AXA Health: slow to pay

AXA rang several times while I was being treated in Paris. Asking why I had not flown to Mexico for treatment? Why had I not gone to the USA? They had done no research and were unaware that most direct flights from Caribbean islands go to country of origin. ie French island has direct flights to France. Almost all flights are 5+ hours. Mexico via Miami, Miami via San Juan with occasional flight direct to Miami but they are usually full.

Though AXA agreed to meet all my medical expenses in Paris direct I received invoices from the Paris Hospital which on research had not been paid. According to AXA this was because the invoices were being translated from Frenchwhich took several weeks. In June I received a benefits statement showing payments made for the Paris Hospital treatment.

AXA prevaricated over other expenses including travel home as it had not been pre-authorised. How could it have been they had no one on duty to help? Their international emergency telephone line was not functioning. I have sent the paperwork to the insurance ombudsman who has asked AXA for my file and a month or so on it has still not been received. As I sent the paperwork to the ombudsman I received a demand for payment from the Hospital in Paris for my treatment in April. I asked AXA how, when I had received a benefit statement showing settlement this had occurred. I received another benefit statement showing payment in November. They then wrote and thanked me for my forbearance. Can I believe this debt has been settled?

Meanwhile my husband had outpatient pathology tests which were preauthorised in 2008. The hospital in Bristol kept requesting payment. AXA kept saying that they had settled the bill. Eventually, as we were working abroad and she was in a cleft stick with who had paid what, my mother paid this. When I tackled AXA again in writing they said that they hadn’t authorised inpatient treatment. Well, no need, there was no in-patient. I pointed out to them that hospitals have to admit outpatients for pathology tests so that the numbers of people to account for in case of fire is known. Their reply? To misread inpatient as outpatient was an understandable error. The problem for me was the complete lack of communication when they had a query. Just a refusal to pay for what we considered authorised treatment and to pretend that they had paid it when they had not.