To wonder why people don't buy travel insurance?

[EveningHare]

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?

@PaulDacreRimsGeese Expats paying for healthcare is a nightmare. We go in, declare we are not resident, and don't need to pay, but have rarely been able to pay. So if we didn't even try to pay, I can see how easy it would be.

Sorry, declare we are not resident and do need to pay.

In EU you don’t really need it if you’re healthy

Nonsense, you even need it for the uk. I broke my ankle in 4 places requiring surgery a few weeks before we were due to travel to London for the weekend. We got about £600 back after we'd paid the excess (flights, hotel, tickets for shows). Without insurance we'd have lost the money.

Sprinkles I give up being polite to you. EVERYTHING I said has been relevant and a few others have also called you up on this thread for not having insurance. Your situation back then would have been a hell of a lot worse if something had happened while you had been away.

I guess you just can't reason with stupid

I honestly think you shouldn't be able to complete the booking of a holiday out of this country, without putting in insurance details

How would that even work? Many of us book flights and accomodation separately, and I have no need for insurance every time I fly like many people, so requiring it to book a flight wouldn't work, would it?

In my case because I thought the e111 would cover us in Europe.

Witch you need to back off. Sprinkles has been very honest in saying that they have travelled without insurance in the past and given reasons why. They weren't drug smuggling Let it go! They answered the op and gave a different perspective which contributed to the thread. You calling them stupid and whatever else you have said contributes nothing to the thread. Sprinkles didn't harm you or anyone else by not having insurance so can you just calm down please?

OP some people just don't understand the value of insurance because they have been lucky (until their luck runs out!). I heard of a house fire recently and despite there being lodgers living in the home, there was no insurance at all - I cannot get my head around how this is even possible??!!

www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/friends-gather-help-bangor-home-14241825

Repeal I completely agree, it just wouldn't work. Also I don't think something that only affects yourself can be made compulsory - I think car insurance is only mandatory because it can affect others - eg why a minimum of third party is necessary. I realise it does affect others at home who have to try and sort out the mess - but that isn't really the same thing.

Frogsoup we get cancer cover for dd from All Clear. I didn’t ask about Australia but USA was about £800 for the whole family and she’s only 1 year post treatment, Europe was a lot cheaper but still obviously a huge amount more than normal insurance. They asked if we wanted an annual policy too
I don’t know what type of cancer your mum had and maybe that one is more difficult to cover.

I’ve got decent insurance for my holiday this year as there is going to be an element of health risk. However I was particularly greatful for it when I was up for redundancy after paying out for my flights. It would have covered the cancellation had I needed to. As it is I didn’t lose my job thankfully but I was glad I was covered had I needed to be.

Undomestic yes I fear she has, even specialist insurers wouldn't touch her. To be fair, she probably is quite a big insurance risk!!! But all the same as I'm sure you've found too, it is adding insult to injury to find that you've managed to get through the cancer but then have to pay a gigantic premium to be able to travel.

squishee This is who we use. As I said it was a Which magazine recommended one, good for pre-existing conditions, and not so discriminatory against age.
We even tried Saga insurance who refused to cover us which I think is pretty appalling as they're meant to be for the older demographic.

Pre-existing conditions is a pretty wide category. We were when we found out that our 10 year old's out of plaster and completely fine broken arm was going to cost us £70*.

Our dentist gave us good advice - no matter how great your insurance, make sure you have a credit card with a big limit. It can take a while to get insurance sorted, and in an emergency you don't want any delays.

*That was for world wide insurance for a year.

FWIW, there are some conditions which effectively excluded foreign holidays. Dsis was a transplant patient and could only afford to go abroad by getting on the GB paralympic squard .

Our dentist gave us good advice - no matter how great your insurance, make sure you have a credit card with a big limit

Nice advice for rich people but for a lot of people thats just not possible.

How can you say nothing I have said contributes to the thread MissDuke? I have worked in the industry, I have a good argument for buying travel insurance, have named a recent programme where this was highlighted for people to watch if they want to and have a really good example I have seen first hand of what happened when someone didn't have sufficient cover.. All of this is relevant.

If you think I have been unfair to Sprinkles that however is fair enough.

Holidaying outside of the uk without insurance is asking for trouble. If you can't afford the insurance then you certainly can't afford the holiday because if some medical emergency was to happen you are going to be stuck with a massive bill.

I always feel sorry for the friends and family of those that are left to sort out the shit when someone decides to risk it. I think having the NHS lulls people into a false sense of security as they don't realise how costs can mount up if you had to pay out of your own pocket. I would be very pissed off if a friend or relative expected me to effectively sell my home to fund their ignorance because they risked it to save some of their own money.

I also think that thanks to the NHS which is free at the point of use which is highly unusual for a healthcare system, people (including myself tbf) have no idea how much healthcare actually costs. It's all taken for granted here.

If you knew that that minor operation you had last year actually cost £12,000 you'd think twice about going anywhere without insurance wouldn't you. But many of us go through life without ever seeing a healthcare "bill". I'm pretty sure Americans, very used to paying over the odds for healthcare insurance, are far more cautious than Brits generally when it comes to being insured for going abroad.

Oh and Missduke that link is shocking too. That poor woman has lost everything she has ever known but why on earth was she not insured? Don't Airbnb have an insurance stipulation for hosts?

How would that even work? Many of us book flights and accomodation separately, and I have no need for insurance every time I fly like many people, so requiring it to book a flight wouldn't work, would it?

I haven't thought it through I agree. But if you are booking a flight that I assume is abroad, why wouldn't you book insurance?

I don't mean you, but in general, I just find the laissez faire attitude of some posters completely bonkers. No skin of my nose I suppose, it'll be up to their rellies to get them home should something awful happen.

The only time I don't book insurance is holidaying in the UK because I accept I may lose the price of the holiday but I can access the NHS. The minute I set foot abroad I book insurance because I am not covered should something happen.

But if you are booking a flight that I assume is abroad, why wouldn't you book insurance?

Because I don't need to every time I fly. For instance there are two European countries I am equally entitled to full treatment in, I don't need insurance when I am in either of them. There are plenty of other reasons.

I would never pay for insurance for the UK. I have a number of conditions which would make it expensive, so not worth it. I would simply take the loss if I had to cancel. But insurance for abroad is different as medical bills can be very expensive.

Isn't it Cuba where you need to carry a copy of your travel insurance as part of your entry into the country?

I think that should be the answer, if you don't have insurance the you can't come in.

Thank you MissDuke there is no excuse for constant persecution as part of a inconsequential forum discussion. Makes witches feel good about herself though I guess.