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

I spent 5 days in hospital in a cheap SE Asian country in 2000. They wouldn’t admit me until I could prove I had funds or insurance. That call to the insurance company was one of the scariest I’ve ever made, but they were amazing and dealt with the hospital finance dept.

I paid £50. The insurance paid the rest, which was more than I’ve spent on travel insurance in my entire life. And that was one x-ray and a room for a few nights!

My mother will buy insurance but only put certain things on there! I keep telling her they won’t pay out but she’s like ‘oh that was years ago’ 💁🏼‍♀️ whatever, crack on

Agreed, that isn't suggested in this instance. I was clarifying your point that it's broadly considered a relatively cheap addition to holidays when - while still necessary - it often isn't for disabled/chronically ill people. Thanks.

Some cruise companies have in their T&C's that they will decline boarding if you do not have appropriate travel insurance. Seems reasonable.

Necessity. My mum had an accident abroad about 30 years ago and all her treatment and a flight home were completely covered. Would’ve cost a fortune if my parents didn’t have insurance!

I see the go funds begging for help….. drives me nuts. Actually met 2 relatives in a small online group for families of TBI suffers. 2 had accidents in Thailand and no insurance and no money to get back to the U.K. Travel insurance should be mandatory IMO.

This is so true!

30 years ago, I was taking a shower in my very nice US hotel and decided to shave my underarms with a complimentary disposable razor.

The razor disintegrated and I slashed my underarm. 😱. DH rushed me to the health centre just down the road. First thing they asked for was a credit card despite me dripping blood everywhere, (This was a really nice clinic too but it was obvious no credit card/no treatment.)

I ended up paying USD650 for 4 stitches but was able to reclaim against my travel insurance later.

Never used a complimentary shaving kit since. 😁

I used to work for one of the firms that bring you home if you have an accident / are ill.

a ‘small’ ear infection can equal massive costs if you cannot catch your planned flight home, broken leg can mean 9 seats on a plane for a stretcher plus a nurse……

interesting job but certainly drummed into me never to travel without insurance.

I’d never leave the country without travel insurance.

But that's not true in the case of the OP from what we can tell. It's part of the cost of a holiday though, and holidays run into hundreds/thousands in total cost. It's fine if you go without it if you don't want to pay the cost, just don't expect others to contribute to your crowd funding to pay the bill if it turns out you needed it.

I always get it. I’ve never had to make a claim. But knowing my luck, you can guarantee the worst would happen if I ever left it 😄

I agree you should get it but will push back it's a minor expense. Owing to preexisting conditions my holiday insurance runs into the hundreds. It's really not cheap, even for short trips.

Yes, prescription costs and co-pays at the doctor's are routine, even for Americans. But, the difference is that health insurance in the US will often not cover all the cost of prescriptions, and co-pays are in addition to insurance. At least with travel insurance paid for in the UK, you can claim back nearly all your costs, depending on your excess. All it takes for an uninsured traveller from the UK to go from wealth to poverty is one major medical incident in the US requiring surgery or hospital treatment. It's not worth the risk.

At least a UK traveller won't also risk losing their job as well, which is what happens all the time to Americans who have no health insurance.

And vice-versa.

We always purchase insurance an annual policy for Europe/Egypt etc. I have some pre declared health issues so it's about £170.

Last year my husband had a seizure on the last morning of our trip. He broke his spine and had to have fusion surgery in Turkey. We believe the bill was circa £30k. He's now diagnosed and it's added to our policy. Price this year is still about the same give or take £20. Why someone would travel without it is beyond me.

I was lucky a few years ago and had a pulmonary embolism. I was back in the UK when I took ill but clearly things had started when I was in Mexico. A policy for Worldwide including the Caribbean is alot more given his recent incident so we're staying more local (about £400 for such a policy) but if we were heading back to the US or something then without question we'd take out another policy.

I cannot tell you how stressful it was even with the insurance last year getting things sorted. I dread to even think what we would of done without insurance. It's not other people's jobs to pick up the tab because you couldn't put aside another few hundred quid.

Yes I had similar and agree it is stressful even when you do have the cover. When I phoned our insurer whilst sitting beside my DH on a hospital trolley, they said at one point they couldn't help if I didn't have the exact policy number. No understanding that you are actively in a difficult situation.
It was all fine in the end, but they didn't confirm we would be covered for the ambulance and ER visit until 2 days later.

I have medical conditions which make insurance prohibitively expensive, so I don't go abroad any more. If I were single, I might consider doing without and having to sell up if the worst happened, but I wouldn't saddle my husband with ruinous bills so that I can have a holiday.

It's annoying, as my conditions are being treated, so are far less likely to cause issues than they would have been before I was diagnosed, but if I didn't declare them and broke a leg I'd be screwed.

I definitely wouldn't rely on this instead of travel insurance. If you call out an ambulance in Spain, they will just take you to the nearest hospital - it could be public and covered, or it could be a private hospital.

I'm generally pretty cynical about insurance - I never bother getting insurance for appliances, boilers etc. I only insure for stuff that might bankrupt me to replace / cover. Medical bills abroad can easily fall into this category (I ran up a bill of around $50k in a private Mexican hospital in only 3 days!)

I don't want to be bankrupted by an illness or injury abroad, so I consider it a necessity. And yes, it's expensive, because I have several pre existing conditions, but nothing like as expensive as if something went wrong and I didn't have it.

I was talking about people from overseas ending up in a Uk hospital. I will admit the NHS are not as good at getting the money out of them, but believe me they will have a damn good go.

Yes even in an EU country where the EHIC arrangement will provide some cover for UK citizens, it does not cover repatriation.

I should be a requirement for going on holiday. I would not bother if I was staying in UK, but if going anywhere else I definitely have insurance. If i couldn't afford the insurance I would not go. I remember going on holiday with a friend who casually dropt into thr conversation thst she didn't have any insurance. I was very angry.

As I read recently, there’s two types of travel insurance; the type that you pay yourself and the type where you start a GoFundMe and expect others to pay.
In my mind it’s an absolute necessity and it’s been drummed into my children too.
I’ve just renewed my worldwide (ex USA & Caribbean) annual policy and have paid an extra £10 to cover enhanced trip disruption as trips coming up have several flight changes. It works out at less than £10 per month and I already have five weeks away booked with hopefully more to come.

I suppose booner means risk averse. It has its advantages.

You should buy your insurance minutes after booking your holiday. Too many people assume you’ll get a full refund from the holiday company if you’re unable to go due to illness etc.

No it doesn't, but those costs aren't going to bankrupt me. They are annoying, but wouldn't bring my finances to a point where I'd need anyone else to bail me out.

As it is I do take insurance, but I can understand why some might take a calculated risk.

I don't think it should be illegal to travel without - it's a matter of personal responsibility.