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A dynamic market Fraud Wars: The ins and outs of covering travellers Industry Strikes Back The with pre-existing conditions How goes the battle against the fraudsters?
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ESSENTIAL READING FOR TRAVEL & HEALTH INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS
A return to business as usual?
SEPTEMBER 2018 • ISSUE 212
UK insurers shoulder rising medical costs UK travel insurers paid out around £3.9 million a week for the medical treatment of Brits abroad last year – the highest amount for six years According to new research from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), 159,000 British tourists needed medical treatment when abroad last year, with the total costs for travel insurers reaching a total of £201 million. Despite this, one in five Brits say that they travelled overseas last year without travel insurance. The ABI has reminded travellers about the high cost of treatment when away, especially in the US and on cruises, pointing them towards the case where a 15-day stay in a US hospital on a ventilator after a stroke cost around £233,000, while a man who suffered a heart attack on a cruise ship racked up a bill of £202,000 after having to be evacuated by air ambulance. Of the total 510,000 travel insurance claims dealt with last year, the 159,000 involving medical expenses accounted for 52 per cent of claims costs, cancellations accounted for 38 per cent and lost baggage or money for four per cent, according to the ABI. “Falling seriously ill overseas is stressful enough, without the added fear of how to pay for sky high medical bills,” said Charlie Campbell, Senior Policy Adviser, Protection, Health and Travel at the ABI. “Yet unbelievably, an estimated one in five people admit to having travelled overseas without travel insurance, especially when it can cost less than the average family meal while abroad. Should the worst happen, and you need emergency medical treatment, travel insurance can literally be a lifesaver.”
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has forecast seven-per-cent growth in global business travel spend for the rest of 2018, potentially suggesting an end to a period of major uncertainty According to the GBTA BTI Outlook – Annual Global Report & Forecast, global business travel spending grew by 5.8 per cent last year compared with 2016, reaching an overall value of US$1.33 trillion. Should this growth continue, with GBTA’s projected 7.1-percent rise coming to pass, a much-discussed ‘era of
uncertainty’ could be coming to an end. The GBTA believes that should this trajectory hold steady, global business travel will see its strongest two-year period since the 2010 and 2011 recession – and by 2022, overall spend could be worth $1.7 trillion. “This pick-up in growth could signify an end to the ‘Era of Uncertainty’ in global business travel, but rising protectionism is coming at precisely the wrong time,” warned GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick. “The direction of trade policy is far and away the biggest wild card that could impact our forecast for global business,
creating uncertainty that could derail the recovery.” Of the various hurdles that could stand in the way of a return to smoother waters, the GBTA points to the potential for trade wars, with aggressive tariff increases and equally aggressive retaliatory action potentially hitting the global economy hard, and damaging global business travel as a consequence. Analysis from the GBTA suggests that as much as 60 per cent of the variability in global business travel spend can be
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Editorial comment @ITIJonline Editor-in-Chief:
Stefan Mohamed - Deputy Editor @itijonline
Greetings loyal readers! Once upon a time, August was thought of as ‘silly season’ in the world of news, a barren wasteland full of nonsense stories and thin subjects stretched painfully to breaking point. Nothing of note ever happens in August, went the received wisdom. But that was then – this is now. Nowadays, there is always news. Every minute of every hour of every day, something exciting – or terrible – is happening somewhere. So as September dawns and you open your fresh copy of ITIJ, do not fear, for it is by no means short of exciting developments. As well as bountiful news covering everything from fraud in Nepal to confusion in the US, we bring you a pair of our famous Industry Voice op-eds. Ian Campos of Capgemini holds forth on blockchain, perhaps the technological breakthrough of the minute, while the ABI’s Charlie Campbell
Ian Cameron ian@itij.com
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asks how travel insurers can keep up with an ever-shifting landscape of fickle consumer wants and needs, and keep providing relevant cover. We also have two meaty features this month, covering the current state of the travel insurance fraud landscape – from the dirty tactics used by fraudsters to the ingenious counter-attacks unleashed by heroic insurers – and the world of insurance provision for pre-existing conditions. And if that’s not enough, we have for you a fascinating profile of Cigna’s CEO – Europe, Phil Austin. We’re always hungry for your expertise and views – even if they might feel a little controversial – so if you have a burning desire to unleash your inner opinion columnist and spit fire on industry news, trends or other developments, please get in touch at editorial@itij.com. We hope you enjoy this issue of ITIJ. See you next month!
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Nepal cracks down on insurance fraud Government targets unscrupulous brokers
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A return to business as usual? accounted for by global trade volumes. “This makes sense,” clarified McCormick, “as the movement of goods and services necessitates people, namely business travellers, to support global commerce.”
This pick-up in growth could signify an end to the ‘Era of Uncertainty’ in global business travel Looking more specifically at markets, the GBTA expects that India and Indonesia will see the most rapid growth over the next half a decade, with 11.3-per-cent and 8.7-per-cent growth respectively. Sweden and Norway are also expected to see impressive growth.
Nepal cracks down on insurance fraud The Nepalese Government is attempting to crack down on insurance fraud schemes perpetrated by powerful brokers in trekking and mountaineering in the country, which sees insurers put out of pocket for fake helicopter rescues and hospital treatments. A fact-finding committee recommended that, from the next tourist season, the Nepal Police should perform all rescue activities. The committee presented these findings to Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari in a 700-page report. Rescue services in France, Switzerland, Scotland and Canada were studied by the committee in order to make their recommendations. Helicopter operators in Nepal do not usually directly organise rescue operations, and instead ‘middlemen’ or trekking and mountaineering agencies arrange missions. The report says that these intermediaries make fake bills and pocket a hefty commission. It found that these companies often make multiple claims for a single helicopter ride or push trekkers into unnecessary
airlifts for minor illnesses and injuries. The report suggests that the police make the arrangements to claim reimbursement for medical and helicopter costs and has pushed for the setting up of a tourist rescue co-ordination unit, based at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, which will include a dedicated emergency line for injured tourists. Hospitals should also have to report the administered
treatments to the Department of Tourism. “We are concerned by the bogus helicopter rescues and false medical insurance claims. In order to stop such offences, we have decided to entrust all tourist rescue-related tasks to the Nepal Police,” said Tourism Secretary Krishna Prasad Devkota. “We will prepare a working guideline related to the rescue operation and implement it from the autumn season.”
Facebook causes holiday envy New research published in the Journal of Travel Research has found that seeing other people’s holiday photos online leads to negative emotions. Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Exeter and Falmouth in the UK, and Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden, analysed data from Facebook users aged between 18 and 70. They
found that female Facebook users are more likely to feel sad due to posts making them feel envious of friends spending time with partners or families. The research also found that older users are more likely to report feeling sad due to these types of posts making them feel that they are missing out on adventures and time spent with loved ones.
“These findings help us understand the emotional and behavioural outcomes of viewing travel posts. They show how those somewhat idyllic posts by friends on social media are likely to make us feel sad in our own lives and take measures to make us feel happier,” said Lead Researcher Dr Ben Marder, University of Edinburgh Business School.
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Editorial Tourists deaths lead to mass hotel evacuation in Egypt Blog News of the (currently unexplained) death of two British tourists at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt, and the subsequent removal of a further 300 of Thomas Cook’s clients (who have complained of widespread vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea) from the hotel, threatens to have wide-ranging effects, not only on travel companies, but also on insurers worldwide.
Two British tourists died at a hotel in Hurghada, Egypt, on 21 August, and over 300 guests were evacuated ‘as a precaution’ by tour operator Thomas Cook. John and Susan Cooper were on holiday with their daughter and her three children when they both fell seriously ill at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel. Their daughter, Kelly Ormerod, has confirmed that both parents were ‘fit and well’ when they returned to the room after a family meal on 20 August, but when she went to check on them at 11 a.m. the following morning, they were both seriously unwell. Although medical help was summoned, Mr Cooper could not be saved, and Mrs Cooper died later in hospital.
Thomas Cook said on 24 August: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers ... The circumstances of their deaths remain unclear. We are aware of the speculation in some … media that their deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. Currently, we have no evidence to support this.” Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser told Sky News reporters that experts have been sent to Egypt to test water and food quality, as well as air conditioning units. Thomas Cook representatives supported 300 customers in the hotel following the deaths, and offered customers alternative hotels within Hurghada, as well as giving them the
In recent years, the number of claims against tour operators and hotels for causing illness because of poor hygiene has soared, with a cottage industry for the manufacturing of fraudulent claims having sprung up, particularly in the UK. Recent action has managed to push back against many of those cases, but this latest problem in Egypt – and the conceived perceptions from this – may allow a reversal of these successes.
a basic rethink on some insurers’ business models might need to be forthcoming Egypt’s tourist industry has struggled in recent years and this incident, and the subsequent PR disaster of a response, will likely do them no favours. In other news ... the Association of British Insurers has noted that UK insurers have paid out their highest amount for medical treatment overseas in six years (see page 1). Really? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Some UK travel and health insurers have relied (over) heavily on the EHIC system to keep their medical costs down in Europe. And with Brexit looming and no deal on the EHIC and/or reciprocal healthcare arrangements in place, a basic rethink on some insurers’ business models might need to be forthcoming, which might not be a bad thing in some cases. Is that sobbing, I hear?
Ian Cameron Editor-in-chief ian@itij.com
7
option to return home. The company added: “We continue to work closely with the hotel and are supporting the authorities with their investigations. The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel was last audited by Thomas Cook in
Thomas Cook representatives supported 300 customers in the hotel following the deaths late July 2018 and received an overall score of 96 per cent. We will be contacting those customers due to travel to the Steigenberger Hotel in Hurghada in the next four weeks to offer alternative holiday options.”
INDUSTRY VOICE
The sky is the limit
The future is here, and it’s called blockchain, writes Ian Campos, Executive Vice-President within Capgemini’s Financial Services Global Business Unit
its early stages, experts have identified several areas and use cases where they see blockchain benefiting customers and insurers alike, including those in the travel insurance industry.
If you’re a frequent traveller like me, you’ve spent your fair share of time at the airport and have learned to cope with, if not expect, the inevitable flight delays or cancellations. This becomes more pronounced during the winter months when nature wreaks havoc on even the best planned trip. Travel insurance that covers flight delays or cancellations can help offset some of the incurred costs, but you’ll still have to file a claim with the insurer to get compensated, a process that could take weeks. However, what if you purchased travel insurance with flight delay coverage that automatically compensated you within hours, when delays or cancellations happened, without ever having to file a claim? Global insurer AXA and Swiss insurtech Etherisc have already made this a reality. They have released flight-delay insurance products (AXA’s Fizzy and Etherisc’s Flight Delay Dapp) based on blockchain technology for specific flight segments. What is blockchain technology? Blockchain emerged in 2009 in its best known manifestation, the Bitcoin digital currency system. Blockchain is a form of immutable digital recordkeeping that stores all transactions taking place across its network. The major element of blockchain is that the technology enables the creation of transactions that are impervious to fraud and establishes a shared truth and trust without the need for a centralised controlling party. As a result, blockchain lowers risk and allows for ‘peer-to-peer’ transactions, enabling independent parties to directly conduct business. In doing so, blockchain also transforms traditional labour-intensive processes into efficient, cost-effective ones. While blockchain technology adoption in the insurance industry is very much in
What if you purchased travel insurance with flight delay coverage that automatically compensated you within hours, when delays or cancellations happened, without ever having to file a claim? A faster, seamless customer experience With blockchain, customer information can be easily collected by and shared amongst all parties that need it. For example, updates to a customer’s personal identification, like a driver’s licence or passport, will reflect on the shared ledger to all participants in the blockchain ecosystem – travel insurer, airline agent, car rental agency, hospitals, law enforcement, government agencies, asset registries for lost/stolen/damaged goods, and so on. Consequently, blockchain can be leveraged by its participants across the travel insurance value chain to offer long-term strategic benefits in the form of reduced operational costs, reduced risks and increased automation of process, as well as secure and decentralised transactions, all leading to increased speed and improved customer satisfaction. Customers will also be able to easily file claims and receive payments. Insurers are already testing blockchain-supported ‘parametric insurance’ products, where customers would instantly qualify for a claims settlement following a triggering covered event – such as a catastrophic natural event or flight delays/cancellations due to weather. In these cases, upon notification of loss, blockchain logic can use ‘smart contracts’, which are automated computer programs that execute the key terms of an insurance contract, to initiate the claim,
sync all the relevant parties to service the claim, and then expedite the settlement. In conventional claims processing, it can take days to receive the payment, especially if you’re travelling internationally. With blockchain, claims can be settled in minutes, even if you’re country-hopping. As briefly mentioned earlier, traditional insurers and insurtechs have already started to monetise these use cases for travel insurance. AXA launched Fizzy in September of 2017; this product leverages smart contracts and the Ethereum blockchain platform to automatically file and settle claims for travellers whose flights have been delayed by at least two hours. In this case, travellers who buy Fizzy ahead of time have all their personal and flight information stored in the blockchain. When the flight is delayed, the smart contract initiates the filing and processing of the claim. Settlement is usually sent to the traveller’s credit card by the time he/she lands at the destination.
technology. To test this out, the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i), currently made up of a group of insurers and reinsurers including Allianz, XL Catlin, Zurich Insurance Group and Swiss Re, has created a catastrophe swap insurance smart contract called ‘Property Catastrophe XOL smart contract’, which is in beta phase and is expected to see production deployments during 2018. According to B3i, ‘the
Improving efficiency, lowering costs and preventing fraud The security and speed of blockchain lends itself to creating smarter opportunities for insurers. By using one shared ledger that contains all the relevant information for a transaction, insurers can improve core processes across the insurance value chain, including underwriting and claims. For example, AIG partnered with IBM and Standard Chartered PLC to pilot the first multinational commercial policy using blockchain technology. This solution allowed all parties involved to streamline the management and placement of multiple insurance policies across geographies. Additionally, with blockchain, manual errors made during data collection and entry for claims or underwriting can be bypassed. Claims fraud can also be significantly reduced or even eliminated; parties would easily be able to verify customers and keep track of records, making it hard to modify documents or file fraudulent claims. Increasing efficiency and decreasing claims fraud will lead to lower costs for carriers. Insurers/cedents and reinsurers can also streamline all aspects of the reinsurance contract lifecycle using blockchain
Creating new business models, products and services By decentralising transactions, blockchain allows peer-to-peer transactions that are faster and less expensive than traditional ones. Therefore, this could lead to more peer-to-peer insurance business models on blockchain. Additionally, the combination of smart contracts with blockchain can also lead to new products (like Fizzy or Flight Delay Dapp). Blockchain could also open up channels into new market segments and geographies. Lastly, cryptocurrency could become an easy, secure form of payment, for premiums or claims settlements. With blockchain still in the early stages of development, the sky is the limit of how and where it will impact the insurance value chain. While today’s blockchain-enabled platforms/products pertain to travel insurance (specifically flight delay insurance), time will tell how the technology could be used to streamline/enhance other types of travel insurance, such as emergency medical situations or lost/damaged baggage. In the meantime, the insurance industry is leaping ahead to explore the potential of blockchain technology across insurance sectors. ■
blockchain transforms traditional labour-intensive processes into efficient, cost-effective ones platform will enable B3i to provide secure, confidential and efficient transactions’ for all participants. The B3i blockchain application was created on the IBM Blockchain platform powered by Hyperledger Fabric.
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Fraud Americans unsure if insurance extends beyond US crackdown gains positive results The crackdown on holiday sickness claims fraud is moving in a positive direction, with the latest figures from the UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) showing that the number of Claims Management Companies (CMCs) operating in the travel sector fell by 37 per cent between August 2017 and January 2018
According to a new survey from USbased travel insurance comparison website InsureMyTrip, worrying numbers of Americans are not sure whether their health insurance works outside of the US. Respondents were asked ‘Does your domestic health insurance cover any doctor or hospital visits while travelling outside the US?’, and over half of people polled (56 per cent) said they didn’t know whether their domestic health insurance plan would cover any emergency doctor or hospital visits while travelling outside the country, while 22 per cent said their domestic health insurance would offer no coverage and the remainder said they thought their insurance plan would
offer coverage. The survey was conducted from 7 to 10 August 2018 and generated 498 completed responses from people aged 35 and over who identify as American. InsureMyTrip said that travellers who are unsure about whether they have coverage should contact their health insurance company to find out if emergency medical coverage will extend outside of the US as coverage can vary depending on the specific plan and the area of travel: “Policyholders may discover they have either ‘in-network’ coverage, limited coverage, or no coverage at all.” InsureMyTrip also said that travellers should be aware of the following: deductibles (the amount a patient must
pay for covered services before insurance kicks in); co-insurance (the amount a patient is responsible for a covered healthcare service) and co-payments (a set amount owed for a covered healthcare service).
MEDFLIGHT
According to Mark Hudson, Partner at law firm Horwich Farrelly, untrustworthy CMCs are not seeing holiday fraud as an attractive proposition after the strong response from the travel sector in defending against these claims. According to Hudson: “Such a fall is strong evidence that the robust response from the sector, working closely with firms like Horwich Farrelly, is making the business of fraudulent holiday sickness claims less attractive.” The report from the MoJ aimed to evidence how the industry should best handle personal injury claims relating to a package holiday, finding that while gastric illnesses have been the main reason given for fraudulent claims, in future there could be unfounded increases in other types of package travel
The recent surge in travel claims resulted in many ‘new players’ entering this sector personal injury claims, meaning that further action may need to be taken. Horwich Farrelly said that it used its zero-tolerance approach to fraud to successfully defend more than 2,700 holiday illness claims last year. “The recent surge in travel claims resulted in many ‘new players’ entering this sector, and this is why Horwich Farrelly, in conjunction with FOIL and the travel industry, called for a bespoke pre-action protocol to address adverse behaviours and bring certainty with fixed costs,” stated Hudson. “The travel industry has a key role to play in challenging fraudulent holiday illness claims and bringing them to justice.”
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INDUSTRY VOICE
Adapting to a shifting landscape How can travel insurers provide the right level of cover in the face of changing customer habits, asks Charlie Campbell, Senior Policy Adviser, Protection, Health and Travel at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) Recently, the new banking app Revolut was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The app – a digital banking alternative that enables its customers to hold, exchange and transfer money without fees – is facing a customer backlash after many were locked out of their accounts as part of the app’s anti-money laundering drive. Interesting; a consequence of a fast-growing technology company, perhaps. But why does this matter for travel insurance? Earlier in the month, it was reported that Revolut had joined the small number of Unicorns in the UK – that is, companies valued in excess of $1 billion. This matters because (full disclosure – I am a Revolut customer) a feature of the Revolut offering is on-demand travel insurance. App users can enable the feature, which automatically charges a daily rate for insurance when abroad, with the cost varying based on where you are (and therefore, the cost of medical treatment locally). While the feature appears to just offer medical cover, it isn’t hard to see the appeal: paying for insurance only when you need it and with minimal effort. It is a new way of engaging individuals with the need for insurance and throws down a real challenge to the rest of the insurance market. Improving the proposition Recently, ITIJ covered the news that travellers
aged between 18 and 24 are taking risks when travelling abroad, with almost half not regularly travelling with insurance. On the one hand, there is a significant need to increase awareness of the risk of travelling without insurance. New mediums such as banking apps that engage travellers with the need to roam the world with insurance – and provide quick access to it – are certainly positive developments. But on the other hand, there are challenges when it comes to ensuring individuals are getting the right cover for their needs at a time of changing and varying demands from travellers. Recent ABI stats revealed that the number of travel insurance claims made in 2017 increased by 30,000 year-on-year to 510,000, costing £385 million and amounting to one claim every minute throughout the year. That is the highest amount paid since the Icelandic ash cloud in 2010. Significantly, this was largely driven by a rise in cancellation claims.
