How many people travel without insurance?

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I have an annual policy so I'm insured without really thinking about it.

I have lots of weekends away with a group of friends, almost always in Europe.

I have realised only about half take insurance for these trips, with the others believing it's not needed for these short trips, they'll take the hit on any cancellation/ lost luggage and rely on GHIC for anything medical that can't wait until they get home.

I don't love this as I fear it will be me trying to get their bodies repatriated!

I was talking to a colleague who is very well travelled and she agreed it's not necessary for European travel...

Absolute madness. Then they end up in the paper with a GoFundMe because they can't pay for medical care or repatriation and expect sympathy.

I don't know about drug, but most policies would cover drink. You're allowed to have a drink on holiday.

Not at all. You might be as healed as you can be but permanently disabled and require ongoing continuous support. What do you think happens to quadriplegics?

it’s simply poor risk analysis - it might be very unlikely to happen but if it did happen the consequences would be catastrophic. And the price of insurance to mitigate the risk is a small price to offset the potentially catastrophic event.

Actually it’s quite common to exclude harm caused by intoxication (which is a higher threshold than having had a drink or two of course)

Being ‘allowed to have a drink’ and being drunk are different things though. I am sure if you had a car crash abroad and had been drinking they would not cover you.

AI after googling says being drunk is not covered and who knows what being drunk is in practice when dealing with some insurance companies. Best check the ‘General Exclusions’ section, as advised, to be sure.

AI answer after googling:

^No, holiday insurance typically does not cover accidents or losses caused by excessive alcohol consumption, as these are common exclusions in most policies
. Insurers expect you to avoid situations where being intoxicated could lead to an accident or other issue. You should always check the specific wording in the "General Exclusions" section of your policy documents to understand what is and isn't covered.^

Not for health matters, no, but what if you had to cancel your holiday, for whatever reason, your luggage got lost or stolen etc?

This happened to the relative of a friend of mine too. They needed to fly her back to the uk. Such a terrifying prospect without insurance.

I've just returned from Majorca with a broken wrist. Thank goodness I had insurance as it was all dealt with really well. I've got a cast on which was replaced by my local fracture clinic, but I was very well looked after.

I would never travel without insurance.

Annual policy here. I get really annoyed when I see these go fund me’s. If you can’t afford the insurance don’t book the holiday.

For me, those costs on a UK holiday could be reasonably absorbed. If I can afford the holiday I can also afford to cancel it. Many of my UK bookings are cancellable last minute anyway. And I don’t take valuables away with me. So given that the Insurer is making a profit on average, I’d give it a miss!

Same here. Luggage - minimal. Holiday cottage - if I lost the money, well it won't bankrupt me.

I buy insurance as soon as I've paid the deposit. It's a non-negotiable.

If you can afford a holiday, you can afford the insurance. I've not sympathy with the pleas that happen every year because Doris and Dave "overlooked" insurance and are landed with a hefty bill.

DD went interrailing this summer. She wasn't going to get insurance - until I insisted. Good job really, she had the worst case of tonsillitis I've ever seen - throat almost closed up. 2 hospital visits in 2 different countries, 2 different types of antibiotics and 3 types of heavy duty painkillers. Cost her almost £400 in total and she got back all but £50 within days of claiming.

If you can’t afford the insurance don’t book the holiday.

I have sympathy, a younger colleague had her stroke in her 20s and she said her travel insurance was unaffordable. A friend of mine had cancer whilst we were at uni & she didn't take out insurance on girlie holidays, she couldn't afford too.

It would be your friends family or next of kin who would need to sort out repatriation, not you.

I've got stage 4 cancer and haven't always been able to get travel insurance. I went to Spain for a week last month uninsured. I'm going again next week and so far haven't been able to get a quote.

It's a worry for when we do want to go overseas though. Possibly next year or definitely the year after. Even though the broken arm will come off the list, I'll still be on HRT and my child will still be autistic! I shopped around, too, and got declined at several. I gave up then.

