Do you think holiday insurance is a necessity or a luxury?

See I drive. So don't have to worry about trains. Didn't your insurance have an excess though? Most of them do

I always have travel insurance for any visit of over 50 miles from home even when visiting friends and family by train. I got Stuck in Edinburgh years ago due to the last train being cancelled.I had no way of getting back to the west coast but at least i had insurance , gave them a call and they authorised a hotel for the night. Insurance had cost me about £2 at the time, cheapest hotel was about £75 at the time. I didn't have £75 to spare then. Without the insurance i would have been sleeping on the street.

It’s vital.

I have annual travel insurance right now. But when I don’t I always buy insurance when I buy my tickets so we are covered.

I can’t believe people go on holiday without it.

My 19 year old granddaughter recently spent five days in hospital in Bali, on iv antibiotics they originally thought that she had Dengue fever, however it was just a terrible chest infection, she had insurance, anyone who travels without insurance is a fool.

Well, no regulation or law is 100% enforceable, but that doesn't mean you don't have them.

You enforce it by putting in consequences, the same as any other law.

Surely you would just senda copy of the policy to the holiday ticket agency?

No it's a genuine question. How can you enforce it idf people do things like that. Nobody has actually answered it

See title of thread!

Are you just here to be argumentative?

Yeah and someone upthread said you should get travel insurance if you use UK public transport 😂

But what proves you've given the insurance company the correct information so it actually covers you?

I have to show that I have cruise cover when going on a cruise.

I do pay for it although I’m always suspicious as to whether they would actually pay out.
I read a thread on here where about listing all previous illnesses, there’s no way I can remember all of those for everyone so I feel we’d be one of those unlucky families who don’t get a payout for a broken leg because of an ear infection years ago.

I went on holiday to the US years ago and got into a massive car crash the day after I arrived. $81,000 medical bill. Thank. Fuck my former-travel agent Dad had taken it upon himself to go and get me travel insurance before I went! Otherwise my parents would’ve had to sell their house (I was only 19 at the time). Also, when I was laid down on the road right after the crash, a paramedic leant over me and before he said a single word, asked “Do you have insurance?” 😐
Ill never forget seeing the Visa Mastercard symbols on the door of the hospital 🏥

true Why would I need travel insurance to visit my daughter for example

I have it now, but didn't used to. I only travelled within the EU (pre-Brexit) and had the EHIC card, which I know doesn't cover everything.

I have an annual policy now.

One thing that probably puts people off is hearing of people finding insurance companies not actually paying up when necessary.

Not all trips in the UK are holidays.

Then annual policies could stop being a "thing" and people could have to pay per trip.

And in terms of proof, yes, that's always a chance, which is why you change it to make it impossible to purchase a ticket to leave the country without getting insurance with it. It's not hard.

Agree.

Necessity. You fall ill, someone falls ill, you die, someone else dies - accidents, cancellations, flooding, heatwaves, fires, kidnapping, assault, theft, hotel doesn't exist, hotel is only part-built, animal attacks you, transport fails, you catch the latest virus, you get stuck on a ship infected with the latest virus, you get mugged, belongings are stolen, passport gets lost, war breaks out - you're stuck, bombed, have to cut trip short, have to cancel trip etc etc.... And the golden rule is always get insurance before you book the trip or you won't be covered for cancellation. And get it at least a month in advance for the best rates, otherwise they'll hike it up. Happy hols

Part of purchasing what ticket? For example if you have an annual policy then why should you pay again to have it added into a ticket

As for " showing proof" Well all you would do there is buy the cheapest possible policy, even if you had zero chance of being covered by it. So leave out all the pre existing conditions and dangerous sports even if they apply to get cheap quite and show that paperwork

Make it part of purchasing a ticket, or require people to show proof of insurance before they leave the UK.

How can you enforce that?

My husband is having active treatment for metastatic cancer, so he can't get insurance. Unfortunately, though medical treatment has progressed a lot in recent years, and many people have healthy normal lives because of ongoing treatment, the insurance companies have not kept up, so although he lives a normal active life and is fitter and more active than many men his age or younger, most companies refuse to quote at all, and the few that will do so want more money than the entire holiday for both of us. If it were not for that, we would both have insurance.

As far as tech is concerned - you need to carefully check your policy as many don’t cover tech over 18 months old.