New mediums such as banking apps that engage travellers with the need to roam the world with insurance are certainly positive developments
numerous challenges to meet. Government acknowledges the role travel insurance can play in ensuring UK citizens are protected when abroad, and the Airline Insolvency Review has taken an interest in how insurance can help individuals get home if an airline collapses, as Monarch did last year. The FCA is looking at how to help individuals with cancer find cover, but the challenge is to do so without encouraging consumers to place too much emphasis on price alone, which could inadvertently reduce the cover of those currently served by the market. A fast-paced environment The world is changing, and the habits and needs of travellers are changing with it. The role insurance plays in protecting travellers has never been more important, but there are numerous questions to answer as insurers adapt to this shifting landscape. To what extent are travellers more at risk when travelling and do they know it? Do changing
So, while travel insurance is primarily designed to provide medical cover, it can also provide cover that many will want and benefit from. With an evolving regulatory landscape and fast-paced technological change, insurers must continue to adapt to meet customers’ demands of more flexible and personalised product offerings, without compromising on providing the right cover. There are
travel trends demand a change in insurance products? How can insurers work with government and the travel industry to make sure travellers have adequate protection? There are lots of questions and challenges for the industry to discuss, which is why the ABI’s inaugural travel insurance conference – ‘Choosing the right travel companion: travel insurance in a changing world 2018’ – which takes place in central London on 9 October, could not be better timed. Disclaimer By the way, I don’t use Revolut’s travel insurance feature. While I rate the monthly spending analysis and foreign exchange feature, I still place more trust in the reliability of established banks and insurers when it comes to looking after my money and providing adequate cover that pays out when I need it. That said, I am in my 30s and work in insurance – maybe not the best barometer for the wider population! ■
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Young travellers forego coverage Comparison site Compare Cover has found that younger travellers aged between 18 and 24 are taking risks when travelling abroad According to its research, 21 per cent of those in this age bracket in the UK never buy insurance, while a further 28 per cent only sometimes purchase a policy. This is particularly worrying as 230,000 young travellers plan to go on some form of gap year travel before heading off to university. “Our research shows that almost half of all those students looking to travel during their gap year could be doing so without appropriate levels of travel insurance in place,” said Simon Williams, Head of Travel at Compare Cover. “This means thousands of young backpackers could be putting themselves at risk should they fall ill or have an accident abroad.” With around 20 per cent of parents funding gap year trips for their children, many may believe that their family policies cover their children. But with most policies only covering over 18s if they are in full-time education, taking a year out of education can mean a traveller is not covered. “Travelling without the right insurance in place is a gamble which can never be underestimated, and we feel duty bound to ensure travellers in the post-exam travel season are aware of this,” Williams added.
Adam Beckett, Product and Propositions Director at Aviva UK General Insurance. “With almost half of people not getting insurance when they book their holiday, they risk not being able to get their money back if they need to cancel. And with the average Brit spending £1,500 on holidays this year, that’s a lot of money to potentially lose.” Aviva’s study further found that medical claims were top of the list for travellers in 2017, making up 33 per cent of claims. Cancellation cover came a close second (28 per cent), while claims for lost or stolen personal items or baggage rounded off the top three (13 per cent). A separate study from Co-op Insurance has
also found that UK holidaymakers do not buy travel insurance until the day of their trip, or at most the day before; according to the Co-op, one in six holidaymakers follow this pattern. “It concerns me that two in five (37 per cent) of people don’t take out travel insurance, but for those who do, it’s really important cover is taken out as soon as a holiday is booked,” said Colin Butler, Head of Travel Insurance at Co-op. “By doing so, people are covering themselves for scheduled airline failures, sickness meaning a holiday must be cancelled and accommodation cancellations.” Co-op’s research also highlighted how important it is for travellers to take out
insurance as soon as possible, with 26 per cent of parents claiming that they have cancelled or considered cancelling their holidays because of an ill child. “Children commonly pick up bugs which
Travelling without the right insurance in place is a gamble which can never be underestimated can result in families choosing to cancel a planned holiday. Where this does happen and there’s no insurance in place, families can be left out of pocket for the cost of their holiday,” Butler added.
IT HAPPENED. Let’s make things better.
Leaving it until the last minute Research from insurer Aviva in the UK, meanwhile, estimates that 26 million put their travel plans at risk by not immediately covering their planned trips with insurance. A quarter of British holidaymakers leave the purchase of insurance until shortly before their holiday, the study found, while two per cent leave it until right before their trip and 23 per cent purchase no insurance at all. The research also showed that travellers were still confused as to what their insurance policy covers, with 12 per cent believing that it will pay out if their pet dies the day before their holiday, six per cent believing they’ll be covered if they oversleep and miss their flight, and four per cent believing that they’ll be reimbursed if they miss their flight due to spending too long shopping at the airport. “Brits are getting prepared for their welldeserved summer holiday by making sure they have all they need for their getaway, but our research shows that buying travel insurance isn’t always top of the list,” said
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COMPANY BRIEF
Self-serve travel insurance solution launches in Canada
Goose, a new mobile app that provides Canadian travellers with instant on-demand access to travel medical insurance, has launched The mobile-first, self-service solution claims to allow Canadians to purchase coverage in as little as 60 seconds and for as little as four dollars via its Android and iOS-optimised app; coverage is also available for up to seven days after a holiday has begun. Goose, which advertises itself as offering Canada’s most affordable travel insurance policy, hopes that its solution will improve statistics surrounding coverage for Canadian travellers; according to a study from the company, as many as 50 per cent of Canadians may holiday without appropriate insurance. “We know that if travel insurance is more
Hotel bookings startup Roomex has announced that it has received €8 million through Series A funding. The Ireland-based company is aiming to make hotel room booking easier for businesses by enabling its clients to save time and money by centralising all bookings and invoices in one account. The company currently serves customers in the UK and Ireland, with more than 50,000 business travellers combined. The system allows clients to ‘simply login into their account and book directly’, with minimal involvement from Roomex. Draper Esprit led the funding round, with further support from existing shareholders
accessible and affordable, Canadians will opt in and avoid thousands of dollars in medical bills during a travel emergency,” commented Dejan Mirkovic, Founder and CEO of Goose Insurance Services. “Goose is poised to [modernise] travel insurance. Consumers deserve to have access, transparency and convenience when it comes to their insurance.” Maor Amar, Managing Partner at Impression Ventures, which led a recent seed funding round in which Goose raised CA$2.25 million, said: “Insurance is a space that is ripe for digital transformation and we’re thrilled to support the incredible team at Goose as they take off and modernise the insurance industry. We’re excited to start seeing the positive effects.” that affordable and convenient travel insurance can have on Canadians.”
Cover-More continues European expansion
Travel insurer Cover-More Group, headquartered in Australia, has announced that it has purchased UKbased Blue Insurance, a travel insurance intermediary that focuses on niche insurance, such as car hire excess. Cover-More has said that the acquisition will provide it with Blue Insurance’s direct-to-consumer distribution capabilities through brands such as blueinsurance.ie, multitrip.com, greatcover.com, annualtravelinsurance. com, economycover.com and backpackertravelinsurance.com. “The acquisition of Blue Insurance provides Cover-More with scale in local online travel insurance and car hire excess insurance
Hotel booking startup receives funding Frontline Ventures and Harmony Capital. The company says that the funding will be used to continue to develop a market leading booking platform and drive expansion into new markets. “We’re really only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can achieve in the global travel industry market, which is worth over €1.3 trillion per year,” said Jack Donaghy, Chief Executive of Roomex. “We’re thrilled to be working with the team at Draper Esprit who bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise and are looking forward to building on the strong momentum we have generated in recent years.”
AXA offers new policy through Scoot Singapore-based airline Scoot has partnered with AXA Insurance to provide travel insurance to its customers via Scoot’s online booking page. The offering will provide coverage against trip interruptions and cancellations, travel delays and missed connections, accidental death and permanent disablement, baggage losses, as well as terrorism. Named ‘Scoot Insurance’, it will even reimburse travellers that paid for the trip using KrisFlyer miles – the frequent flyer reward service of Scoot parent carrier Singapore Airlines. The offering will be available only to
those who depart from Singapore initially, but both companies hope that it will be rolled out to further destinations. “Together with Scoot, we are enabling their passengers to purchase travel insurance through an easy and seamless process completely integrated into their ticket purchasing experience,” said AXA Insurance’s Leo Costes, Retail Managing Director and Chief Customer Officer. “Providing consumers with easy access to our offerings and complimenting their journey with a superior user experience is at the heart of our digital transformation efforts.”
markets and compliments our Halo Insurance Services business in the UK, which is the leading provider of car hire excess insurance,” said Cover-More Group CEO Mike Emmett. He also praised Blue Insurance’s successful diversification of its product lines and asserted that the move is part of CoverMore’s wider European expansion plans. “This is a win for travellers and for consumers as we marry Blue Insurance’s offering with Cover-More’s personalisation technology and customer-centric approach,” said CoFounder and Managing Director of Blue Insurance, Ciaran Mulligan. “Both Blue and Cover-More share a determination and ability to offer our customers something different, both in product and service.”
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Chubb reveals flight delay product
Further expansion for Remote Medical
Chubb has announced the launch of a new offering for its Australian customers, Flight Delay Insurance. The product will be available to customers through the Chubb Connect App and will be delivered in conjunction with Swiss Re and FlightStats, a provider of real-time flight data. Customers will be eligible for a fixed pay-out of AU$100 if their flight is late by either 30 minutes, 45 minutes or an hour, depending on which policy they purchase. Flight cancellations and diversions also trigger the same payout. Customers will receive their money within 72 hours, but Chubb says that most will be paid in an hour. Once FlightStats shows a flight is delayed, and Swiss Re validates this, the customer’s app pays the money directly into their PayPal account. “Flight delays continue to be the top incident disrupting travel plans for today’s travellers,” said Donna Dorairajoo, Chubb Asia Pacific’s Head of Travel Insurance. “With more air travel, Chubb recognises their need for tailored insurance protection and efficient service. Flight delay insurance is timely in meeting the demand for relevant and affordable insurance. Without the need to file a claim or submit the supporting documents to prove a flight delay, Chubb offers an enhanced customer experience in our digitised world.”
Seattle, US-based medical services CEO Wayne Wager. “This acquisition is a provider Remote Medical International tangible example that we are successfully has announced the acquisition of HSE executing that plan and as we continue Offshore, an occupational healthcare down that path new opportunities will company based in Newcastle, UK. open for all of us. I am proud to be on The move is part of Remote Medical’s that journey with this amazing team.” wider expansion into Europe and Africa, The deal will see HSE Offshore continue the company said. The company currently to operate under its own name, but provides occupational healthcare services to Remote Medical said that it will benefit work sites in more than 150 countries and on from Remote Medical’s global reach. all the world’s oceans, and said that its annual “Customer feedback tells us that HSE revenue has doubled in the last three years. Offshore has an impressive reputation “Our goal is to grow and become the in the offshore market due to their leading occupational healthcare company responsiveness and shares our focus on serving heavy construction and industrial customer relationships, making them a printadd.pdf 1 26.09.2016 18:07 markets,” said Remote Medical International natural choice for us,” Wager added. “Both
companies exemplify a commitment to high-quality evidence-based medicine and high levels of customer care as demonstrated by exceptional customer loyalty.”
We take your complex challenges in Turkey and turn them into simple, high quality and low cost solutions !
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QBE sells travel insurance arm QBE Insurance in Australia has announced that it is selling its travel insurance business to health and medical insurance provider nib Holdings (nib). The deal, which is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2019, will see 150 QBE employees offered jobs at nib. QBE Australia and New Zealand CEO Vivek Bhatia said that the deal will not impact customers in any way and that they can expect ‘the same great service’. “In nib we have found a buyer who is looking to grow their travel insurance business and they saw a great opportunity to deliver that through this acquisition. We believe nib is a good natural fit given their commitment to the travel market and the obvious synergies with health insurance,” Bhatia added. The decision to sell was made after a review of the business by QBE.
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COMPANY BRIEF
Broker Network acquires MCM
A slam-dunk for Cover-More Cover-More has announced a new partnership with Australian basketball team the Sydney Kings. The year-long deal was welcomed by Sydney Kings GM of Basketball, Jeff Van Groningen, who complimented the insurer on its Sydney roots. “They are a Sydney-born brand that has had amazing success in Australia and globally in the 30 years since they began,” he said. “[This year] is the Kings’ 30th anniversary as well, and we believe our partnership with Cover-More will deliver strong commercial and brand benefits for both of us.” Cover-More also has deals in place with two other sports teams: Australian Football League team the Gold Coast Suns, and UK soccer team Arsenal Football Club. “While we’re now spread across the globe in 22 countries, Cover-More was created in Sydney in 1986 and Sydney remains our head office. So it’s natural that we
Broker Network in the UK has acquired Manchester-based MCM Insurance, joining the firm’s other recent acquisitions of Saffron Insurance, Weald Insurance and Boyd Insurance. “We’re excited to begin the next chapter in MCM’s journey and fulfil our growth objectives,” said MCM Insurance Director Alan Broomhead. “We were one of the very first members and have a long and successful history with Broker Network.
wanted to partner with a sporting team in our home town,” said Cover-More CEO Mike Emmett. “And we genuinely like what we see in the Sydney Kings. They are a club with big dreams and an even bigger focus on teamwork, talent development and making the most of opportunities.”
Air Canada to launch insurance company
We know the team well and felt they were the ideal fit for our business. Our aim has always been to partner with someone who understands our ethos for excellent customer service within the local communities we trade in.” Broker Network said that its goal is to establish a centre across the UK, and that MCM represents its new ‘regional powerhouse’ in the north of England. MCM will continue to trade under its own name.
One of Canada’s largest airline operators, Air Canada, is looking for approval to form its own life insurance company, according to The Canadian Press. The move is in order to shore up pension risks by buying annuities from Canadian insurers and reinsuring the fixed payment through an insurance subsidiary, a spokesperson from the airline said. Air Canada is seeking
finance minister approval for the move. The airline is currently paying out around CA$725 million in annual pension payouts, with that number due to rise to around $900 million in the next 10 years. The plans cover around 53,000 employees, half of whom are retired. The airline added that the Canadian national insurance market is too small to bear such big annuities purchases.
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Direct-Travel celebrates 25 years UK-based travel insurance company Direct-Travel is celebrating 25 years of insuring holidaymakers. It was one of the first to offer travel cover online at the turn of the century, and today conducts 70 per cent of its business that way. CEO Christian Young and MD Andy Taylor are the founding Directors of BrokerSure, which acquired Direct-Travel in 2015 from AIG. It is now underwritten by Chaucer, a Lloyd’s of London syndicate. “Under our BrokerSure umbrella, we have continued to expand to support the ever-increasing wishes of our customers to travel far and wide regularly, irrespective of age and medical conditions,” Young said. “It’s unbelievable but still there are many people, young and older, who journey without travel insurance. Even in Europe, the European Health Insurance Card does not fully protect travellers. If you broke your leg on a day trip to Paris that would still result in thousands of pounds to get you flown home. Yet travel insurance can be as cheap as £5, depending on how long you are going for and where.”�
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INSURANCE MATTERS
Recapping a lack of mega catastrophes
Make insurtech Great Again
Aon Reinsurance Solutions has published the findings of its catastrophe report for the first six months of 2018, revealing that the first half of the year has been an exceptionally good one Global Catastrophe Recap: First Half of 2018 asserts that the global economic losses for the first half of 2018 came to an estimated total of US$45 billion, an impressive 64 per cent lower than the 10-year average figure of $124 billion, and 48 per cent lower than the 18-year average of $87 billion. The lack of a ‘mega catastrophe’ meant that, while the number of natural disasters (156) was above the 18year average (142), worldwide loss of life also remained low, with disasters claiming 2,153 lives in total, the lowest since 1986 and far below the average between 1980 and 2017 of 36,570. While no single event exceeded $10 billion of damages, there were 15 separate billion-dollar events, the report found. Nearly all were weather related, apart from one earthquake event. Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting Director and Meteorologist, warned insurers that though the recent losses have been manageable, this does not mean a quieter half of the year: “As last year proved on multiple occasions, even one singular event can completely change the trajectory of a year from a humanitarian and financial cost perspective. Identifying and understanding your individual level of
risk remains an important asset in helping to mitigate potential impacts given the prospect of future events,” he added. It’s getting hot in here Aon’s report has also estimated that the drought and wildfires that hit much of Europe could cause a minimum economic loss of €3.5 billion. Agriculture, forestry, water management and fisheries have all been hit by the heatwave that has swept across much of Europe, and hundreds have died due to extreme weather and wildfires. The lack of rain in Northern Europe has caused one of the deepest droughts on record, contributing to a loss in excess of €3.5 billion, says Aon, while German farmers alone are set to face losses of €2.5 billion.
Global restrucuring at Mapfre
This summer has also seen the deadliest wildfire event in Europe since 1900, with 92 people killed in the Mati, Eastern Attica region of Greece, 905 structures destroyed and a further 740 damaged. Sweden was also hit badly by wildfires, with damage exceeding US$100million. “The month of July was marked by recordbreaking heat, deepening droughts, and destructive wildfires in areas all around the globe,” said Michal Lorinc, an Analyst within Impact Forecasting’s Catastrophe Insight team. “Nearly every major continent recorded some type of peril impact that will lead to a major cost to agricultural interests. In Northern Europe alone, the cost to local farming interests is expected to result in a multibillion dollar loss in harvest output.”
Let’s get digital IPMI provider Now Health International Group has announced the launch of its new mobile pass membership card, which it says aims to enhance the customer experience while being environmentally conscious The service, developed in partnership with mobile website technology company Passkit, means that Now Health International customers can download their membership cards to their smartphone wallet. It is currently only available to those who purchase its new mid-tier product SimpleCare, a digital only plan. Now Health International said that the service will be rolled out to all customers later this year. The company is striving to drive the amount of physical membership cards and paper plans down to only 30 per cent within the
Spain-based (re)insurer Mapfre has announced that it is reorganising its global risks business The reorganisation will see this unit – Mapfre Global Risks – underwrite the large risks business and focus its activities on operations where Mapfre assumes the business lead. Mapfre is making the move in order to increase its management and business capacity for this part of its business. It will see Mapfre Global Risks work in tandem with the company’s insurers when managing larger risks business and take
A new survey of UK managing general agents (MGAs) has found that their usage of insurtech companies is increasing. Of the 26 members of the Londonbased Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA), called MGAA Matters, that answered the survey, 42 per cent said that insurtech helped them to evolve their business model to be more customer centric – an increase of 20 per cent from the previous year. MGAs believe the relationship to be beneficial for both sides with 42 per cent saying that MGAs deliver underwriting expertise that is still lacking in insurtech. This has led 38 per cent to consider the development of an insurtech strategy, a marked increase on 2016’s figure of 13 per cent. Only 12 per cent said they were not interested in investing in insurtech. “The survey shows a growing confidence and commitment from MGAs to harness the opportunities that insurtech can bring,” said Mark Birrell, CEO of Castel. “The future success of MGAs and insurtech are interlinked and so the fact there is increased optimism in the sector has to be welcomed.”
next five years and will be issuing members with only the mobile pass in the future. To partner with this, Now Health International is developing an app for healthcare providers to validate the mobile passes. A healthcare provider will not only be able to check if the card is valid, but will also be able to draw other information, such as whether the patient is entitled to direct billing. “We are one of the first international health insurance providers to launch a mobile pass for our members, which is yet further evidence of our continued commitment to be the leading innovator in our industry,” said Martin Garcia, Executive Chairman. “Our new mobile pass membership card is a key milestone in our ongoing digital journey as we work to integrate new technologies across all aspects of our business, for the benefit of both our customers and our operations.”
charge of the technical aspects, handling claims and provision of services. The restructuring will also see the transfer of Mapfre Global Risk’s reinsurance business to Mapfre Re, and its insurance business to Mapfre Spain. Branches in the UK, France and Italy will be assimilated into Mapfre Re’s structure, while the German branch will be closed on 1 October. “All this will give Mapfre greater capacity available for the large risks insurance business, and will contribute to offering a better service to Mapfre’s global clients,” said CEO Antonio Huertas of the restructure.
