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 ?

Yes I think we are! 😀

The only answer to this is DON’T. EHIC card only covers you for what the citizens of that country receive free. Without travel insurance you would not be able to get your mother home if she is taken ill. DH was taken ill in America and travel insurance covered all the medical bills (over £250k, 20 years ago), airlift to hospital, my accommodation and food, replacement air tickets. Nobody of any age should go away without insurance. Every summer we see Crowd Funding to repatriate bodies or people who are too ill to board an ordinary plane. You never know what might happen. If you can’t afford the insurance, you shouldn’t be going abroad.

Has she got plenty of money if things go pear shaped

Sorting cremation, getting local approval for ashes scattering or moving ashes back home is also not as simple as people think... Most people also want their loved ones to be buried near.

You're quite right, it's not, but apparently cremation's a very minority thing in Greece (about 1.5% I've read), so while it's very difficult to those who choose it at least it won't affect that many

Of course it the worst happened it may be that OP would be okay with her mum being buried abroad - after all she has family there too - but while I don't want to assume it doesn't sound that way to me

Irresponsible not to tske ut. One of my relatives with pre existing health conditions was going to the Caribbean to visit relatives. He planned to not get insurance. I.made it clear that we as a family did not have funds to help and that it would be selfish to do this. He got insurance.

What you are asking is should she self insure. The answer is: does she have the money to do so? If she does, then I would risk it.

I would double-check her entitlement to healthcare though. I have multiple citizenships, but that doesn't mean I'm entitled to free healthcare in my country of birth (as I haven't lived there for so long), or in one of the other countries (although I would be eligible for a reduced rate). Can she afford to lose the cost of a flight/hotel booking if either are cancelled because of a situation out of her control? Can she afford to replace lost luggage/money/passport?

Family friend got hit on a pedestrian crossing by a speeding driver in a European capital 20 ish years ago and was left with life changing injuries after 3 weeks in hospital abroad and repatriation. The family have had years of legal battles with the driver's insurance company, the foreign police etc. They wouldn't have been able to do any of that without good insurance.

A friend of mine was in India when the world was locking down. Her insurance got her home early, by a circuitous route with some hotel stops.

My buggy never made it back from France when DS was a baby. Insurance bought me a new one.

Travel insurance is about a lot more than getting I'll Amon holiday

When my GM died, she wanted her ashes scattered in her home country. My uncle booked a flight over and packed her ashes in his hand luggage. When he was stopped for not having the right paperwork, he said "but I've got her passport!".

DH had a TIA earlier this year. We go on holiday next week and my insurance company (EU) says they won't assist for pre-existing conditions (not even for a higher premium which is what I was expecting) Am trying to sort this at the moment. I think for every go-fund-me attempt there are loads of people that just don't bother with correct insurance and get away with it. I have had an annual policy for at least 25 years and only once claimed - when dd broke her arm on holiday.

Have you tried AllClear travel insurers, @MissAmbrosia? I believe the Stroke Association have some sort of link with them, and certainly recommend them for this kind of thing

Unless by "EU" you meant that's where you live, in which case I don't know if they offer cover poutside the UK

Yes it counts, but will usually be covered free after declaration

ehic/ghic covers primary care - i.e emergency treatment.
but not secondary care.
for example treating a broken bone but not the physio/ rehab afterwards.
if you can pay 10k or more out of your own pocket (or credit card) for medical repatriation then you could possibly risk it.

but insurance is not just the money side but also organisation if needed.

Get it. My parents were healthy, though late 79s/early 80s, and lived in Spain half the year. Then my Dad had a stroke. Spanish hospital basically told my mother to get her family there. He 'woke up' and despite the modern hospital the care was minimal (my sister is a doctor and flew out there so I'm not just making assumptions). Anyway no insurance so we had to pay £12,500 to medivac him back to England once he was stable.

Just to add I've bought it for me and my 19 and 20 year old for a two week trip to Spain - I just wouldn't risk it for the sake of a few quid. We have health cards but it's not enough if we need to get home.

It’s the repatriation cost. Of her alive or her body. Also if she’s not in hospital, it’s the cover for hotel at short notice if she can’t fly and new flights. It’s covering you staying with her in hotel/flights.

Get it. Not worth it risking it.
I was going to risk it as my premium was high because of a pre-existing medical condition.

I'm so glad i didn't risk it though as ended up ill and now have over 5k worth of bills for 3 days of treatment.

Please OP don't risk it.

My otherwise healthy mum had a stroke in Majorca over 10 years ago.

The treatment she received there was second to none but she was in intensive care for 3 weeks in a private hospitsl and she had to be flown home.

The total costs were over £250k and that's not including the extra accommodation for my poor dad.

Glad to say she made a good recovery but I'd never risk going away without travel insurance.

Didn't work like that in Spain. Residency in the UK is the criteria of eligibility for free NHS care. I assumed that was the case whichever country a person retired to.

Go ahead. Just don't expect strangers to fund your hospital bills and repatriation
FYI I take my mum on holiday with a raft of pre existing conditions. Never without insurance

Update: We are now insured with Insurancewith for a little over £200 !

Thanks so much to you all for taking time to read and for your comments and suggestions.

Special thanks to those of you who recommended Insurancewith !😊xxx

Well done! @purplesalad for the future if she travels more than once a year, an annual policy might be cheaper.

That’s a good premium! I pay quite a bit more than that- might try them again.

I was supposed to be on vacation right now. Flying from Canada to Uk and Ireland and then a cruise to Copenhagen. On March 1 I fell and fractured my humerus bone. I still haven’t recovered and had to cancel. Without travel insurance I would have lost $12,000. Don’t take that chance.