to think I don't need to buy travel insurance for a holiday in Holland as its in the EU

[TheWayItWasnt]

I'm in the UK by the way.

DON't EVEN CONSIDER IT..... yes I am shouting. I have dealt with too many situations where somebody thought .... I was covered as i booked via credit card - Diddn't read the T&C with the card.
I was covered as I have an E111 ( or whatever) .... yep so now we have to medically fly you home with a broken leg and you need 3 seats and a nurse escort.
I was covered as in the Eu its all the same thing right ? - As we have to repatriate a body home and it took ages and ages and the distress the poor family were going through was heartbreaking.

You need insurance.

The thing is why do you think they list emergency medical insurance of usually at least up to 10million. This is because you can be raking in 10's 100's of thousands of pounds depending on what happens.

I think we get complacent with our NHS system because we expect an ambulance to turn up, all medical treatment, free transfers to specialist hospitals, food, scans, medicine etc all free without question.

I always feel so sorry for relatives that have to sell everything they own to help their relative that decided that travel insurance was too much trouble or just couldn't be bothered paying the £20 extra and tbh I wouldn't do it unless it happened to be my DH so if you do risk it you had better make sure you have nicer relatives than me.

If you die your family and friends will have to stump up for repatriation. Not a risk worth taking IMO.

See wriggles post.

I've just checked my EHIC card.
The first thing it says is

Make sure you have valid health insurance.

Why risk it when it costs bugger all, especially if you have no existing medical problems and can get Tesco's. Even the Post Office will cover some conditions and they are reasonable

I'm so sorry wigglesrock, thats awful. Absolute worst case scenario and thankfully rare, but it does happen OP. A friend of mine works on cruise ships - they expect at least one death every trip, generally OAPs but not always.

But OP, I cannot fathom why anyone even considers not buying this. For the sake of an extra tenner or even £30, to spend on booze/duty free/ice cream. Why think it'll never be you it happens to? You probably have significantly more chance of something going wrong on holiday than you do of winning the lottery which millions of people every week hope will be them. I know 2 people who have won £25K, I know 4 families who havee had serious medical mishaps whilst abroad.

You cannot afford NOT to, as numerous high profile news stories and personal stories on here wil tell you.

I agree with everything that has been said about the need for insurance.

My FIL died whilst my DP's Brother and family were away. Their insurance covered getting them home quickly and partly refunded the cost of their holiday.

It isn't so much for your care, it's the people in your party and getting home, being treated "like a local", is useless, because your family and yourself don't live a car journey away and there is a cost for transferring medical information for your GP and employer.

I used to work for a travel insurance assistance company. I could fill pages with anecdotes of people who thought the E111 (as it was back then) was as good as travel insurance, only to find themselves too ill to travel as planned - which meant stranded children, extra accommodation costs and flights home - with a medical escort as the airline won't let them travel without one. It's not worth the risk, IMO. You only know how good insurance is until you have to use it.

Always, always get insurance! Peace of mind is priceless and the costs can potentially be massive if something goes wrong. Best safe than sorry :)

And on the other side- even if you have insurance you must carry your EHIC. A lot of insurers won't cover any costs that should be covered by the EHIC.

Policies are so cheap now and lots of bank accounts etc provide them now, it is incredibly foolish not to get insurance.

Thanks, it was and is a particularly difficult time. I've done it too, nipped over for a quick city break & threw my eyes up to heaven when my husband mentioned travel insurance. Obviously any very sudden death is so shocking & difficult to accept, but having to panic & cry about how to afford getting a body home it's very hard to comprehend. I think what surprised me was how many other people I then heard of that it happened to as well.

So sorry Wigglesrock.

DS1 was taken into hospital vomiting blood on the morning we were due to fly to Spain one year. As we had travel insurance we got the price of our holiday back, this were able to book another one.

One thing I never scrimp on is travel insurance. All pre-existing conditions are declared and I makesure we have far more cover than should need because you just never know.