Play all audios:
MARGARET HOUGHTON, 65, WAS RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AND NOW HER FAMILY IS FACING A HUGE BILL 17:00, 28 May 2025Updated 17:12, 28 May 2025 A nan's Egyptian holiday turned into a nightmare as
she faces a hefty hospital bill after her travel insurance refused to cover costs due to undeclared health conditions. Margaret Houghton, 65, caught pneumonia on a two-week trip to Egypt
with her husband Dave, three grandchildren, and daughter Kate. In the last week of their stay, Margaret's condition worsened, and she was admitted to Sharm Peace Hospital in Sharm
El-Sheikh. To her family's dismay, they learned that their travel insurance from No Limits won't pay out the full cost of Margaret’s treatment, which is more than £27,000, despite
them paying a premium of £165. The 65 year old grandma-of-five, from Warrington, might have to spend an extra fortnight in hospital owing to a bacterial infection. When contacted by the
ECHO, the company declined to comment on the case. Margaret's daughter-in-law, Aileen Houghton, 41, expressed frustration with No Limits, revealing that upon checking Margaret's GP
records, the company pinpointed discrepancies to deny coverage. Aileen explained that her sister-in-law completed the travel insurance forms truthfully and argued that the omitted
conditions had no apparent link to Margaret's current hospitalisation. She stressed: "My sister-in-law filled in all the travel insurance to the best of her knowledge, she's
not a dishonest person, she's not like that. "The travel insurance have reviewed the full GP record and my sister-in-law's mistakenly missed off some conditions, unrelated as
far as I can tell as to why she's in hospital. "They've said she's paid £165 and if the conditions were on it would have been £245, so it's been under-declared by
32% and they're only willing to pay 67% of the bills. "My mother-in-law's on disability benefits – she doesn't have thousands of pounds, none of us do. "We've
tried appealing to the travel insurance, but they're not willing to do anything. "My mother-in-law is struggling to get well because she's stressing about everything and the
whole family's just starting to fall apart, to be honest." Aileen mentioned that Margaret hadn't informed insurers of her entire medical history, which includes atrial
fibrillation, oesophageal dysmotility, bladder dysfunction, fibromyalgia, depression, and GORD; instead, her daughter Kate had only reported COPD, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high
blood pressure, and heart failure on the insurance forms. The family has rallied and managed to gather £3,250 through a GoFundMe campaign, yet they still face a daunting bill. To top it off,
Margaret's husband Dave and daughter Kate are now potentially incurring fines for staying longer than their visas allow in Egypt after an oversight in renewal, despite making over
two-hour trips daily to visit her. Worries mount for Aileen as she considers the financial stability of the family, saying: "We're worried because none of us are rich,
people's jobs aren't secure. "If we wipe out every bit of savings any of us have got, if one of us gets made redundant we won't be able to make mortgage payments."
Article continues below No Limits Travel Insurance declined to comment on the case. Margaret's family is raising funds through a GoFundMe page, available here.