Times when travel insurance has paid off for you

Columbus both times.

I worked in travel industry for years, claims included repatriation by medivac/death/broken bones, lost luggage. Always get travel insurance, always declare pre existing conditions.

medical repatriation from Spain - £28k

I don't think bank holidays would have voided the cover, they would have been entitled to claim it back

Partner fell awkwardly and broke his leg on Day 2 of a short break within the UK, several hundred miles away from home. He needed an operation and was in hospital for a week. Insurers reimbursed me for the cost of staying in a hotel nearby, plus for food etc; there was also a small payment for him to cover what he might need in hospital. They were very good - couldn't fault them.

My DS broke his foot, was operated on in Singapore American Private Hospital, & flown home business class.

DS had a potentially life changing health issue, we had to cancel 2 Trans Atlantic flights to stay and be his carers.

Agreed, this thread would be really useful if people posted their insurance company.

Halifax for my hurricane one, Tesco for my Greece one, Halifax again for my Cape Verde one and the skiing one was one provided by interski

Paid £600 bill post accident without any qualms
Same with £2000loss of holiday of after BF’s father died

Can anyone posting here share which insurer they went with, if they're happy to recommend? I need to sort travel insurance and I'm wondering who is best to go with.

DH and I went to Las Vegas in 2007 and he got suddenly very ill. Turns out he needed gall bladder surgery. He also had pancreatitis with flesh that had become necrotic - which required a 10 day hospital stay because they couldn't do key-hole surgery but had to open him up!

Luckily we had travel insurance but they questioned him about whether he'd travelled to the states on purpose to get the operation. My stress levels were high shall we say!

It cost many of hundreds of thousands of $$$$$

Maybe I should stay home

I also got knocked unconscious in Greece and had to be transported by boat to a bigger island to the hospital. And in Cape Verde I had to see the doctor because I thought I had broke my foot but I’d somehow got a huge cactus spike in it that you couldn’t see because of the swelling

£35k for medevac, surgery, repatriation and then curtailment costs for an expensive holiday. It was an absolute nightmare dealing with the insurance company though, they caused significantly more stress than the accident and surgery in a far-flung location did.

I also broke my knee skiing in Italy and have to be rescued off the mountain and transported from the local hospital to a much bigger city one didn’t pay a penny was all covered by e111 and insurance

I got every penny of flights and accommodation back when hurricane Irma hit Orlando the day I flew in and we couldn’t reschedule

Fellow traveller on an Everest base camp trip went down with altitude sickness just shy of the highest point and had to be medivac'ed back to Kathmandu and treated in hospital. The hospital fees were pretty manageable, but the chopper was £15,000 for an hour flight.

I don't understand this. What difference does it make it being a bank holiday? The insurance didn't have an emergency line? Your parents didn't claim the money back?

My son had an emergency appendectomy in the USA when he was a teenager. It would have cost us £000s. If I pay travel insurance until I'm in my 80s and never claim again I'll still be quids in 😁

I have a scenario where it really didn't work.

My brother had travel insurance. He had a major aneurism and almost lost his life.

His insurance didn't kick in because it was the bank holiday weekend. My parents had to pay on credit cards to save his life.

It literally bankrupt my parents, but my brother survived.

My adult DS got mugged in Majorca, on his first night, a travel rep took him to hospital to be checked over, her fee, hospital charge, medication cost all paid direct, loss of money was paid to him. £25 well spent.

I had a serious accident abroad when I was a child. Insurance covered emergency surgery, weeks recovering in hospital and other expenses. Because of that experience I wouldn't dream of travelling without it.

Husband at the time blue-lighted to hospital in Toronto. All covered by insurance thank goodness, apart from a small excess. The bill ran to many thousands.

I'm a former travel rep so could fill an entire thread with stories of travel customers having accidents and needing to claim on their insurance. Some examples:

The chap who broke his leg skiing in Canada - the rescue off the mountain, the 5 days in hospital, the ambulance transport (to the hospital and later to the airport) and the operation itself would have cost tens of thousands of pounds.

The man who broke his shoulder falling off a mountain bike in the Alps - the EHIC covered his medical bills, but his travel insurance covered the cost of flying the whole family home at the end of the holiday (his wife couldn't drive) and the transportation of his car back to the UK.

Another broken leg due to skiing one - a young kid broke his leg and one wrist in the fun park and couldn't fly home for 10 days. Insurance paid for him and his mother to stay in a hotel in the resort until he was fit to fly, then paid for their flights (the family had originally driven out).

Finally, the lady who having endured a 16 hour coach journey to the Alps slipped on the steps outside the hotel on arrival and broke her femur, requiring a couple of operations, several weeks in hospital and a repatriation flight.

What does it matter? Because anybody travelling without it is an idiot.

2 times I have claimed
First paid up no issue
Second time had to fight for it.Never made it to holiday as friend I was going with had a cardiac arrest 3 days before hand ( thankfully recovere) .First they sent me a claim form for lost luggage .I had not actually made the plane then i had taken insuranceout after the incident No it was taken out when holuday booked.
.Only when I went to ombudsman Did i get my money