Travel Medical Insurance And Motorcycle Accidents

Filed in: Medical Insurance |Travel Insurance

09 December 2022

An incident reported this week has served to highlight the importance of possessing the correct driving license and the limitations of travel medical insurance when hiring or using motorcycles overseas.

In the case below you will read that the individual concerned did not heed his travel medical insurance contract limitations as it related to his motorcycle driving license. As a result he now faces having to fund his own medical bills which are said to amount to GBP16,000.00.

Kieran Angus had a UK motorcycle license that restricted the motorcycles he could ride to 50cc capacity.

The travel medical insurance policy that Mr Angus had purchased had a motorcycle capacity limitation of 125cc.

Whilst reading the reported story below do keep in mind that we always advise clients that insurers will not provide cover where:

• there is excess alcohol in the system or evidence of the the use of recreational drugs

• you are not legally compliant in the country where you are riding - this essentially means that you have the appropriate vehicle insurance and that you are riding within deemed safety regulations I.e wearing a safety helmet

• you are engaging in motorcycle sporting activities that are considered extreme - this includes Moto X riding

happy-holiday-times-before-motorcycle-accident

I appreciate every last one of you who has sent through a message today, I’ve been very low. I’ve went from having the trip of a lifetime to being isolated in a hospital bed thousands and thousands of miles away from my family. Kieran Angus

The background story

Kieran Angus had planned to be in Thailand for six months before his accident

The personal trainer was visiting the Asian country as part of a six-month tour when the accident happened, which has left him needing specialist treatment for a broken leg.

The musician, who is a drummer with an alternative heavy rock band Broadsea, needs two operations before he can fly back to Scotland at the time of writing he has had just one operation.

What went wrong?

Although Mr Angus had purchased travel medical insurance and his insurance contract states he is covered to drive up to a 125cc engine, his driving licence is only valid up to 50cc, meaning that his insurance has been deemed as invalid.

Mr Kieran has contacted the British Embassy in Bangkok for help in addition to setting up a 'Go Fund Me' page with his relatives to help fund the GBP16,000.00 of anticipated hospital expenses

$fractured-leg-sustained-in-motorcycle-accident$

An X-ray of the leg break

We just want him home and he can’t travel until he has had his op. I know it is a hard time of year for people with Christmas coming up, but please, any donation, no matter how big or small, is greatly appreciated Miss Simpson - (Family relative)

Speaking to the media, Miss Simpson, 29 and a family relative said they had started with a target of £10,000 before raising it up to £12,000, due to £16,000 being “a lot to ask”.

Miss Simpson added: “I spoke to Kieran earlier on FaceTime and he’s really emotional and obviously feeling really low. He had plans to stay out there for about six months and this has only been a few weeks into it. He’s absolutely gutted and really just quite kind of shaken up. I think he just wants to get home now.”

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