To think that people are idiots for not buying travel insurance

[MenyMeny]

Maybe it's because of the numerous high profile cases of people dying abroad but I don't understand why so few people seemingly buy travel insurance.

I've seen at least three cases where people have passed away with no travel insurance and are now fundraising to cover costs.

I was also on a SM post where numerous people were saying how they never bought travel insurance as they "didn't see the need" even when they admit to travelling abroad numerous times a year.

Frankly, if you can afford a trip abroad, you can afford cover or AIBU?

I really wouldn't recommend them for car insurance. They told us that the internal damage done to our car must have been there before the accident and they'd only pay for the superficial damage. This was despite the fact that the car billowed smoke and wouldn't go anywhere after the accident and the previous day dh had done 100 mile round trip for work.
Fortunately the other party admitted fault and we got the money through their insurance, but if it had been knock for knock (we were hit on a narrow corner) we'd have been hugely out of pocket.

I would never go with Aviva for anything, they're dead cheap for a reason.

We have used travel insurance twice .
Once in the US 25 years ago when DD had conjunctivitis... mild condition but one with which you cannot fly ;the bill was way over $1000 even then.
The second time DS had a nasty accident skiing resulting in multiple ambulances and being flown home.
I don't get insurance in the UK I would take losses on the chin but I think it is really irresponsible not to have it abroad unless you have an awful lot of savings.I say this as someone with pre-existing conditions that hugely bump any insurance up. We are therefore restricted in how often we can travel abroad .I suppose , like many,we are trying to reduce flying for leisure purposes so a holiday abroad is now something to really think about and plan whereas when we were young we would go several times a year. The extra cost of insurance is just part of my calculations.

An insurer will only refund reasonable costs. If these are too high, you may have to pay for part of them yourself. you didn't take reasonable care

not having a GHIC could well be considered not taking reasonable care.

the other advantage of having a card is not having to pay for costs up front and then claiming them back

Global health insurance card has nothing to do with Brexit - U.K. didn’t Glexit

A reciprocal healthcare agreement is limited to medically necessary care for emergencies and illnesses. Medically necessary care is care in emergencies or for illness or injury that must be treated immediately. The goal is to provide urgent health support for each others’ citizens as a public good.

https://www.internationalinsurance.com/news/reciprocal-healthcare-agreement/

@soupfiend

was your medical condition an emergency?

But like you said, this was an accident that you weren’t covered.

Those who deliberately don’t buy it are stupid. I work in travel and see issues sadly a lot more than you’d like!

A family member developed appendicitis while on a cruise. She and her DH had to leave the ship and she was admitted to hospital at the island they were moored at. She was successfully operated on and they both flew home when she was passed as fit to fly.

Their holiday insurance covered her medical costs, her DH's unplanned hotel stay and their flights home.

Yes I knew the hospital was wrong, theres no way I think that any money would have made a difference, she was sitting with a number of nurses who were all chuntering and frowning and shrugging that this was the price, she printed off an invoice which was way way more than I had already been quoted at a private doctor about a 5 min walk away (I had gone there first thinking it was a state run clinic),,, but due to language, being on my own (OH was told to wait in A+E receiption for me), being unwell, I couldnt argue it, I didnt want to be charged for what they had alredy done which was to take blood pressure, waited for 2 hours in A+E already clogging up their systems, I thought they were going to charge me for that if I hadnt got out of there quickly.

It was a nightmare.

We used Trawick International

Renal colic, most likely a kidney infection or stone. I wanted antibiotics. Saw a private doctor in the end, no urine test done but gave me antibiotics and I did improve. Couldnt get them from the pharmacist as I had originally thought, had to see the doctor first who then prescribed it and I then got them from the chemist. I just paid for it and it was just about the same as my excess so couldnt claim or anything.

I know that. You know that, but unfortunately if you're in that situation you cant argue it.

Don't forget travel insurance is also for the period between booking and actually going on holiday if something should happen that means you can no longer go.
If you are ill or have an accident and can't make the holiday the travel agents may say tough luck and keep your money, but with insurance you may get a refund.

