Holiday Complaints

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Hi survivor,
My god what a nightmare, i think this is a scenario that everybody hopes they will never have to endure. how these companys can treat people like this, i do not know.which insurance company did you use? what i dont understand is why theyneed bike hire evidence so badly, why not just pay out and chase them themselves, its not huge sums of money involved they could easily absob the losses themselves. The only advice i can give is to try contacting the ombudsman
08450801800, not sure if they can help you, but its worth a try.
Good luck, let us know how you get on.
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Sorry to hear of your injuries...

Were you riding pillion on the back of a motorcycle? What you might need to be aware of, is that in many countries, this is illegal...and if the motorbike did not have the proper seat and foot pegs, and you weren't wearing a helmet, you also wouldn't be covered by any insurance.

I'm also unclear about why your 'friends' contacted the insurance company offices in the UK, if you are resident in Ireland...they really do seem to have done their best to muck it all up for you!
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I'm sorry to hear that this happened, I can't ride a moped anyway and it's something I never want to do. I did hire one as I was with 3 friends a few years back. I dropped the thing whilst practicing away from roads and damaged it, at which point I took it back to the shop, they charged me a fortune for repair to the wing mirror which happened when I dropped it. Never again.

I have to ask with regards to insurance etc. where the hell were your friends? I know they went home and that's fair enough because insurance wouldn't cover them to stay, not being related and all. But they could have sorted all this out for you from the UK. Where was the rep, why did she not turn up until you'd been in hospital for a number of days?

I'm really sorry the insurance was so much trouble but you should not have been having to do this communicating yourself. Things were not clear and having to have an interpreter makes it worse but it's not only the insurers who were at fault here if you ask me. When things like this happen everyone should pull together.
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Got this from a Tour Operators website about motorbike hire in Greece:

Warning -- Although mopeds are the vehicle of choice in Greece, especially on the islands, be aware that there is a Greek law (prompted by a huge number of accidents) requiring that anyone driving a moped must have a motorcycle license. Agencies offering moped rentals rarely tell tourists this because very few tourists have motorcycle licenses. This makes for a whirlwind of troubles if an accident occurs and you are not a licensed motorcycle driver. You will not be covered by insurance and will have broken the law.
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What happened to the driver of the moped? He/she must have also been involved, even if not injured he had a crashed vehicle to explain to the moped hire shop. I know you can't remember details but it seems there has been a series of wrong turnings following the accident. For one, police attended but no report (maybe because it was an accident involving holiday makers on mopeds and they didn't want to get involved), for another your friends took you back to the hotel after being in hospital initially because you said you wouldn't stay. Why did they do this?

The insurers unfortunately haven't had an easy time of it either because it's been difficult for them to get the information they require.
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Survivor - thanks for posting and warning everyone who might be tempted to hire a moped just what a nightmare it might be. Your post might just save a life of two and will certainly avoid people having problems such as yours.

However, with regard to helping you my only advice is to deal with the insurance company via a third party. Maybe a solicitor, perhaps a family member or work colleague even. You are too emotionally involved and as a consequence your explanations are perhaps not as clear as the insurance company demand.

My experience of ins. companies (limited to motor claims in this country and sorting out my father's hospitalization in Florida 5-6 years back) has taught me that if they can avoid paying-out they will. Delay works in their favour even though the admin. is increased as a result of letter writing.

I'm puzzled by the actions immed. after the accident and again after initial admission to hospital. Sandc makes the point that the police may not have submitted the report for lack of interest. It may also be that the party at fault (if there was anyone at fault) is a Crete resident and they "brushed the matter under the table".

The hospital should surely have sedated you when you refused to remain in their charge - your friends should have calmed your fears and one should have stayed with you at all times during your stay - that's what friends do.

Enlist the help of someone who can construct a clear and precise letter and chase the insurance company warning them you will involve the ombudsman should they not pursue your claim. I'm concerned that should you provide the renter's details (by travelling to Crete) the insurer may simply ask for something else to delay.

Mike
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My experience also shows they need a good kick up the butt to get things done. When they do get things done they make a good job of it, but it all depends on whether you've been referred to the underwriter (the actual insurance company) or are still using the agent. Agents are not so skilled in the actual workings of what is required and what isn't.

In cases of hospitalisation and accidents it should have been referred to the insurance company themselves, and I'm rather dismayed for you that your tour operator rep appeared to do nothing to help with this. This sort of stuff is part of their job, but unfortunately some reps are much more efficient and will go out of their way for guests than others. I do strongly suspect your problems stemmed from not having someone to straight away make the correct decisions and make the right phone calls.

For instance, you should have been repatriated and should not have had to sort any of this out yourself. My brother spent 7 weeks in intensive care last year as he got ill in France on his honeymoon. When he eventually came home he was escorted by ambulance to the airport, he flew first class and had a doctor with him for the journey, he was met by an ambulance in the UK and transported to the local hospital.

