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?

At work we had an intranet post recently asking people to donate to a go fund me page for an employee's relative who was in a car crash abroad, has no insurance, needs life saving survey which can't be performed at the hospital he's at. They are trying to raise £40k to fly him to a larger hospital to have the op.

I don't think it's possible to say that not getting insurance wouldn't hurt anyone other than the person involved - this guy's family must be going through hell. He is dying because he isn't insured.

I think it's crazy not to have it! It's so cheap! Couldn't believe when my friend told me they'd gone on a family holiday to Florida without it!

We used to use insure and go I think, and its around £40 for a years cover or around £4.50 for a single trip. Its very reasonable. Probably cheaper than a pint in an airport lounge.

I think it's crazy not to have it! It's so cheap!

Probably cheaper than a pint in an airport lounge

Could you maybe RTFT and/or engage brain and realise its a lot more expensive than that for many people?

If you have spent money you can ill afford to lose on the trip then you need insurance (I write as someone who just claimed for a trip of a lifetime we had to cancel because of illness).
And as regards medical insurance, well check out what EHIC covers in places like Greece...........and bear in mind a little anecdote a friend of mine told me when her daughter had to have an emergency medical procedure in the US of A. By coincidence a UK based friend had had the same procedure privately here. The US bill for the daughter was TEN TIMES what it cost to have the same procedure privately in the UK.

I would like to point out that for those saying it's not worth it for holidays in your own country, that it doesn't just cover medical expenses - if you're camping at the other end of the country and the only driver in the group breaks a leg we can send out a chauffeur to drive you home.

If you have something more serious and require a transfer to a hospital closer to home, as the holiday is over and the family longer has accommodation in the area, insurance will often pay for a private ambulance for the patient and if necessary a chauffeur for the rest of the family or just the vehicle, depending on the circumstances.

There are many more examples, but it is definitely worth considering for any trip, no matter how short (in duration or distance!)

Times I have travelled without insurance: 0 (so far as I recall)
Times I have claimed on my travel insurance: 0

Would I ever travel without insurance? No. And I'm not at all wealthy, although am healthy so insurance is not that expensive for me (I have an annual policy so I know I'm always covered). If insurance were very expensive, I'd have to consider if I could afford the trip.

I think that one of the reasons some people might not bother with travel insurance is that they think about the straightforward costs of e.g. travel delay, lost luggage etc and figure that they could suck up the cost, especially if it's 'offset' by saving several years of saving on not paying insurance premiums. What people don't tend to think of is the impact on others of you having/not having insurance, something which was brought home to me due to my close friend's experience:

When my friend's dad died (completely unexpectedly) while on holiday in the EU, her parents' travel insurance paid for her flight out to be with her mum - and they were there for 3 weeks while he was in a coma before he died - all the medical and repatriation costs for her dad, and flights home for them all (and would have covered accommodation for them both but they were staying in their own apartment). Although her parents are fairly well off and her mum could probably have afforded to pay these bills, it would have been distressing. What my friend valued far, far more was that the insurers took charge of everything. They spoke to the hospital and had their own doctor ring the family to ensure they understood what was going on with her dad and after he died they registered death and ensured copies of the certificate were obtained in English too, organised an undertaker to make arrangements to collect her dad from the hospital and transport to airport and then home to UK, including all the paperwork, then transport to a funeral home of their choice in UK. The family didn't have to do a thing except arrange the funeral, the same way they would have done if he'd died at home.

Having heard all this - and seen how much the family were struggling with the bereavement even without the added stress of making those arrangements in a foreign country - really brought home that travelling without insurance could have a far wider impact than just on myself and I think it would be pretty selfish.

I never buy travel insurance. Much prefer to spend it on something enjoyable on holiday

My ex had that attitude. His €80,000 bill in Norway for being airlifted from a mountain and hospitalised taught him that it's one of those, low risk, high stakes situations that warrants insuring.

We had a €19,000 bill when my DD was very ill in an EEA country. They stopped the ambulance at the cash machine - I shit you not - so I could pay the bill for the medical transfer to another bigger hospital that could deal with her. My DD was in the back wrapped in foil and on oxygen at 18months old and I'm maxing our my cards at an ATM. Surreal.

My MIL went to USA at the end of last year. She was uninsurable (cancer) and took the risk. She was lucky she made it back before she was hospitalised for a month and died. They took a massive risk, but decided it was worth it to them. They could afford the risk, but a £250k bill would have hurt.

"I never buy travel insurance. Much prefer to spend it on something enjoyable on holiday."

Assuming you enjoy robust health I don't think you would be able to buy much on holiday that would be of the same value as the insurance policy for a 2 week holiday.

