Times when travel insurance has paid off for you

When my elderly dm visits us in France we obviously get travel insurance.
I couldn’t get the online to work one time and rang the company direct.
The very nice man asked what level we required and was a bit shocked when I replied ‘enough to get her body home.’
Dm thought this was hilarious.

Just to tell anyone who may not realise, if you book travel insurance as a one off (not annual) then you must have a return date booked.
I thought that booking dm for 3 weeks was fine as long as she returned before the insurance expired. Apparently it’s not.

Not for me but for my father. He died on holiday. Insurance covered all costs of medical attention and then after, including repatriation. Absolutely every cost involved as well as the support needed to navigate the bureaucracy involved.
Thank god he was insured.

Last September i had to cancel a £5.7k holiday when my partner ended up in hospital ICU 2 weeks before travel.

After a bit of dicking about by the insurance company we eventually got £5k back.

I go for insurance companies that specialise in pre-existing conditions. I have a minor heart issue so it's better to pay £100 over thousands if I get caught out. I am stupidly clumsy, so I insure mostly for that! But luckily, I've never had to claim, thank heavens.

My friends son had a bad accident, head injury, and it paid for the medical airlift/flight to the main land, extra accommodation, food allowance every day. What was meant to be a week in the sun turned in to over a months stay in a foreign country whilst her son recovered in hospital before being allowed to fly home to the UK with a doctor accompanying them! This was 2 years ago and her son is still under care for this accident.

$500(!!!!) bill for hotel doctor to treat DS’s raging ear infection from the swimming pool fully covered minus negligible excess

We got £900 for three missed ports of a half world cruise due to bad weather. Other guests who did the full world cruise received £3,500 per person from the same insurance company. The insurance came free with a UK bank account.

Evacuated from our villa, after arriving 24hrs earlier, because of a wildfire.
We changed our flights and booked a hotel for one night (after a night in the evacuation centre - a school).
Claimed on insurance and got money back for basically everything (accommodation, food, car hire, case and clothes left behind etc), bar flights as the plane had obviously done its part.
Our insurance was with Natwest bank acc too @bettybyebye , I think they're pretty good! Used it once before for a minor medical issue and v straight forward.

Medical is the biggie, including medivacs and repatriations.

Always travel with insurance. It is a false economy not to.

There is a huge difference between travel insurance (for cancelled flights, delays, lost bags, broken cameras etc) and international health care cover.

Travel insurance = I've wasted money for years paying and they've rejected every claim.

International Healthcare Cover = absolutely essential only an idiot travels without it

My 1 year old daughter was blue lit to a hospital in Mexico and had an overnight stay, on a drip. The bill was many thousands. All covered by insurance.

On Holiday in Cyprus when DS was 2.5, he fell off a climbing frame and broke his femur…we were stuck out there for an extra week. It was a private hospital so cost over 1000 euro per night, and he had 2 operations before eventually being flown home by air ambulance. Insurance covered everything including the holiday apartment for an extra week for me (DH stayed in the hospital with DS as I was 7 months pregnant), a hire car for the week and new flights home for me. Plus transport back from the airport etc.

Our insurance was provided via our NatWest bank account and turns out it was very good - it was they that insisted on the air ambulance to get him home which alone cost €85K!

£300 is less than band 3 on the NHS, not a big amount worth paying an excess for

I had to cancel (non- refundable) flights to attend a close family member’s funeral and my travel insurance paid out (subject to an excess).

I also got a payment as I was confined to my cabin on a cruise after I caught norovirus onboard. Small consolation but I was grateful!

I know people who have had large costs reimbursed for medical treatment in the States. A lot of document gathering required but the insurers were helpful.

Broke my ribs skiing in Austria. Insurance paid out everything medical related plus including ski passes & equipment hire costs that I no longer needed. I was surprised how simple it all was, I think I received all the money back in two weeks.

I'm hoping my DS' school travel insurance will cover the trip he's meant to be doing in 5 weeks. Injury yesterday and I'm not sure he'll be going 😩😩😩.

Always pay it, never had to use it.

You can guarantee that the one time I didn't take it out, I'd need it

Ddad. Heart attack in california.10 days in intensive care and private flight repatriation. In 2001 it topped £250k.

My DH's mother died suddenly whilst on holiday. Insurance paid for repatriation and several other things besides.

We missed our flights once because our cruise arrived back late.
The travel insurance paid out for the replacement flights, which were expensive plus a night in a hotel and meals for 4 of us.
However there was a €75 excess and they took the €75 off each of us rather than the full bill which I thought was a bit of a scam.
It paid out pretty promptly once I managed to get documentation of the delay from the cruise company.

Had our apartment broken into and insurance covered the value of them all.

You're buying risk cover, so it always "works" whether you claim or not.

Yes, we had a similar experience, plus a vulnerable adult who needed full assistance to return home.

Friends partner got a rare and vicious infection in rural Spain years ago. Hospital, accommodation for friend and repatriation.
School ski trip, ice storm, several kids needing hospital including one poor kid who broke both legs. Italian hospital, accommodation and food for accompanying teacher then flight home by air ambulance.

Me, no. Luggage stolen in Brazil, local police report apparently wasn't sufficient. Also Brazil, hotel charged me for extra nights after I'd returned to UK, insurance said they couldn't verify my claim and I should've reported it to the police in Manaus (from home??) Jewellery stolen on plane home from Thailand, insurance said it wasn't covered as I'd left Thailand and only reported to the police at home.

Easyjet flight delayed by 8 hours, neither the airline nor insurance would compensate. I tried fighting that one but they wore me out.

Caught amoebic dysentery in Thailand but the wonderful doctor was so cheap, it wasn't worth claiming.

I was mugged at the same hotel in Manaus. The only worthwhile thing he got was my credit card, and Visa were fantastic - froze the missing one, gave me an emergency code for an ATM, and couriered a new card to me (which was then skimmed by the hotel management!)

The other replies here are VERY strong illustrations of why we need insurance, though, and I'd never travel without it.