To think that some people are beyond stupid "British passport was a ticket to get back home "

[ScarletFever]

Sadly a man has died in Thailand after leaving the UK to start a new life there. His family are trying to raise money to bring his remains home. Its all very sad, but this comment by his friend,.....ffs

'I always thought that a British passport was a ticket to get back home if anything happens to you but it does not work like that.
'If you are not insured, then your family and friends have to raise the money to repatriate

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2844019/Family-British-man-died-mysterious-circumstances-Thailand-crowdfunding-appeal-money-repatriate-body.html#ixzz3Ji2ZZS3R

So what, you are quoting his friend who is in shock and coming to terms with grief. Who are you to judge what they say at a time like that.
You don't have to donate, but all of us have made a fantastic dent in the bill and any leftover is going to his poor mother.

I think your thread title is a bit cruel - it may seem obvious to you that things didn't work like this, but I don't think that poking fun at the misconceptions of someone who is grieving is particularly kind.

It is but like everyone, you have to pay for the flight cost, deceased or not.

People forget in times of grief.

Why didn't he have travel insurance? Because he knew that others would stump up for him / his family if anything happened to him? I will not be donating.

He wasn't travelling, he was living there. He needed life insurance, not travel insurance. And how many 20-somethings have life insurance?

Apologies if i have offended someone, but how many times are we asked for money to 'help someone get home' Why do people travel without proper insurances? I know he was not on holiday, and living out there, but doesnt he have any estate? If my relatives moved abroad and then something awful happened like this, surely you wouldnt expect to give me money?

I was objecting to the person who assumed that because they have a British Passport, then they would be brought back? Why would they? Its a 'passport to travel' not a ticket

Somewhat harsh. But I do think it's a popular perception in this country that "the state" will pick up the pieces.

I have never been asked to donate money to bring someone home. But our community has lost someone and people are coming together to help.
I'm truly sorry it has appeared in the Daily Fail as the vitriol is not something that is needed right now.

Fine to object to a comment by a grieving friend but I'm sure that Sam never intended this to happen and maybe it will lead to other people getting some kind of insurance, me and my friends never have, silly maybe but we haven't, neither do we have an estate and for gods sake we don't even know how he died yet. Please just stop.

YABU - the poor man has died and his family are grieving. Have some respect.

Ok - fair dos, my title was over harsh - and for that I whole heartedly apologise - i reacted too quickly

I have seen many many campaigns to 'bring people home' who went abroad without insurance and sadly it obviously doesnt encourage people to get insurance.

Very sad however not sure why they are asking for £15,000 when it looks like it costs a lot less £3,100 quoted here

cost of repratriating deceased from Thailand

and upto £850 for ashes

I see your point Scarlet.

Clearly very sad circumstances and my heart goes out to his family, but you do often see cases like this, where someone has had an accident, or something else has occurred, and then family are looking for others to foot the bill.

We all have to make choices about insurances - car, life, mortgage protection, travel, contents, etc.,etc. No-one likes paying them, put if you are old enough to travel abroad or live alone then you are old enough to take responsibility to take out insurances.

Maybe there ought to be a clearer information leaflet at travel agents and a page on on-line flight booking pages, reminding people what they will need to pay out if something goes wrong.

Why do people travel without proper insurances?

Because the cost of insurance is far far more than the whole total holiday cost for me. We go on holiday within the EU only so I can get emergency hospitalisation if required. Apart from that: if I die, then bury me there.

Apart from that: do not travel outside the UK I suppose.

People think, wrongly, that because they hold a British Passport the British Embassy will pay for them to be returned to the UK if they fall seriously ill or die.

Maybe there needs to be more awareness of what the British Embassy can/will do for you when you are abroad.

Pinkstinks sorry to hear about this poor man's death and the subsequent difficulties.

What happens if you die overseas,and no one comes forward to pay the cost to repatriate the body?

I think in that case the British Embassy will pay for the body to be buried or cremated in the country in which the death happened.

The only insurance that would seem applicable is Life Insurance. I think it's very complicated when people go to live and work abroad, there are questions surrounding residency, visas, etc. If he had gone to work for an international company his repatriation would have been covered by them, but going solo is different. Perhaps there needs to be some advice/information provided to people before they do this, tied in with the Visa system maybe and possibly a form of insurance for these eventualities included in the cost of the Visa.

Agree it is a bit harsh but if this was a young man I can see the gap in insurance. What really got my goat was a colleague who went to a european country on a stag. Got injured whilst pissed. No insurance or ehic. As we worked for an insurer I could not bring myself to contribute to the collection.

I have lots of friends who live in Thailand, they live there, therefore they wouldn't have travel insurance.

I waved a colleague off to live in Australia today. I am sure he has insured his flights out there and his goods in transit but of course he doesn't have travel insurance, he's not intending to stay.

This was a young healthy man, he had no reason to think that anything untoward would happen to him and was intending to be there long term.

It's absolutely ridiculous, just a non-story in terms of the travel insurance angle.

Well the friend said, "I always thought....", so it sounds like a previously held belief rather than the grief talking. I'm a very risk averse person and can't imagine travelling for any length of time without he correct cover in place, especially in the Far East. There have been a few stories in the press about this in the past few years.

We were discussing this in our office the other day (insurance claims, ironically) and a woman I work with who has just come back from travelling for the past four years exclaimed that she didn't know repatriation had to be paid for. Our boss then told us of an acquaintance of his that had to pay £10,000 to get his mother's body back from Canada after she died on holiday, uninsured.

I get what you mean OP. Your comment is directed towards the friend and it reflects an attitude in this country that the state will take care of everything. I taught English abroad for a few years. My dad actually paid for me to have travel insurance but I was the only one in my expat group of friends who did. You think you're invincible when you're young.