To go on holiday without travel insurance

[purplesalad]

My mum is elderly and we’re planning on going on holiday within the EU( 2weeks).
Mum is a citizen of that country and has dual passports for uk and over there.

As she has pre existing medical conditions, her travel insurance premium is pretty high and she has said she would be entitled to free medical treatment should anything happen over there.

Despite her pre existing conditions, she keeps well and is independent, lives alone and never been admitted to hospital here.

She wants to risk it but I’m worried. At the same time I feel that travel insurance companies would look for excuses not to cover in the event and it would be not worth the paper it’s printed on.

What are your thoughts and experiences please, mumsnetters ?

I have 16 medical conditions and partner has 9 and we got full medical cover with ‘Staysure’ for £412 for the both of us

Shop around

We used Goodtogo. £330 annual worldwide for both of us (mid/late 50s with a selection of relatively minor conditions).

Insurance companies will try to wriggle out of paying if you haven’t declared things. But if you’re honest and pay the extra then they don’t have any grounds. Repatriation (with medical care or in a box) without insurance would be catastrophically expensive.

Why are people so obsessed with repaitriating bodies? If I died abroad I can bloody well stay there

In your mums case Id probably not worry too much about the insurance. If she gets healthcare and has relatives to stay with if there is an issue it's not so bad.

No there is now the GHIC which is the equivalent

Not true. You can use your existing EHiC but you need to apply for a GHIC if it has run out.

A friend who is resident in an EU country was visiting and, although apparently a healthy 45yo, fell ill with something that appeared to be just a stomach bug at first but turned out to be cancer. Medical treatment was fine as it was pre Brexit but she needed medical repatriation which meant a private ambulance to Heathrow and first class flights for her and the accompanying nurse. The cost was over £10k.

We had the same situation with my nan a few year back now. She chose to go and didn’t get insurance. She had an Ehic/ghic card or whatever it used to be called and they were driving there.
She has relatives there if needed.
Usually our family would never dream of not getting insurance but this was the one time they didn’t get it.

A bit different, but we went to Florida a few years ago, DD was 3. She developed an ear infection after spending too much time
In the pool.

It was really easy to get to see the dr, we just turned up at the medical centre and were seen straight away. All we had to give were our names and insurance company name.

We were they for about an hour. Dr did the basic checks, and send us in our way with some drops, the bottle was no bigger than my thumb.

When we got back the insurance got in touch, and sent us the bill (not that we had to pay, just to show that it had been dealt with) and it was just over £4,000!

Always get the insurance.

America is a different story. I wouldn't go to America without travel insurance thats for sure.

So could someone clarify, if I was treated for breast cancer 5 years ago but they did a mastectomy and got all the cancer out, does that count as a pre-existing medical condition? Or is it not a medical condition because if they've taken all the cancer out then obviously I don't have cancer?

I was going to suggest stay sure.
I am around 70 with a few medical conditions and really sometimes insurance is hard to get. I am quite fit and most of my holidays are walking holidays. I have considered travelling without insurance but never do. However, if I had to, I could afford the medivac home. I do know friends of friends who are late 80s go on holiday without insurance as they simply can’t get it.

This, but I changed my vote to YABU after others pointed out non-medical factors and things like aftercare.

She’s in good health as in stable on meds for years. Had high BP and one TIA 25 years ago so on blood thinner for that. Despite being on meds for these conditions she enjoys walking, gardening etc and lives alone so from that point of view is in good health.

Repatriating a sick or injured person is massively more expensive!

I think it’s utterly stupid.

@VickyEadieofThigh and @Samlewis96 It is indeed! It costs up to £500 per mile for a medical repatriation (I know from personal experience!) so OP make sure you factor that in to your holiday budget. Insurance will suddenly look like a good option. I guarantee that what can go wrong will go wrong.

When I was a kid a paediatrician told my parents I was faking symptoms of appendicitis to get out of school. It burst less than a week later, and I nearly died. We were on the second day of our holiday in Spain. the bill was accidentally sent to us as well as our insurers, and we could have bought a whole local street for the same amount. We didn’t even know if I would be allowed to get my flight home until the day we were due to leave. I’ve also had tonsillitis and an eye infection while abroad. My partner has needed hospital himself a couple of times while on holiday. My Grandad when still travelling in his 80s ended up in hospital every single trip. Once with a suspected stroke, twice with bladder infections.

My insurance is astronomical and only a few places will provide it due to a clotting disorder. There’s no way I would risk not having it though.

If she can’t afford the insurance then she can’t afford to go abroad.

Have you tried specialist insurers? My mum is epileptic and the usual insurers are a fortune but there’s some specialist ones out there who specialise in insurance for pre existing conditions and the prices are much more reasonable.

Absolutely not. Would she be happy to be left there in hospital alone if you had to come home? Always insure for medical repatriation.

I used to work for one of the travel assistance companies. Like others have said it's not just the medical costs, it's the other costs in getting home either with medical escorts or even just rearranging flights because you broke a bone and cannot fly due date. What if she broke a bone and needed multiple seats to go home.

Plus if something did happen I don't think you would be covered to stay with her because she is not in your policy.

It's never worth the risk.

That’s ridiculous even for the USA .
We had a similar thing happen with my sister but it was more like a couple of hundred. I bet they knew they could charge a crazy amount knowing it was through insurance like that.

You need to tell them. It’s a pre-existing medical condition. No doctor can ever say they got all the cancer out.

Stupidest thing you can do is risk it.

I had £40k worth of treatment when I was 18. Fit out of the blue, no pre existing conditions at the time.

My parents friend had to remortgage their house, motorbike accident in Italy. Covered by the GHIC but didn’t realise their annual policy had lapsed. GHIC paid for treatment, remortgage paid for a private medical flight back to the UK for treatment and rehabilitation.

Someone we used to know, her boyfriend died in Peru. Had a condition he hadn’t told anyone about. Travel insurance was therefore void. Another remortgage to get his body home.

I’m sorry to be morbid but I always think of repatriating a body if someone dies after a family member dropped dead unexpectedly on holiday in their 40s. It’s many many thousands : hugely expensive. So it’s not just hospital costs I think of now, but the absolutely worst case scenario.

Try Marks and Spencers op

She definitely needs travel insurance.
Also, just because she is a citizen of the country you are visiting does not necessarily mean that she will be treated for free. It depends on what the country's rules are. I'm in an EU country which is contributions based (and not residency or citizenship based) so you have to be paying health insurance contributions to be treated even within the state system.
It's far too risky and as others have said medical repatriation would be extornionate.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27348984/brit-tourist-coma-cambodia-hotel-room-ben-wilkins/

Insurance is not just for the older traveller

Just a reminder to all that my mum will be getting insurance after hearing your advice and experiences ( thank you !).
However she has said that if she pops her clogs over there she’d want to be left there in her home village 😁