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INSURANCE MATTERS
Cheers as CII charters Chubb Chubb has announced that its UK and Ireland claims unit has been awarded Chartered Insurer status by the UK Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). The status will allow Chubb to access CII’s technical, market, and regulatory research, as well as specialist qualifications for its staff. “I am delighted that the Chubb UK and Ireland claims team has been awarded Chartered Insurer status by the Chartered Insurance Institute,” John Latter Chubb’s UK and Ireland Claims Director said. “This is a tremendous achievement and demonstrates the commitment
M&A recovery takes root
we have to investing in our people.” Managing Director of Engagement at CII Keith Richards said that Chubb and its employees should be proud of the achievement, with the status being ‘no mean feat for an organisation of this scale’. He added: “We are delighted to award Chubb Corporate Chartered status for the whole of its claims operations across the UK and Ireland. By becoming Chartered, Chubb has demonstrated its commitment to the highest standards of professionalism for the benefit of its customers, partners and employees.”
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the international insurance industry have risen for the second consecutive six months, according to Clyde & Co’s Insurance Growth Report mid-year update In the first half of 2018, 186 completed deals took place, up from 180 in the second half of 2017. This steady increase comes after a low point in the first half of 2017, after two years of steady decline. Most regions saw an increase in M&A in the first half of 2018, with the Americas leading the way with 97 deals in total, compared to 90 at the end of 2017. Clyde & Co suggests that this was down to the strengthening economic outlook in the US, plus the shifting reinsurance fundamentals in Bermuda.
Paying a premium for growth The insurance market in the UAE has had a strong 2017, according to the Insurance Authority, with profits increasing by 22 per cent to AED2.2 billion (US$600 million), compared to the previous year. The Insurance Authority’s annual report found that total written premiums for all insurance increased by 12 per cent to AED44.6 billion (US$12.14 billion). The health insurance sector took home the biggest share of these premiums, totalling AED19.4 billion, while the property and casual sectors premiums totalled AED15.6 billion, and the life sector’s premiums came in at AED9.8 billion in total. Local insurers still make up the majority of the market, with 68 per cent of the profits going to these entities. Net investment income in the sector is also increasing, with the report finding that
the total came in at AED3 billion in 2017, an increase of 114 per cent. The total assets of all insurance companies came to AED103.9 billion at the end of 2017, the report said, with local companies accounting for 60 per cent of the market. Assets had increased by 16 per cent on the previous year.
Tech Unicorns! Power Up! Three Indonesian tech ‘unicorns’ have joined together in a rare move to fund new digital insurance startup PasarPolis Ride-hailing company Go-Jek, e-commerce platform Tokopedia and travel booking startup Traveloka have all provided Series A funding for the Indonesia based insurance startup. According to Deal Street Asia the total amount of investment is around US$5-8 million. PasarPolis offers micro- and modular-insurance online, with its three investors offering its policies as an add-on to their existing services. PasarPolis Founder and CEO Cleosent Randing said in an interview with technology news site TechCrunch that the company is aiming to develop new products with the three companies.
“We were very, very selective with this round, it’s something we are keeping quite low profile,” he said. “It’s more of how we can be the provider of choice for the largest digital companies in Indonesia … we feel it’s a strategic
it’s a strategic investment and collaboration to advance micro insurance via the internet investment and collaboration to advance micro insurance via the internet.” As well as its more customers-focused products, PasarPolis has developed more specific products for its investors, such as life insurance for Go-Jek drivers and healthcare initiatives for SMEs that sell products on Tokopedia.
I see you baby, shakin’ that asset management relationship AIG and The Carlyle Group have announced a strategic asset management relationship with DSA Re – AIG’s Bermuda-based composite reinsurer for its legacy insurance portfolio – which the two companies hope to position as a standalone insurance liabilities platform. “AIG launched DSA Re to help us efficiently manage our legacy liabilities, honour our policy obligations and maximise financial flexibility,” said Brian Duperreault, AIG’s President and CEO. “This partnership with Carlyle meets these objectives while allowing AIG to free up capital and participate in the build-out and growth of the business. We look forward to working closely with Carlyle to position DSA Re for long-term success.” The deal will see Carlyle acquire a
Asia saw a total of 25 M&A, up from 20, with Japan acquirors being the driving force behind a number of the deals, while the Middle East and Africa grew from three deals to four deals completed. Europe was the only region to suffer a drop in deals, slipping from 65 in the last half of 2017, to 59 in 2018. “After a sustained period of sliding M&A volumes that bottomed out in the first half of 2017, the first green shoots of recovery that we saw at the turn of the year are now taking root,” Andrew Holderness, Clyde & Co, Global Head of Corporate Insurance, said. “The characteristics of the operating environment haven’t changed – the market remains uber-competitive and generating growth a perennial challenge – so M&A can provide potential synergies on reducing the cost base, build scale and access new customers.”
19.9-per-cent stake in DSA Re and will be allocated US$6 billion of assets. AIG hopes that with Carlyle’s backing, DSA Re will be able to scale its diversified risk portfolio strong claims operation, and efficient administration capabilities. “This strategic partnership extends Carlyle’s investment capabilities into the $15 trillion global insurance industry,” added Kewsong Lee, Carlyle’s Co-CEO. “Carlyle is excited to deliver our global investment platform across a variety of asset classes to DSA Re and will work to generate attractive returns for the DSA Re portfolio for many years to come. We have a terrific partner in AIG and will work closely together to help DSA Re become independent and positioned for growth over time.”
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TRAVEL MATTERS
Airport queues put off travellers A third of UK travellers have made the conscious decision not to fly on their holiday in the last three years, according to new research from comparison site GoCompare The research, gathered from an online survey, found that the hassle of flying was the top reason that holidaymakers found alternative forms of transport. A third of those questioned said that having to check in at the airport puts them off air travel, while a further 31 per cent bemoaned cramped airplane seats. Another 28 per cent were put off by the security procedures flyers are put through. “Over the years, flying has become cheaper and more accessible, enabling an increasing number of people to travel around the world,” Martyn John at GoCompare said. “But busier airports, longer queues at security, the prospect of cancellations or delays, and shrinking legroom in planes have combined to make passengers’ experience of flying more stressful, leading
busier airports, longer queues at security, the prospect of cancellations or delays, and shrinking legroom in planes have combined to make passengers’ experience of flying more stressful
many people to avoid airports altogether.” Of those UK holidaymakers who avoided air travel, half decided to stay in the UK for their holiday, while a fifth took a car ferry instead. Travellers also went on a cruise from a UK port (18 per cent), travelled by train (16 per cent), used the Channel tunnel (12 per cent) and went abroad on a coach trip (eight per cent). Flyers annoyed by rudeness Meanwhile, Irish travellers have revealed passenger behaviours that they find most annoying while flying, with rudeness to
flight attendants, in-flight drunkenness and seat kicking riling passengers the most. The findings come from AA Travel Insurance, which asked 5,000 Irish travellers about their in-air annoyances. The results found that 86 per cent consider rudeness to staff aboard a flight to be ‘very annoying’, while a further 70 per cent became irritated by other passengers overdoing it on alcoholic drinks during a trip. “While we’re nearing the end of the peak holiday season, some of us will still try to squeeze in some last-minute relaxation before the children go back
to school, but on occasion the journey can begin with a few bumps in the road because of how our fellow passengers are acting,” Conor Faughnan of AA said. Passengers also said that seat kicking, falling asleep on a fellow passenger, reclining a seat all the way back and snoring also grind their gears in the air. “Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do about these kind of behaviours, other than try to focus on the fact that you’ll soon be enjoying yourself on a beach somewhere to try to help you through the rest of the flight,” concluded Faughnan.
Asian cities most visited
Asian cities were some of the most visited in 2017 by international travellers, according to GlobalData, with seven of the top 10 most visited being in the continent. Bangkok, Thailand, had the highest number of international tourist arrivals in 2017, with 20.8 million visitors, while London, UK, came in a close second with 20.4 million visitors. Singapore rounded off the top three, with 17.42 million visitors. The only other non-Asian destinations in the top 10 were Dubai, UAE, which came fifth with 15.8 million visitors, and New York, US, in seventh with 13.1 million visitors. GlobalData claims that the depreciation of most Asian currencies, apart from Chinese Yuan, was a major attraction for many travellers, with visitors from Europe and Asia behind the growth in international arrivals to the country. Konstantina Boutsioukou, Travel and Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Huge expanding middle class, the growth of low-cost
carriers and geographical proximity makes travelling within Asia easy and convenient, particularly for the first-time travellers.” Bangkok’s tourism friendly visa policies, strong promotional efforts and low-cost connectivity
Huge expanding middle class, the growth of low cost carriers and geographical proximity makes traveling within Asia easy and convenient were all reasons for it retaining the top spot for the third year running, according to GlobalData, while the depreciation of the UK pound due to the uncertainty of Brexit could have encouraged travellers to head to the UK.
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TRAVEL MATTERS
Inflow to India to increase A new report from Google and KPMG has predicted that inbound traveller numbers to India will reach 12.8 million by the year 2022, driven by the high potential markets that Indian online travel agencies will continue to evolve The report, entitled Indian Brands Going Global: A $39 billion opportunity, examines the current trends and opportunities in the digital export industry, focusing on the inbound travel industry, as well as media and entertainment, software as a service, consumer brands, and real estate. The report points towards the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets as being key for the growth in tourism, especially in the UAE and Indonesia. It also predicted that the travel industry in India will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18
per cent, reaching a total value of $3.1 billion – nearly three times its current worth. Spending by tourists will also grow by around 14 per cent, the paper predicts. “Rising global connectivity is opening up new opportunities for businesses to expand
Rising global connectivity is opening up new opportunities for businesses to expand internationally internationally,” said Shalini Girish, Director of Marketing Solutions, Google India. This growth is led by emerging economies, driven by the adoption of mobile phones; this combination is driving a very rapidly growing cross-border mobile e-commerce.”
Seoul deal for Thomas Cook India Thomas Cook India has announced the signing of a three-year agreement with Seoul Tourism. Under the partnership, Thomas Cook India will promote Seoul as a desirable leisure destination for Indian holidaymakers. Working together, both parties will put together a programme that promotes specific destinations within Seoul, develops products and targets individual segments within India’s outbound travelling
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demographic, including families, millennials, honeymooners and solo female travellers. “In a continued effort to bring new destinations and experiences to Indian outbound travellers, we are delighted to partner with Seoul Tourism to promote this beautiful and culturally rich global city,” said Abraham Alapatt, Thomas Cook India’s Marketing, Service Quality, Value Added Services & Innovation President and Group Head.
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TRAVEL MATTERS
Travel jobs at risk post Brexit The UK’s decision to leave the EU will put 25,000 UK travel industry jobs at risk, as increased costs will force companies to downsize, says Seasonal Businesses in Travel (SBIT) SBIT’s survey of 130 companies, contacted by independent research consultants LHM Conseil on behalf of SBIT, found that many are worried that British holiday companies will no longer be able to employ their UK staff on the continent on UK terms, meaning that instead of paying tax and National Insurance for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) they will have to pay for more expensive continental state social insurance schemes. These increased costs could have huge ramifications for the industry, with a 58-percent increase in costs predicted for holiday companies. The costs could also act as a stumbling block for younger workers aiming to get into the industry, with less money available for training opportunities and fewer jobs available, especially as smaller holiday businesses may be forced into mergers or closure. Those aged between 18 and 24 who are already employed in the travel industry will be most likely to lose their jobs, with apprenticeships and training schemes at risk of being cut – despite the
fact that three-quarters of voters in that age bracket voted to remain in the EU. “Many independent UK holiday companies stay cost efficient and deliver great prices and service to holidaymakers by employing UK staff to work in the EU during peak times,” Katie Waddington of Zenith Holidays said. “Our membership of the EU means no visas or bureaucracy and staff taxes and NI contributions stay in the UK.” Brexit’s effect has already been seen in the UK travel industries, with companies saying that they have sent seven-per-cent fewer staff to the continent since the vote. “More than 75 per cent of the team in
Brexit’s effect has already been seen in the UK travel industries the London office have worked overseas and they bring their knowledge and experience back into the company,” Sarah Searson, Managing Director of Skiworld, said. “Experience in customer service, logistics and operations are key skills in a service-driven economy and it will be a loss for UK PLC, let alone for the holiday industry, if we cannot continue to seamlessly second our UK staff to Europe.”
Road travel danger to travellers The greatest threat to business travellers is road travel, according to a new report from Collinson Group Although terrorist attacks and kidnappings may be front of a traveller’s mind when they think of associated dangers on a business trip, road travel causes more fatalities and injuries in business travellers, said Collinson’s Head of Corporate Travel, Randall Gordon-Duff. “This is due to a myriad of issues, from poor road conditions and driving standards found in some countries, to badly maintained vehicles, poor adherence to basic road laws, lack of signage, exposure to opportunistic crime or car jackings, or simply driver error due to tiredness or alcohol misuse,” he added. According to findings from the World Health Organization, the top 10 most dangerous nations to drive in are Eritrea, Dominican Republic, Libya, Thailand, Venezuela, Nigeria, South Africa, Iraq, Guinea-Bissau and Oman. Collinson has advised business travellers heading to these locations not to travel at night due to the conditions of some of the roads and an increased chance of encountering other vehicles without working lights.
Collinson’s Global Security Director Peter Cooper said: “In many of these countries there is an increased risk of crime, so we advise against allowing workers to self-drive and recommend using secure escorts with trusted, comprehensively trained drivers, possibly through a journey management service.”
Thomas Cook adds to animal welfare policy New alcohol awareness passenger campaign launched
Thomas Cook, a UK-based travel agent, has announced that it is going to stop selling trips to animal attractions that keep orcas in captivity. The travel agent announced the launch of its animal welfare policy 18 months ago, and since then it says that it has used the research of independent auditors at animal attractions worldwide to make sure that they were compliant with the Association of British Travel Agents’ (ABTA) animal welfare policy. The research found that 29 of the 49 attractions that were researched were not compliant, while the remaining 20 were said to have made ‘significant improvements’ to the way they treat their animals after the audit. The decision to stop working with all animal attractions that keep orcas in captivity means that the company will stop working with two attractions that both passed their audit and made improvements. The decision was made, Thomas Cook says, after it found that 90 per cent of its customers believe that holiday companies should take animal welfare seriously. It was also made after speaking to animal
welfare experts over the last 18 months. “I am clear about the kind of business that we want to be,” said Peter Fankhauser, Group Chief Executive at Thomas Cook. “That’s why we introduced our animal welfare policy 18 months ago, and that’s why we’ve taken this decision today. And when so many of our customers are so clear in their view, I could not allow our business to ignore them.” Thomas Cook has said it will continue to work with both animal attractions over the next 12 months while it prepares for its exit.
In the UK, travel retailers, airports and airlines have joined forces to launch a passenger campaign on the consequences of irresponsible drinking when travelling. The ‘One Too Many’ campaign will be rolled out via a national Facebook and Instagram social media campaign and in nine pilot airports in the UK, including the Manchester Airport Group airports, AGS Airports, Bristol, Birmingham and London Gatwick. One Too Many builds on the UK aviation industry code of practice on disruptive passengers and is the first of its kind, bringing the UK Travel Retail Forum (UKTRF), the Airports Operators Association (AOA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airlines UK together. “It is an offence to be drunk on a plane. Not least to other passengers,” said Fancois
Bourienne, Chair of the UK Travel Retail Forum. “The One Too Many campaign is to remind people of the consequences of irresponsible drinking at any stage of their journey and to highlight the fact that, while serious disruptive behaviour remains rare, it can be costly and cause delays. Other passengers become upset and a lot of holidays are ruined. The UKTRF, IATA, AOA and Airlines UK are committed to tackling the issue of disruptive passengers and to working together to ensure that passengers are aware that this behaviour will not be tolerated. The campaign compliments existing individual airport initiatives being used by airlines, airports, bar and pub operators and retailers, bringing it all under the one banner for the first time as we enter the busy holiday season.”
Turkey sees comeback According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, the number of incoming travellers to Turkey has increased by 24.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Following a steady decline in tourism amidst regional instability, this data marks the comeback of the country as one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world among Western travellers. The resort haven Antalya recorded the highest growth in the country.
In June alone, the city welcomed 2,011,730 visitors, a 33.51-per-cent increase over that of the year before. Local assistance company Eurocross Turkey confirmed the growth trend, commenting: “Keeping our new client portfolio aside, in relation to the rising tourism figures, we have observed a parallel increase in our European cases compared to 2017. Our British cases are up by 54 per cent and Dutch cases by 26 per cent, followed by German and Scandinavian cases.”
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TRAVEL MATTERS
British holidaymakers warned about medication British travellers planning to head abroad with prescription medication have been warned to be mindful of the potential pitfalls, as different countries have different laws surrounding even the most innocuous substances
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Airbnb offers stay on The Great Wall Holiday home rental site Airbnb is letting some lucky travellers stay in probably the only holiday rental that is visible from space. The website recently launched a contest in which four people plus their guests were given the chance to stay in a specially designed ‘home’ on top of one of humankind’s greatest ever architectural achievements, The Great Wall of China. The space will be located in one of The Great Wall’s towers, which is UNESCOlisted and also open air. Guests will be invited to a multi-course dinner inspired by Chinese culture and accompanied by traditional Chinese music. The next day they will be treated to a day of activities, including a historical tour of the Wall. Airbnb says that the competition aims to promote sustainable tourism in China by highlighting how the Wall and its heritage is preserved and hopes to bring Chinese culture to life for the visitors. “It’s been an honour to work with historians and preservationist groups in Beijing to bring this once-in-a-lifetime experience to the world,” said Nathan Blecharczyk, CoFounder and Chairman of Airbnb China, in the statement. “We are so proud to partner in this truly collective effort to highlight such an incredible landmark that now serves to unify people rather than divide them.” Contestants had to answer, in 550 characters or less: “Why is it more important now than ever to break down barriers between cultures? How would you want to build new connections?”
Both the National Health Service (NHS) website NHS Choices and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have warned travellers to discuss travel plans with their doctor as many as two months before setting off on holiday, to make sure that they will not inadvertently take an illegal substance on a trip with them. Nearly half 1 24/01/2017 10:13
of the UK population uses some form of prescribed medication, which translates to a potential 21 million travellers who could land themselves in hot water. In Japan, for example, any medication that contains pseudoephedrine (which is found in products like Sudafed, not the sort of substance that a traveller would necessarily think twice about tossing in a suitcase) is banned, while other countries either require a licence or have a full ban in place for anti-anxiety medication, sleeping pills, strong painkillers and so on. “The Association of British Travel Agents estimates that about 25 million British
people will be jetting off on their summer holiday this year – and we want to do all we can to help them stay safe and enjoy their travels,” Julia Longbottom, Consular Director at the FCO, told Mirror Online. “The FCO can’t give legal advice or get people out of prison, so we are urging those heading off on their summer break to join the 16 million people a year who check our Travel Advice, to ensure they are properly prepared for their trip and avoid any potential trouble.” As well as consulting their doctor, travellers are advised to check the entry requirements for their destination country and plan accordingly.
