Travel insurer investigated after deaths of customers

THE company behind Boots travel insurance is being investigated by the General Medical Council for medical negligence after the deaths of customers denied emergency flights home.

Doctors working for Travel Insurance Facilities are being investigated over claims they denied suitable care to policy holders, The Times revealed.

The business is also being investigated for fraud by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after the watchdog received allegations that policyholders were being misled.

A 40,000-page dossier sent to the FCA details allegations against the firm that they had a pattern of practice to either delay, avoid or minimise payouts.

Included in the dossier is a testimony from a former claims handler, who said: “I remember patients needing life-saving or life-changing operations and [the doctor] just wouldn’t pick up the phone for weeks, knowing full well they were waiting for his call.

“Patients would say, and I would agree, [the doctor’s] general practice was to frustrate families so much that they would either give up or pay themselves.”

Travel Insurance Facilities “strongly refutes” that financial considerations influence any of its clinical decisions.

The company denies deliberately avoiding contact with doctors. It is understood to be cooperating with the GMC. A spokesman said: “When people fall ill abroad naturally their first instinct is to want to home come. However, this may not always be best for them in medical terms.

“Our focus is on the best clinical outcome based on expert advice. We advise on the safest action in the circumstances of each case.”