I much prefer to enjoy my holiday knowing that if anything happens I am covered by insurance.

I think being in robust health is irrelevant. So you get knocked over crossing a road, you get mugged, you fall down some stairs and break bones.... the list goes on and robust health or not is irrelevant. It's the unforseen that matters. So I agree Lonicera. Still... the poster who would rather spend it on a few drinks on holiday might be lucky next time. Or she might not.

Agree Lonicera I was in robust health. Except I had a freak accident. So instead of losing £200ish train fair to London and £200ish hotel, i lost £7 insurance.

And when a trip abroad had to be cancelled due to terrorism, my very little expense policy covered not only the flights, but also the cost of the calls I made during sorting it out.

My father had a heart attack while on holidays in the US years ago. He was young and it was very unexpected. The medical bills were hundreds of thousands as well as my mother staying there for almost a month before he was fit to travel.
Thankfully his insurance covered it all.

I have worldwide health insurance and don’t live in the uk so can’t take a travel insurance per se. I am however covered for medical emergencies. I would lose out for cancelled flights etc but they should be covered on my visa.

My friends husband died on holiday when he was with friends. Spent the first day of her grieving with her desperately searching the house, phoning the other wives- trying to find out if he had insurance so she could get his body back - he wasn’t and it cost them thousands. It’s not just the person that takes a gamble on saving some money or doesn’t remember that has to deal with the fall out.

Jacques Your policy is so cheap because you are in good health. I always get a large quote, so don't bother for the UK.

@crunchymint - that’s a moot point. I’d pay way more substantial amounts!

It’s like people who don’t have house insurance then expect pay outs to cover loss of belongings. It’s nonsense. If you take a risk, that’s your prerogative - but I generally think those that are prepared to take the risk are blasé about their chances of anything happening.

No I would take the risk in the UK and suffer the loss. I go away a lot in Britain for weekends, and have never had to cancel. I would pay a lot every year for insurance. I can not get annual travel insurance that is anywhere near affordable, so have to pay for each trip. But if I lost £400 at some point, fine

I only travel in the EU where the EHIC card covers emergencies. It took me years to understand that I might need insurance for non-emergency illnesses when abroad.
I also knew that, while I wasn't entitled to, I probably would have been able to access the NHS while living abroad (even if my insurance in my resident country would have to reimburse later) so didn't get insurance to come home.

I have not lasted almost 30 years without buying insurance, averaging 3-4 trips a year, 90 trips times how much? Not sure what the cost of insurance is so let's say there must be some multi-trip deal for what? £50 a year for a group of between 2 and 5?

£1500 saved. I could get a nice Thai massage or twenty for that.

Add to it 15 years of no pet insurance, 25 years of no house content insurance (I once had it and we got burgled and then the insurance company did not pay because they didn't like our window locking mechanism or some such nonsense, never paid since), and I think I have saved enough money for it to be worth it.

Each to their own. Risk takers, risk avoiders, risk lovers, risk-shy, we all make decisions that make sense to us. Do not judge so categorically.

Gwen neither the EHIC nor NHS would have got you a medical escort home, from France for instance

Never used to get travel insurance when I was young, free and single (I thought i was infallible-as you do!!!!!). Now I'm married with children we never travel without it. I've just bought annual travel insurance for a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children and it cost me a whooping.... £35. It's a no brainer. Luckily we've never needed to use it but that doesn't mean we won't ever need it. And people saying the EHIC covers it...please look at what the EHIC actually covers, it's very little in most countries.

Amelia

I never extend warranties
Never insure appliances
Take 3rd party car insurance
Boiler cover bollocks
Never take accident damage blah blah blah
Private health cover for the UK

I can 'afford' but would be pissed off to replace my crap car, replace the odd appliance that dies early etc. I hear you.

Medical bills can be MASSIVE though. The downside risk of travel insurance is up there at life changing. Pets can be put down, you can't decide to do the same to yourself if you get run over.

Clearly you disagree, but all the things you say you save on can definitely be 'self insured', but their limited liability makes them very different.

Ehic does not just cover you for emergencies, it covers you for whatever medical care a local is entitled to while you are in that country.

crunchy - I thought this was about foreign travel. It would never occur to me to get insurance within the UK. What would it be for?

Insurance is a difficult industry full of unnecessary products designed to take your money. Like washing machine insurance. People pay out loads and loads on insurance and start to feel it’s all a con. I do take risks, I don’t pay to insure kitchen appliances (other than normal household contents insurance)and I don’t pay for mobile phone insurance. However, I do pay for travel insurance. Have used it for a £20k hospital bill abroad and like others, all I paid was the excess.