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HEALTH MATTERS
First new antimalarial drug in 18 years approved
Travel advisory for pilgrimage to Mecca
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first antimalarial drug in nearly 20 years The drug, called ARAKODA (tafenoquine), is for the prevention of malaria in patients aged 18 and over. It has the potential to protect thousands of travellers from the disease. Tafenoquine was originally discovered by scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and its approval was based on an effort to develop tafenoquine as a weekly prophylactic drug for the prevention of malaria. The approval was recently announced by 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals (60P). “We have worked closely with the US Army as their commercial partners to bring ARAKODA to the US market,” said Dr Geoffrey Dow, CEO of 60P. “ARAKODA provides effective protection against both of the major types of malaria (P. vivax and P. falciparum), killing the parasites in both the blood and liver. This provides the travel medicine community the option to prescribe an antimalarial which provides protection in a large spectrum of malaria hot zones while utilising what is considered by many physicians to be a more compliant dosing regimen. ARAKODA is a significant addition to the
armamentarium for the prevention of malaria.” Tafenoquine is specifically for the recurring form of malaria that is caused by the parasite plasmodium vivax and affects 8.5 million people each year. The next step is for regulators worldwide to look at the drug and see if they can recommend it for their populations. This type of malaria can be challenging to get rid of as it is able to lie dormant in the liver for years. However, the new drug can flush the parasite from out of the liver and prevent it from being contracted again. Tafenoquine can be taken in tandem with another drug to treat immediate infection.
Although the FDA has approved the use of the drug in the US, it has highlighted that tafenoquine has side effects. These include potentially severe anaemia, and it should therefore not be taken by people with an enzyme problem called G6PD deficiency. At higher doses, it could also be problematic for people with psychiatric illnesses. “The ability to get rid of the parasite in the liver with a single dose of tafenoquine is a phenomenal achievement and in my mind, it represents one of the most significant advances in malaria treatment in the last 60 years,” Professor Ric Price, Oxford University, UK, told the BBC.
The US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a travel advisory for pilgrims going to Hajj (the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca), due to the unique health risks associated with mass gatherings due to the crowds. The CDC has advised travellers to make an appointment with a travel medicine specialist or their healthcare provider at least four to six weeks before travelling to get the required vaccines and medicines. It also recommends that all travellers keep up to date on routine vaccinations such as influenza and measles. Further advice is to check with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for its most current vaccine requirements. During their trip, travellers are advised to take steps to avoid illness, such as washing their hands often with soap and water, avoiding touching their eyes, nose or mouth, and avoiding close contact with people who are sick. In addition, it is recommended that they protect themselves from hot temperatures and sun exposure and follow security and safety advice for mass gatherings.
New study may help fight infectious disease New strategy to control FMD outbreaks Researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK have developed a new real-time strategy that could help future foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease outbreaks be combated quickly and efficiently Drs Michael Tildesley and William Probert discovered that the most effective policies for an FMD outbreak are focusing on surveillance and vaccination. The team’s goal was to overcome uncertainty regarding determining how to control FMD, enabling disease spread to be controlled more rapidly and effectively. They used data from previous FMD outbreaks to simulate the spread of disease and analysed the real-time efficacy of different approaches at each stage of the outbreak. These approaches included: culling only infected farms; culling infected farms, plus farms designated as dangerous contact; culling infected farms,
A new study has shed light on how Staphylococcus aureus emerges, by discovering how it is able to jump between species This research may help improve the use of antibiotics and create better strategies for limiting disease spread. The research was conducted by the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, UK, the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. The team analysed the genetic make up of more than 800 strains of S. aureus that were isolated from people and animals. They found that humans were likely the original host for the bacteria, with the first strains capable of infecting livestock emerging around the time that animals were first domesticated for farming. The study found that cows have been a
dangerous contact farms and neighbouring farms; ring culling at three kilometres and 10 kilometres; and vaccination at three kilometres and 10 kilometres. The researchers found local targeted approaches (culling of infected premises and ring vaccination around confirmed infected farms) to be the most effective, while ring culling was never an effective method. They therefore concluded that targeted surveillance is crucial to allow authorities to gain information and resolve uncertainty as quickly as possible, ultimately better controlling the spread of the disease. “This work highlights both the limitations and the benefits of using an infectious disease model in real time, during an ongoing outbreak. It is crucial for policymakers to employ surveillance to resolve uncertainty in how the disease is spreading as rapidly as possible, as this may have significant implications upon our ability to predict future epidemic behaviour,” the researchers said.
source of strains that now cause infections in human populations worldwide, which the researchers say highlights the importance of disease surveillance in people and animals to spot strains that could cause major epidemics. Additional findings were that genes linked to antibiotic resistance are unevenly distributed among strains that infect humans, compared with those that infect animals, which the researchers believe reflects the distinct practices linked to antibiotic usage in medicine and agriculture. Looking ahead, the team said that investigating how the bacteria are affected by genetic changes that occur after it jumps species could highlight opportunities to develop new antibacterial therapies, as well as informing better strategies for managing infections to reduce the risk of transmission to people and slow the emergence of antibiotic resistance.
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HEALTH MATTERS
Polio in Papua New Guinea According to the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is an outbreak of polio in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, and all travellers to the country should be vaccinated against the disease. The outbreak is due to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV), a marker of poor oral polio vaccine (OPV) coverage. The disease affects the nervous system and is spread through contact with the faeces of an infected person and by drinking water or eating food that is contaminated with infected faeces.
The adverse impact of disease epidemics
Symptoms tend to be minor and include fever, tiredness, nausea, headache, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the arms and legs. However, the disease is crippling and potentially deadly. The UN is supporting the Government of Papua New Guinea in launching a vaccination campaign to vaccinate children under five in Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands Provinces. Adults who have been fully vaccinated are advised to receive a single lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine before travelling.
Researchers have ascertained the extent to which disease epidemics adversely impact the livelihoods of individuals, households and communities in affected areas. The results were recently published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Tsegaye Gatiso of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Germany, and his team collected data from 623 households across Liberia during the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in 2015. Respondents were asked about household income, source of income, crop production, and household assets including land. The survey found that the annual
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income of sample households did not differ between communities that had been affected by EVD and those unaffected. However, households in all areas reported a decrease in average income compared to the previous year, which the researchers believe suggests that the outbreak may have indirectly affected communities in areas where the virus was not present. “Our results highlight that epidemics, such as the recent EVD outbreak, may have longlasting negative effects on the livelihoods of a society and their effect may extend beyond the communities directly affected by the epidemics,� the researchers said.
HEALTH MATTERS
WHO update on poliovirus in Nigeria The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported on an outbreak of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in Nigeria. The outbreak was confirmed in June of this year and the country is also being affected by an ongoing separate cVDPV2 outbreak. A WHO risk assessment that was performed before the outbreak response concluded that there was a high risk of geographical spread of the two outbreak virus strains, underscoring the importance of maintaining high levels of routine polio vaccination coverage at all levels to minimise the risk and consequences of any poliovirus circulation. WHO’s advice is for all countries,
Travellers have poor awareness of endemic diseases
particularly those with frequent travel and contact with polio-affected countries and areas, to strengthen surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (a disease associated with cVDPV2) in order to ‘rapidly detect any polio case, implement preventive measures, and undertake rapid response if needed’. All travellers to polio-affected areas are recommended by WHO’s International Travel and Health to be fully vaccinated against polio. WHO also advises that residents (and visitors for more than four weeks) from infected areas should receive an additional dose of oral polio vaccine or inactivated polio vaccine between four weeks and 12 months prior to departure.
A recent survey commissioned by Valneva USA, the US subsidiary of global vaccine biotech company Valneva SE, has found that there is low awareness of endemic diseases among people travelling to international destinations. The survey found that despite an uptick in travel to Asian-Pacific countries, many travellers don’t seek preventative healthcare from a qualified travel health specialist in advance of travelling. Only 18 per cent of the 776 US adults who visited Asia for 10 or more days that were surveyed said they visited a travel health specialist to discuss health-related preparations for travel. The survey also highlighted low awareness of Japanese encephalitis, which although rare, is serious and is the most common
Salmonella Agona outbreak in Europe According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), five European countries have reported 147 people infected with Salmonella Agona, which could be linked to ready-to-eat food. In the UK, 129 people have been infected, while Finland has counted 15 cases, Denmark one, Germany one and Ireland one. Experts from EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) believe that ready-to-eat products containing cucumbers and prepared in the UK may be the source of infection. As yet, they have been unable to identify
the specific point in the production chain where contamination occurred. They have warned that new cases may occur until the source of infection and specific point of contamination are identified. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most people with Salmonella develop diarrhoea, fever and abdominal cramps 12-72 hours after infection. Although most people recover without treatment, severe infections may occur, with infants, elderly people and those with impaired immune systems more at risk of developing severe illness.
form of vaccine-preventable encephalitis and viral-induced neurologic disability in Asia. Indeed, only 33 per cent of respondents said they were aware of the disease, and only 16 per cent of travellers considered to be at high risk received a preventative vaccine. “Most Americans are vaccinated for diseases common to our country as children, but aren’t always protected when traveling abroad,” said Dr Scott Morcott, family physician and Medical Director of Passport Health Chicago. “I encourage anyone planning international travel, especially those who may be abroad for extended periods of time such as students, business people, adventure travellers and volunteers, to visit a travel health practitioner to learn about preventative measures for travel-related diseases.”
New outbreak of Ebola in the DRC The British Medical Journal recently reported that Ebola had reappeared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) just a week after an outbreak in the western part of the country was declared over. According to the World Health Organization, the virus is suspected of having caused 33 deaths, while an additional 43 suspected cases have been reported, 13 of which have been confirmed by laboratory analysis. The new outbreak is thought to be unrelated to the previous one and is believed to stem from a new wildlife contact, which could be due to consumption of bush meat or contact with a fruit bat. The so-called ‘signal event’ was the death and unsafe burial of a 65-year-old woman in Mangina on 25 July. Seven members of her immediate family died shortly afterwards. These events were learned of by the capital’s health ministry two days after it had declared the western outbreak to be over. Complications surround the fact that the new outbreak is in North Kivu province, a region where over 100 armed groups are believed to operate. The outbreak is also thought to be the Zaire strain of Ebola virus. “The bad news is that this is the deadliest variant, with a case fatality rate of over 50 per cent,” said WHO’s Head of Emergencies, Peter Salama, at a briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on 5 August. “The good news is we do have a safe effective vaccine, though still experimental. But in Equateur we had access to contacts for our ring vaccination strategy. You can imagine the difficulty of pursuing an intricate web of contacts with the access issues we face across a war zone.”
Mystery disease wreaks havoc An unknown disease is on the increase in the Mabalako health zone, 30 kilometres south west of Beni in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC Ministry of Health and World Health Organization sent a team to assess the situation on 31 June and begin laboratory analysis. A humanitarian health partner also sent an evaluation and response team. Laboratory results are anticipated in the coming days and WHO human resources are available to be deployed in 24 hours. Preventative measures have been taken by medical staff in Mangina to avoid the disease spreading.
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FEATURE
Fraud Wars:
The Industry Strikes Back Travel insurance fraud is ever more prevalent, while fraudsters’ methods are increasingly sophisticated. But travel insurers are putting up a fight, using rapidly evolving methods of fraud detection and prevention. Lauren Haigh spoke to industry experts to get a handle on the current fraud prevention landscape worldwide >>
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FEATURE
F
raudsters and travel insurers are engaged in a seemingly never-ending battle, but it’s not just holidaymakers submitting fraudulent claims in the hope of being compensated; fraud can also take the form of medical institutions overbilling, or even claims management companies targeting holidaymakers directly, encouraging them to make claims. Amid concerns that fraud is on the rise in the travel insurance sector, methods of fraud detection and prevention are improving – but so too are the methods used by fraudsters. So, what does the current global situation look like? Mark Colonnese, Director of UK-based specialist industries software developer Aquarium Software, which provides tech solutions to travel insurers,
under the Package Travel Regulations (PTR) over the last few years, particularly in respect of gastric illness. “This has been driven by the unscrupulous activities of so-called ‘claims farmers’ encouraging and assisting holidaymakers – often with promises that they could at least recover their holiday costs – to pursue claims against tour operators directly and seeking to enforce the strict liability provisions under the PTR,” he said. “These claims have been lucrative for claims companies to pursue, as until recently there was no limit on the amount that could be recovered in terms of legal costs. On investigation, many of these claims have proven highly suspect, with some notable court cases hitting the headlines in the national media.”
Fraud detection isn’t just about increasing skills, it’s also about maximising reach and collaboration told ITIJ that he is seeing less of the ‘traditional’ types of fraudulent claims, while more unusual and sophisticated methods are on the rise: “Travel insurance fraud continues to be a major concern for insurers, and while claims for supposedly lost or damaged items continue, the trend is towards more ambitious and sophisticated scams by professional fraudsters. While these are on the rise, other types of fraud have gone into decline.” For example, Colonnese said that fraudulent claims for sickness and food poisoning, once big trends, have been exposed and are no longer as effective as they once were. “The ‘tummy bug blaggers’ have been found out,” he said. “This type of opportunist claim is not quite a thing of the past, but will soon hopefully be consigned to the history books.” David Scott, Partner at Horwich Farrelly, which provides legal and handling services to the UK general insurance claims sector, also said that he has seen a growth in the number of claims made
This suggests that while individual holidaymakers may not be having the same luck they once had with fraudulent claims, there are bigger forces at play. Scott said that lobbying from the package travel industry and Horwich Farrelly led the UK Government to introduce new rules in April of this year that restricted the amount that could be recovered in legal costs for PTR gastric illness claims. This has meant that the number of claims companies operating in this area has significantly reduced, along with the volume of claims made. Steps are being taken and success seen. The evolving battleground Other trends that the experts ITIJ spoke to have witnessed include fictitious and exaggerated claims and policyholders changing the circumstances of a claim after their initial attempts to claim are rejected. The general consensus, though, seems to be that it is the common medical provider-related fraud that insurers need to watch out for. These include hospitals overcharging for care,
hotels sending guests to expensive health providers in exchange for financial incentives, and even hospitals charging for completely unnecessary treatment. Simon Cook, Head of Technical Claims for CEGA’s Special Investigations Unit, told ITIJ that fraudsters are becoming more devious in this regard: “The rise in
sophisticated criminals set up scams, act them out, and then attempt to back this up with what looks like legitimate evidence global travel and medical tourism has seen fraudsters submitting ever more cunning claims from far-flung corners of the world, often for pre-planned medical treatment masquerading as medical emergencies,” he said. “Some unscrupulous medical providers will over-treat customers with
unnecessary tests and procedures, overcharge insurers, and even collude with patients to produce fraudulent claims.” Fraudsters are evolving their tactics when it comes to non-medical related claims too, and their understanding of how insurers attempt to combat fraud is growing. Scott Clayton, Head of Claims Fraud at Swiss insurance company Zurich Insurance Company Ltd, pointed out that fraudsters are becoming more aware of the claims process. “We have not seen a significant evolution of methods used by fraudsters within travel insurance, but rather more of an appreciation of the process and what is required to validate a claim," he said. "For example, an experienced fraudster who is falsely claiming for loss or theft knows that the incident must be reported to the police and documentation is required to prove ownership.” Colonnese agrees: “Fraudsters have had to become far more devious. Dodgy claims by the public giving into temptation are in decline, but in its place, we enter the >> world of the professional criminal, now using increasingly powerful computing tools such as photo editing and word processing applications to create fraudulent claims’ evidence. This means we now have sophisticated criminals setting up scams, acting them out, and then attempting to back this up with what looks like legitimate evidence.” So, it sounds as though fraudsters have had no choice but to become more devious in order to successfully defraud insurers who are becoming wise to their tricks. But in turn, as the perpetrators of fraud have become even more unscrupulous, how have insurers upped their game? Shielded from the blow Jamie Hersant, Head of Lifestyle Claims at French multinational insurer AXA Insurance, said that there are core methods in place for identifying and managing potential fraud, including well-trained claims teams, data and onthe-ground investigations. “Spotting the potential for fraud at the earliest stages is the best way to prevent it from occurring,” he told ITIJ. “It could be a change in story, or documentary evidence that doesn’t look right. Spotting this and flagging anything
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FEATURE that looks out of the ordinary for further investigation is essential for any effective claims team. Using a range of data and systems to build patterns can help us identify the potential for high-risk claims, as well as determine the appropriate techniques for investigating them, while sending investigators to establish the facts on the ground – including going to the scene of an incident to establish the credibility of a set of circumstances, or interviewing policyholders and witnesses – can ensure claims are genuine.” When dealing with bills presented by medical facilities, Hersant said that it is important to ensure that the bills being claimed are valid and that the treatment being claimed for took place and hasn’t been inflated, check bills for false charges, for example overcharging on equipment used or duplication of items within the same bill, and blacklist hospitals where it has been established that over-treatment is taking place, which puts customers at risk and leads to inflated bills. He emphasised that these are just some of the considerations when dealing with fraud in the travel insurance market: “It is imperative we continue to evolve our technology and people capabilities to deal with future risks, as well as the current challenges presented by fraudulent claims.” Colonnese concurs, telling ITIJ that technology plays an important role in exposing fraudsters: “Analytics and algorithms can see through most of these tactics, once the authorities are aware of the trends and patterns and can programme software to look out for patterns. Management by exception means our systems show only what investigators need to see, and flag areas
of concern immediately. Add in the emergence of AI and it may well be game over for the fraudsters before too long.” A double-edged sword Technology is an exciting tool that can help insurers to defend themselves from fraudsters. When it comes to blockchain, for example, Colonnese believes this could play a future role in fraud detection and
[with] the emergence of AI … it may well be game over for the fraudsters before too long prevention, although there may be some barriers to this. “Blockchain dominates transactional technology debate at the moment,” he explained, “and it may have an important role to play in the future claims process. But opening sharable ledgers on individuals is still some way off; notwithstanding the bigger question about data protection and whether we as an industry and a society (and in a post-GDPR world) are comfortable – or indeed authorised – to share this level of information so openly. Time will tell if blockchain is desirable or can bring something new to the table. One of the biggest potential benefits of blockchain is that the code is nigh on ‘unchangeable’, so fraudulently altering historical records is almost impossible. This feature of blockchain could have excellent anti-fraud applications, if the industry can agree a set of unified standards and protocols.” With potential for blockchain to be incorporated into future fraud prevention efforts, what else does the future have in store regarding technologies that
can be harnessed in the fight against fraud? Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager (International Division) at Cegedim, a technology and services company in the field of digital data flow management for healthcare ecosystems and B2B, said that digital tools are key weapons in the fight against fraud. “In this never-ending fight, insurers must equip themselves with digital tools and AI solutions, empowering assessors to spend more time on suspicious claims while techniques such as ‘straight-through processing’ relieve them of the burden of high-volume, low-complexity claims management,” he said. However, Squintani also highlighted the fact that the same technology that insurers are leveraging to improve their business can be abused for fraudulent purposes: “As soon as humans began to sign documents, they began to forge signatures. As we increasingly rely on fingerprint technology to smooth the digital experience, somebody somewhere is no doubt looking to exploit
One of the biggest potential benefits of blockchain is that the code is nigh on ‘unchangeable’, so fraudulently altering historical records is almost impossible this trend for fraudulent purposes.” Indeed, Squintani believes that technology is there to be used, but that an agile approach is key: “If the industry is willing to come together to leverage it, the technology is there to identify fraud hotspots, common techniques and types of fraudulent claims, allowing insurers to
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deploy their resources accordingly. But as soon as the industry makes inroads, fraudsters will attack from a different angle. That’s why an agile approach is required; and the most agile insurers will be those who have chosen to partner with a specialised solution provider.” Collaboration is certainly a key element in fighting fraud. “Fraud detection isn’t just about increasing skills, it’s also about maximising reach and collaboration,” agreed Cook. “Investigators can’t be effective in isolation.” Dominic Stannard, Communications Officer at the Association of British Insurers, also emphasises the importance of collaboration: “Insurers recognise that fraud cuts across commercial considerations, and can best be tackled by working together wherever possible, in addition to actions which individual insurers take to tackle the issue.” Clayton also agrees that both collaboration and innovation are key: “I believe that technology, apart from human instinct and expertise, is one of the most important tools we have to help fight against travel insurance fraud. Data collection and sharing, as well as collaboration within the industry, are essential to combat fraud on the large scale.” Technology is certainly evolving to assist insurers in the fight against successful fraudulent claims, and all insurers can do is keep abreast of change. “With waves of innovation on both sides, there will always be times when the number of successful fraudulent claims rises,” Squintani told ITIJ, “but in the long run, by supporting human intelligence with digital tools and interoperable systems, travel insurers can stem the tide and protect the interests of their stakeholder ecosystem.” ■
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The Belt & Road Initiative and Medical Assistance In late 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced the concept of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” (the Belt) and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” (the Road) as a multi-country infrastructure-building megaproject that would connect China with its neighbours, and thus the outside world. Initially referred to as the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, this was later abbreviated to simply the “Belt and Road Initiative”. In March 2015, Beijing released a key guideline document
entitled “Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road”, which laid down the broad strategy. Illustrating China’s complete conviction in backing the BRI, it was written into the constitution of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the 19th National Congress of the CPC. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) seeks to connect China to its neighbouring countries via landand sea-based infrastructure development and
focuses on connectivity and cooperation between these countries. More than 80 countries and international organisations have already joined the BRI and it is estimated that total investment will reach at least USD1.5trn over 10 years under this game-changing initiative, with significant win-win implications for both China and the recipient economies. According to Hong Kong Trade Development Council, it is estimated that the BRI, through new demand sources and exporting overcapacity, will boost China’s GDP growth by 0.1 percentage points annually over the next decade. There are economic benefits – improved industrial structure, balanced regional development, secure trade routes and a higher return on capital – that are more difficult to quantify but potentially more material. Geopolitically, the BRI is China’s response to a more inward-looking US, an open bid for global leadership and an attempt to increase China’s foreign policy “soft power”. The BRI is also seen as a platform for lowerincome recipient economies to fast track to a higher stage of economic development by increasing FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows, plugging infrastructure gaps, moving into a digital economy, and integrating their trade into global supply chains, which can boost productivity and help lift potential growth. Some studies suggest growth gains of 0.3-1.4pp, with larger gains for the smaller economies.
