Diabetic Scots grandad wins travel insurance battle after toe infection cut trip short

A grandad who was warned a toe infection he suffered on holiday could be life threatening sepsis has won a refund battle with his insurance company after the Sunday Mail stepped in.

Robert Warden paid £899 for an emergency flight from Thailand to Scotland, where he was admitted to hospital – but AXA Travel Insurance deemed his injury wasn’t serious enough to have gone home early.

But hours after we contacted Robert’s insurers, he received an email to say his claim had been approved and he would be refunded the costs in full.

He said: "I'm incredibly grateful to the Sunday Mail for their help in resolving this claim. Common sense prevailed in the end, as well as the prospect of bad publicity.

"I'm a type 1 diabetic, I couldn't wait around to see if sepsis was going to set in." Robert, 59, who has been a diabetic for more than 30 years, was on a three-week holiday in late February when on the second day, he noticed the wound on his toe.

Thai pharmacists prescribed two courses of antibiotics after an infection began to spread up his leg. A doctor then warned an infection could lead to sepsis – a life-threatening reaction in which the immune system overreacts and damage the body's tissues and organs.

Robert, from Torphins, near Aberdeen, paid for a 22-hour flight to Glasgow before travelling to Aberdeen Royal Hospital where he was admitted for three days in March.

But AXA refused to reimburse Robert’s flight costs after telling him his injury was not serious enough to fly home and that he had failed to contact them before boarding.

Robert had paid £153.30 to AXA for the three-week break, in which he planned to visit friends and several destinations across the country.

After the infection began, he visited a pharmacy in Chiang Mai, and a medical centre days later in Pattaya. Robert sent AXA photos of his injury, an NHS hospital discharge letter as well as photographs of prescribed medicine labels.

He has lodged a complaint with AXA over the handling of his claim. AXA said: "We have reviewed Mr Warden’s claim and, due to the nature of his circumstances, we will be covering the costs he incurred. We have been in touch with Mr Warden to confirm this."

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