pay out. However I think they could be a little more flexible in such distressing circumstances as these.

Offline KKOB

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2015, 15:16:02 PM »
Like all insurance companies, they've turned the claim down because of a mistake made by the policyholder on the application form. You can't blame them for not paying out.

Offline stoop

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2015, 19:03:03 PM »
The date could have affected the risk and the cost. You have to be spot on and truthful when you take out life insurance. No different for holiday cover.

A costly error?

Offline Scunner

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2015, 19:05:12 PM »
Assuming it was an error

Offline SteveJ

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2015, 19:40:13 PM »
Nothing that I read said it was deliberate mistake. If he falsified his application because it said something like "Have you had surgery in the last 12 months" and he slipped the date of his op back a month to avoid a higher premium then yes - it's a fraudulent claim. He tried it on and came unstuck but the report doesn't even say what the error was. Did he simply put down the wrong day, month or even year, something we've probably all done before.

IMHO if it's a genuine error and not fraud then the insurance company should show a little more compassion for the family and if only as a guesture of goodwill offer to pay the £4k repatriation costs.

Offline KKOB

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2015, 20:18:24 PM »
He tried it on and came unstuck but the report doesn't even say what the error was. Did he simply put down the wrong day, month or even year, something we've probably all done before.


Read the article and you'll see that it clearly says  'Apparently he had put down that he had the stent fitted to his artery in June instead of July.'

Offline Lotty

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Re: Turkish hospital holds body until the bill is paid.
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2015, 21:10:59 PM »
I'd like to think it was an error but honestly would you forget the date of a serious operation. I think that he may have thought it would be more acceptable if it occurred at an earlier date. Sadly he probably hoped it would never come to be questioned. We are warned so much about incorrect input info for all insurances. Very sad.




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