Insurance firm gave Brit 'less than 24 hours' to make a decision against doctors’ advice after mum suffered brain injury

27 November 2024, 08:10 | Updated: 27 November 2024, 13:03

Cat Rubens tells Nick Ferrari of her battle against an insurance company while her mother remains in a coma in the US

The daughter of a woman who suffered a severe brain injury has told LBC she was given 24 hours to make a decision on her return to the UK or face losing medical cover

Cat Reubens, whose mother was on holiday in the US when she suffered the head trauma, has accused an insurance company of giving them just 24 hours to decide whether to return to the UK, against medical advice, or see their travel cover cancelled.

Jane Rubens, 73, from Edinburgh was hit by a large vehicle in early November and remains in a coma having suffered a traumatic brain injury.

According to Cat, the family’s insurance company AXA Partners said the 73-year-old must be repatriated by Wednesday despite a number of doctors warning against it.

Read more: Mother left unable to speak and needing 24-hour care after teen crashed while filming himself driving with no hands

Ms Rubens’ was visiting family in St Louis, Missouri when she was hit by an SUV, suffering several haemorrhages and severe brain injuries.

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Cat said: “At the moment my mum remains in a coma requiring 24-hour care, she has shown some very small signs of movement, opened her eyes and wiggled her toes but unfortunately she’s suffered a very serious brain injury. But it is all still very early and feels very critical.

“I flew out to America to be with her, thankfully my mum had taken out really good medical insurance.

“I notified the insurer about her injury and for the last few weeks we have been in contact

“We always knew that at some point my mum would have to come back to Scotland, it is her home."

“Sadly she remains essentially unresponsive and essentially in a coma. She’s opened her eyes a few times but we’ve had no meaningful response from her - and that’s the scary thing in terms of her prognosis.

“The level of stress that has been caused to me and the rest of my family by the way AXA partners has dealt with this over the weekend has been difficult to put into words. I was crying on the phone call to them.

“They were telling me we had to make this decision to put her on a flight this week without giving us anymore time - they gave us less than 24 hours. It just seemed unreal to me.

One of the first things Cat did was contact brain injury charity Headway, to find out if it would be safe for her mum to travel.

"They advised us that my mum wouldn't be able to be repatriated for a number of months. A neurologist in London told us to wait between three to six months," she said.

“We had no idea that the repatriation plan was going to be put together urgently or on a time limit by AXA Partners.

“On Friday I spoke with a nurse at AXA Partners who said she was starting to look for beds for my mum in Edinburgh.

“I told her I was very concerned about that and told her we had advised that a neurologist wouldn't even begin assessing my mum for the next four to six weeks.

“So I put all this writing to AXA Partners on Saturday, including the medical opinions.

“We woke up on Sunday morning with an email telling us we had to agree to plan to fly her out by Wednesday and if we didn't agree by Sunday afternoon, less than 24 hours, she would have her medical cover removed.”

“We then had a call, I explained everything, and they told me they wouldn't give us more time. We were treated horrendously on the Sunday.

“So I went to Twitter and it got a lot of traction. I then got a call from a very senior person at AXA Partners who apologised.

“We are still negotiating with AXA Partners but we still don’t know if they will follow medical advice.”

Cat added: “This is obviously a nightmare situation for any family to be in and it’s easily been the worst few weeks of my life.

“We’ve been very worried about whether our mother is going to survive

“It made the darkest time of our lives that much worse.”

AXA Partners have since walked back on their demands, apologising to Ms Rubens’ family

AXA Partners have since backed down, telling LBC: “We are sorry for the distress Ms Rubens and her family have experienced when making a claim and we sympathise with their situation.

“We have spoken with Ms Rubens’ family and will remain in contact with them over the coming days to support them. Our medical team and Ms Rubens’ treating doctors will agree the best course of action going forward.

“We are considering all available options and the welfare of Ms Rubens and her family remains our priority.”

Cat said despite the ordeal, she is grateful for the support her family has received and feels vindicated following AXA Partner’s apology.

She added: “I'm feeling a lot of things right now. One of them is anger that this is what I am spending my time doing.

“You know, first of all, fighting with the insurer and then having to go to the press. Because the advice we've received from neurologists is that we should be spending time with Jane.

“We should be speaking to her, we should, she should be hearing her, our voices. And I want to spend as much time as possible by her bedside, you know, reading to her, talking to her and just being with her in these really critical moments.

“In terms of whether I have hope about this, I am feeling somewhat vindicated that AXA Partners are listening to me and I'm feeling really, really grateful to everyone who has retweeted the story and the press who have got in touch to cover it.”

When Cat first contacted AXA Partners she was told their policy would be revoked on Monday if repatriation was not accepted on Sunday.

The family was also informed that they and their doctors would not be able to see the repatriation plan or speak to the insurance company’s medical team.

Reluctantly, Cat sent AXA Partners a letter which read: “In the circumstances you have given us no choice but to agree to your repatriation plan.

“This has placed us in an impossible position. You have asked us to agree to a repatriation plan in respect of which we have no proper details, not even the name of her receiving physician in the UK.”