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MARM ASSISTANCE
ADVERTORIAL
www.marm.com.tr
The BRI is a combination of the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt, which encompasses six economic corridors, and the ocean-crossing 21st Century Maritime Silk Road On land, the Belt aims to connect China to Asia and Europe (via Central Asia) via six economic corridors. At sea, the Maritime Silk Road connects China’s southern provinces to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe via numerous ports. Currently, China operates 11 ports along the Maritime Silk Road, including Darwin (Australia), Kuantan (Malaysia), Kyaukpyu (Myanmar), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Gwadar (Pakistan), Haifa (Israel), Piraeus (Greece), Naples (Italy), Central Harbour (Algeria), Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti) and Lamu (Kenya). China is also establishing several transportation links in the Indian Ocean.
According to China National Development and Reform Commission, cooperation in healthcare has significantly increased over the past 5 years particularly in the areas of control and containment of communicable diseases. Furthermore, various cross border platforms were established to promote improved delivery of healthcare. Establishment of an well functioning medical assistance network along the various corridors of the BRI is deemed critical for the mega infrastructure projects to be implemented in a timely manner. Being on the cross roads of Europe, Middle East and Asia and having two of its offices on the “Belt”, Marm Assistance is ready and well positioned to support the key players of BRI. ■
The BRI will promote connectivity not only via hard infrastructure investment, but also through softer elements such as more harmonised cross-border administrative procedures, which should promote greater regional trade integration. China’s bilateral trade with the BRI countries stood at USD962bn in 2016 (25% of total) and Chinese President Xi Jinping stated back in 2015 that he hoped China’s annual trade with the BRI countries would surpass USD2.5trn in a decade.During MASSCON, the 1st Belt and Road Medical Assistance Conference, cooperation not only in infrastructure and industrial projects but also in healthcare and other areas were highlighted. The 8 key cooperation areas emphasized under the BRI were as follows; healthcare trade & commerce industrial investment infrastructure financial ecological & environmental cultural and human exchange maritime 33
medical@marm.com.tr
@marmassistance
FEATURE
A DYNAMIC MARKET Tatum Anderson and Mandy Langfield explore the complexities of providing insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions
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one are the days when insurers excluded any claims arising from pre-existing conditions, when policies were intended to cover only the most unexpected occurrences. Today, the range of providers able to cover a traveller with an ongoing medical condition is growing larger all the time.
Market demands The fact is, more people continue to travel to increasingly diverse locations, irrespective of age and medical conditions. In the UK alone, around 15 million people are currently living with at least one long-term health condition, a figure that is expected to rise to 18 million over the next decade. And such travellers have money too. Disposable income rose by 14.3 per cent for the retired sector,
insurance market has since, for the most part, followed the specialist insurers. “The days are gone where someone who has had a heart attack believes they are on the scrap heap and mustn’t move for fear of another to finish them off,” said Blackman. The movement towards selling travel insurance for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions is bound up in the way medical history is now declared – online, through secure medical screening programmes. “To the consumer, it is more private and easier than using a call centre,” pointed out Blackman. The consensus is that, finally, it was this risk-rating software that transformed the impaired travel insurance market. Free Spirit is a dedicated travel insurance scheme in the UK for people with preexisting conditions and has been around since before automated screening systems existed. Director Peter Hayman
THE VAST CHOICE OF INSURERS THAT COVER PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS IS LEADING TO FAR GREATER SEGMENTATION IN THE MARKET compared to just 2.3 per cent for nonretired households, between 2008 and 2017, according to the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS). “Certainly, the ‘Grey Pound’ has a lot to do with it,” said Chris Blackman, Product Development Consultant for AllClear Insurance Services in the UK, which specialises in cover for pre-existing medical conditions. People living longer means that they still want to go on holiday with their hard-earned money, and this group will inevitably need insurance that covers its health needs. Difficulties in getting coverage for medical conditions at a decent price, however, prompted the rise of specialist insurers in the UK. Such insurers noticed there was a gap in the market, created by the increasing number of people with pre-existing medical conditions who still wanted to travel. They noticed that people wanted – and were able – to do so, in part, because of medical advances such as statins and improved cancer treatments. The rest of the UK travel
spoke to ITIJ about how the market has changed over the years: “Methods of medical screening have evolved, with one particular company, Verisk Analytics (formerly Healix Risk Rating) dominating most sales channels. There are a number of smaller specialist providers who typically cater for particular niche business. The second largest system is Protectif provided by tifgroup. Where Verisk typically looks to provide a quick result with a relatively small number of questions, the Protectif system is a much longer and more inquisitive journey. Both systems have their merits and are under regular review to keep abreast of changes in medication, life expectancy, and improvements in claims data analysis, allowing a more dynamic approach to premium rating.” Paul Beven, Managing Director, Global at Verisk Risk Rating, said insurers use the company’s software to do what they’ve always done, but more easily. “They allow a non-medical customer to input details
of their conditions without being asked any ‘technical’ questions, to get the required information about risk in as few questions as possible, and to have the score output be a good indicator of risk,” he said. The key, of course, lies in getting the questions right. Insurers give their ‘trigger’ questions significant thought. “They want to make the mesh of their sieve fine enough to catch those they want to ask some additional health questions, but not fine enough to catch too many people with minor issues,” he said. In general, this works well, although there are nuances that must be taken into account: “They must manage any apparent inconsistencies between insurer policy wordings, especially relating to exclusions regarding awaiting investigation/treatment.” What has really opened up the market in terms of allowing more people to find the insurance that meets their needs is that online aggregators have brought medical screening to the masses, rather than such customers having to go directly to the
specialist firms. The rise in insurance aggregators like MoneySupermarket.com and medicaltravelcompared. co.uk, is intrinsically linked to these tools, he added. With the same questions answered, it is possible to search across multiple insurers at the same time.
Market maturity Today, the vast choice of insurers that cover pre-existing conditions is leading to far greater segmentation in the market, say UK insurers. “We are increasingly seeing those in the market moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach where age groups and geographical regions may have been lumped together for
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convenience rather than because they were known to represent similar risks,” said Beven. “Increasingly, premiums are becoming ‘personalised’ and that approach includes the assessment of medical risk as sellers compete even more for the customers they want.” Blanket exclusions are still par for the course elsewhere, however. They exist in many international private medical insurance (IPMI) polices, for example. Chris Price, EMEA Head of Travel Insurance, Zurich Insurance Group, told ITIJ: “Many overseas markets provide cover for travellers that varies from the UK approach to pre-existing conditions, ranging from products that exclude all pre-existing conditions (with no option to cover these) to products where pre-existing conditions are fully covered, and no screening process or rate loading is applied.” The overseas cover provided by that country’s own healthcare system is also a factor, he added: “In order to deliver more risk-appropriate premiums, some countries are now beginning to look at medical screening, but this tends to be a slow process.” In Europe, there is little in the way of an impaired life travel industry, agreed Simon Powell, Founder and CEO of Fit 2 Trip, which was created specifically to offer travel insurance products to consumers with pre-existing medical conditions in non-English speaking countries. “European travel insurers still generally exclude travellers with pre-existing medical conditions, or limit the conditions covered to relatively benign ones,” he said. The situation is similar in the US. Rajeev Shrivastava, CEO and Founder of VisitorsCoverage in Silicon Valley, told ITIJ: “Most travel insurance companies in the US do not offer coverage for preexisting conditions. Depending on the specific insurance policy, eligibility of the insured and other criteria, there are some insurance policies that may offer limited pre-existing conditions coverage; others may offer acute onset of pre-existing conditions coverage.” This latter cover, he explained, refers to ‘a sudden and unexpected medical situation related
to a pre-existing condition that requires immediate medical attention’. However, he added, “Even if insurance companies claim to cover pre-existing conditions, it may only be covered given certain circumstances and there are likely many limitations and restrictions applicable in the fine print.” Medically screened products – online or via other means – where they exist in Europe are limited too, Powell explained: “While there are a few medically screened products available to EU citizens, they are only available in English. The only real exception appears to be a product offered by Allianz in Italy called ‘Globy Rosso’, but it does not screen customers.” UK retailers, Powell told ITIJ, tend to ask customers to declare much more around medical conditions pre-sale, as well as flagging key terms and conditions. The more complex the condition, the more problematic it becomes for people to find travel cover for that illness, said Dr Krish Shastri, Medical Director of InsureCancer. For example, many cancer charities complain that it is difficult for cancer patients to find travel insurance. “InsureCancer also receives many enquiries from patients in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Scandinavia, [so] it is therefore clear that this is a worldwide problem,” Dr Shastri said.
ASSESSING RISK AND COVERING PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS IS, WITHOUT DOUBT, A TRICKY BUSINESS True cost of claims Assessing risk and covering pre-existing conditions is, without doubt, a tricky business. AllClear says medical expenses claims account for 40 per cent of all claims received. Chris White, Chief Executive of Southern Cross Travel Insurance (Australia and New Zealand), said the proportion
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is even higher – at 60 per cent. SCTI’s customers are guided through a set of questions – on the phone or online – about any pre-existing conditions. Once completed, they may be given the option to pay a little extra to cover the additional risk of their condition giving them trouble while overseas. If they don’t wish to pay, they are not covered. Insurers must also assess different factors, such as weighing up the cost of treating a person who has a heart attack in Fiji, for instance, compared to the cost of the same event happening in the US. “The cost of returning them home to New Zealand or Australia would also be different in each case,” said White. Advances in medicine, improved data analytics and growing skill and experience in travel insurance are making it possible for SCTI to reduce its own blanket exclusion list over time. “Reinsurers also play a part,” explained White, “helping us spread the risk. As we gain greater understanding about each medical condition, SCTI endeavours to provide cover for it.” But, what would be transformative, say insurers, is if consumers had a better understanding of what the term ‘preexisting conditions’ really means. As White puts it: “At SCTI, we are very aware that pre-existing conditions may be confusing for customers. A customer may think that, because their condition is stable, controlled and well managed, it doesn’t qualify as a pre-existing condition.”
Customer education is key Chris Rolland, CEO of insurer AllClear, agrees. Customers failing to fully disclose all their medical conditions, combined with a lack of understanding of exactly what a policy covers, continue to cause disputes. “There are instances where people believe they only need to declare the most serious of their conditions, or do not realise that you need to inform your insurance provider of a change in medical circumstances,” he said. “Some people think that if a condition is being managed through medication (e.g. for something as common as high blood pressure or asthma) then it doesn’t need to be declared too.” Verisk’s Beven believes the key is explaining to customers at the point of sale the importance of declaring any condition that may impact on their insurance policy. “I think some sellers could do a better job of explaining to customers that there can be significant consequences attached to non- or under-declaration of medical conditions, and perhaps with examples of the medical costs that they could be expected to pay if their insurance does not.” Doctors may also require education too, said Blackman, as they don’t always fully understand the consequences of someone falling ill abroad and, in some cases, perhaps shouldn’t have permitted them to travel in the first place: “Their GP has given their blessing for them to go, usually accompanied with a comment like ‘Make sure to take out a good travel
FEATURE
insurance policy’.” What GPs don’t sometimes fully understand, though, is the effect that a long-haul flight, or a very dry, humid or high altitude destination may have on a condition. The Association of Travel Insurance Intermediaries (ATII) in the UK is
in the process of producing a GPs guide to assessing Fit to Travel in conjunction with the Department of Health and NHS UK. The UK’s Ombudsman says that some complaints it receives involve blanket exclusions for pre-existing medical conditions. More complaints, however, concern individually underwritten policies, where the policyholder has gone through medical screening either online or in a telephone call, and it’s down to the minutiae of whether or not something should have been covered. “We also see complaints
Not for everyone Of course, there are limits to medical online screening, Verisk admits. Insurers using more traditional methods may be more appropriate in some cases. Indeed, basic screening for more mainstream products may miss vital pieces of information when dealing with more complex conditions, said InsureCancer’s Shastri. Using online screening, for example, someone with metastasised prostate cancer may not be asked whether they are on hormone treatment, which is considered the gold standard for prostate cancer treatment these days. A company that assesses risk in patients with serious disease through more traditional interview methods, though, would discover this. That the patient is on such treatment may mean that they are far more stable than the software assumes. “InsureCancer is the acknowledged ‘insurer of last resort’ in the cancer travel insurance market,” said Shashtri. “Keen to live up to their brand values, many insurers therefore routinely signpost their declined cases to InsureCancer.” Perversely, increased segmentation may actually be leading to less choice for some.
opt for a lower risk part of the market – in other words, to cover only the young and the fit. Others may be prepared to take the slightly greater risk and cover people with slightly more pre-existing conditions. These companies then price policies to attract the segment they want to serve. The effect is, according to the FCA, that few companies are in reality providing sensibly priced insurance to cancer sufferers and instead of imposing exclusions, insurers are offering customers they may not want
CANCER SUFFERERS, IN PARTICULAR, FACE A BROAD SET OF CHALLENGES WHEN ATTEMPTING TO NAVIGATE THE TRAVEL INSURANCE MARKET
WHAT WOULD BE TRANSFORMATIVE, SAY INSURERS, IS IF CONSUMERS HAD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE TERM ‘PREEXISTING CONDITIONS’ REALLY MEANS where consumers have failed to disclose anything at all – as well as cases where they have disclosed some but not all of their medical conditions,” said Matthew Allinson, Policy and Communications Adviser at the Ombudsman. “A small number of complaints that we see are about the ongoing duty of disclosure and significant changes in health.” However, the types of issues the organisation sees have largely stayed the same in the last few years, he said. “The clarity of questions asked by insurers is generally improving,” Allison concluded.
is hoped, will make it easier for customers with complex conditions to find insurance, something that Hayman of Free Spirit believes still needs work. “There are a wide range of providers to cater for the full range of medical conditions,” he noted. “However, the industry does not signpost well to specialists, leaving people at risk of travelling without cover or having to go through many channels before they find a solution.” Hayman went on to pose an interesting question: “In my opinion, medical
In a recent paper published on coverage for cancer sufferers, UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said: “This is a nuanced picture and can create issues for those consumers who represent a higher risk to insurers. Those who were likely to have benefited from lower premiums in the past, as a result of larger risk pools, could now find there are less options open to them and that they have to navigate an increasingly complex and confusing market to find insurers willing to cover them.” Essentially, it said that some companies
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to serve extremely high prices; one quote reached £10,000. It may be that this kind of extremely high premium quote happens as a result of agreements between insurers and brokers whereby the insurer has agreed to offer quotes to every single customer that comes through the broker’s system. The reality, though, is shown in the premium price – they do not actually want to offer coverage to that person, and so price themselves out of consideration. The FCA said it recognises that some consumers may fall outside a firm’s risk tolerance and that these companies are not obligated to provide cover at a specific price but has urged insurers to adapt to the realities of the market and customers’ lives. “Cancer sufferers, in particular, face a broad set of challenges when attempting to navigate the travel insurance market, such as being rejected or quoted what consumers view as prohibitively high premiums, being offered complex exclusions, or difficulties in finding specialist insurers who are unlikely to be on price comparison websites,” it stated. Cancer sufferers, it said, are just one of many groups of patients who are underserved. As a result, the FCA will work with key industry stakeholders to create a new service that will redirect customers to specialist providers. This new signposting service, it
screening is no substitute for an adequately rated product. Over the past five years, premium levels have tumbled, whereas medical costs have increased. It begs the question; would the cost of screening, in terms of fees and fulfilment, be better applied to the bottom line?”
Developments around the world While there are still difficulties for some people with pre-existing medical conditions in accessing appropriate cover for a price they consider fair, the UK market has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Elsewhere, too, progress is being made. Fit2Trip in Europe will perhaps be the first of a new wave of insurers offering insurance to Europeans, while in Australia, moves have been made to offer cover to people with mental health conditions. And in Canada, improved medical screening for conditions is resulting in improved coverage, although there remain the perennial problems of under-disclosure and not reading exclusions within policy details. No system is perfect, but as screening programmes continue to gather data and become more sophisticated, the ability of insurers to accurately predict risk and offer their customers the right insurance will improve. ■
PROFILE
Keeping people
healthier for longer ITIJ spoke to Phil Austin, CEO – Europe at Cigna in the UK, about the challenges of 21st century healthcare provision, the impact of technology and the importance of prevention over cure
How did you first get started in the international health insurance industry, and how did you progress to your current position of CEO – Europe at Cigna? I started my career at Cigna back in 2002 as Partnership Director for Cigna International, and apart from a few years when I briefly left the business, I’ve been with the company ever since. I have enjoyed working across a mix of international and European business lines, from being the European Sales and Marketing Director and the Head of the Global IPMI Business, to MD of UK HealthCare Benefits and General Manager of the Domestic Health and Travel Business. As part of Cigna’s International Health Solutions leadership team, I oversee strategic market development to drive accelerated growth in Europe. We intend to grow the business and bring our expertise to a much wider European audience so it’s an exciting challenge at a time when global mobility and demand for health benefits are increasing. How has the global health insurance marketplace changed over the years you have been with Cigna? The biggest change is the impact that technology has had. Of course, you’d struggle to find an industry that hasn’t been impacted by technology but the implications in healthcare are really quite fundamental. Technology has allowed us to move into a space where we are not just treating conditions but helping to catch them earlier or even prevent them developing in the first place.
