Have you ever heard the saying, “You can do things the easy way, or learn the hard way!” Many say the best way to learn is through experiencing something that will have an impact on you, whether you personally experienced it, or someone close to you did. The important part is that whatever the impact was, it will motivate you to make the right decision. It could have been something bad that made you never want to go through that again, or something good that made you want to have the same result. The following is a case study of two different scenarios of clients who are experiencing the same issue. Both scenarios are handled in different ways, resulting in different outcomes.

The Synopsis

A client recently became ill white working onboard a ship in South America. Since the client was from Europe, they were unsure of how to proceed because they were in a foreign land. Instead of going to seek medical treatment using their international medical insurance coverage plan, they decided to try and remedy the illness on their own.

It didn’t take long for the for the client to become increasing sick and in need of emergency medical attention. Thankfully, the Captain was proactive about getting his crew member the medical attention they needed, but that could have turned out to be a much worse situation.

The Scenario

The Captain reached out to his insurance broker and they were able to guide the Captain through the next steps and the proper course of action. In this case, extreme measures were needed to assure the crew member received the medical attention they needed. Tests needed to be conducted to figure what the treatment plan was going to be to take care of this crewmember. Once the tests were completed, it was decided that an emergency medical evacuation was needed to bring the crew member to the United States. Luckily, the insurance broker was experienced in handling these situations and knew what to do every time a challenge came up, and this contributed to the crew member’s full recovery.

The Service

At MHG, we pride ourselves on our service. Below is just a fraction of the steps our insurance broker took to ensuring the client received the care they needed.

· Set up a text line of communication to keep track of everything.

· Spoke with the local hospital and facilitated contact with the insurance carrier, which advised the carrier’s “emergency team” to step in.

· Remained in constant contact with the emergency team and the Captain throughout the weekend.

· Provided the emergency team with a list of healthcare facilities that were in the network of the insurance plan.

· The emergency team contacted our insurance broker when they needed vital information to proceed with the medical evacuation.

· Provided the necessary information and paperwork to receive a Humanitarian Visa.

The Lesson

Thankfully, everything turned out to be ok after receiving the necessary medical treatment and attention. Different companies and teams worked together seamlessly which was aided by an experienced and dedicated insurance broker. In situations like these, you can’t put a price on customer service, and in this case, it may have saved a life.

Having proper insurance is important whether you are at sea, or docked at a shipyard. MHG is your specialized broker when it comes to crew insurance. Our insurance specialists have the knowledge and experience to find the policy that works best for you. If you are interested in purchasing, or have any questions about yacht crew insurance or travel insurance, please contact us at +1 954 828 1819 or +44 (0) 1624 678668 or visit us online at mhginsurance.com.