Insurance firm apologises after woman who suffered brain injury on holiday told to return to UK in 24 hours or lose cover

26 November 2024, 13:05 | Updated: 26 November 2024, 13:22

An insurance firm has apologised after telling a family they had just 24-hours to return to the UK from holiday with their severely brain-injured mother or face having their policy cancelled.

The daughter of a woman, who was on holiday in the US when she suffered the head trauma, has accused an insurance company of giving them just 24 hours to return to the UK, against medical advice, or see their travel cover cancelled.

Jane Rubens, 73, from Edinburgh was hit by a large vehicle in early November and remains in a coma having suffered a traumatic brain injury.

According to Ms Rubens’ daughter, Cat, the family’s insurance company AXA Partners said the 73-year-old must be repatriated by Monday despite a number of doctors warning against it.

Read more: Mother left unable to speak and needing 24-hour care after teen crashed while filming himself driving with no hands

Ms Rubens’ was visiting family in St Louise, Missouri when she was hit by an SUV, suffering several haemorrhages and severe brain injuries.The daughter of a woman who suffered a serious brain injury while on holiday in the US has accused an insurance company of giving them just 24 hours to return back to the UK, against medical advice, or see their travel cover cancelled.

Jane Rubens, 73, from Edinburgh was hit by a large vehicle in early November and remains in a coma.

According to Ms Rubens’ daughter, Cat, the family’s insurance company AXA Partners said the 73-year-old must be repatriated by Monday despite a number of doctors warning against it.

Read more: Mother left unable to speak and needing 24-hour care after teen crashed while filming himself driving with no hands

Ms Rubens’ was visiting family in St Louise, Missouri when she was hit by an SUV, suffering several haemorrhages and severe brain injuries.

Speaking to LBC, Cat said: “This is obviously a nightmare situation for any family to be in and it’s easily been the worst few weeks of my life.

“We’ve been very worried about whether our mother is going to survive

“Sadly she remains essentially unresponsive and essentially in a coma. She’s opened her eyes a few times but we’ve had no meaningful response from her - and that’s the scary thing in terms of her prognosis.

“The level of stress that has been caused to me and the rest of my family by the way AXA partners has dealt with this over the weekend has been difficult to put into words. I was crying on the phone call to them.

“They were telling me we had to make this decision to put her on a flight this week without giving us anymore time - they gave us less than 24 hours. It just seemed unreal to me.

“It made the darkest time of our lives that much worse.”

AXA Partners have since walked back on their demands, apologising to Ms Rubens’ family

AXA Partners have since backed down, telling LBC: “We are sorry for the distress Ms Rubens and her family have experienced when making a claim and we sympathise with their situation.

“We have spoken with Ms Rubens’ family and will remain in contact with them over the coming days to support them. Our medical team and Ms Rubens’ treating doctors will agree the best course of action going forward.

“We are considering all available options and the welfare of Ms Rubens and her family remains our priority.”

Cat said despite the ordeal, she is grateful for the support her family has received and feels vindicated following AXA Partner’s apology.

She added: “I'm feeling a lot of things right now. One of them is anger that this is what I am spending my time doing.

“You know, first of all, fighting with the insurer and then having to go to the press. Because the advice we've received from neurologists is that we should be spending time with Jane.

“We should be speaking to her, we should, she should be hearing her, our voices. And I want to spend as much time as possible by her bedside, you know, reading to her, talking to her and just being with her in these really critical moments.

“In terms of whether I have hope about this, I am feeling somewhat vindicated that AXA Partners are listening to me and I'm feeling really, really grateful to everyone who has retweeted the story and the press who have got in touch to cover it.”

When Cat first contacted AXA Partners she was told their policy would be revoked on Monday if repatriation was not accepted on Sunday.

The family was also informed that they and their doctors would not be able to see the repatriation plan or speak to the insurance company’s medical team.

Reluctantly, Cat sent AXA Partners a letter which read: “In the circumstances you have given us no choice but to agree to your repatriation plan.

“This has placed us in an impossible position. You have asked us to agree to a repatriation plan in respect of which we have no proper details, not even the name of her receiving physician in the UK.”