fatbrit

OP: On your insurance question, you might find this thread useful. Not a lot of hope, I'm afraid...

fetchfelix

Thank you for your responses thus far:

Im in the business of critical care transport. I worked 6 yrs in the NHS & 11 years here. For all its faults the US system is vastly superior to the UK system, especially when it comes to trauma. She is going to rehab here today, & I seriously doubt they would send her to rehab in the UK, probably just a nursing home.
At this point its mute. She isnt fit to fly & will not be discharged from neuro care here for at least a month or two. As I say, my job is critical care transports & even with the best air ambulance, she aint flying to the UK anytime soon. My desire would be to keep her here. If the choice is staying here, or returning to the UK & being a burden to the British state, shes better off here. It makes me laugh to hear of people thinking that shes screwed because she has no insurance. What do you think the Americans will do? Refuse treatment? Throw her out on the streets? Again, I work at the trauma center where she as treated - 80% if pts treated her have no insurance. I guess we'll see what happens. I will contact the US Consulate though.

Clive

candy wy.

its the british embassy you need to contact..
you need to contact her travel insurance company as first priority.
no they won't refuse treatment but they will claim it from her travel insurance and then they will have a say in when she returns.
as for your choice of if she stays here in the usa or goes home you will need to sponsor her if you wish her to stay. if you sponsor her you will be liable for her hospital bills if she is unable to pay them herself.

Englishmum

You might want to check with the travel insurance company though how much cover she actually has....for instance she might have only taken out cover for say, $500k in the medical component of her travel insurance (although you always pay higher premiums for travel to the US so the cover might be up to $1 million or more). Once that amount has been reached, are you completely sure that they will continue to pay for medical treatment in the USA?

Have you checked with the rehab unit that your mum is going to what they will do in the scenario that the limit has been reached on her travel insurance medical coverage.....will they keep her in or throw her out for example? Or will they sue you if the bills aren't paid?

The UK Embassy website in the US is:

http://www.britainusa.com

It's doubtful that they can offer much in the way of practical assistance though:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?...=1007029391089

fatbrit

As you’ve obviously decided she’s staying, I would say the first thing to consider is her visa status. I’m no great expert here, but there seem to be two choices:

EITHER she’s only staying till the rehab’s finished in which case you need to find out quickly about extending her visa status (usually a problem under VWP but she seems to fall under one of the main exceptions I would think). The main problem would seem to be whether the UK travel insurance company pushes for repatriation to minimize their costs.

OR you intend to petition for a GC for her and have her live here permanently. This is certainly possible as you can file while she’s here (AOS) provided she did not enter with immigrant intent – seems pretty clear cut in her case. I don’t know whether she’s going to have a problem with the medical requirements for getting the GC. Also, as Candy pointed out, this route will make you liable for many of her debts. Therefore, you should take immediate steps to protect your assets if you intend to take this path – US healthcare will bleed you dry! If you read the other post I linked to, you will see that Medicare is possible (with payment!) 5 years after getting the GC.

Whatever you do though, you should ensure that she does not fall out of status visa-wise, otherwise options will start closing firmly shut.

fetchfelix

The travel insurance company is involved - I havent had a chance to discuss with them her coverage. I doubt it will cover her rehab. Yes they will keep her - again most of their pts come from the trauma system which is State funded anyway. Im not worried about being sued, I dont own any house here & they cant take my car. I will contact the British Embassy. Thanks for your response!


>>>>>>>>Have you checked with the rehab unit that your mum is going to what they will do in the scenario that the limit has been reached on her travel insurance medical coverage.....will they keep her in or throw her out for example? Or will they sue you if the bills aren't paid?<<<<<<<<

The UK Embassy website in the US is:

http://www.britainusa.com[/QUOTE]

Manc

fetchfelix.

I grant you work in critical care.
I work in insurance..........

If the travel insurance company will have to pay $200,000 by treating her in the UK and $500,000 by treating her in the USA, guess what they are gonna push for?

I would also seriously recommend contacting your homeowners insurance agent to make him aware of what happened.
She tripped and fell on your property. She can sue you (well your insurance) for upto the liability limits on your homeowners insurance if needbe.

Seriously goodluck. It's a right pisser of a situation, but ultimately, as for her treatment and costs. Unless you are writing the checks, then the decision as to what happens is with the insurance companies, not yours.

meauxna

Manc, I was thinking of this strategy earlier when you mentioned it.
Question: with the state of things in the homeowners insurance market, could this backfire by the Ins. co. dropping him after the claim and might it be difficult to re-insure?

Manc

That's a bold thing to say living in the USA
Your Landlord will no doubt have a rental dwelling policy.
He will have liability coverage.

Do you not have renters insurance then? That too has liability coverage for things like this possibly?

fatbrit

OP not a homeowner! Maybe renter's insurance?

Manc

It is irrelevent as he doesn't own a house.

but hypothetically it depends on the state rules where you live.
only after 3 homeowner claims in 3 years one can be dropped by a company in Michigan.

sibsie

Can the hospital sue her directly and go after her assets in the UK?

Manc

Bear in mind I am not a claims rep, and this is looking more and more like a deep litigation case between various companies.
Typically the liability coverage on a renters insurancep olicy will cover you if you set the building on fire etc etc, should the tenant get sued for damages by the landlord.

Only in this case, the mothers insurance company, would have to subrogate the claim against the son's renters only if he is deemed negligent if he made the home unsafe. It would be very difficult to prove this I would imagine.

She tripped and fell on the landlords proerty it seems. He is the one with the duty of care to ensure safe habitation on the property.

However, acts of god and accidents apparently do still happen. If the landlord fulfilled his duty of care of providing a safe habitation then it will be difficult to sue him too.

Also however on most policies, there is a coverage called MED PAY. usually a nominal amount between $1000 to $5000 to pay for people to get to hospital in an ambulance and get emergency treatment. The insurance, any insurance company will pay this out as a non liability accepting goodwill payment. He could also claim on this (fat lot of good $5,000 will get you in this scenario though, but still)

fatbrit

Is there a time limit for getting your claim in to the landlord's insurer?

Manc

It's not for the OP to do, it's for his mums travel insurance to do if they are to subrogate their costs against his rental dwelling policy.