From a strictly business perspective, technology is the key to cost control in terms of helping to provide more accurate diagnoses, leading to fewer unnecessary procedures. It also enables earlier intervention to minimise the need for costly treatments in the first place. I read a report from McKinsey recently which predicted that clinical solutions and healthcare value services, such as medical cost and population health management solutions, are likely to grow rapidly due to concerns around cost. By using data to inform our decision making, we are starting to tame that medical cost trend. In your view, are health insurers keeping pace with new technology and effectively leveraging it to improve their proposition for customers? Insurance in all its forms is a very traditional industry but the pace of technological change over the last five years or so has been really exciting to watch and be a part of. I would say that some of the healthcare providers out there have struggled to keep pace with this change – many have been unable to develop the capabilities, acquire the talent, and transform their organisations at the pace required. At Cigna, we’ve invested heavily in our digital capabilities such as our online member portal and also in new integrated digital health and wellbeing solutions, using app technology to allow customers fast access to telehealth medical consultations and lifestyle coaching tools to support preventative care and behavioural change. It meshes perfectly with the time-poor
tech-enabled lifestyles of the 21st century workforce and is a great demonstration of the power of technology to help us meet client needs in fresh new ways. How can companies like yourselves help employers to manage costs without impacting on customer care? We want people to be healthy and when they are not, we want to get them back to full fitness as soon as possible. But we don’t want to do that at any cost or compromise the experience that our customers have during and after treatment. To that end, we are collaborating with primary care groups and multi-speciality groups to provide a range of reporting and analytic mechanisms to better measure the approaches healthcare teams take in caring for patients and improving the experience and outcomes for patients. Fundamentally, it’s about improving our customers’ health whilst minimising the length of time and waste that often occurs in delivering healthcare. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing international health insurance providers? And is the industry ready to tackle them? The twin linked challenges of medical inflation on one side and cost containment on the other continue to be major issues for the industry. But although rising medical costs are obviously a big concern, they really are a catalyst for change. It forces the industry to look at new ways of doing things and of improving the services we provide. The need to maintain affordability of cover, for example, is one of the main drivers behind the focus on wellbeing – keeping people healthier for longer is a win-win, not only in terms of managing medical costs but also in better quality of life and higher productivity. Prevention is better than cure, so what looks like a negative factor when viewed in one light can actually yield positive outcomes if we approach it in the right way. It’s also important that insurers respond to the changing nature of the workforce and
We want people to be healthy and when they are not, we want to get them back to full fitness as soon as possible develop the agility and flexibility required to meet the needs of all types of workers – from self-employed and remote workers to the globally mobile and those working in challenging environments, for example. What is the biggest ‘health’ challenge facing business today? Our recent global survey revealed that unmanageable stress is one of the top wellbeing issues facing employers today. But the good news is that employers are beginning to recognise the cost of poor mental health at work and the impact this can have on their employees and business, and are starting to do something about it.
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In fact, we were one of the first healthcare companies to introduce self-referral for any mental health or emotional wellbeing concern with employees not needing to talk to a GP or their employer first. Early intervention is proven to enhance and speed up recovery, getting people back to work faster and with less risk of relapse. We offer ‘Living Life to the Full’, a digital CBT-based life skills tool to all our members. These courses can effectively support people with managing everyday low mood or stress as well as helping people to cope better if they’re living with a health condition. We also recognise the intrinsic link between mental health and physical health and all members receiving psychotherapy treatment are offered free gym membership to aid recovery. In addition, another challenge facing employers globally is helping their employees to manage chronic and complex conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and so on – conditions that are known to be increasing in prevalence in our population as it ages. Again, insurers like ourselves are well placed to provide support to employers. Are these ‘health’ challenges the same for companies with employees working abroad in different locations around the world? Absolutely, international exposure is often a significant draw to working overseas. Our own research shows that globally mobile individuals often experience anxieties related to macroeconomic factors. They are particularly worried about the medical care available and the financial consequences of falling ill. They face additional challenges due to a higher level of insecurity and pressure from working outside their home country. And they are concerned about illness. Cancer and the fear of accidents are the main worries, followed by mental illness, including depression. We put as much emphasis on preassignment work with our clients as well as supporting their employees when they are on the assignment, and we advise clients that it is critical to ensure that employees returning home from an international assignment continue to have that support while back in their home location – when they may experience difficulties settling back in. What are the most challenging aspects of your job? Quite simply put, ‘regulation’. Regulation continues to change at pace around the world. It is vital as an organisation that we continue to keep abreast of all regulatory changes, and the impact and advice that we need to give to our customers and members. What are your proudest achievements, both professionally and personally? Professionally, building and developing Cigna’s Global IPMI Business, and more recently building a new Cigna European organisation. Personally, my four children – they continue to remind me what is important in life and give me a great balance between work and family life. If you could do any other job in the world, what would it be and why? Bearing in mind how much I travel for work, I could definitely have been a pilot for BA! ■
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SERVICE DIRECTORY
Ace Air & Ambulance (Pvt) Ltd.
James Halsted, – Managing Director 2 Mount Road, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe +263 (4) 302 141 +263 (782) 999 901/2/3/4
tel: tel:
james@ace-ambulance.com www.ace-ambulance.com
email: website:
AMREF Flying Doctors Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director Wilson Airport, LangataRoad, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA tel: fax:
+254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170
email: website:
emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org
Awesome Air Evac
AIR AMBULANCE (EUROPE) (ASIA-PACIFIC)
AIR AMBULANCE (AFRICA)
For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)
Dr.Sura Jaidwatee, M.D. – Medical Flight Manager 222 Don Mueang International Airport Office Building 3rd Floor, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Sanambin, Don Mueang, Bangkok 10210, THAILAND 24h tel: +662 247 3392 email: m.w@medicalwings.com fax: +662 535 4734 website: www.medicalwings.com
Air Alliance Medflight GmbH Eva Kluge – Director of Sales & Business Development SIEGERLAND AIRPORT, Werfthalle G1, 57299 Burbach, GERMANY +49 170 366 4933 +49 2736 4428 45
mob: 24/7 tel:
e.kluge@air-alliance.de www.air-alliance.de
email: website:
AIRLEC Air Espace
Shane Marais – General Manager
Paul Tiba – Managing Director
Hanger 104C, Gate C, Lanseria Airport, Lanseria, SOUTH AFRICA
Zone Aviation Générale, 33700 Mérignac Cidex 05 FRANCE
tel:
+27 11 430 1777
email: website:
+335 56 34 02 14 +335 56 55 98 18
24Hr tel: fax:
rescue@awesomeairevac.com www.awesomeairevac.com
paul.tiba@airlecairespace.com www.airlecairespace.com
email: website:
Capital Air Ambulance
ER24 24/7 Flight Desk
Lisa Humphries – Sales Director
Cambridge Manor Office Park, Manor 1, Stone Haven Road, C/o Witkoppen & Stone Haven Roads, Sandton, Paulshof, SOUTH AFRICA tel: +27 (0) 10 205 3100 email: flight@er24.co.za fax: +27 (0) 866 781 507 website: www.er24.co.za
Airport House, Exeter International Airport, EX5 2BD, UK tel: fax:
sales@capitalairambulance.co.uk www.capitalairambulance.co.uk
email: website:
Dr Jean-Philippe MATTEI – Medical Director
Mr Nick Simon – Business Development Manager
Dar El Bacha - Tizougarine 5, 40000 Marrakech Medina, MOROCCO
Funtington Park, Funtington, Chichester, UK, PO18 8RG, UK
tel: fax:
+212 5 24 38 13 88 +212 524 428 436
email: website:
tel: fax:
operations@medic-air.com www.medic-air.com
+ 44 (0) 1243 621 107 + (0) 1243 621 006
privaterepats@cegagroup.com cegagroup.com
email: website:
DRF Luftrettung / German Air Rescue
AirMed Australia Matthew Kline & Mark Wardrop – Executive Directors
Dr. Peter Huber – CEO
German Air Rescue – Claim-Variante rot / schwarz
Hangar 650 Drover Road, Bankstown Airport. NSW, Sydney, AUSTRALIA 2200 tel: +61 2 8700 0685 email: ops@airmed.com.au fax: +61 2 8700 0663 website: www.airmed.com.au
Rita-Maiburg-Str. 2, D-70794 Filderstadt, GERMANY German Air Rescue
+49 7007 3010 +49 7007 3119
24h tel: fax:
email: website:
ops@drf-luftrettung.de www.drf-luftrettung.de/air-ambulance
European Air Ambulance
Alia MedFlight Scott Everson – Vice President
Patrick Schomaker – Director Sales & Marketing
9382 E Bahia Drive, Suite B202, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, USA
Luxembourg Airport, B.P.24, L-5201, Sandweiler, LUXEMBOURG
tel: fax:
602-800-7070 855-831-5092
email: website:
+352 26 26 00 +352 26 26 01
24hr tel: fax:
ops@aliamedflight.com www.aliamedflight.com
email: website:
alert@air-ambulance.com www.air-ambulance.com
FAI – rent-a-jet AG
Asia Air Ambulance Mr. Toranit Sripal – Managing Director
Volker Lemke – Director Sales and Marketing CSO
Asia Air Ambulance Co. Ltd., Bangkok599/59 Ratchadaphisek Road, Jatujak, Bangkok 10900, THAILAND tel: +668 9896 9000 email: operations@asiaairambulance.com fax: +662 192 1801 website: www.asiaairambulance.com
Flughafenstasse. 124; 90411 Nuremberg; GERMANY tel: fax:
Volker.lemke@fai.ag www.fai.ag
Mündelheimer Weg 50, D-40472, Düsseldorf, GERMANY “Homebase FRA & MUC” tel: +49 211 602 7775 email: sales@jetexecutive.com fax: +49 211 602 77766 website: www.jetexecutive.com
33 Ubi Avenue, #08-13, Vertex Tower B, SINGAPORE, 408868 +65 9836 3265 +65 6846 9542
email: website:
Irena Dimitrijevic – Marketing & Sales
Shik – Managing Director
tel: fax:
+49 911 36009 31 +49 911 36009 59
Jet Executive International Charter
EDS AVIATION PTE LTD
AVIATION
+44 845 055 2828 +44 1392 350 039
CEGA Group
Medic’Air International
(ASIA-PACIFIC)
Medical Wings
email: website:
info@eds-aviation.com www.eds-aviation.com
JOIN JET
Flying Doctors Asia Prithpal Singh – CEO , Director
Carsten Vistisen – General Manager
A’Posh Bizhub, 1 Yishun Industrial St 1, #08-03, SINGAPORE, 768160
Cumulusvej 10, 7190 Billund, DENMARK
+65 6483 5412 +65 6734 1338
tel: fax:
email: website:
24hr tel: fax:
prithpal@flyingdoctorsasia.com www.flyingdoctorsasia.com
+45 701 040 90 +45 701 040 90
email: website:
ems@joinjet.com www.joinjet.com
Malteser Service Center
LifeFlight Peter Elliott – Fixed Wing Operations Manager
Johannes Hoischen – International Network and Repatriation
PO Box 15166, City East, QLD 4002, AUSTRALIA
Erna-Scheffler-Strasse 2, 51103 Köln, GERMANY
24/7 (int) tel: fax:
+61 7 5553 5955 +61 7 5553 5965
email: website:
tel: fax:
ops@lifeflight.org.au www.LifeFlight.org.au
+49 221 98 22 9333 +49 40 694597 61339
email: website:
ambulance@malteser.org www.malteser-service-center.de
Medic’Air International
Medic’Air International 每递安国际 Dr Li Tao – Medical Director
Dr Herve Raffin – General Manager
885 Renmin Road, Huaihai China Building, Room 808, 200010 Shanghai, CHINA
35 rue Jules Ferry, 93170 Bagnolet, Paris, FRANCE
tel: fax:
+86 2163 558289 +86 2163 558285
email: website:
tel: fax:
operations@medic-air.com www.medic-air.com
40
+33 141 72 1414 +33 148 57 1010
email: website:
operations@medic-air.com www.medic-air.com
For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)
North Flying a/s
(NORTH AMERICA)
AIR AMBULANCE (EUROPE)
SERVICE DIRECTORY
Jesper Kragelund – Sales Manager North Flying Terminal, Aalborg Airport, DK-9400, Nørresundby, DENMARK tel: +45 9632 2900 email: jkr@northflying.com website: www.northflying.com fax: +45 9632 2909
Quick Air Jet Charter GmbH Philipp Schneider – Account Manager Hangar 3, Cologne Airport, 51147 Cologne, GERMANY
Swiss Air-Rescue (Rega) Stefan Becker – Head of Corporate Development Rega-Center, PO Box 1414, CH-8058 Zurich, SWITZERLAND +41 44 654 33 11 +41 44 654 33 22
tel: fax:
stefan.becker@rega.ch www.rega.ch
email: website:
Tyrol Air Ambulance Manfred Helldoppler – Managing Director Fuerstenweg 180, A-6026 Innsbruck-Airport, AUSTRIA +43 512 22422 100 +43 512 288 888
tel: fax:
taa@taa.at www.taa.at
email: website:
David Ewing – Senior Vice President, Global Markets Montreal/PE Trudeau Int Airport, 9785 Avenue Ryan, Montreal (Quebec), H9P 1A2, CANADA tel: +1 514 497 7000 email: alert@skyservice.com fax: +1 514 636 0096 website: www.skyserviceairambulance.com
AIMS Bernadette Breton – Chief Executive Officer AIMS House, 3 West St, Bryanston 2191, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA tel: +27 11 783 0135 email: operations@aims.org.za fax: +27 11 783 2950 website: www.aims.org.za
AMREF Flying Doctors Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director Wilson Airport, Langata Road, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA tel: fax:
+254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170
emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org
email: website:
Dr Helmy El Tanahy – CEO
8775 Aero Drive, Ste 120, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
Office 11, Floor 1, 6 El Sad El Aali st, Dokki, Cairo, EGYPT
+1 858 437 5131 +1 858 408 7856
milanfloribus@gmail.com acglobalmedicaltransports.com
email: website:
tel: fax:
Aeromedevac Air Ambulance
+202 3 336 0005 +202 3 762 0003
alarm@connexassistance.com www.connexassistance.com
email: website:
Inter Secours Assistance
Adam Williams – President
Mr. EL MOUADDEN Abdelhamid – Directeur Général
Gillespie Field Airport, 681 Kenney Street, El Cajon, CA 92020, USA
8, Rue Grasset, Quartier des hôpitaux, CP 20360,Casablanca, MOROCCO tel: +212 5 22 46 72 22 fax: +212 5 22 26 00 27
+(800) 462 0911 +(619) 284 7918
toll free: fax:
email: website:
awilliams@aeromedevac.com www.aeromedevac.com
AirEvac International
email: website:
mouaden@isas.ma www.isas.ma
Medical Services Organisation (MSO)
Raul Mendoza – President / CEO
Brenda Durow – General Manager - Assistance
3404 Bonita Rd, Chula Vista, Ca. 91910, USA
PO Box 1578, Gallo Manor, 2052, SOUTH AFRICA
+1 619 754-6755 +1 619 330 4551
tel: fax:
email: website:
info@aeiamericas.com www.aeiamericas.com
Alia MedFlight Scott Everson – Vice President 9382 E Bahia Drive, Suite B202, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, USA tel: fax:
602-800-7070 855-831-5092
email: website:
ops@aliamedflight.com www.aliamedflight.com
CEGA Group Mr Nick Simon – Business Development Manager Funtington Park, Funtington, Chichester, UK, PO18 8RG, UK + 44 (0) 1243 621 107 + (0) 1243 621 006
tel: fax:
email: website:
privaterepats@cegagroup.com cegagroup.com
tel: fax:
ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (ASIA-PACIFIC)
AIR AMBULANCE (NORTH AMERICA)
Skyservice Air Ambulance
Milan Floribus – President
tel: fax:
Global Jetcare, Inc.
+27 (0)11 259 5403 +27 (0)11 259 5001
24hr email: website:
assistance@mso.co.za www.mso.co.za
AA International Sharon Tan – Director ASIA tel: fax:
+603 7965 3883 +603 7629 8288
email: website:
marketing@aa-international.com www.aa-international.com
AA International Indonesia Brandon Heng – CEO Tifa Building, 10th Floor, No.1003, Jl. Kuningan Barat 1 No. 26, Mampang Prapatan, Jakarta 12710, INDONESIA tel: 24/7:
+62 21 2927 9600 ops-jakarta@aa-international.co.id
email: website:
marketing@aa-international.co.id www.aa-international.co.id
AIG Travel
Bart Gray – President
Martin Villarino – General Manager, AIG Travel Asia Pacific
15421 Technology Dr. Brooksville, FL 34604, USA
Level 15 Menara Worldwide, 198 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA tel: +603 2772 5555 email: martin.villarino@aig.com fax: +603 2685 5673 website: aig.com/travel
tel: fax:
+1 352 799 7771 +1 352 799 7776
email: website:
bart@globaljetcare.com www.globaljetcare.com
JET ICU
ASIAN TRAVEL AND MEDICAL SERVICES Mike Honeycutt – President
When Experience Matters.
