Another day, another person with inadequate travel insurance

side note on pet insurance...this is why I stopped with horse insurance b at 3rd party, as he had 3 feet looked at - NO CONDITIONS FOUND - but all got excluded from any quotes as now deemed Pre existing. And treated for a reaction to butter cups - so respiratory excluded, then a sharer gave him dry feed, he got choke, and then digestive issues got excluded.

I don't think I've ever had a travel insurance policy that didn't cover repatriation of remains.

Not arguing with you, just thinking aloud as I thought it was standard, and wondering now if I'm mistaken.

wrong thread

This is why I dont travel unless its with work and their insurance covering me.

I have a condition that makes the actual flying dangerous - so I do avoid it as well...like being live!

If you have no PEC its not expensive! My kid has 2 conditions. Just got a quote of £60 for YEAR for her...Execess are like 12million,. Has repatriation etc.

Also...cremate and bring ashes home if you cannot bring a passed person back surely?

It wouldn't be for you though would it? Most of us would prefer not to leave our spouses, parents, siblings or god forbid, children, in an unmarked grave, thousands of miles from home.

It stuns me that people don’t get adequate travel insurance!!

Perhaps she thought the insurance was adequate and only found out too late that the company would not pay out.

Insurance companies do find any reason not to pay.

I'm a lawyer and still got caught out with the "pre-existing condition" rule on pet insurance recently. As I thought it meant something you can claimed for before, but it meant anything your pet had more than a year ago if it comes back, even if you paid for the treatment and did not claim anything the first time round. They can be absolute fuckers.

I'm not the first to point out that the article is really about the high rate of serious illness that occurs with visitors to Cape Verde. We were thinking of going there a couple of years ago but decided against after finding that most reviews of the resorts there mentioned abysmal hygiene standards and a prevalence of severe stomach bugs.

We were speaking to a couple on holiday their Daughter in law was so.sick in cape verde by day 5, really put us off going.

Doesn't it normally take six months to settle before you can mark it properly?

The widow is quoted as saying "I believed I didn’t have adequate travel insurance", which is ambiguous. It's possible that in her distress and confusion, and being in a country with extremely poor infrastructure, a local burial seemed the best solution at the time. I'm not the first to point out that the article is really about the high rate of serious illness that occurs with visitors to Cape Verde. We were thinking of going there a couple of years ago but decided against after finding that most reviews of the resorts there mentioned abysmal hygiene standards and a prevalence of severe stomach bugs.

Thats not what i said.

Medical costs not a concern?

Basic holiday insurance does not include the return of a dead body.
We have an amazing respected Charity in Ireland. The Kevin Bell trust, young Kevin died in America, his family set up the charity. In 2025 they brought home 135 people. The families usually raise money afterwards it’s isn’t expected.
You would need top insurance to cover a casket return.

Well that's all very well but I often can't buy the packaged insurance as it excludes so many pre existing medical conditions. I never go away without medical insurance but I can't get insurance with just any company.

It's also why I declare everything- the insurance companies probably roll their eyes at all the minor medical complaints I put on the form but I am not having them invalidate my insurance because I haven't declared something.

You do have to declare absolutely everything in your medical records, no matter how small. The insurance company cover this by saying that if you don't, your policy is invalid.
This is why you have to check your GP records really carefully. I found so many mistakes in mine (on the NHS app), that I had to do an e-consult, then a face to face appointment to get them corrected.
They have this format that divides historical and active problems, then put things in the wrong category. They record the same condition twice, using different names.
A friend of mine was going on a round the world trip and we were chatting about it. I asked her if she had remembered to declare her recent cataract surgery. It hadn't even occurred to her. It was lucky we spoke because her policy would have been useless if anything had happened.
Insurers should put this in big letters on the front page of the medical questionnaire.
I am lucky to have annual insurance through my bank and I have to do a phone questionnaire every year. The person doing the phone call always makes the above information clear.
I did end up in hospital abroad one year and the first thing the insurers did was access my GP record.

