To think that people who don't use travel insurance are crazy?

[cwtch4967]

Why on earth would you book a holiday abroad and not take out insurance? So many people ignore the need to be properly insured, I just don't get it?

I've read posts where people say they don't bother in Europe - who is going to pay to get them home if something serious happens?

Is it just me???

I would if it was an expensive trip Fashion. It wasnt something I considered until friends of my parents had to cancel a trip and were out of pocket almost 2K. It was a special anniversary trip and there was nothing they could do. Mum and Dad are both super hot on insurances etc but even they admitted that they had never previously given it a thought.

What bogey face said. If it was thousands then I'd insure in case we had to cancel. I have insurance through my bank account though

I have it with my bank account but, have never had to test whether it is effective or not. i do wonder how good it really is, how would you prove you had it if you were taken ill in the States? There's nothing like having a proper policy in your hand, is there?

I agree with health insurance for overseas, where they don't have the equivalent of the NHS. But why get an expensive package that covers you for bag theft, holiday cancellation etc? My attitude to insurance is I only take it out if I couldn't afford to pay up if the worst happened. Otherwise the insurance companies win out in the end - they load the premiums to make sure of that.

In other words, yes to insurance for overseas healthcare, house buildings and contents insurance, and car insurance (third party fire and theft only, as per the legal necessity). But mobile phone insurance? A rip-off. Pet insurance? You'd be better off paying the equivalent sum into a separate bank account and saving up. Cancellation insurance for holidays? Unnecessary - get the cheapo £10-for-two-weeks version that just covers you for healthcare instead.

FIL died on holiday completely unexpectedly in the UK - 300 miles from home. It hadn't occurred to the ILs to take out insurance. The post mortem meant MIL had to stay an extra five days at the hotel, dh had to travel up to join her and it cost a fortune to have the body driven to their home town. Think the total additional costs came to just under £3,000. Now luckily MIL had £3,000 but it wouldn't have cost much to insure against that for a UK holiday, even for the elderly.

I agree bright, which is why I take out additional insurance when I go abroad over and above what my bank account covers.

Tell my friend who has spent thousands in the last year on his that pet insurance isnt worth it! He didnt bother, his dog got hit by a delivery van and lost his leg. That op and treatment alone was a fortune, without the follow up treatment.

I couldnt afford to replace my mobile if I lost it and my insurance is £6 a month for 3 £300 phones in our house. totally worth it.

If I save for 2 years to go on holiday, there is no fecking way I wouldnt insure that! Kiss goodbye to 3/4k?! Really? Knowing that you cant just re-book to go later in the year but would have to save for 2 years again?

Parakeet I pay £75pcm for three cats. I do hear what you say but cat one, who is 4 has already cost £3,500 due to an accident and some poison. Not many folk would actually put the money in a bank account and what do you do when the cat is very young and you haven't saved up enough to cover the costs if you don't have savings.

Agree though about mobile phones and the five year cover on domestic appliances. Certainly don't about holiday cancellations - we had no idea that dd woudl have such a serious accident she would need surgery three days before a holiday. We were very pleased to get our money back in full - it would have been gutting to have paid thousands for a holiday we couldn't go on.

Blimey, I wouldn't fork out £3500 for an operation on a cat, that's for sure. I would have it put down, and there's no way the vet would be able to guilt-trip me into doing otherwise.

I disagree as well parakeet. I just paid £3k for a holiday, DS has asthma so at this time of year he could well end up in hospital.

DH and I both have iPhones. He just dropped his in a puddle. I was very glad of the insurance, but wouldn't insure a crappy phone.

My father died of a massive heart attack while on holiday in Spain 13 years ago. He had had no previous issues cardiac issues. His body was repatriated and the insurance company paid for me to go out and accompany my mother back home.

My mother also had heart failure 4 years ago while on holiday on Spain and had to be flown home with a medical escort (and me again, the insurance company paid for me to go out) after being in intensive care for 2 weeks. Initially my mum had gone to the local state hospital that she would have been entitled to under her E111 but once she mentioned she had private insurance they sent her off to the private clinic which was a completely different world - they thought at one point she would need a multiple bypass, and the private clinic would have been able to offer this as a matter of course.

As a result, I am obsessed with travel insurance and yes, I do think anyone travelling without even in Western Europe is taking a huge risk and is being incredibly selfish (unless they are unusually loaded).