2101 W. Commercial Blvd., Suite 1500, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309, USA tel: +1 954 730 9300 email: operations@flyreva.com fax: +1 954 485 6564 website: www.flyreva.com
CONNEX Assistance
AC Global Medical Transports
Jet icu
Stuart Hayman – CEO
ops@quickair.de www.quickair.de
email: website:
ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (AFRICA)
+49 2203 955 700 +49 2203 955 7020
tel: fax:
REVA Inc
Rahul Gupta – Sr. Manager - International Business
2561 Rescue Way, Brooksville, FL 34604, USA tel: fax:
+1 352 796 2540 +1 352 796 2549
email: website:
131/1 , PICNIC GARDEN ROAD , KOLKATA - 700039 , INDIA ops@jeticu.com www.jeticu.com
tel: fax:
Jet-Rescue Air Ambulance
0091-9836309173 033-23440170
email: website:
rahul.gupta@asiantms.com www.asiantms.com
Alpine Rescue Service Pvt Ltd 'Mission: Save Life'
Carlos Salinas – CEO
Mr. Ram Nepal – Executive Director
Suite 100, 7777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33434, USA
Ekikaran Sadak, 16 Kha.2.37, Naya Bazar - 16, Kathmandu, Nepal, POBOX: 21100; NEPAL 24/7 tel: +977 1 436 2652 email: 24/7 fax: +977 1 442 5111 website:
tel:
+1 786 619 1268
email: website:
operations@jet-rescue.com www.medjetsUSA.com
41
info@alpine-rescue.com www.alpine-rescue.com
AP Companies KAZAKHSTAN Elmira Turmagambetova – General Manager 4, 148 Mamir, Auzovskiy region, Almati, KAZAKHSTAN + 7 727 350 52 76
tel:
email: website:
KZT@ap-companies.com www.ap-companies.com
AP Companies UZBEKISTAN Ilhom Sadikov – Business Development Manager 4a, Uzumzor street, Ulukbek region,Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN +9 987 123 890 41
tel:
email: website:
uzb@ap-companies.com www.ap-companies.com
ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (ASIA-PACIFIC)
SERVICE DIRECTORY Global Doctor China Regina Zheng – Operations Manager Unit 808/811, Level 8, No.88, Bai Zi Wan Nan Er Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, P.R.,100022 CHINA tel: +86 10 5815 1188 Ext. 812 email: regina@globaldoctor.com.au fax: +86 10 8775 9138 website: www.globaldoctor.com.au
Global MediCALL Assistance Sridhar K – Chief Operations Officer MALAYSIA
Beltway Office Park Tower C 2nd floor Jl. TB Simatupang Kav. 41, Jakarta 12550, INDONESIA tel: +6221 80866000 email: med.assistance@medikaplaza.com website: www.medikaplaza.com
No 29,3rd floor,35th Street, Kyauttada Township,Yangon, MYANMAR +95 979 584 3944
email: website:
Myanmar@asian-assistance.com www.asian-assistance.com
Asian Assistance – Philippines Marby Cervantes Madulara – Team Leader, Operation and Medical Development 504P to 508P, Pacific Drive Five E Com Center Bldg. Pacific Drive Extension Block 18 Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City, PHILIPPINES tel:
+63 999 878 6990
email: website:
Philippines@asian-assistance.com www.asian-assistance.com
ADAC Ambulance Service Christoph Ullrich – Senior Manager International Network Hansastr. 19, D - 80686 Munich, GERMANY tel: 24h Alarm:
Susanne Mørch – Director
email: website:
contact@asian-assistance.com www.asian-assistance.com
AP Companies
Nick Wongkuan – Director of Finance and Business Development
Natalya Butakova – Business Development Manager
5th Floor, 106 Ton Due Thang street, Quae Tu Giam ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi, VIETNAM +84 915 618 860
email: website:
17 Varshavskoye Shosse, Moscow 117105, RUSSIA
Vietnam@asian-assistance.com www.asian-assistance.com
tel: fax:
BrightCare Assist
Via Torino, 2 20123 Milano, ITALY / FRANCE tel: fax:
CareJet Assist
tel:
email: website:
assist@assist-ukraine.com assist-ukraine.com
Antonio Magliocca – Medical Director
1 Farrer Park Station Road, #15-18, Farrer Park Medical Centre, SINGAPORE 217562 email: website:
+38044 251 28 11
BMC HEALTH SOLUTIONS 24hr Medical Assistance
Dexter Tan – Business Development Director
Via del pozzo 30, Monteriggioni, 53100, Siena, ITALY
dexter@emaglobal.com.sg www.emaglobal.com.sg
24hr tel: fax:
EMA Global Pte Ltd
+39 0823 966 694 +39 0823 966 694
email: website:
info@assistenzamedicah24.it www.medicalassistanceh24.com
CNAS
Jay Bajas – Senior Manager - Operations
Carole Luisy – Managing Director
Unit 2314 Centuria Medical Makati, Century City, Kalayaan Ave. cor. Salamanca St. Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City - 1210, PHILIPPINES email: website:
80 rue des alliés, 38100, Grenoble, FRANCE
jay@emaglobal.com.ph www.emaglobal.com.sg
tel: fax:
Global Assistance & Healthcare
+33 438 49 83 49 +33 438 49 83 40
email: website:
carole.luisy@cnas-assistance.com www.cnas-assistance.com
DRF Luftrettung / German Air Rescue
Alain Durand – President Director Cibis Nine, 5th Fl, Jalan TB. Simatupang No. 2, Cilandak – Pasar Minggu, Jakarta 12560, INDONESIA tel: +62 21 299 78 999 email: global@global-assistance.net fax: +62 21 299 78 9555/66 website: www.global-assistance.net
Dr. Peter Huber – CEO
German Air Rescue – Claim-Variante rot / schwarz
Rita-Maiburg-Str. 2, D-70794 Filderstadt, GERMANY German Air Rescue
Global Assistance Partners Co.,Ltd.
24h tel: fax:
+49 7007 3010 +49 7007 3119
email: website:
ops@drf-luftrettung.de www.drf-luftrettung.de/air-ambulance
DRK Assistance
Gna KH CHUNG – CEO
Andreas Speich – Managing Director
412 Vabien III, 86, TongIl-ro,Jung-gu, Seoul 04517, REPUBLIC OF KOREA +82 1670 0722 +82 2 720 8839
operations@argosassistance.com www.argosassistance.com
Str. Sholudenko 3, 04116 Kiev, UKRAINE
EMA Global Pte Ltd
tel: fax:
email: website:
Andrey ZIMIN – Director
Level 24 Robinsons Cyberscape Beta, Topaz & Ruby Roads, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City, PHILIPPINES email: ops@carejetassist.com tel: +63 2 226 6911 website: www.carejetassist.com
+63 (02) 555 5228 +63 (02) 863 0650
+39 027 254 6325 +39 069 933 5053
AU International Service / ASSIST UKRAINE
Anthony Decoste – President
24hr tel: fax:
natalya@ap-companies.ru www.ap-companies.ru
email: website:
Marco Rinalducci – Claims & Administration Director
Unit 10-1, Fort Legend Tower, 31st Street corner 3rd Avenue, Bonifacio Global City Taguig, 1632, PHILIPPINES tel: (632) 785-0055 email: ops@brightcare-assist.com fax: (632) 224-4152 website: www.brightcare-assist.com
+65 6753 9133 +65 6244 0030
+7 495 989 1120 +7 495 989 1130
Argos Assistance Srl
Gloria Lee Carmen V. Matti – CEO
tel:
christoph.ullrich@adac.de www.adac.de/ambulance
21 Cecil Pashley Way, Shoreham Airport, Shoreham-By-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 5FF, UK tel: +44 (0)1273 456 484 email: sally.waithe@aig.com website: aig.com/travel
Asian Assistance – Vietnam
tel:
email: website:
Sally Waithe – General Manager, AIG Travel EMEA
Viphavadi Tower 15th floor, 51/3 Ngamwongwan Road, Ladyao, Chatchuchak, 10900 Bangkok, THAILAND +66 2 056 1800
+49 89 7676 2912 +49 89 7676 8912
AIG Travel
Asian Assistance – Thailand
tel:
marketing@globalmedicallassistance.com
email:
Dr Nino Susanto – Operational Director
Dr Yin – Chief Medical Officer
tel:
+6 03 3359 6969 +6 03 3359 6161
tel: fax:
MEDIKA PLAZA
Asian Assistance – Myanmar
(EUROPE)
ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (ASIA-PACIFIC)
For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)
email: website:
Aufm Hennekamp 71, 40225 Düsseldorf, GERMANY
operations@globalassistance.co.kr www.globalassistance.co.kr
tel: fax:
42
+49 211 301805-0 +49 211 301805-21
email: website:
info@drkassistance.com www.drkassistance.com
For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)
Dr. Hany Benyamen – CEO Av. del General Perón, 25 . Planta 10 F, 28020 Madrid, SPAIN +34 910 602 414 +20 100 6222 910
tel: tel:
email: website:
ecanetwork@egycross-assistance.com www.egycross-europe.com
Eurocross Turkey Mehtap Baylam Akkaya – CEO Altunizade Mahallesi, Ord. Prof. Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Caddesi, Eşref Çakmak Plaza, No:32 Kat:3 34662 Üsküdar, İstanbul, TURKEY tel: +90 216 265 15 25 email: int@eurocrossturkey.com.tr website: www.eurocrossturkey.com.tr fax: +90 216 265 15 65
ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (EUROPE)
EgyCross Assistance
Global Assistance a.s. Ing. Marek Jaroš – General Manager
Denise Rogers – Network Manager C/Porto Pi, 8. 07015 Palma de Mallorca SPAIN +34 971 919 244 +34 971 919 255
tel: fax:
info@medicalresponse.es www.mri-assist.com
email: website:
Save Assistance France Thomas Blanchet – Key Account Manager / Responsable Grands Comptes 6 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Le Campus, Bat. B1, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux., FRANCE tel: +33 (0)13062 6752 email: blanchet@saveassistance.com 24 tel: +33 (0)13062 1122 website: www.saveassistance.com
Maria Berkova – General Manager 3rd floor, entrance #4, 20/3 Bolshoy Karetniy lane, Moscow, 127051, RUSSIA tel: +7 495 987 1775 email: svg@savitar-gr.com fax: +7 495 987 1776 website: www.savitar-gr.com
Dopraváku 749/3, 18400 Prague 8, CZECH REPUBLIC tel: fax:
MRI Assist
Savitar Group Ltd.
+420 266 799 770 +420 266 799 797
ops@1220.cz www.1220.cz
email: website:
Global Voyager Assistance - Black Sea
Semesur Assistance
Oxana Razorenova – General Manager
Eugenio Crenes – General Manager
77-79 Nezhinskaya Str., 65023, Odessa, UKRAINE
Paseo de la Castellana 18, 7ª Planta, 28046 Madrid, SPAIN
tel: fax:
+38 048 7373 441 +38 048 7373 442
email: website:
+34 911 010 470 +34 902 001 410
tel: fax:
gmbs@gvassistance.com www.gvassistance.com
Global Voyager Assistance - Russia
email: website:
Jane Hegeler – Managing Director
PO Box II, 125124 Moscow, RUSSIA
54 Melita Street, Valetta, VLT 1122, MALTA
tel: fax:
info@semesur.com www.semesur.com
Tangiers International
Costas Danilenko – CEO
+7 495 775 0999 +7 495 775 0998
cdanilenko@gvassistance.com www.gvassistance.com
email: website:
+356 277 800 16 +356 272 055 00
tel: fax:
IFRA Assistance GmbH – Austria
email: website:
info@tangiersinternational.com www.tangiersinternational.com
TBS Team 24 d.o.o
Mr. Christian Steindl M.D. – CEO
Edvard Hojnik – General Manger
IFRA Assistance GmbH, Schießstattring 21, A-3100 St. Pölten, AUSTRIA
CROATIA, SLOVENIA, SERBIA, MNE, BH, KOS, MAC
tel: fax:
+43 (0) 2742 49 11 +43 (0) 27 42 89165
email: website:
office@ifra.at www.ifra.at
+386 2616 5819 +386 2618 5800
tel: fax:
Inchcape Medical & Assistance Services
email: website:
info@tbs-team24.com www. tbs-team24.com
Tyrol Air Ambulance
Mara Mytilineou – Operations Manager
Manfred Helldoppler – Managing Director
3, Agiou Dionysiou street, 18545 Piraeus, GREECE
Fuerstenweg 180, A-6026 Innsbruck-Airport, AUSTRIA
tel: fax:
(+30) 210 42 24 805 (+30) 211 79 07 790
email: website:
Intana Global Denise Groom – Head of Commercial Sussex House, Perrymount Road, Haywards heath, West Sussex, RH16 1DN, UK email: enquiries@intana-global.com website: www.intana-global.com
Interamerican Assistance S.A. Inez Tissink – Coordinator International Activities
(+30) 210 94 61 750 (+30) 210 94 61 004
email: website:
taa@taa.at www.taa.at
CONNEX Assistance JLT Lara Helmi – International Network Director #204 Gold Crest Executive Tower, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES tel: +97 14 368 36 25 email: dubai@connexassistance.com fax: +97 14 420 49 12 website: www.connexassistance.com
Fakeeh International Dr. Fatih Mehmet GUL – Executive Director Palestine Street, Al Hamra District P.O. Box 2537 21461, JEDDAH/SAUDI ARABIA tel: 00966 12 6603080 email: ops@fakeehinternational.com website: www.fakeehinternational.com
Syngrou Avenue 350,17680 Kallithea, Athens, GREECE tel: fax:
+43 512 22422 100 +43 512 288 888
tel: fax:
assistance@iss-shipping.com www.iss-assistance.com
(MIDDLE EAST)
(EUROPE)
ASSISTANCE COMPANIES
SERVICE DIRECTORY
email: website:
tissinki@interamerican.gr www.interamerican.gr
Malteser Service Center
GORAL ASSISTANCE LTD
Johannes Hoischen – International Network and Repatriation
Marcel Kadoche – International Network and Development Manager
Erna-Scheffler-Strasse 2, 51103 Köln, GERMANY
Maskit 27 str. Herzeliya Industrial Park 46733, ISRAEL
tel: fax:
+49 221 98 22 9333 +49 40 694597 61339
email: website:
tel: fax:
ambulance@malteser.org www.malteser-service-center.de
Marm Assistance
+972 9 9579930 +972 9 9579931
email: website:
info@goralassist.com www.goralassist.com
IRAN ASSISTANCE
Mahmut Kadirbeyoglu – CEO
Ashkan Lahiji – International Network Manager
AirPort Plaza, Ankara Caddesi, No:486, Kurtkoy 34912, Istanbul, TURKEY
No 24,SOS building,15th Street, Gandi Avenue, Tehran,15175, IRAN
tel: fax:
+90 216 560 07 24 +90 216 560 07 07
email: website:
tel: fax:
marm@marm.com.tr www.marmassistance.com
+98-21-88648620 - 24 +98-21-88648502
email: website:
operation@iranassistance.com www.iranassistance.com
SWAN INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE – MUTUAL CARE
Medicall AG Markus Detel – Manager International Network
Mr. Joseph Akiki – CEO
Zurichstrasse 38, CH-8306 Bruttisellen, SWITZERLAND
P.O. Box 2265 Jounieh, Lebanon
tel:
+41 44 655 16 67
email: website:
tel 24/7: fax:
mservices@medicall.ch www.medicall.ch
43
+961 9 224 008/009 +961 9 224 010
email: website:
request@swanassistance.com www.swanassistance.com
SERVICE DIRECTORY
Active Care Management Paul Schlosser – Client Relationship Manager 3600 Rhodes Dr., Windsor, ON, N8W 5A4, CANADA tel: fax:
+519 945 8256 ext.4111 +519 251 5165
pschlosser@active-care.ca www.active-care.ca
email: website:
AIG Travel Jim Koziol – General Manager, North America 3330 Business Park Drive, Stevens Point WI 54482, USA tel:
+1 715 295 9105
email: website:
jim.koziol@aig.com aig.com/travel
CLAIMS MANAGEMENT
ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (NORTH AMERICA)
For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)
Claims at TuGo Taka Katsube – Director Assistance & Cost Managment 10th Floor, 6081 No.3 Road, Richmond, BC V6Y 2B2, CANADA tel: fax:
email: website:
tkat@tugo.com www.tugo.com
Eurocross Turkey Mehtap Baylam Akkaya – CEO Altunizade Mahallesi, Ord. Prof. Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Caddesi, Eşref Çakmak Plaza, No:32 Kat:3 34662 Üsküdar, İstanbul, TURKEY tel: +90 216 265 15 25 email: int@eurocrossturkey.com.tr website: www.eurocrossturkey.com.tr fax: +90 216 265 15 65
Global Assistance & Healthcare
ASSIST CARD Federico Tarling – Chief Service Officer
Alain Durand – President Director
ASSIST-CARD Building, 175 South West 7th Street, Suite 2407, Miami, FL 33130, USA tel: +1 305 381 9959/69 email: federico.tarling@assistcard.com toll free: +1 800 874 2223 website: www.assistcard.com
Cibis Nine, 5th Fl, Jalan TB. Simatupang No. 2, Cilandak – Pasar Minggu, Jakarta 12560, INDONESIA tel: +62 21 299 78 999 email: global@global-assistance.net fax: +62 21 299 78 9555/66 website: www.global-assistance.net
Global Excel Management
AXA Partners US
Simon Jackson – Chief Commercial Officer
John Spears – VP Business Development & Marketing
122 South Michigan Ave, Suite 1100, Chicago, IL 60603, USA
73 Queen St, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C9, CANADA
tel:
+1 312 935 1771
email: website:
simon.jackson@axa-assistance.us www.axa-assistance.us
tel: fax:
CanAssistance
+1 819 566 8833 +1 819 566 8447
email: website:
corpinfo@globalexcel.com www.globalexcel.com
Intana Global Fabienne Lavoie – Director, International Operations and Claims
Denise Groom – Head of Commercial
550 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite B-9, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3S3, CANADA tel: +1 514 286 7707 email: fabienne.lavoie@canassistance.com fax: +1 514 286 8413 website: www.canassistance.com
Sussex House, Perrymount Road, Haywards heath, West Sussex, RH16 1DN, UK email: enquiries@intana-global.com website: www.intana-global.com
GORAL ASSISTANCE CANADA INC.
