French Tourist’s Medical Ordeal in Morocco Leads to Legal Victory Against Credit Card Assistance

During a stay in Agadir in January 2020, "my wife falls and breaks a hip prosthesis as well as the femur," Daniel Tison, former financial director of the Crouzet group, tells Ouest France. Nicole is admitted to a clinic. Her husband informs the assistance of the credit card of the accident. This is how he had paid for their stay in Morocco.

His wife’s hip prosthesis is replaced on site. The sexagenarian informs Mondial assistance, which ensures the follow-up for Visa Premier, of the evolution of the situation. While Nicole was supposed to be discharged from the clinic, Daniel receives a rather surprising message. "I receive an SMS from Mondial assistance, informing me that my wife should have left the clinic on January 31 and that since that date, all the expenses are at our expense!"

The hospitalization costs 2,700 € since January 31. An amount that the clinic asked the retiree to pay. An untenable situation for Daniel who has made several steps on site without help "whereas there was a local assistance that never made contact". His lawyer Gaël Balavoine sends a registered letter to Mondial assistance for the reimbursement of the expenses incurred. "Never any answer." The Caen resident then decides to summon the assistance before a civil chamber of the Caen judicial court on April 1, 2020.

The judges examine the case on November 3. On December 17, 2020, the verdict is handed down. The medical assistance is ordered to reimburse everything the couple was asking for: the costs of extending the stay, the many ancillary costs, as well as the legal costs (lawyer, mail...) incurred for having failed to fulfill its contractual obligations. In total, 6,600 euros.