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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Fundraisers for people who have gone on holiday without travel insurance.

131 replies

Sharksbees · 12/09/2018 07:33

Prepared to get flamed but Aibu to think not paying for travel insurance and expecting people to pick up the bill if you are ill is cheeky?

I might be a total bitch but our local media and Facebook groups seems to always have at least one of these fundraisers to bring people home because they've taken ill and have no travel insurance.

I know I don't have to contribute but surely if you can afford a 2K holiday you can afford travel insurance? Ours costs a fortune because we all have medical issues but I wouldn't dream of going without it. If I can't afford it (and this has been the case) we have travelled in the UK instead and if you don't have issues it's as little as £13!

I'm not talking about those where they have taken insurance and it won't pay out BTW but more those who put their pictures up drinking pints of beer but have no insurance.

OP posts:
LoniceraJaponica · 12/09/2018 07:40

I don't understand why anyone goes on holiday without travel insurance, especially to the US. It doesn't add much to the cost of a holiday.

OftenHangry · 12/09/2018 07:41

I agree. I am always surprised how many people think travel insurance is not neededHmm. Lots of bank accounts have it as a part of the package too. I think it should be somehow mandatory tbh.

Sirzy · 12/09/2018 07:44

I would never donate to one.

I am going away for a few days next week, I booked insurance with my flight. Wouldn’t dream of risking not having it

ShirleyPhallus · 12/09/2018 07:47

It’s ludicrous but if you don’t want to donate then just don’t. Problem solved.

RosieLancs · 12/09/2018 07:47

Only going to get worse when people lose their EHIC cards if Brexit goes ahead

HRTpatch · 12/09/2018 07:50

Totally agree.
You need to read the small print on insurance especially for USA for repatriation.

Original poster
Sharksbees · 12/09/2018 08:04

I know I don't have to donate Shirley. It's just very often our local Facebook group has at least one of these appeals with (understandably) increasingly desperate pleas.

If my daughter had caused all this stress to the family by going on holiday without insurance and leaving us in a position of desperate appeals or selling things I would be furious.

OP posts:
Gaspodethetalkingdog · 12/09/2018 08:10

People think the rest of the world is like the UK where they turn up at a hospital and get treated for free like the NHS. I have no sympathy especially when they have been doing stupid things like riding mopeds whilst drunk in Thailand.

People used to have to buy insurance with package holidays, now any idiot can buy a cheap flight to anywhere with no insurance

SoupDragon · 12/09/2018 08:12

If my daughter had caused all this stress to the family by going on holiday without insurance and leaving us in a position of desperate appeals or selling things I would be furious.

Yes, but being furious wouldn’t solve the problem.

I wouldn’t donate to a stranger but I might well donate to a friend or family (and be furious at the person for being so stupid!)

It is stupid to travel without insurance, I agree, and I always buy it.

Accountant222 · 12/09/2018 08:23

It boils my piss, relatives are regularly on the local news telling the sob story and not directly asking for money but that is why they are there. Plenty of appeals on Facebook for donations to cover the cost of funerals, not necessarily for the young, elderly relatives who should have something in place.

AryaOfWinterfell · 12/09/2018 08:23

Some people do think that other countries healthcare systems are like the NHS.
I work in a GP surgery & we frequently have people who are on an overseas holiday phone is requesting a prescription is sent electronically to a pharmacy near them. They’re astounded when the receptionist explains that prescriptions only work in the UK!
Some people either are that dim or they think they’re being smart by taking their chance and saving the £ for insurance.

EmeraldVillage · 12/09/2018 08:25

I agree OP. But then if it were someone I knew personally then maybe I would chuck a few quid in to help out.

Justgivemeasoddingname · 12/09/2018 08:29

I agree OP. And AIBU to think the same of people who don't have house insurance then lose everything in a fire, for example? Crowdfunding has been taken to another level- it is becoming insurance but funded for by other people and I really don't like seeing the pleas all the time. People need to take responsibility for their own actions.

OftenHangry · 12/09/2018 08:34

@Justgivemeasoddingname absolutely agree.

