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?

[LoniceraJaponica]

NoArmaniNoPunani

[3luckystars]

It's only about €100 per family per year in Ireland. Great value.

If anything happens and you can't travel, your holiday costs are refunded to you.

If you are feeling sick or have an infection or are on antibiotics before travelling, does that mean you haven't disclosed information? Would it mean the insurance isn't valid?

How much do you need to tell the insurance company really? I'm just wondering.

[alwaysthinkingofsleep]

YANBU

but people should also thoroughly check their travel insurance. As some don't pay out for medical purposes if there is alcohol
In your system...

[PattiStanger]

I don't understand the logic of not getting insurance when coming back to the UK. You could still lose your luggage or be injured or have to cancel flights or have an accident an route.

Slightly IT I also don't understand why people who do dangerous sports don't have insurance, a friend shared a gofundme link for someone killed in an accident this week doing a dangerous sport to raise money for his family due to lack of insurance

[RavenLG]

Sorry to get morbid too, but several years ago a friend and a heart attack and sadly passsed away while he was on holiday. He had only gone on a long weekend to Amsterdam so presumably hadn’t bothered with it. It cost his parents an absolute fortune to get his body returned home, travel insurance could have hugely helped costs / organisation of it during an already horrific time.
Read what is covered and get it!

[BatsAreCool]

I am fortunate that I pay for personal travel insurance through work and it covers me for pre existing medical conditions. More expensive in general but then I don't have to worry about whether I need to declare anything.

[Mascarponeandwine]

You need to tell them of any prescribed medication in the last two years. Even if it’s now resolved and you’ve pretty much forgotten Bout it. And any diagnosed conditions (eg chest infections, cellulitis, migraines, obesity, broken limbs, rosacea, millions of other things). Basically anything at all on your medical record that you’ve seen a doctor or HCP about.

They don’t want to know about anything that was investigated and turned out to be nothing eg a reassurance ultrasound in which no abnormalities were found and you’re discharged as being fine. Because there’s no condition to insure you against.

[3luckystars]

Also with certain policie, if you go on a weekend break (more than 3 day) anywhere, not even abroad, you are covered too.

[anniehm]

Totally agree, you can by catastrophic cover (£500 excess) for just £5 to Europe, even the USA only cost me £50 annual family cover famous for being really expensive - if something terrible happens the insurance will pay up to £10 million on my policy and repatriation is included (my luggage etc is insured via my home policy). If you can afford to travel you can afford appropriate insurance (and read the small print, scooters are rarely covered unless you have a U.K. motorcycle licence!)

[LynetteScavo]

I thought I was being OTT when I took out insurance for my honeymoon. If previously only taken insurance for ski holidays. But we had to cancel due to a family member dying just before the wedding,

I agree, if you can't afford travel insurance you can't afford a holiday. I know people who,die to health issues would have to pay a lot for insurance, so they don't go abroad.

[Fundays12]

Totally agree and just as an add if you have a child with autism or adhd make sure you let insurance companies know. I had to pay a surcharge but so glad I did declare it as my son had a nasty accident day 2 of the holiday and we ended up in a private hospital who brought in extra nurses when tending to him. It would have cost hundreds if I hadn’t declared plus in certain countries you really are better to use private hospitals.

[Konoha]

Ha, I'm actually getting my travel insurance this week. Can anyone recommend a good place to try? Usually get it with the holiday, but this time they don't offer it.

[skyesayshi]

My insurance only wanted to know about anything in the last six months nothing earlier.

Thank god I had it though as I had to cancel a special holiday and would have lost over £4K without insurance. Seeing as I usually take caravan park holidays, I would have been devastated to lose the money!

[Toomanycats99]

I used to work for a medical emergency assistance company - I would never go away without it.

People don't think!

[AllTakenSoRubbishUsername]

Twice in my experience travel insurance has been an absolute necessity (huge huge problems if had not been taken out). You would be totally mad not to take out TI.

[AroundTheWorldIn80Days]

Yanbu. I just read a thread earlier where someone possibl had to cancel their expensive trip but hadn’t gotten around to sorting travel insurance yet. I always make sure I have travel insurance set up before paying the final balance or even the deposit if not willing to sacrifice that. If one of your kids comes down with chickenpox or you break your arm before you go or for many other scenarios you would then be able to claim for cancellation. Getting it the day before you go is no good for that! Defo not worth the risk once you’re away. We were away earlier this year and on the final day of our 2 week holiday my 2 year old stuck a pebble right up her nose and then once that was sorted fell on a rock and cracked her head open. Luckily it was all sorted by the hotel doctor and no insurance was needed but we would have been stupid not to have had any.