Have you tried Payingtoomuch? The subject of insurance comes up a lot on cruise forums (because its generally older people with conditions and cruise lines make you have insurance) and I’ve seen this mentioned. There’s a couple of others mentioned but I can’t remember the names right now.

Even minor things can end up costing a lot! I got ill with severe food poisoning on holiday a couple of years ago and was too ill to fly home so got stuck out there for an extra 4 days. Between the medical costs, extra hotel costs & new flights home etc, it came to over £5k. All covered by the insurance except for £75 excess, and they did all the reorganising of flights etc. Well worth the £180 we paid for the insurance!

I’ve declared HRT, didn’t have to pay extra for that, was diagnosed with eczema and my ears declared that and it had to pay on the £35.

I’ve now been referred to an audiologist because of other ear problems and I guess I’m going to have to declare that and no doubt it will cost £££ more. Idoubt it’s going to kill me, I can’t see me ending up in hospital with it but I have to go to the US in November and it’s just not worth the risk of being in a car crash or similar and having no coverage. Seriously, it’s far safer to declare every visit to the GP and every medication you’re on in advance, otherwise your insurance is practically useless. It’s a total scam and I understand why many people decide to risk it

Nobody needs travel insurance ... until the day that they need travel insurance.

For the vast majority of people, what you are insuring against is something catastrophic - e.g. a major accident that requires rescue, repatriation or months of hospital care - or against losing the cost of an expensive holiday should you not be able to travel. You're also covering the cost of unexpected additional hotel stays (see pp^ above) and for the cost of someone staying with you while you recover. Imagine if your child were to become ill and hospitalised and someone needed to stay with them for 2-3 weeks while they were treated, and then they needed medical transport back home. FWIW, I'm a former holiday rep and have seen all these examples and more.

Nobody yet has mentioned that travel insurance also covers third-party liability and foreign legal fees. For example, if you hire a bicycle and are involved in an accident (e.g. you hit another person who suffers broken bones, or you lose your balance and crash into and badly damage a £100k Mercedes) you can be held liable for the damage to the other party and potentially face a long court case and a bill for damages. Of course this is highly unlikely, but the whole point of insurance is to protect you against the consequences of the unforseeable. [The foreign legal costs insurance also works in your favour if you are the victim and need to sue the person who caused you damage]

Any skiers reading this should be aware that Italy now requires all winter sports tourists to have third-party liability insurance - cover which is standard in all winter sports travel policies.

I sometimes don't bother for short European trips. Just have DHIC.

I was surprised my dad used to visit me with no insurance (each year). Am not sure why, he just didn't bother. Dad & Step-mum are normally super risk adverse (!!)

When Dad was about 68yo he broke his arm in Italy. The Italian A&E only charged Dad 120 euros to xray, diagnose, sling the arm. He was convinced that for that price they must be totally incompetent and a simple sling wasn't at all the right treatment. Back in USA he was given the same diagnosis & treatment by his usual provider, though.

American Cousin slipped on steps at Wembley & broke 4 ribs. He was charged about US $4k? ultimately for the treatment he had (admission & xrays etc. at Royal Free in London ...) Cousin couldn't believe how cheap the treatment was.

I do. I can't actually get insurance now due to ongoing health issues.

There is no insurance cover for acts of war or terrorist attacks. That shows how possible the insurers think these things are!

The people who can buy it for a tenner are very fortunate.

My child needs regular tests to assess whether her (very serious) condition is still stable. That's every 6m, and we often have to wait 2-3 months for the results, dates shift etc, with the effect that there are only small unpredictable pockets of time when she's not 'waiting for results'. Add in other tests that she needs and I can't see her being insurable for years.

I am very tempted to risk it for something like Euro Disney where we can leg it for the Eurostar/ferry at the first signs of illness, and use ghic in an emergency, but it feels reckless. But it's also really shit being trapped in the UK because your got dealt a rubbish hand in life.

I see why some people risk it. Especially when the insurance companies seem so good at wriggling out of the claims.