I do wonder whether the people buy insurance next time or if they wing it again.

ThreeAnkleBiters · 12/09/2018 09:19

I know what you mean. If it had happened to a friend I'd probably contribute but not a stranger. I needed thousands of pounds (and this was 30 years ago it would be tens of thousands now) of healthcare when I was a child on holiday in the USA and it wasn't even a particularly serious issue.

ThreeAnkleBiters · 12/09/2018 09:19

Granted we have no health issues but I always go for the top of range insurance and it's always a tiny fraction of the price of the holiday.

BackInTime · 12/09/2018 09:19

I agree, although travel insurance companies also have a bad reputation for not paying claims which is why some people don’t bother.

The policies need to be clearer about what is covered, what health conditions need to be disclosed and what would invalidate claims in order to avoid any problems. There was a case recently where someone had a heart attack on holiday and the insurance wouldn’t pay out as the person had not declared they we were overweight or obese. As far as I know most policies do not ask specifically for medical and personal information when applying leaving people open to their claims being invalid unless they are proactive and specifically give the insurer their information.

KnotsInMay · 12/09/2018 09:28

A lot of people go abroad to visit family and because they think of it as ‘going home’ or a ‘family visit ‘ rather than holiday, insurance just doesn’t occur to them. I have had this with DH going to his family and them coming here without insurance.

Luckily nothing has happened and under my influence we always have insurance and DH has been firm with his relatives now.

Sparklesocks · 12/09/2018 09:30

It's foolish and naive not to buy travel insurance, but if something terrible happens then they can't go back and time and get it (and I guarantee they'd buy it from then on!), so if it was someone I knew personally I'd probably chuck some cash their way. I would of course think they were silly but would still want to help, and not punish them for their mistake.
Also sometimes the policy doesn't cover everything or has exceptions. I travelled the US a few years ago and for part of it was with a group of women, we were in a bar and one got her drink spiked and was horrifically unwell and had to go to A+E. Insurance refused to pay out as it was 'alcohol related' (despite her only having one drink, and getting spiked) and was left with a crippling bill. People make mistakes.

BackInTime · 12/09/2018 09:34

It’s also the case that people believe that having the EHIC card is sufficient. This does not cover all costs or of medical transport back to the UK which is really expensive. Anyhow post Brexit this is something that we will all have to consider more carefully.

LemonBreeland · 12/09/2018 09:38

The latest one I have seen was someone on a quad biking accident who did have insurance but quad biking wasn't covered. This seems common too, having insurance but it doesn't cover how they got injured. You would think with so many of these stories around now that people would check what they have cover for.

Our last holiday insurance had a huge list of things not covered by the insurance, including a sport DS1 loves, so he was not able to do that sport on holiday.

MarthasGinYard · 12/09/2018 09:38

Yanbu

I remember the thread about the idiots in Dominican Republic where the woman went into labour. no suitable insurance which covered them her in late pregnancy to go private there. Massive campaign they raised thousands and then the ins decided to pay out.

No I wouldn't give to any of these GFM campaigns for idiots.

LemonysSnicket · 12/09/2018 09:50

People buy travel insurance for travel within the U.K.?

iamnotanumber10 · 12/09/2018 09:55

People aren’t perfect, they do stupid things sometimes. You don’t have to donate anything, so don’t. Those who feel sorry for someone can do so if they want to. Saying ‘we’ll younshould have got jnsurance’ Isn’t solving anything is it? Look at this way, you get to feel smug because you’d NEVER be so foolish...

SummerGems · 12/09/2018 09:58

The thing is that on the whole they try to raise more than just the cost of treatment etc and they become more like money grabbing exercises rather than genuine pleas for the correct amount of money. Remember the baby Dax (sp?) story where they raised money for designer clothes etc even though his care was being funded abroad?

These crowdfunding efforts have become more like an income and less like a genuine need IMO.

I have a serious medical condition and it would never occur to me to travel without insurance. In fact at the moment I opt not to travel because the thought of falling ill abroad terrifies me.