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 agree OP. We've just claimed thousands on travel insurance for emergency medical care and a hospital stay abroad. If was a horrible experience for everyone involved and the insurance has saved us so much stress and money.

I agree, we're all covered through our house insurance, I did double check again last week as I couldn't quite remember.

We buy yearly coverage as we find it is usually cheaper than single trip, I’ve had to use it three times, one being when I broke my leg in the US which resulted in a six figure bill.

I think part of this is due to people in the UK not realising how expensive medical treatment is, and wrongly thinking an ehic works everywhere and covers everything.

I don't like calling people stupid but travelling abroad without insurance definitely does fall into that category.

I always thought travel insurance was compulsory. It seems some don't bother and just do a Go Fund Me if they get a problem

I've been put on hbp tablets and was dreading getting my insurance but it's not much more than I paid last year.

I agree with you and would never travel now without it. But I definitely remember my first holidays away in my late teens/early 20’s and briefly thinking about insurance before deciding it was a waste of my holiday travel money. At that age I could barely afford the holiday and my naive brain wasn’t exactly rationalising the reasons for travel insurance when I good just spend that money on a crappy set of braids in Tenerife.

I just can't get insured for my mental health condition. (Bipolar) so am insured for everything else and if I have a psychotic episode it will be a disaster.
Only had 3 over 40 years so always hope it won't happen!

I think some people don’t read the small print and get caught out. Your standard £20-for-a-week policy will exclude injuries from being on a motorbike or scooter or anything that happens when you’ve drunk any alcohol. A lot of claims will have been from one of those scenarios, I reckon. Cue gofundme.

Im irish and live in Spain and work in a HC role. Im always amazed by the amount of visiting Brits that I come across who presume that they are automatically entitled to free healthcare here and so dont bother with travel insurance. As a PP said its because of living with the NHS in the background.
Only this week I was in the pharmacy and had to explain to a very angry man that he couldnt use his NHS prescription and that was only valid in the UK . His only option was to go to a private doctor to get a Spanish prescription.

I agree and I wouldn't donate to a crowdfunder for such a cause.

One of my colleagues went on holiday and unexpectedly dropped dead straight off the plane. They had insurance but it just goes to show, it does happen.

If people won’t buy it, then maybe the travel companies should have to add it on, so you’re forced to have insurance.

Completely agree, wrote this only yesterday- don't forget to budget for travel insurance. Ironically for most of these case where there's public appeals, their insurance would have been cheap as they are fit and healthy young adults. Insurance gets very expensive with older age and medical conditions but you factor it in or go to Scotland/Cornwall etc

The point about ensuring you are covered for pre existing conditions is really important. I have an underactive thyroid ( well controlled no problems), mild osteo arthritis of knee and had had hospital investigations for long covid loss of smell and taste ( over 2 years now thankfully ok). I’m 53 and in excellent health but was rejected for standard travel insurance. My annual policy for all of those was only £42 so not outrageous but at least I know its all declared.
FOS have seen a 19% increase in complaints about insurance and this week put out some basic pointers around ensuring you have cover and its valid.

A couple in their 80s who are friends of my parents travelled last week to Spain with no insurance , insistent that an EHIC card is all they needed. She is terminally ill with throat cancer and peg fed, he can barely walk and has multiple health conditions. Couldn’t believe their ( relatively sensible) daughter who travelled with them allowed them to do it. Home safely though I believe both were unwell whilst there.

@EyeOop

I don't bother for the U.K. because I book things with free cancellation, have all risks insurance through my home insurance for my stuff and have 4 vehicles so surely one won't be broken . Typically U.K. breaks are just £3-400 which worst case scenario I can write off, main forthcoming holiday overseas was £3200 quite different. Have insurance via the bank

It's obviously taking a huge risk in not buying it, but it's very unfair to automatically call people who don't buy it 'idiots'.

It's also a different kind of idiocy, imho, to declare that "It only costs X amount, so why ever wouldn't you?" without stopping to think that, for a lot of people, it simply wouldn't be available to them without being charged much, much more - regardless of whom they buy it from.

Some people really need to check their privilege before branding those with much less privilege as 'idiots'. They also need to realise that "If you can afford to go on a foreign holiday, you can afford travel insurance" is exactly the same as saying "If you have certain serious pre-existing conditions, an affordable, fully-insured foreign holiday may just never be available to you".

Does it make you 'an idiot' for believing that the kind of standard holiday abroad that most people could easily enjoy without giving it much thought at all might also be something that you could enjoy? Is it in any way reasonable to find yourself potentially automatically considering very disabled, non-wealthy, people wanting to enjoy their lives like everybody else as 'idiots'?

The number of people who don't think to take out travel insurance (if they don't already have it through their bank account) at the time of booking also amazes me. It doesn't seem to occur to them that travel insurance covers cancellation as well.

Sorry if this has already been mentioned but I've also found it cheaper to buy an annual policy which I can often get 2 holidays out of ..
And don't forget to get a GHIC or EHIC card which I believe should mean that if you attend a local clinic with say eg a minor injury and need an xray or some stitches - you pay the cost a local person would and no more ?

I had to take DC 9 years old once for exactly that in the Balearics after hurting himself on a rock in the sea

Had an xray of his ankle , a good clean and 2 stitches , they showed me a pic of the card and asked me if I had it - thankfully I did and there was no charge at all
Access it on the GOV website , free and comes very quickly

Sorry if you travel without insurance I think your an idiot.

i know it will cost a lot to insure DS, so I factor that into the cost of what it will cost for the holiday. It’s as much a part of the pricing up as the price of accommodation is.

If you can’t afford insurance then you certainly can’t afford the bill if something does go wrong.

You could also say people are "idiots" for often having no idea what they're buying when paying for travel insurance (though I wouldn't use that word, I don't think it's people's fault!)

After I worked for a travel insurance company I didn't buy travel insurance for many years. There are always cases where it proved vital and very helpful but it often operates de facto like a scam and the underwriters will do their best to pay out for nothing. Policy loopholes are phenomenal. You must declare every medical condition you have/are being investigated for. Alcohol consumption can invalidate some policies. I had some harrowing cases where people had to find money upfront for serious tragedies because the underwriters were fighting paying out.

I certainly don't think people are automatically idiots for not buying it - it depends on personal circumstances - if you really need it, please read all the small print and know exactly what you're buying.

It's also really important to include any GP visits/blood tests/hospital appointments in the time stipulated by your insurer - not doing this can invalidate the policy, but again, something that lots of people don't seem to know this.

My cousin has just gone to Greece with his family. He has stage 4 Lung Cancer. I thought the Travel Insurance would be extortionate but he told me it was £80 for a week.

But the level of risk is absolutely nowhere the same.

From the perspective of a UK citizen, you might end up losing your holiday or having a largish bill for recovering your car or alternative transport or accommodation costs; but you/your next of kin is never going to be landed with unavoidable costs of hundreds of thousands or even millions if you have a medical emergency or die, as you very easily could if you were abroad.

Please provide evidence of this. No healthcare professional would do this.

No I think it’s reasonable for people to make their own choices but then def not ask other people when they get into sticky situations!

a lot of policies I’ve e taken out have proved to be useless when I’ve tried to claim

my df has a medical condition which makes the cost of insurance extortionate. He still travels but has a credit card with a (very) high credit limit in case of emergencies. Only goes to the EU where ghic covers you to some extent.