A 65-year-old woman books her dream vacation in Egypt, the trip goes wrong and she ends up more than $30,000 in debt

Margaret Houghton, 65, from Warrington in Cheshire (UK), was on a dream holiday to Egypt with her husband Dave, three grandchildren and daughter Kate, but fell ill with pneumonia in the last week of the two-week stay.

After being taken to Sharm Peace Hospital in Sharm El-Sheikh, the family were shocked to learn that their travel insurance would not cover all the costs of their treatment, which had already exceeded $36,000, despite having paid a premium of $225.

The Houghton family are now trying to raise funds to cover Margaret’s medical costs as doctors say she may need another two weeks in hospital due to a bacterial infection.

Margaret’s daughter-in-law, Aileen Houghton, explained that No Limits, an insurance company specialising in insurance for people with health conditions, found “discrepancies” in Margaret’s medical records.

Aileen said: “My sister-in-law (daughter Margaret) filled in all the insurance forms as best she could. She is not dishonest. The insurer looked at all the medical records and found that some conditions had not been declared, even though they were unrelated to the current hospitalisation. They said that the fee had been paid and if all the conditions had been declared the premium would have been higher, some 32 per cent less than declared, so they will only cover 67 per cent of the cost of treatment."

Margaret, who receives disability benefits, does not have the resources to cover such high costs. The family have already raised more than $2,710 through a GoFundMe page but still need at least $8,600.

Additionally, husband Dave and daughter Kate, who travel more than two hours each day to visit Margaret, could be fined for overstaying their Egyptian visas .

Aileen added: “We’re worried because none of us are rich and our jobs are not secure. If we run out of savings and someone loses their job, we won’t be able to pay our mortgages.”

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