Flu-hit Lowestoft grandmother wins pay-out battle

Lorraine Romeo had to have an emergency tracheotomy while on holiday in America

A grandmother who was stranded in the USA for two months because of a row over medical bills has been told her insurance firm will cover the costs.

Lorraine Romeo, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, was taken into intensive care with flu while on holiday in Florida just before Christmas.

Her insurance company World First initially refused to pay for the £100,000 medical bill.

A spokesman said it was "not a straightforward case".

Mrs Romeo, 56, is back in the UK being treated at hospital.

She had flown to Orlando with 10 members of her family for what they described as "a holiday of a lifetime" on 19 December.

She was admitted to hospital with influenza B and pneumonia and her son Malcolm said surgeons performed an emergency tracheotomy.

He said she fully disclosed her medical history when she took out her £400 travel insurance policy with World First, but after five weeks, they told her in an email they were declining her case "due to pre-existing conditions".

'Over the moon'

The family contacted the UK Financial Ombudsman and said World First's refusal to pay out has been overturned.

A spokesman for Emergency Assistance Facilities, which provides assistance to customers on behalf of World First, said it was "awaiting the final bills" to be provided by the Orlando hospital.

He said: "At which point these will be subject to usual process and review to then be put forward for payment approval."

The family said the Orlando hospital paid for Mrs Romeo to fly to Britain. She is now being treated at the NHS James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk.

Mrs Romeo said she was "over the moon" to be back in the UK.