By JO-MARIE BROWN
Two sick young girls have missed out on a visit to Disneyland, after they were refused insurance for the medical conditions that won them the trip in the first place.
Rotorua 9-year-old Atalia Vulu, who suffers from an immune system disorder called Lupus Syndrome, was promised the trip in May by Koru Care, which has taken terminally ill children overseas for the past 17 years.
Hamilton's Shannon Brandt, aged 10, who suffers from leukemia, was also promised the same Disneyland trip.
Both youngsters were then bitterly disappointed when they were told they could not go because Koru Care's insurers would not cover them.
While Shannon was told last Wednesday, Atalia and her family found out only upon arriving at Auckland Airport on Sunday afternoon.
"I'm very sad and angry about not going," said Atalia.
"I've got Lupus and that's the reason I was going to go. But now I can't go - because I've got Lupus."
Her father, Petelo Vulu, even organised a letter of indemnity from the Minister for Accident Insurance, Michael Cullen, which promised to cover the cost of any medical treatment Atalia needed in the United States.
The letter was not accepted and yesterday Koru Care and its insurer, Mike Henry Travel Insurance, were debating who was to blame for the mix-up.
Mike Henry Travel Insurance general manager Fiona Hewitt said Koru Care never passed on Dr Cullen's letter and she was surprised the trip had not been better organised.
Koru Care had selected 24 children several months ago but had contacted the company to arrange insurance only 12 days before they were due to depart, Ms Hewitt said.
"Obtaining travel insurance is a prerequisite for Koru Care to take children away overseas.
"Surely one of the first things they should have done was check to see if they could be insured."
Ms Hewitt was unsure whether the company would have insured Atalia if it had seen Dr Cullen's letter but said it would have been given appropriate consideration.
"We would have talked to our underwriters to see whether they were happy with that," she said.
"We're certainly not heartless but at the end of the day, everyone's a business and we're not a debt collecting agency."
But Koru Care spokesman Richard Kuluz said the insurer had tightened its criteria for travel insurance, which caught out the trip's organisers.
"Once we had applied, they wanted more information than they had asked for in the past, which indicated to us that their criteria had changed or they were getting tougher."
Mr Kuluz said Koru Care had not applied earlier because the company wanted the most up-to-date information and Dr Cullen's letter would not have been acceptable to a Los Angeles hospital which required an insurance policy document.
Koru Care tried unsuccessfully to reach Dr Cullen after receiving the letter last Friday to ask him to indemnify Mike Henry Travel Insurance instead and the short-time frame had made it impossible to contact Atalia's family before they left for Auckland.
"Certainly we don't want a repetition of this scenario again. We will be talking with our insurer to find out how and when they want the information in future.
"We are a charity dedicated to making kids happy - not breaking their hearts."
Insurance bungle stops trip
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