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Thai bike crash cost $10,000 in surgery

Motorcycle videographer Jacob Laukaitis was hit by a drunk driver in Thailand and required $10,000 in plastic surgery which his insurance company did not want to pay.

Jacob, of Lithuania, recorded himself every day and published the following video mini-documentary about his situation.

Jacob thought he was properly insured by Nordic company Gjensidige for riding motorcycles throughout Asia, but they refused to pay his medical bills.

“Their reason was that they deem anything to do with motorbikes as an ‘extreme sport’,” he says.

“I could never have thought that riding a scooter in Thailand is considered an ‘extreme sport’. 

“Even if it’s a tiny scooter and you’re just sitting on the back, for example.”

India travel with Jacob Laukaitis - surgery
Jacob in Asia

Once Jacob got out of the hospital, he started talking on social media about how his insurance company was refusing to pay.

“There was so much bad PR for them that eventually they agreed to pay $9850,” he says.

However, Jacob also had to pay $1000 for the motorbike and $70 for the dentist which was not covered by his insurance company.

“So they didn’t cover all of my expenses, but most. And only after hundreds of people started demanding it,” he says. 

His is a salutary lesson to riders to check their overseas travel insurance includes all motorcycles in all countries.

READ THIS WARNING ON OVERSEAS TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR RIDERS

Despite being hassled by his insurance company, Jacob is looking on the bright side of life.

“I couldn’t be happier I’m still alive and I cherish every single second of my life,” he says. I sincerely hope this video will inspire you to love more, smile more and be happy every single day. Life is beautiful!

In the past three years Jacob has traveled to more than 60 different countries in Europe and Asia and ridden tens of thousands of kilometres without any accidents.

We’ve featured his adventures throughout Asia. Read the stories below and watch his travel videos.

World traveller Jacob in Croatia - surgery
Jacob in Croatia

His Thai crash happened a month ago and Jacob was lucky to only suffer a dislocated and broken cheek bone generic clomid hyclate.

However, the next day Thai doctors performed a four-hour surgery that cost $10,000.

Jacob runs an online coupons company and describes himself as a “digital nomad”.

“As long as I have my computer and wi-fi I’m able to do my job and thus I never lose my income,” he says.

  1. There’s a warner brothers cartoon staring Daffy Duck and porky pig about insurance. I forget the exact details but I’m sure most of us have seen it a thousand times. The cartoon reflected the real story when it comes to insurance but it got one thing wrong. Even if porky did meet all the criteria for receiving the payout for a black eye the insurance company would have still tried to weasel out by claiming that such an outlandish outcome would surely have to be an act of God which they don’t cover.
    In this case he could sue the insurance company for breach of contract and causing undue stress . In Thailand scooters are the primary form of transportation cars are a minority so claiming that a country’s primary form of transportation is an extreme sport is an extreme stretch of the imagination.

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