I’m sure many of our readers ride abroad, whether that’s whilst doing a Euro event, a riding holiday or even just hiring a scooter. Imagine being left with a £40,000 medical bill after an accident – despite being insured?
Sadly, a Greek holiday turned to tragedy for a well-known scootering couple. On July 27th, Mark ‘Jep’ Jepson and his wife Carol were in Zante riding a hired 200cc scooter when the front tucked in unexpectedly on a sweeping bend (Greek roads are notoriously dusty/slippery). The couple crashed at less than 25mph. Carol was lucky to escape with cuts and bruises, Jep didn’t get off quite as luckily though, he suffered multiple injuries including several broken ribs – one of which punctured his lung.
‘Gold Standard’ insurance
These aren’t a couple of youngsters having reckless fun and getting themselves into a sticky situation. Jep and Carol are long-time Lambretta Club supporters, he has held a full bike licence since 1983 and also owns a custom Lammy – Jester. They’ve ridden plenty of miles. They were also insured with £15 million worth of accident cover on their ‘Gold Standard’ travel policy. That’s where things take an even worse turn. The insurance company are refusing to pay out and are well within their rights to do so because, on page 81 of an 86-page policy document, the fine print excludes cover for anything over 125cc.
Worsening condition
Jep (pictured above on a previous trip to Loco Wheels) is still in hospital recovering from the injuries and complications caused by them and it looks like he’s likely to remain there for a few more weeks. Carol is having to stay with him (in Greece family members provide basic care for relatives). His situation worsened yesterday when a CT scan revealed that his lung drain tube wasn’t working as well as it should be doing and it looks like he needs to have a second drain inserted into his chest.
Air ambulance
It’s currently looking like Jep needs to be flown by air ambulance to mainland Greece for further treatment by a thoracic surgeon. A quote for the air ambulance alone comes in at an eye-watering £40,515. That’s without his medical bills…
GoFundMe
The couple’s son, Tom has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise as much money as possible to help with the spiralling costs of this unfortunate event. It’s not something we’d usually share and Jep certainly didn’t want to be thought of as a charity case but this sorry tale is a good wake-up call for many of us.
Check your policy!
Whilst writing this, I read the small print of the policy I’ve been using for years and it certainly doesn’t make it crystal clear as to whether I’m covered properly or not.
I emailed the company (Coverwise) for clarification and as you can see from the response above I need to get myself some new insurance.
We suggest you check your own (or any future) policy very carefully.
If you have found a decent travel insurance company that does cover you properly for riding abroad please let us know in the comments.
We wish Jep and Carol all the best at this awful time and hope you both recover quickly.
Save 20% on your travel insurance
We’ve found a travel policy that does give the cover we need for riding abroad and have an offer that will save you 20% if you use this link.
Carol Nash does a motorcycle policy for riding hire bikes abroad. Used it for a recent trip to the US.
InsureandGo: add on their ‘Hazardous activities’ option and they clearly state you’re covered for: Motorcycling over 125cc (not racing, not off-road riding, must hold equivalent UK licence).