£3,400 bill for hols tragedy

Oct 12 2007 By Steve Johnson, Birmingham Mail

THE family of a doting father killed in Thailand are fighting a David and Goliath-style battle with insurance giants after being hit with a massive bill to fly his body home.

Lee Pettit, aged 34, of Thorns Road, Quarry Bank, died in a motorcycle accident on the last day of a dream holiday with his partner Sarah Wentworth and their seven-year-old son Thomas.

His family said they were told insurance firm Axa would foot the £3,400 bill to bring his body back to Britain after the April tragedy.

But after Global Network Funeral Assistance stepped in to recover Lee's body, the family were informed that Lee would not be covered after all under the terms of the holiday insurance through Essential Travel, part of the huge Axa chain.

Lee's mother Marie Rhodes, who is on benefits, could not pay the bill and has been forced to borrow the cash from a friend.

She is still paying back the debt and said the worry over the money was adding to the anguish for the family.

She said: "We were in a terrible state after the shock of losing Lee in such tragic circumstances.

"We didn't know which way to turn but we were told over the phone that the holiday insurance covered Lee and we could go ahead and bring his body home.

"It was only later we discovered the insurance people had decided otherwise and we had to foot the bill ourselves.

"What made it worse was that it was three weeks from the time he died before Lee's body was brought home. In that time Lee's body had deteriorated and because of that we couldn't even see Lee before he was cremated."

Heartbroken Sarah, aged 30, of Amblecote Road, Brierley Hill, said that Axa had told the family that Lee was not covered because he was riding a 115cc machine when his holiday insurance only covered him for a 50cc machine.

"There aren't even any 50cc bikes for hire in Thailand - 115cc is the least powerful bike you can hire," she said.

The family said that they were still unsure exactly how Lee met his death after getting four different versions of events from Thai police.

An inquest on Lee, who was not wearing a crash helmet and died from head injuries, was concluded by Black Country Coroner Robin Balmain.

He said Lee had died in an accident when he apparently clipped another biker as he overtook him.

A spokesman for Axa said that the case was being investigated.