Wondering if many people realise that terrorist activities are outwith the scope of most travel insurance policies...

Parakeet that is the reason why I desperately hope you dont have pets.

I dont, as I am not an animal person, but if I loathe attitudes like yours, kill it because it costs you money?! that is disgusting

Bogeyface so where would you draw the line? If you did have pets, or worked on a farm, you would be aware people make that sort of decision all the time.

Bogeyface the man in your local paper is the one I was referring to in my last post!

If people are too tight to pay a few extra ponds for travel insurance, fine. But I for one won't be contributing to a collection to bring you home when you come off your moped, or whatever.

We didn't have insurance for one of our cats, who came home with a broken tail. It cost us £700 to fix her, just weeks before she was due to be rehomed due to DS's allergies. My Dad offered to put her "out of her misery" for free. Yes that would have been a cheap way out , but she was my baby responsibility.

Pounds, not ponds.

SoftKitty oooh, MN neighbours! :o

that story made me soooo mad. If and when he makes a full recovery( as I hope he does) then he should work to pay back every penny. I realise that the accident wasnt his fault but the decision to go halfway across the world with no insurance wasnt his parents fault either. Why should they have to pay for it?

Parakeet If I had a pet then I would be making a commitment to care for that pet. So, I would make sure that it could get the medical treatment it needed either by insurance, or making sure I have enough in the bank to cover it. I certainly wouldnt say "Its not worth that, kill it". But I assume you are not a pet person either, or you wouldnt say that.

Also, Bogeyface are you vegetarian then? Because if not, while you may turn up your nose at "kill it because it costs you money" you are happy to "kill it because it tastes nice".

A farmer has a business to run and as such, will have insurance.

No I am not vegetarian. I eat meat that the farmer sells, I see no moral problem with that. ACtually, I dont eat meat these days as I dont like it, but I do eat meat products and my family eat meat. A farmer will make a business decision, that is totally different to a pet loving family making a decision about what they view as a member of that family. I, as I said, am not a pet person but I know many people (my friend with the dog especially) treat their pets as their children and could no more put them down that I could my kids.

And actually, I cant believe I tried to defend myself there.

Re-reading it, your "kill it because it tastes nice" post is the stupidest thing I have ever read! Please disregard my last post and replace it with "Are you SERIOUS?! :o:o:o:o:o"

Thank you.

I agree travel insurance is important.

There are some bargains to be had and the cheap policies actually do often have enough cover. Obviously you have to read the small print and check but I got my annual worldwide travel insurance for about £30 this year from Virgin Money. Post Office quoted me about £70 just for 3 weeks US and Bahamas so it is worth shopping around! I usually get annual as I normally go away a few times a year so it works out cheaper.

You don't eat meat but you do eat meat products? [Guffaw.]

I'm not arguing about whether or not some people think of their pets as children, I'm pointing out that I personally would put down my pet cat if the alternative was a £3500 operation. For that you think I am "disgusting". For that I think you are facile.

yanbu, anyone who travels without insurance is slightly mad imho,
for the sake of around £30 a year i have very good cover, not only for medical bills, but cancellation, lost passports, money, baggege etc, plus, and very importantly, public liability,

unless you're mega rich and can afford to lose a couple of grand cancelling a holiday, or perhaps 60k in medical bills, or perhaps a few million if you cause an accident and someone sues you, i think 30 quid is a very small price to pay,
and most annual travel insurance covers you for uk stays of more than 3 nights.

to the poster who asked about insurance for the older traveller, saga do very good deals,

as to pet insurance, we have both the dog and the horse covered, not just for the medical aspect of it, but again, public liabilty, so very important in this day and age of litigation at the drop of a hat.

i always have it. only used it when suitcase went missing, turned up 2 days later

i think anyone going to the states and not getting it is foolish

For meat products read gravy made with meat juices, I use lard for chips (oil just doesnt taste the same!) that kind of thing. I went off meat in pg and never went back, but I am not veggie at all.

I just think that saying that you would commit to care for an animal right up until it cost you more than you thought it was worth is, yes, disgusting. Either you commit to care for a living being for the rest of its (natural) life, inwhich case pay up. Or you dont in which case dont get a pet. By your logic, we should none of us have children considering how much they cost!