If your rep or friends had taken control of these areas you would have had the same sort of treatment, after all even the cheapest travel insurance covers your for £3million worth of medical costs.

I really am so sorry once again for what you've been through and just very glad that you are here to tell the tale, you don't need the extra hassle.
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Thought the others who have posted on this topic might be interested to see a PM I've received from Survivor:

EDIT: Empress Mittens ... Private Messages from other members are precisely that, and must not be copied in the forums for all to read.
David HT Mod
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It's now late at night, and maybe I have missed it, but name and shame your insurance company

Dave
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I don't understand why people are out to 'shame and name' the insurance company - if you do something which is illegal, like riding a Quad bike on a public road (which is what happened in this case) you aren't covered by your insurance!

And no, I don't work for an insurance company... :roll:

I just think Survivor should thank her lucky stars she survived this type of accident - remember, Ozzy Osbourne nearly didn't - and just try to recover her health and stay well away from Quad bikes in the future!
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Well we didn't see the PM, but by the sounds of it the insurance company were within their rights to say simply that this sort of thing isn't covered. Why they didn't is beyond me, but as I said above, if you do have a genuine health claim they do get things sorted, albeit with several kicks up the backside.

And none of this excuses the behaviour of survivor's so called friends in all of this.

A sorry tale of warning to all of us in this I'm afraid.
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Post removed.

PM stands for PERSONAL MESSAGE.

I suggest we keep it that way.

Sarah
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I agree with the remark about the so-called 'friends' - they seem to have been more of a help than a hinderance!

Regarding the PM which was removed - there was nothing in it they could be deemed 'private' - only information that contradicted what Survivor had already posted, and I don't know why she didn't reply directly on here :?:
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sorry, above should read 'hinderance rather than help'
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Survivor: I am sorry to hear of your experiences, and am glad that you are starting back on the long road to recovery.

I hope that reading your experience will perhaps make other people stop and think before they take off on motorised equipment of any sort, without the necessary experience, legal documents and INSURANCE.

If you were riding without insurance or without the correct license, then SORRY, you are legally at fault. You were of sound mind (ie not drunk or taking drugs) when you got on the machine. I regret that whilst what happened was horrific and I do feel for you, it cannot be considered to be anyone's 'fault' (not perhaps the best word, sorry) but your own.

May you help other people to reconsider the value of life and all the good things it has to offer before they hop on a bike/quad/moped etc.

Please try to see that I am not being judgemental - though it may sound like it, and that is certainly not the manner in which this post is intended to be read -but solely objective.

Get well soon - and seek counselling for healing the psychological aspects of your crash and hospitalisation so that these horrible memories can be relegated to the back of the mind's filing cabinet.
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As a result of this thread, started by survivor, I've learned something that may benefit my kids in years to come - namely, there are countries that require a FULL motorcycle licence when hiring such. Greece being one of these. My kids (most of us in fact) do not have full motorcycle licences.

I've also learned that sometimes not all the relevant facts are included by the original poster requiring our help. I offered what little advice I could based upon the original post. It now transpires that maybe certain very relevant facts were left out - I'll assume survivor simply didn't think them to be important rather than this being any attempt to mislead.

In a perfect world all relevant information would be provided at the outset and all help sought would be given based upon that full knowledge.

Alas, this is not a perfect world more's the pity.

Mike
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What exactly is the law in Greece with regards to driving licences and hiring vehicles. I thought that it was within the law to hire scooters and mopeds with an ordinary car licence. Isn't it only the motorbikes with engine capacity above a certain cc that need a motorbike licence?
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It's all moped and motorbikes, no matter what the capacity...this is from the British Embassy website:

If you intend to hire a moped you should be aware that they would require a valid driving licence with at least category A1 - 'light motorcycle` for this purpose. Category P, which is valid in the UK for driving mopeds up to 50cc is not valid in Greece. Greek law requires you to wear a crash helmet on a scooter, moped or motorcycle.

Quad bike riders require a full-face helmet (or non-full-face helmet plus goggles) under Greek law. Road insurance and a motorcycle licence are also mandatory.
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Thank you for all your advice? i do not have a computer at home so sorry for the delay getting back to you all.
I would like to inform those of you, that i had the correct insurance that would cover me, the only thing the insurance company are looking for is the CC of the bike that was hired, due to the insurance company dragging their heels when the accident had happened and did not try and contact the bike shop till Jan, the bike shop had packed up and moved on for the off peek season, due to the poor response from the INSURANCE im left with this bill, especially when i was told while in the hospital that they will cover everything to this statement i have a witness that i can bring before the judge.
the insurance that i bought covered me for this type of accident it just makes me wonder if i had of died do you think my family would be dealing with this.
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