New Frontier Group
David Ohayon – Local Manager
Gitte Bach – President and CEO
2155 Vincent St, Montreal, QC H4M 1M6, CANADA
1024 Bayside Drive, Suite 144, Newport Beach, California, 92660-7462, USA
tel: fax:
+1 514 448 1343 +1 514 448 1835
email: website:
info@goralassist.ca www.goralassist.com
tel: fax:
MD ABROAD
+1 949 429 7130 +1 949 666 6520
email: website:
Bach@NewFrontierGroup.com www.newfrontiergroup.com
Star Healthcare Network, Inc. Ignacio C. Marquez – COO
Gigi Galen Grobstein – President
2999 NE 191st Street, Suite 608, Aventura, Florida, USA
120 Bloomingdale Road, Suite #304, White Plains, NY 10605, USA
tel: fax:
+1 (786) 475-5475 +1 718 847 0533
email: website:
operations@mdabroad.com www.mdabroad.com
tel: fax:
SunMed International, LLC
email: website:
TMCA Group Corp Crystal Wharton – President 217 Broadway Suite 608, New York, New York 10007, USA tel: fax:
+1 646 398 9021 +1 646 398 9025
email: website:
Crystal@tmcatravel.com www.tmcatravel.com
Global Excel Management John Spears – VP Business Development & Marketing 73 Queen St, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C9, CANADA tel: fax:
+1 819 566 8833 +1 819 566 8447
email: website:
corpinfo@globalexcel.com www.globalexcel.com
(EUROPE)
New Frontier Group Gitte Bach – President and CEO 1024 Bayside Drive, Suite 144, Newport Beach, California, 92660-7462, USA tel: +1 949 429 7130 email: Bach@NewFrontierGroup.com fax: +1 949 666 6520 website: www.newfrontiergroup.com
Plotkin Health Inc – A Subsidiary of MacroHealth LP
email: website:
Bernadette Breton – Chief Executive Officer AIMS House, 3 West St, Bryanston 2191, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA tel: +00 27 11 783 0135 email: operations@aims.org.za fax: +00 27 11 783 2950 website: www.aims.org.za
Medical Services Organisation (MSO) Brenda Durow – General Manager - Assistance PO Box 1578, Gallo Manor, 2052, SOUTH AFRICA tel: fax:
+27 (0)11 259 5403 +27 (0)11 259 5001
24hr email: website:
assistance@mso.co.za www.mso.co.za
AP Companies Natalya Butakova – Business Development Manager 17 Varshavskoye Shosse, Moscow 117105, RUSSIA tel: fax:
+7 495 989 1120 +7 495 989 1130
email: website:
natalya@ap-companies.ru www.ap-companies.ru
contact the sales department now:
27-3088 Francis Road, Richmond, British Columbia V7C 5V9, CANADA +1 604 241 9639 +1 604 241 0733
AIMS
To have your company listed in our service directory
Shaun A. Plotkin BA (Uvic), LLB (Monash), GDLP – President
tel: fax:
Ggalen@starhealthcarenet.com www.starhealthcarenet.com
sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)
khaber@sunmedint.net www.sunmedint.net
COST CONTAINMENT (AFRICA)
+1 786 888 6792 +1 786 551 0763
email: website:
contact the sales department now:
2000 NW 89th Place. Miami FL 33172, UNITED STATES tel: fax:
+ 1 914 358 9121 + 1 914 358 9206
To have your company listed in our service directory
Dra. Kinyi Haber – Medical Director. VP International Operation
CATASTROPHIC CLAIMS SPECIALISTS
+1 604 303 2113 +1 604 276 4593
sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)
shaun@plotkinconsulting.com www.plotkinconsulting.com
44
For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)
ChargeCare International
CRITICAL CARE PATIENT TRANSPORT
COST CONTAINMENT (EUROPE)
SERVICE DIRECTORY
Mary-Jo McDonald (MJ) – Managing Director Sanderum Centre, 30a Upper High Street, Thame, OX9 3EX, UK tel: fax:
+44 1865 400 007 +44 845 003 1351
contact@chargecare.net www.chargecare.net
email: website:
Claims at TuGo Taka Katsube – Director Assistance & Cost Managment 10th Floor, 6081 No.3 Road, Richmond, BC V6Y 2B2, CANADA tel: fax:
+1 604 303 2113 +1 604 276 4593
tkat@tugo.com www.tugo.com
email: website:
Eurocross Turkey
European Air Ambulance Patrick Schomaker – Director Sales & Marketing Luxembourg Airport, B.P.24, L-5201, Sandweiler, LUXEMBOURG 24hr tel: fax:
alert@air-ambulance.com www.air-ambulance.com
email: website:
Malteser Service Center Johannes Hoischen – International Network and Repatriation Erna-Scheffler-Strasse 2, 51103 Köln, GERMANY +49 221 98 22 9333 +49 40 694597 61339
tel: fax:
ambulance@malteser.org www.malteser-service-center.de
email: website:
Skyservice Air Ambulance
Mehtap Baylam Akkaya – CEO
David Ewing – Senior Vice President, Global Markets
Altunizade Mahallesi, Ord. Prof. Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Caddesi, Eşref Çakmak Plaza, No:32 Kat:3 34662 Üsküdar İstanbul, TURKEY tel: +90 216 265 15 25 email: int@eurocrossturkey.com.tr website: www.eurocrossturkey.com.tr fax: +90 216 265 15 65
Mahmut Kadirbeyoglu – CEO AirPort Plaza, Ankara Caddesi, No:486, Kurtkoy 34912, Istanbul, TURKEY tel: fax:
+90 216 560 07 24 +90 216 560 07 07
marm@marm.com.tr www.marmassistance.com
email: website:
Global Excel Management John Spears – VP Business Development & Marketing 73 Queen St, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C9, CANADA tel: fax:
+1 819 566 8833 +1 819 566 8447
email: website:
corpinfo@globalexcel.com www.globalexcel.com
Montreal/PE Trudeau Int Airport, 9785 Avenue Ryan, Montreal (Quebec), H9P 1A2, CANADA tel: +1 514 497 7000 email: alert@skyservice.com fax: +1 514 636 0096 website: www.skyserviceairambulance.com
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
Marm Assistance
(NORTH AMERICA)
+352 26 26 00 +352 26 26 01
Global Medical Management
Extreme Care Repatriation Petar Chernaev – Manager 1 Gevgeliiski, Sofia 1309, BULGARIA
Blk 4 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh #01-1345A, SINGAPORE tel: fax:
+65 6253 0001 +65 6353 5801
email: website:
enquiry@flyinghome.com www.flyinghome.com
Funeral Home AURIGA Ltd. Helena Sulikova – Chief of International Department
+1 954 370 6404 +1 954 370 8613
email: website:
B. Nemcové Street 1052/1, 412 01 Litomerice, CZECH REPUBLIC
info@gmmi.com www.gmmi.com
tel: fax:
MD ABROAD
Funeralia
Ignacio C. Marquez – COO 2999 NE 191st Street, Suite 608, Aventura, Florida, USA + 1 (786) 475-5475 +1 718 847 0533
office@extremecare.eu www.extremecare.eu
Mr Ang Ziqian – Director
880 SW 145th Ave., Suite 400, Pembroke Pines, FL, 33027, USA
tel: fax:
email: website:
Flying Home Pte Ltd
Raija Itzchaki – COO
tel: fax:
+359 882 52 9557
tel:
email: website:
+420 724 257 899 +420 416 732 582
email: website:
repatriations@pohrebni-auriga.cz www.funeral-assistance.cz
Oleg Antoni Milinski – Funeral Director International funeral services, UKRAINE, POLAND, ITALY
operations@mdabroad.com www.mdabroad.com
tel: fax:
New Frontier Group
Funerarium
+38 0971 498 785 +48 5131 236 78
email: website:
funeralia.org@gmail.com www.Funeralia.org
Gitte Bach – President and CEO
Maurizia Fantozzi – Director
1024 Bayside Drive, Suite 144, Newport Beach, California, 92660-7462, USA
Indirizzo dell’Azienda: Via Roma 255, Capistrello, Aquila, ITALY
tel: fax:
+1 949 429 7130 +1 949 666 6520
email: website:
tel: tel:
Bach@NewFrontierGroup.com www.newfrontiergroup.com
Penfield Care
+39 327 328 7979 +39 (0) 863 186 1635
email: website:
segreteria@funerarium.it funerarium.it
FUNERARIA OFFICIA ROBERTO ZEGA - Worldwide Repatriations Specialist Mr Stephen Zatylny – President
Cristina Zega – Repatriations Manager
A1-130 Terence Matthews Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario, K2M 0J1, CANADA
Via Clelia, 26 / 28 - 00181 Roma, ITALY
tel: fax:
+1 613 703 9861 +1 819 200 0281
email: website:
tel: fax:
info@penfieldcare.com www.penfieldcare.com
0039 06 78 40 300 0039 06 78 02 488
email: website:
info@zega.it www.zega.it
G7 Mortuary Shipping - Latin-American Funeral Assistance
Plotkin Health Inc – A Subsidiary of MacroHealth LP Shaun A. Plotkin BA (Uvic), LLB (Monash), GDLP – President
Christian Correa – Operations Director
27-3088 Francis Road, Richmond, British Columbia V7C 5V9, CANADA
Zona Franca Local 110, Rionegro, Antioquia, COLOMBIA & USA
tel: fax:
+1 604 241 9639 +1 604 241 0733
email: website:
tel: tel:
shaun@plotkinconsulting.com www.plotkinconsulting.com
+1 203 343 8111 +57 4 562 1142
email: website:
info@g7ms.com www.g7ms.com
Rowland Brothers International Ltd.
Star Healthcare Network, Inc. Gigi Galen Grobstein – President
Fiona Greenwood – Operations Director
120 Bloomingdale Road, Suite #304, White Plains, NY 10605, USA
299-305 Whitehorse Road, West Croydon, Surrey CR0 2HR, UK
tel: fax:
+ 1 914 358 9121 + 1 914 358 9206
email: website:
tel: fax:
Ggalen@starhealthcarenet.com www.starhealthcarenet.com
+44 20 8684 2324 +44 20 8684 8000
email: website:
info@rowlandbrothersinternational.com www.rowlandbrothersinternational.com
Singapore Casket Company (Pte) Ltd – Worldwide Repatriation
To have your company listed in our service directory
Calvin Tang
contact the sales department now:
131 Lavender Street, Singapore, 338737, SINGAPORE tel: fax:
sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1) 45
+65 6293 4388 +65 6296 5993
email: website:
customerservice@singaporecasket.com.sg www.singaporecasket.com.sg
SERVICE DIRECTORY
Gateway International EMS
Oliver L. Müller – Managing Director 1440 G St. NW, Washington DC, 20005 , USA +1-888-828-5258 +1-201-205-2239
tel: fax:
operations@gateway-ems.com www.gateway-ems.com
email: website:
GroundMed Australia Matthew Kline & Mark Wardrop – Executive Directors Hangar 650 Drover Road, Bankstown Airport. NSW, Sydney, AUSTRALIA 2200 tel: +61 2 8700 0685 email: ops@airmed.com.au fax: +61 2 8700 0663 website: www.airmed.com.au
LifeMed Worldwide
24/7 Chauffeured Transportation & Ground Ambulance 990 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 502 Miami, FL 33132, USA +1-305-501-2009
tel:
ops@lifemedworldwide.com www.lifemedworldwide.com
email: website:
One Call Medical Transport 24 Hour Worldwide Ground Transports 3815 E Main St., Suite C St. Charles, IL 60174, USA +1 630 444 2100 +1 630 823 2900
HOSPITALS
tel: fax:
MEDICAL ESCORT ON COMMERCIAL AIRLINES
GROUND TRANSPORT - MEDICAL
For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)
ops@ocmt.com www.ocmt.com
email: email:
Acıbadem Healthcare Group
Wilson Airport, Langata Road, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA +254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170
tel: fax:
email: website:
emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org
European Air Ambulance Patrick Schomaker – Director Sales & Marketing Luxembourg Airport, B.P.24, L-5201, Sandweiler, LUXEMBOURG +352 26 26 00 +352 26 26 01
24hr tel: fax:
email: website:
alert@air-ambulance.com www.air-ambulance.com
LIFESUPPORT Air Medical Services Graham Williamson – CEO VANCOUVER – CALGARY – TORONTO – FRANKFURT +1 250 947 9641 +1 877 288 2908
tel: fax:
Medical Wings
email: website:
graham.williamson@LifeSupportTransport.com www.LifeSupportTransport.com
Dr.Sura Jaidwatee, M.D. – Medical Flight Manager 222 Don Mueang International Airport Office Building 3rd Floor, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Sanambin, Don Mueang, Bangkok 10210, THAILAND 24h tel: +662 247 3392 email: m.w@medicalwings.com fax: +662 535 4734 website: www.medicalwings.com
Franziska Hollenstein – CEO / Founder 1918 Harrison Street, Suite 215, Hollywood, Florida, 33020, USA
ops@acibadem.com.tr www.acibademinternational.com
+ 1 754 999 0460 + 1 754 222 5051
24/ 7 tel: fax:
Anatolia Hospital
email: website:
www.primenursingcare.com contact@primenursingcare.com
PARKVIEW AIR MEDICAL
Dr. Irfan Erdogan – General Coordinator
Graham Mitchell – President
Caybasi Mh 1352 Sk No 12 , 07100 Antalya, TURKEY
#11 Zina Street, Orangeville, (Ontario) L9W-1E2, CANADA
+90 242 249 33 00 +90 242 311 67 78
tel: fax:
email: website:
1 519 942 8143 1 519 941 4213
tel: fax:
drirfan@anatoliahospital.com www.anatoliahospital.com
email: website:
repat@parkviewairmedical.com www.parkviewairmedical.com
SkyCare Global LLC.
Jackson Memorial Hospital International Dominick Destefano – Associate Director of Sales
Stephen Avise – VP of Operations
1500 NW 12th Avenue, Suite 829 East, Miami, FL 33136, USA
835 Seminole Blvd., Tarpon Springs FL, 34689, USA
Luz Saúde SA Eve Jokel, MPH – International Director Rua Carlos Alberto da Mota Pinto, 17-9.º 1070-313 Lisboa, PORTUGAL tel: fax:
+351 213 138 260 +351 213 530 292
email: website:
intlpatientservices@luzsaude.pt luzsaude.pt/en
Sharp Global Patient Services Jacquie Schwoerke – Vice President, Sharp GPS 8695 Spectrum Center Blvd., San Diego, CA 92123, USA toll free: tel:
+1 888-265-1513 +1 858-499-4967
US tel: EU tel:
Dominick.destefano@jhsmiami.org www.jmhi.org
email: website:
Sharp.GlobalPatientServices@sharp.com www.sharp.com
UC San Diego Health System International Patient Program
AMREF Flying Doctors
Cambridge Global Payments
AC Global Medical Transports
Milan Floribus – President 8775 Aero Drive, Ste 120, San Diego, CA 92123, USA tel: fax:
+1 858 437 5131 +1 858 408 7856
email: website:
milanfloribus@gmail.com acglobalmedicaltransports.com
Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director Wilson Airport, Langata Road, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA tel: fax:
+254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170
email: website:
emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org
Brad Loder – VP Marketing & Corporate Sponsorships 212 King Street West, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M5H 1K5 CANADA tel:
email: website:
+1 (416) 646 6401 ext. 2392
bloder@cambridgefx.com www.cambridgefx.com
Firemelon (Magenta Insurance System)
tel:
lbaker@ucsd.edu health.ucsd.edu/international
TRAVEL AGENTS
email: website:
info@skycareglobal.com www.skycareglobal.com
40-42 Lisburn Road, Belfast,BT9 6AA, NORTHERN IRELAND
136 W. Dickinson Street, Suite 109, San Diego, CA 92103-8222, USA +1 619 471 0466 +1 619 543 5282
email: website:
David Corney – Managing Director
Larry Baker – Managing Director
tel: fax:
+1 727 230 2263 +39 345 461 8122
MEDICAL PROVIDER
email: website:
TECHNOLOGY
+305-355-1211 +305-355-5545
tel: fax:
MEDICAL ESCORT ON COMMERCIAL AIRLINES
Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director
Prime Nursing Care, Inc.
Berna Gür – International Network Supervisor Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Cad. No:49 34662 Altunizade İstanbul, TURKEY tel: 0090 530 9768398 email: website:
AMREF Flying Doctors
02895 213 831
email: website:
david.corney@firemelon.com www.firemelon.com
email: website:
marc@voyageur.co.uk www.voyageur24.com
Voyageur Aeromedical Travel Marc Banting – Director 19 Lower Park Row, Bristol, UK tel: fax:
+44 (0)117 921 0401 +44 (0)845 384 7008
To have your company listed in our service directory
AirMed Australia Matthew Kline & Mark Wardrop – Executive Directors
contact the sales department now:
Hangar 650 Drover Road, Bankstown Airport. NSW, Sydney, AUSTRALIA 2200 tel: +61 2 8700 0685 email: ops@airmed.com.au fax: +61 2 8700 0663 website: www.airmed.com.au
sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)
46
ON THE MOVE
Dr Ian Owen joins AllClear
XL Caitlin appoints new Risk leader
AllClear, a UK-based specialist medical travel insurance provider, has announced the appointment of Dr Ian Owen as Chairman to further drive the company’s growth strategy Ian has a wealth of experience across a wide range of financial services businesses, at both CEO and chairman level, said AllClear. He was the founding Chairman of private equity-backed impaired life annuity provider Partnership Assurance, which he chaired from 2005 until its successful flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 2013, and while Chairman of A-Plan, navigated the company’s management buyout in 2008 to sale in 2015. He also chaired Guardian Financial Services until it was sold in 2016. The appointment follows AllClear’s acquisition by private equity firm Synova
Capital at the beginning of this year, and Chris Rolland’s appointment as CEO. Chris stated that Ian is the ideal person to help steer further growth: “I am extremely pleased that Ian is joining our fast-growing business. His vast experience will provide a great support in helping us to further develop our growth strategy.” Ian said that the chairmanship would provide a ‘fantastic opportunity’: “I am joining at an exciting time for the business, and I look forward to furthering what the team has already achieved this year, including a near 50-per-cent increase Dr Ian Owen in direct sales.”
US-based risk specialist XL Caitlin has announced that Chris Koper is set to lead its Risk Management Insurance North America Division from 8 October, after leaving AIG. Chris most recently served AIG as its Global Head of Primary Casualty, which involved him taking charge of re-underwriting the US primary casualty book in order to improve profitability. He worked at the company for seven years, during which he built up a portfolio that includes workers’ compensation, commercial auto, general liability, healthcare professional liability, environmental, and multinational casualty. He also worked in several
New leader appointed at Aspen Re Aspen Group has named Emil Issavi, President and Chief Underwriting Officer, to lead its reinsurance business Aspen Re. He previously held the position of President and Chief Underwriting Officer and takes over from previous leader Thomas Lillelund, who leaves to join AIG. “We are delighted to name Emil as our new leader for Aspen Re,” Chris O’Kane, Aspen’s Group CEO, said. “His appointment recognises the deep knowledge and insights that he brings
Goacher joins DWF DWF has appointed corporate and regulatory partner Jonathan Goacher to its Singapore office as part of its plans to strengthen its transactional practice in the Asia Pacific region. Jonathan joins from Kennedys, where he led the firm’s regional corporate insurance practice; before that, he served as a consultant to DLA Piper’s Bangkok office for over 10 years. Boasting extensive experience of the Southeast Asian market, Jonathan handles a broad range of corporate and regulatory matters, advising high profile insurers, intermediaries, loss adjusters and other industry participants on subjects as broad as business establishment, mergers and acquisitions, capital and solvency requirements, portfolio transfers, reinsurance and currency controls. Additionally, he provides advice on regulatory issues such as licensing,
notification and consent requirements, foreign business restrictions and antimoney laundering regulations, and as a New York-qualified lawyer, he has the expertise to advise on US sanctions. “Jonathan will be a very strong addition to our Singapore practice as we look to build our corporate and transactional offering to further capitalise on the opportunities in the market,” said Oommen Mathew, Managing Partner of DWF Singapore. “His in-depth local expertise combined with his blend of insurance and commercial work will allow us to deliver an enhanced service to clients and a more comprehensive, one-stop-shop approach, while his approach to service and innovation will make him a real asset to our clients. This is a very exciting time of growth and development for DWF, and we are very pleased to welcome Jonathan to the team.”
Zurich Canada makes new VP hire Zurich Canada has appointed a new Vice-President to its Travel, Accident and Sickness division, ex-Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada President John Thain. He has been brought in with the aim of launching personal leisure travel, business travel accident and supporting accident and sickness products in Canada. “We are very excited that John has joined Zurich Canada to help us launch an accident and sickness underwriting
practice, including personal travel insurance,” said David Levinson, CEO of Zurich Canada. “With John’s experience and deep knowledge of the market, he is well equipped to lead Zurich’s travel insurance business while we continue to strengthen our customer and broker relationships across the country.” Zurich Canada hopes that it will be able to begin selling personal travel products by the start of 2019.
leadership positions in the company. “We are excited to have Chris join our leadership team,” said Joseph Tocco, Chief Execuative of North American Insurance, to whom Chris will report in his new role. “His long track record of success running casualty underwriting operations and proven leadership skills make him an excellent choice to lead our growing Global Risk Management business.” The company’s Global Risk Management team offers general liability, excess commercial auto, foreign voluntary workers’ compensation and employers’ liability coverage to US-based companies.
to the role, with over 20 years in the reinsurance business, including 12 years at Aspen.” Chris also expressed his gratitude for the work that Thomas has done for Apsen Re, and wished him success in his new role. Emil commented: “I am honoured to have been appointed to lead Aspen Re. The business is a highly respected player in our chosen markets, we have an outstanding team of people and we are well positioned to sustain the longstanding success of the business moving forward.”
Senior appointments at Allianz Allianz Partners has announced two new senior appointments for its international health brand, Allianz Care. Peter Gibbons will take on the role of Head of Individual and Small Groups, based in Dublin, Ireland, and Sibylle Tellenbach will now serve as Sales Manager for Switzerland, based in Zurich. Peter brings nearly two decades of experience to his new role, having previously served in a number of senior sales positions in the insurance industry in the UK and Ireland. In his new role, he will focus on driving sales and growth for the company’s individual and small business segments, in the hope that he can improve efficiency and agility. Sibylle also has a background in the insurance industry, with over 10 years’ experience in international business development roles in the Swiss market. She will focus on developing the Allianz Care international health brand in Switzerland, which will include the
Peter Gibbons
Sibylle Tellenbach
management of client and broker relations. “I am delighted to welcome Peter and Sibylle to the team,” said Alexis Obligi, Chief Sales and Development Officer for International Health at Allianz Partners. “Both have extensive experience in the insurance sector, and are very knowledgeable in terms of understanding our customers and their needs. We all look forward to working closely with Peter and Sibylle in growing the Allianz Care brand and driving our business forward.”
Dedicated Account Management Team. North America and Worldwide.
ITIJ SelectCare 0617.indd 1
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2017-06-29 1:42 PM
The care you need, anytime, anywhere
Contact Global Excel at corpinfo@globalexcel.com or at +1 819 566 8833 HEALTHCARE RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS globalexcel.com
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