Sick of go fund me for idiots who don’t take insurance with them

these stories seem to pop up on regional lunchtime news with startling regularity. There was one this week about a 20 yr old who’d gone on holiday to visit family, “forgot to extend his insurance”, then fell out of a car. The lead lunchtime news.

I said people would have “more” empathy. Not that they have none.

Sure, and I agree insurance is important.

But what a wicked way to look at life and say you’ve been stupid not to take out insurance so now deal with your silly mistake disabled life. Shocking.

If someone has the misfortune to suffer an accident or disability and be out of pocket through no fault of their own then fair enough (I am severely disabled myself btw, as is my son- I know life isn’t always fair or kind). But to go away without insurance or without checking what your insurance actually covers is just idiotic and we need to stop pretending otherwise.

You are spot on there. Many hospitals, mainly outside Europe ask for money more or less immediately, it comes as a shock, been there with our daughter. We weren’t with her, she called us in a state and we paid it, now waiting for her insurance to reimburse us for out of pocket expenses as the hospital is playing silly buggers in reimbursing us.

Ah ok, so you’d be fine if a gofundme was set up of someone had an accident in their country of residency, but since they were on holiday then that’s tough shit.

Most people would have more empathy if they took out adequate insurance. It’s not difficult.

That would be a £3500 holiday then

You’re not wrong there. We weren’t with our daughter, she called us from Mexico in tears, luckily we had the money. The next day they wanted the same again, I refused and contacted my daughters insurance company. They called her and spoke to the hospital and confirmed Guarantee of Payment, they were trying it on, bastards.

What I didn’t realise was that they’d asked for my daughters passport and her boyfriends, and locked the exit doors so she couldn’t leave, very bloody scary. The insurance company demanded that they stop what they’re doing, my daughter has PTSD and anxiety as stated on her application. Upon being told this they backed off, during this debacle she ripped out her cannula and left the hospital, bloody nightmare. She booked with TUI, and they were no chuffing help, just when you need your rep.

After her experience I will be sticking to European destinations. My brother in law had a similar experience in Cape Verde, cost him £2000 for mosquito bites that became infected. His insurance wouldn’t pay because he’d forgotten to declare Rimapril, he didn’t declare it as he no longer uses it, 🤷‍♀️

If only this had been entirely preventable.....

Maybe if people didnt choose to do stupid things they wouldnt put themselves in the situation of begging on the internet

Ah, well...they are paralysed now. Hopefully they don't go splashing their GoFundMe on improving their quality of life. God forbid. 🙄

Your anger feels misdirected due to your own circumstances.

Just ignore them. Most won't even be legit. They'll be scammers just trying to get money with fake stories/photos.

They are idiots. But that’s their problem. You don’t have to donate. It doesn’t affect you.

Wow this thread. A lot of the replies read ‘it’s your own fault, live with it’.

Accidents happen, hindsight is a wonderful thing. You’re on holiday, you’re having fun, a terrible accident happens and it either changes your life or you die. It’s a shit situation anyone could find themselves in no matter how savvy they think they are.

People are also forgetting that the impact of something like this doesn’t just affect the person that’s sustained the injury / died. It affects the people around them who now need to care for them. A better wheelchair, more physio, funeral costs - these are all things that family members can’t just afford when something happens in a millisecond.

Some empathy.

You are being unreasonable in thinking people should take responsible for their own lives. I was shocked to learn how many people travel with travel insurance. Policies are so cheap!

However it’s not hard to ignore a GoFundMe. I generally do.

Not completely the same but a few years ago a family near me put up a go fund me for their dad (in his 60’s) who met a “woman” online and went to South Africa to visits her. Didn’t even tell the family he was away. Turned out it was a scam and his money and passport was stole. They wanted everyone else to fund their dad’s return home. No shame

Are you searching these out, there is occasionally a DM sad face one but where are you finding all of them

Just ignore them, why are you reading them anyway.

Focus your energy on your own health issues rather than this 🙄

The examples you give are of absolute stupidity. Insurers are incredibly slippery though and do all they can to get put of stumping up - sometimes it's not their fault.

It's up to you who you donate money to, to anyone. No-one is forcing you to part with your cash, so juat ignore them. I also don't come across these!

To make such a rejection an insurer would need to be sure that the customer would not have reasonably failed to recall a visit to a Doctor that could change the outcome for cover. Most disclosure fro experience comes from customers who believe that the insurer will not or cannot check. A good insurer does not pay a legitimate claim. In recent times as examples I have seen a claim rejected where chronic alcoholism has not been declared and where a customer was suffering from a range of Parkinsons related symptoms where a customer was being treated by a consultant. In both of these cases we concluded the customer was clearly aware that they should have disclosed these conditions and did not.

I'd agree 99% but in 2004, I had a slipped disc, working in Norway. I was medevacked to hospital by helicopter and immediately after my first exam, they asked for my insurance details. It was with the AA.

I was in hospital for 10 days, it turns out that there was only a small amount for them to pay, because we had a reciprocal health care agreement with Norway.

A few days after I got home, a cheque for over £900 arrived, so I rang to query it. They asked if I had any expenses and I complained about my massive mobile bill, which they paid in full.

I used them for a few more years, no claims and then they gave me a ridiculous quote, so I went elsewhere.

I agree with you on all points, CarlaH, especially where they decline to pay on ridiculous grounds. That said I'm convinced they expect to pay in the end in such cases, but that they try it on in the hope claimants give up

In fairness they do say if they won't cover pre-existing conditions, but there's a big difference between a forgotten cold and the sort of thing some uninsured travel with, and it's the former where the ombudsman comes in

Thanks and sorry for the delay in replying. You should disclose any material change in your medical history. I would exercise some common sense here. For example, if I had suffered a heavy cold and visited the Doctor to get some treatment I might not disclose. However, if there is any doubt please make a disclosure. I would certainly disclose being prescribed sleeping tablets or any other medication. It may not have an impact on premium and if it does it should be relatively small. Insurers use a system- Helix to assess the risk of medical conditions. It turns each condition into a score.

At the point of claim if we become aware that a customer has not disclosed a condition then we will look at the impact on the Helix score. If the change is material then we may look to not pay the claim or we will pro-rata any amount paid. So if the premium would have increased by 30% if a condition had been disclosed, we will only pay 70% of the claim.