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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why people don't buy travel insurance?

622 replies

EveningHare · 09/04/2018 07:05

If you can afford a holiday then you should not look at travel insurance as an optional extra

It's vital that you have it, anything could happen and if you don't have lots of money in the bank, how would you pay for it? Go fund me?

OP posts:
RepealMay25th · 09/04/2018 19:44

Countries like Aus check to make sure you're solvent and have access to funds before allowing you into the country in the first place, so it would be unlikely that someone would be totally penniless

Not on a holiday visa they don't, unless there is a particular reason to. In fact not even really for longer visas ime.

UndomesticHousewife · 09/04/2018 19:44

Grassyass I use All Clear insurers because of my dd she won’t get cover from normal insurers, they are specialist medical insurers. They do a whole family cover and it’s about the same to do whole family with All Clear than cover for her then separate cover from somewhere else for the rest of us.

Nicknacky · 09/04/2018 20:16

I’ve had two main dealings with holiday insurance.

First one heading from a Caribbean island to USA to take a cruise when my youngest took ill at the airport and we missed the flight, ended up in hospital before missing the ship and first 3 days of cruise.

£8.5k claim which for some reason was initially refused but on complaining was paid out in full. That was a bank account policy but it’s quite an extensive one.

2nd occasion my mum was ill and we were taking a holiday of a lifetime to Florida. Mums insurance.....£1800 and 4K excess. It did cross my mind to go without it one point as we were refused ANY insurance but I knew deep down that would be stupid.

So I get it’s not always a £10 policy but even if you have to pay extra, it’s priceless

Original poster
EveningHare · 09/04/2018 20:21

@GreenEyedGoose Oh a TAAT hmm

And if you pulled your judgey pants from your arse you would have read that the OP in that thread wasn't going abroad.

my judgey pants are exactly where they should be Goose, what makes you think i was talking about the thread with the young child throwing up on the UK trip, maybe i was talking about the vomiting child going to Dubai, or another link i may have seen but am not crass enough to share here on a thread criticising it

A large majority of people can get travel insurance for a reasonable price, yes it is more expensive for some, but thats because they are a higher risk and thats what insurance is all about risk/reward

OP posts:
vitaminC · 09/04/2018 20:25

A pre-existing condition won't invalidate the entire contract, but it would mean you were not covered for anything related to that condition I'd you hadn't disclosed it!

It's worth reading the small print and shopping around, because every contract is different in terms of scope and amount covered.

It is also worth noting that you can have several policies all come into play if you exceed the ceiling on one (which is soon reached if you require surgery or intensive care in certain countries).

Even within Europe, it is important to have decent insurance. If you are on a Greek island, for example, and unable to take a regular flight home, you will need a medevac (air ambulance), at a cost of around £20k, as there are no stretcher flights possible!

And travel insurance does not just cover the medical costs themselves - it also covers a family member flying out in certain cases, extending accommodation if you are too ill to fly home as booked, taxis to and from follow-up appointments...none of which are covered by EHIC!

crunchymint · 09/04/2018 20:57

It can invalidate the entire contract as the insurer can say they would not have covered you at all if they had known of those conditions.

Sty90 · 09/04/2018 21:05

YouCantGetHereFromThere

Our driving licenses have been changed to my sisters address, we make sure we have ties to that address that gives us the proof we would need.

But the likelihood of ever being asked is slim to none as we are British So wouldn’t stand out.

RepealMay25th · 09/04/2018 21:08

Our driving licenses have been changed to my sisters address, we make sure we have ties to that address that gives us the proof we would need

You don't live there so thats not the proof you need, that's fraud.

UndomesticHousewife · 09/04/2018 21:17

Sty90 you live in the USA but have changed your driving licence to a U.K. address so you don’t have to buy insurance and get treated on the NHS? Hmm
You are a piece of work aren’t you. Take out fucking insurance

vitaminC · 09/04/2018 21:18

@crunchymint, I'm a medical controller for a major travel insurance assistance centre and I've never seen that happen and can't really imagine a situation where it would.

When a patient is hospitalised abroad, we check whether this is the first occurrence of that condition. If not, we check the contract to see whether or not it is covered (some contracts have an exclusion clause if you were hospitalised in the last 12months, for example, others 6 months, some exclude any pre-existing conditions at all!). If the condition was previously known about and not declared, it is not covered, except under certain, very comprehensive policies. But if later on the same holiday you broke your leg, you'd still be covered for that, as totally unrelated.

It's also worth pointing out that injuries sustained under the influence of alcohol or drugs are often excluded. As are psychiatric conditions in many policies!

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 09/04/2018 21:19

To be fair, a British person walking into a British hospital isn’t going to be asked for any paperwork are they?