[lalalalyra]

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

I think people simply don't think.

A friend of mine never bothered with travel insurance as she "had a credit card". Then her new partner insisted on it. Thankfully because on a trip away a group of lads staying in the same complex accidentally knocked a bottle of vodka off their balcony and it cracked her on the head - ambulance, stitches, scan (can't mind if it was MRI or CT, but it was expensive) and a night in hospital for concussion observation. Would have been a heck of a credit card bill!!

[implantsandaDyson]

Having been in the situation of having to organise a repatriation of a body a few years ago I can't over emphasise the heartbreak of then having to tell a suddenly bereaved relative that there was no travel insurance taken out. Sure he was only nipping away for a few days, he did it a couple of times a year, wasn't a big drinker, wasn't planning on driving, no sports dangerous or otherwise being played, relatively young. Just a simple, stupid road accident.

[NettleTea]

my kid has a medical condition. It means our insurance is sometimes in the £100s BUT when we had to come home very suddenly to ensure she got into hospital with her team here in the UK, they paid up without question for the emergency flights, missed home flights and rest of holiday.

[gettingbacktoresearch]

Annoyingly my bank wanted an extra £280 for our recent 4 day trip to Jersey to cover mine and DHs medical conditions which are all very well controlled by medication. I didn’t go for it this time and just kept the basic cover for emergencies but for a longer long haul trip I would spend time finding a specialist insurance provider.... the conditions are only asthma, hypothyroidism for me and depression for DH btw.....

[Mascarponeandwine]

Trouble is if the insurance company can link your non-insured conditions to the reason for the claim, they can refuse to pay out. Tripped fell and broke a limb - that’ll be because your anxiety causes insomnia and you were so tired it contributed to the accident. Chest infection - ah your asthma is a factor to how bad it is, so not covered. Etc etc. I suppose it depends how much you trust your insurance company though.

[FoodieToo]

I often wonder when I read these threads how many people have actually tried to claim on travel insurance.
I have had lots of different policies but I would urge people to read the terms and conditions really carefully.

We had a claim a few years ago and got back almost nothing despite losing 3k worth of gear and our passports. Loss of passport is not covered unless it is actually stolen from your person, there are clauses everywhere that you couldn't even imagine and they will try almost everything to get out of paying.

We had another small claim this year and again only managed to get back the bare minimum.

Be very wary of free policies, multi- trip polices and very cheap policies. Chances are you will be due nothing. Also pay for a policy which has no excess.

Do not blindly assume that travel insurance is travel insurance and you will be covered for anything that happens. Highly likely you will be covered for any of it by the time they have finished with their terms and conditions!

[skyesayshi]

Luckily I got back everything apart from the insurance premium. It was stressful though as I booked insurance at time of booking trip so it was French..... all correspondence was French. I didn’t understand what they wanted even after translation!

They did pay in full but took two moths. Next time I’m booking insurance with a UK company right after booking the trip!

[Hadenoughofallthis]

We always have winter sports cover for skiing each year. That's mainly to cover any potential airlift off the mountain, although apparently one would need to be compos mentos enough to phone them for authorisation first.

It says it covers loss of skis, but will not pay out for theft if they were left unattended. Hardly likely to be stolen when they're attached to your feet, however. And I had a pair snap once, which is apparently well-nigh impossible, but was initially charged an excess by the shop of hundreds of Euros. Managed to get that overturned but still.
Read the small print!!

[TheDuchessOfSex]

@foodie2 I’m sorry to hear that, how frustrating!

I’ve fortunately only ever needed to claim on my travel insurance once. I lost my glasses on the way to the airport to go on holiday (which was genuinely when it happened), I somehow misplaced them while wearing my prescription sunglasses. The insurance company told me I needed a police report . The police basically told me to get stuffed. The insurance company countered by saying ok, we’ll pay out this time without a police report but don’t let it happen again. All very strange but they paid me most of the replacement cost of my glasses so I was happy.