Holiday mishaps: Diarrhoea medical bill tops £23,000

A holiday insurer has revealed the weirdest and most expensive medical claims.

By Charlotte Beugge

Many holidaymakers this summer will jet off without a second thought about insurance - but being ill abroad can result in sickening bills that you'll have to shell out for if you've not taken cover.

Essential Travel, part of Thomas Cook, has revealed some of its most mind-boggling medical claims of recent years.

The company, which alongside insurance, provides airport parking, hotel booking and other travel needs, says one policymaker became so ill with diarrhoea that their medical expenses topped £23,000.

But that was beaten by a payout of £89,359 on bleeding lesions, £69,699 spent on cellulitis in Canada and £59,135 on a back injury sustained while the policyholder was in the US.

Smaller claims included a £1,000 medical bill for a holidaymaker in Turkey who drank petrol, thinking it was the local firewater; a £5,000 treatment cost for a man struck by lightning in South Africa; £1,000 for a monkey bite in Indonesia and £4,800 for the medical costs associated with an insect bite sustained while on holiday in the Dominican Republic.

Stuart Bensusan of Essential Travel says: "I think many people looking at some of our highest claim costs - and some of the reasons for them - will be extremely surprised.

"Some of the cases may raise a smile, but there were serious medical conditions not just requiring financial help but also the support and logistical assistance that our insurance provided for."