Travelling without insurance

[LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops]

DH is going to follow (on his bike), some of the mountain stages of Tour De France and says he's not going to bother with travel insurance.

Am I being unreasonable to be upset about this, seeing as it will be me who would have to sell the house find £30k if he needs repatriating.

How would you handle the conversation?

[LittlePeaPod]

Life I work in this industry and work with underwriters on behalf of corporate clients. IMHO, it would be mad for anyone to travel without insurance. I can assure you medical costs and repatriation would be in excess of £30K. Medical bills and hospital stay alone (dependent on injury/illness) can be £30K for not a long period.

Cantspel I am sorry to say but you are completely wrong in saying insurance is not required in France.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Oh yes friends daughter was skiing in France.

[Sirzy]

Anyone who travels overseas without insurance is an idiot.

[SolomanDaisy]

Completely stupid advice that the EHIC will be enough. It won't.

[YoniRanger]

It absolutely boils my piss when people go without insurance and when they get injured expect others to pay for them.

If I see one more collecting bucket in spar for 'injured entitled twat' I will scream.

If you can't afford insurance you can't afford the holiday.

[ShellyBoobs]

He would have to be stark raving bonkers to even consider going without insurance.

I've just done a quote on moneysupermarket for a week in France and it came out at £5.49 for basic cover with £5m of medical cover.

I mean, why wouldn't you?

It's just fucking crazy to risk it!

[MrsCampbellBlack]

DH has just done La Marmotte today - he goes a couple of times a year cycling in France/Spain and he uses Snowcard insurance.

His bike alone would need substantial insurance surely?

[apostropheuse]

Just remember to shop around for the insurance.

I've just been looking insurance for a six day trip to Germany and the quotes are ranging from £29 to £130.

I have a pre-existing medical condition, so knew it wouldn't be the cheapest, but I had no idea how different those quotes would be.

I do have the EHIC card too, but as others have said it doesn't cover repatriation and only covers the equivalent of what the country's residents pay, e.g. in Germany they have to pay ten euros per day of a hospital stay in a public hospital.

It's really not worth the risk.

[frogspoon]

Just wondering...

As it is clear that the EHIC is not enough insurance coverage for a trip to Europe, then what is the point of it exactly?

It is a free card, but if you always have to buy travel insurance in addition anyway, then why bother getting the card?

[ENormaSnob]

Of course he needs insurance.

Pretty dangerous to suggest the ehic card is enough.

[Shesparkles]

I have bells and whistles annual cover through American Express for a family of 4 for the princely sum of £36

Why would you not take out insurance? It doesn't have to be your own actions which land you in bother

[specialsubject]

the EHIC gives you the same entitlements as the locals - so depending on the country, it gets you a GP visit or perhaps some minor injury treatment. Maybe more. It therefore cuts the bill for the insurers, and thus cuts the cost of insurance.

as everyone is saying, it is not sufficient on its own.

to further state the bleeding obvious, no travel insurance covers accidents while drunk or drugged.

[MrsCampbellBlack]

If you're doing an activity like mountain biking you need a specialist insurance - standard insurance just won't cover him properly.

DH goes normally for 5 days and its less than £40 and that's with the maximum cover for his bike which is £££.

[TNETENNBA]

shesparkles
Here are some reasons ....

It Looks like Ameican Express would give you a discount if you have an EHIC card.

Most medical insurance has an excess (or deductible)

Medical insurance can be a pain () to claim. It may be easier to use your EHIC card

Some insurance companies insist on you having a card (I think ).

Using your EHIC card where you can means your are not having to tie up any cash reserves until you get refunded by your insurance company.

[frogspoon]

Thanks for the replies about the EHIC.

Can see now why it is useful to have one in addition to insurance.

[ShellyBoobs]

MrsCampbellBlack - I don't think the OP's DH is going moutain biking, though.

If he's doing part of the TDF course I'd have thought he's just cycling on normal roads, which I would think is covered by any policy?

(Could be wrong of course)

[MrsCampbellBlack]

Well DH did La Marmotte today which is one of the tdf stages and still got specialist insurance - but perhaps we're just a bit belt and braces.

My step-father had a triple heart bypass in Japan whilst on a cruise holiday 3 years ago - thank god he had insurance as otherwise the costs would have bankrupted him, quite literally.

[hermioneweasley]

Why has he announced this? So you'll sort it for him?

[MrsCampbellBlack]

I think the danger is if you're doing any type of sporting activity the insurance could say general insurance doesn't cover you. I would suspect that doing any of the tdf stages would perhaps count as that and insurance companies would try to wriggle out of covering you if he had an accident.

[soaccidentprone]

I slipped in the shower block whilst camping in France and sprained my ankle. I was glad I had insurance as the nearest hospital was 1/2 hr away and was private.

A lot of bank accounts have additional benefits like travel insurance, so it may be worth checking with them.

It's a false economy to travel without the appropriate level of cover.

[GobbySadcase]

My bank covers me for medical insurance, repatriation etc - but only if I'm carrying an EHIC. Think it reduces any potential bill for them and mitigates their losses as far as possible.

[looselegs]

I would never ever go abroad without health insurance-we're going to france and the insurance has only cost £9.95.Can't imagine how much healthcare would cost in france......

[lljkk]

I sent DH+DS to the TdF last year :).

I was (am) happy with EHIC, but the travel insurance that matters to me is repatriation. Medical + things aren't so tough, but the repatriation is a bit nasty. I think we went with POffice last year. It wasn't much to pay for a little peace of mind.

[lljkk]

ps: I think a lot of the quotes people are mentioning are given on condition that you get EHIC as well; I don't think you can get a week of medical for £6 or whatever it is without EHIC in place.

[VanellopePitstop]

I have been hospitalised in America, never been so grateful for T.Insurance.

I will never travel without insurance again, even France or Germany, especially not when we have the DC with us.

For us, the cost of the holiday includes the T.Insurance, if we can't afford the insurance, we can't afford the holiday.