AMerkinInParis · 09/04/2018 21:27

I don't go anywhere abroad without travel insurance. DS has a couple of pre-existing medical conditions but it doesn't work out too expensive. It's about making sure you have access to the best medical treatment and can get home if the worst happens. If you get knocked down, if you suffer a stroke, if you have a heart attack etc etc.

My DM organised a coach trip to Ireland a few years back. Sadly one of her friends died over there. She had not taken out any travel insurance and it cost her family a huge amount of money to have her body returned to the UK for her funeral.

And I'm sorry. I wont be contributing to any GoFundMe accounts to pay for somebody who couldn't be arsed to pay for travel insurance to save a few quid.

crunchymint · 09/04/2018 21:28

vitaminc I have read of cases in broadsheet newspapers where the insurer has said they will not pay out for in one case hospitalisation because of asthma, because they had not declared a completely unrelated condition.

RepealMay25th · 09/04/2018 21:29

To be fair, a British person walking into a British hospital isn’t going to be asked for any paperwork are they?

No, but that doesn't change the fact that they are not entitled to use the NHS for free and are cheating and lying to do so, does it?

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 09/04/2018 21:29

No but it makes the driving licence stuff a bit odd

vitaminC · 09/04/2018 21:30

Strange, but there are probably some unscrupulous firms out there, so it's possible, I guess. I've never seen it happen though.

FleurDelacoeur · 09/04/2018 21:32

To be fair, a British person walking into a British hospital isn’t going to be asked for any paperwork are they?

No, but they will be asked who their GP is. Not being registered with a GP will be exceedingly odd for a British person. "Oh, I'm registered with Dr Smith in Orlando, Florida, but my driving licence has a UK address!" Hmm

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 09/04/2018 21:40

It’s not odd not to be registered with a GP. My husband hasn’t been for the last 7 years.

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 09/04/2018 21:41

(And you could obviously just make one up- your mums or childhood GP. Not saying it’s right but it none of these things are going to stop you if you’re determined to use the NHS)

YouCantGetHereFromThere · 09/04/2018 21:47

But the likelihood of ever being asked is slim to none as we are British So wouldn’t stand out.

To be fair, a British person walking into a British hospital isn’t going to be asked for any paperwork are they?

We are non UK residents with British accents. Last time we used the NHS as visitors (I dialled 111 when my daughter had an allergic reaction) they worked out very quickly that we were not registered with a GP surgery, and one of their first questions was whether we actually lived in the UK.

HollaHolla · 09/04/2018 21:49

I have thought it was a necessary evil but I’d never need to use it..... but in the last 18 months I’ve used it 3 times!

Once where my bag was lost (never to be recovered) somewhere between the UK & Australia, and had to buy enough to keep me going for 4 weeks.
Once when I fell over a cobble in mainland Europe and broke my nose, cheekbone and orbital around my eye. I need X-rays, stitches and some help from a paramedic equivalent.
Once when a close relative died very suddenly in an accident and I had to come home, as I was the next of kin.

After this run of ‘luck’ I think I’ll always have insurance!

Americantan · 09/04/2018 21:53

My gripe against the travel insurance I took was that whilst it paid out ultimately, they treated my claim like a rear shunt in a car when it was a medical emergency. I’ve never felt so alone as I did during that week

specialsubject · 09/04/2018 21:58

All those want the right not to have travel insurance. Please write out a statement that you do not want anyone else paying for treatment, and if that means life support switched off or trapped in a country with no money, you accept that.

As for the careful measures to get NHS treatment as a holiday tourist - I'd get banned if I said what i thought.

vcrees6 · 09/04/2018 22:00

Many thanks for all the replies on this thread, I have a number of trips coming up including the states and after reading decided to read all the T and C’s.

I had assumed the travel cover with our Amex credit card was comprehensive - it isn’t - just travel accident which is different. And also doesn’t cover me if I’m not traveling with the account holder (DH).

Luckily we pay a bit extra as well for insurance via our First Direct account which is comprehensive but now will be ringing to check I am covered if I travel without DH and to declare anything medical before I go.

frogsoup · 09/04/2018 22:00

For some people with preexisting conditions, travel insurance is utterly prohibitive. My DM as a cancer survivor had to pay 2k for medical insurance for a 2 week trip to Australia!!! And this after shopping around 10 different companies, 8 of which refused to insure at all, even though she's in remission. She obviously paid up as it was a once in a lifetime trip, but she also goes home 5 times a year to her home country in the EU, and for that she has to get an ehic and cross her fingers, because there's no way she can afford 10k+ a year in travel insurance!!! If there is no ehic equivalent after we leave the EU, she'll be properly stuffed, unable to travel back to her home country!!!

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