We have Aviva for redundancy insurance, we have claimed and they were great. It was a huge weight off our minds at the time.
We also had Aviva for car insurance, I had to claim for an accident which was my fault, they were awful - rude, dishonest, a complete nightmare. It was really difficult as I'd hit someone we sort of knew and she was contacting me in tears about the way they were treating her.
So I guess it could go either way with their travel insurance! I would be tempted by only needing a year of back history though.

I have diabetes and high blood pressure, OH has cancer. For our last holiday, we went with my 77 year old MIL and our 19 year old son. For all four of us, with all pre existing conditions fully declared, it was only £300. Most of that was for MIL. I got exactly the same details quoted for the three of us without her and it was around £150. That was for a Balkan cruise and an enhanced insurance cover to cover extra risks of cruising.

The year before all four of us went to Spain and the total cost (again same conditions, fully declared) was only around £200.

Pre existing conditions don't always make it a lot more expensive. I think in our case, with there being four of us, the insurers would have just added on the extra cost for just the most expensive/risky - after all, there's a very low risk that 2 or 3 of us would have all become ill on the same holiday due to our pre existing conditions.

It probably seems more expensive for a couple when one of you has conditions as it would probably increase the cost from around £40 to £200 or so. But like all insurance, the more people, the risks are spread, so costs don't multiply.

I think people need to get lots of quotes and go through the online declarations of health issues, as when we were doing it, I checked maybe 5 or 6 different firms and the quotes varied enormously once the medical declarations were done.

But it's no good plucking a low figure out of the air when everybody who can't afford it is being called stupid on here - those who would be charged ten, twenty, thirty times that or more.

If the price that you can afford for a holiday is already more than accounted for with insurance, that clearly means no holiday. Maybe people are happy to say "Well, I'm alright, Jack" and think that disabled people and those with serious conditions possibly don't 'deserve' holidays in the first place - I don't know?

Get off your high horse. It’s not about what anybody deserves, it’s about what they can afford. If you can’t afford a holiday with insurance you choose a different holiday.

If your health attracts a higher premium, it’s because you are at a higher risk of having an health emergency abroad and that makes it doubly stupid to go away without insurance.

@taxguru thats great for you. Nowhere on line will return a quote for my 23yo Dd, so time is spent ringing round specialist providers for quotes or doing extra individual online forms. Her cheapest quote for two weeks in Canada earlier this year was £200. I paid it, but it did say it wouldn’t cover anything to do with cardiac issues, connective tissue issues, respiratory issues, gynaecological issues, digestive /gastro issues. 🤷‍♀️🙈. Which covers most body systems really so not sure what the £200 was actually covering her for.

Some people are fools and idiots.

@taxguru can I ask who you were insured with please?

I always book my travel insurance straight away , in case you needed to cancel a holiday.

on a similar note, had tickets for a festival. Husband was poorly (including needing hospital treatment) so didn’t go. Had got ticket insurance and got the money back. It was under two
hundred pounds refund, but same principle.

In addition to getting insurance, people need to pay attention to what activities are and more importantly are not covered.

The spur of the moment quad bike ride, moped hire, scuba diving session are quite possibly specifically excluded from a normal policy.

Unfortunately some people are unable to get insurance due to their medical condition and take the chance that they will be all right on holiday, but it is such a risk to even try.

But that means you have travel insurance. Mine is the same. I check the small to ensure I’m really covered for what I’m doing though. The issue is people who travel without travel insurance.

It’s even more shocking when people buy insurance but don’t declare medical conditions either ! This would mean insurance wouldn’t pay out 🤷‍♀️

Well, obviously, if you're dead, you're not going to be worried but the family left behind will have to deal with the repatriation of your body, which is pretty expensive.

There have been so many high-profile cases now of people being seriously injured or becoming badly ill and needing medical treatment abroad or to be flown back to the UK that I find it astonishing that people travelling still think, 'It'll never happen to me.' I've no problem calling them idiots - in fact, I'd call them selfish for expecting everyone else to bail them out.