I'm amazed at how many people don't know this. We are assiduous about updating our insurer about all new visits to the GP via the insurer's online portal, declaring everything as soon as it occurs (as you are meant to - DS's acne, DH's sprained ankle, my UTI etc). All fine, none have ever resulted in a change in the premium (we have an annual family policy).

Then a month ago, my GP referred me to dermatology for a suspect mole, I went online to update the insurer (Admiral) but it said if you had a referral for a test you needed to call them in person. I called them, and they cancelled the policy there and then, giving a refund for unused months, as I was 'waiting for a test' and mainstream travel insurance policies do not cover anyone waiting for a test/procedure/diagnosis. As we were shortly going away, we had to get another policy, from a specialist medical insurer which does covers those waiting for a test. (It was £280 for the year rather than £140 for the cancelled policy, so not too bad. The suspect mole was subsequently found to be fine!).

But when I've mentioned this story to friends they've all said it wouldn't have ever occurred to them to mention this dermatology referral, or any other GP visit, to their travel insurer. They seemingly aren't aware that when you sign up to travel insurance, you must declare all pre-existing conditions, warrant that you will update them as new conditions occur, and tick a box stating that you are not waiting for a test/diagnosis/procedure. But if it is found that you have not declared your full health status, the insurer will not pay out for anything, even lost luggage. So my friends are effectively paying for insurance that won't pay out when they claim (which is horrifying given it's the worse-case scenario, not the lost luggage, that you need travel insurance for).

I recently bought travel insurance from the post office. It was something like £58 for a single trip and £67 for an annual policy. I opted for the annual as the difference in price was so small. I think when you go into most websites they give you the option so people should automatically be able to work that out surely?

Yes exactly which is why I think there is a lot missing from this story and its not as its being portrayed

I used to work in travel insurance, specifically adding activities and medical histories to policies. Repatriation was always part of the cover, not just when your dead, but also the eyewateringly expensive medical repatriation if you became ill/had an accident. The story here is a bit weird, it doesn’t suggest that she contacted their insurer which is the standard procedure, it also doesn’t suggest she spoke to the travel company rep, nor does it say that she contacted the local British Honorary Consulate for advice (what you have in smaller places that acts as a branch of the embassy).
The article is about a court case against Tui for repeated outbreaks of norovirus at a particular resort, the burial is just tacked on with no real information about the insurance cover, what there is doesn’t stack up.

I have some sympathy with the person in this case, however, in general, it is just part of the entitlement culture we now have - it’s always someone else’s fault, and someone else’s responsibility to sort it out.

Most travel insurance covers repatriation, getting insurers to pay though that's a different thing.
I don't really see the problem of being buried abroad- if you have strong beliefs or wishes then you need to check your policy carefully.

Im in a position that i travel without covering my presisting condition. Most places won't cover me, and those that will have it around the seven thousand pound mark.

I therefore only travel to Europe where the average cost is about £10000 if I get ill and need hospitalisation for 2 weeks. I do have that in the bank as my life. Savings so would use that. I wouldn't travel to the US though as much more expensive.
I am insured for other illnesses, and the last time I got ill with my condition.I needed hospitalisation was fifteen years ago.

Yes this. ^

I do feel for people who DID take out insurance, and the insurance company pulled everything they could out of their arse to not pay out.

I have known this happen before! About 7 years ago, this woman I know who was 67 at the time took out travel insurance for a coach trip to Germany, and she fell and broke her ankle (in Germany.) The insurance company wouldn't pay out because she neglected to disclose a heart murmur that she has when taking out the insurance. It had NOTHING to do with the fall she had, or her broken ankle, (she slipped down a small flight of (8) steps,) but they wouldn't pay out... Cost her nearly 5 figures for the medical bill. She was one of the lucky ones! Some peoples medical bills abroad run into 10s of 1000s of pounds - (even 6-figure sums in some cases!)

And sorry @JulietteHasAGun Your friend paid £5000 in insurance ALONE for a holiday to Florida? LOL, sod that for a game of soldiers! No way would I pay that. I just wouldn't go. Terminally ill or not. That price is outrageous!

I think travel insurance is the biggest scam going, but it’s your responsibility to check your policy