AIBU to remind people to take out travel insurance

[LoniceraJaponica]

before going on holiday.
Travel insurance doesn't just cover mishaps while you are away, but also covers anything that might happen before you go away that prevents you from going on holiday.

How and why do people not understand this?

[Undercoverbanana]

Good advice OP.

Hope you’ve not had a problem.

[MaisyPops]

Good advice.

I always find myself a bit stunned when crowdfunders come up saying "pay for my medical bills because I'm stuck in a foreign country and can't get treated or get home". It almost always turns out to be 'person took the gamble and didn't bother yo get travel insurance but now thinks the world should fund their stupidity'.

It also makes me when people say "but not everyone can afford insurance". If you can't afford insurance then you can't afford costs if something goes wrong. Insurance is part of the holiday costs.

[Hadenoughofallthis]

Yes, and people who think you don't need travel insurance when going to Europe because they have an EHIC.

[iklboogiemanunderthebed]

I even took out travel insurance to go to Norfolk this year (mainly for cancellation, loss theft etc rather than medical though) 😳

[BatsAreCool]

YANBU to remind people but the people that don't bother are those that honestly think that it won't happen to them or that someone else will bail them out.

And as PP said some moan that TI is too expensive. But if it's too expensive to buy then they certainly wouldn't be able to afford thousands if they had an accident or illness on holiday either.

[welshweasel]

Totally agree. It’s worth looking at what your bank offers - I pay £12/month and that gives me annual worldwide travel insurance that covers the whole family, including skiing etc, mobile phone insurance and car breakdown cover.

The beauty of an annual policy is that you don’t need to remember to sort it as soon as you book a holiday - it also covers you for UK breaks of 2 nights or more.

[TheDuchessOfSex]

I live in a city where tourists come to take drugs Tragically, very occasionally they die. With no travel insurance, their families then have to sort out the financial aspect as well as dealing with the logistics of bringing their bodies back home for burial. And being in shock and mourning at the same time.

It’s horrible. And having an EHIC card is no help if you’re dead!!!

[TheDuchessOfSex]

Oops I think I killed the thread with that!

[lalalalyra]

Also the "I don't do anything risky while I'm away" doesn't cover the stupidity of other people.

[RedneckStumpy]

The only time we don’t get travel insurance is when we come back to the UK.

[JustDanceAddict]

We have it with our bank.

[Mascarponeandwine]

People also don’t realise they have to declare any medication or diagnosed medical conditions in the past two years that appear on your medical record. Which includes things like antibiotics for any infection, nasal sprays for hay fever, any visits to A&E. Not declaring these type of things can lead to a claim being refused. So make sure you phone and tell them , even if you have insurance through your bank you still need to do this. It puts the premiums up but you can’t afford the risk of not declaring as they’ll check your medical records in the event of a claim.

[HRTpatch]

Totally agree.

[MsVestibule]

It's bonkers that people don't think they need to buy it as soon as they've booked. One of my friends books very expensive holidays months in advance but doesn't take out insurance until just before she flies. Why would you do this?! It's such a small amount of month compared to the cost of the holiday.

[MaisyPops]

lalalalyra
I can never work out whether that is arrogance, stupidity or the dangerous combination of both.

Saying that someone I know spent a long period of time in a high risk area for Japanese encephalitis and decided they wouldn't have the vaccination because it was 'too expensive'.

[MajorArcana]

Absolutely. I never wouldnt.

[LoniceraJaponica]

No I haven't Undercoverbanana. We have annual travel insurance through our bank account.

This isn't a TAAT, but there have been a few travel insurance threads recently, and I am stunned at the stupidity of some people. Unless you have medical issues travel insurance is very cheap. If you can't afford an extra £20 or so on top of your holiday then you can't afford a holiday.

[JohnnyKarate]

Good thread OP. Can’t stress enough the importance of travel insurance! I always buy mine as soon as I book the holiday. This year it was a god send as our two weeks in Lombok could not go ahead, due to the earthquake. If I had waited till the night before the holiday I wouldn’t have been covered for cancellation and would have lost thousands.

[Hadenoughofallthis]

redneckstumpy, You don't get insurance for trips back to the UK? Does that not depend on how long you've been an expat?

[Malbecfan]

11 years ago I spent £52 on a single trip policy. It shelled out over $250k after DH's appendix burst in Arizona. It paid for a Med-evac helicopter ($39k,) a week in intensive care ($2.5k per day) and 4 lots of surgery. It also paid for him to fly home business class as the hospital (who were brilliant) insisted he needed to be able to lie flat on the flight home. The American arm of the insurers were awful to deal with, but the hospital's tame Rottweiler, to whom I will always be in debt, was simply wonderful and put them in their place.

Anyone who travels without insurance is stupid, especially to the USA. We now have an annual policy.

[Eminybob]

I have it through my packaged bank account.
I went travelling in India at age 20 with no insurance . Luckily I didn’t need it, but my stupidity makes me cringe now.

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

Absolutely. I would add, please also get life insurance. I'm a 36 year old widow and my life would be very hard now if DH hadn't had life insurance

[Mascarponeandwine]

You can see how people may get caught out with invalid insurance though. We have a single trip policy for our European holiday next summer but technically it could be void as I haven’t yet phoned them to tell them that my youngest son had antibiotics for a cough last month. If we couldn’t go because he was poorly our insurance wouldn’t pay out. I must remember to update them but am avoiding it as I know they’ll charge us an extra £12 or so.

[ijustwannadance]

I had to cancel a holiday last min due to a family death. Insurance through DP's bank. They were fabulous and very patient. Got 90% back.
People don't seem to realise that it isn't just for accidents whilst on holiday but covers your trip before you even go.

[Isadora2007]

Our insurance is through a bank account and it was bloody fabulous when our little girl needed bluelighted (bluelit?) to hospital and then spent the next 24 hours there on several IV drips this summer. I was amazed and relieved at how easy the process was via them and the support they offered was spot on. I’m also glad we took advice from here to photograph our passports and documents so we had relevant numbers and info on our phones.