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?

These are ones where it'll be needed most if anything goes wrong. In a lot of instances the likelihood of that will be low but personally I prefer to have that extra bit of security. Just in case.

There are several specialist companies which provide cover for pre existing conditions. We went away several times when I was having cancer treatment and the insurance premium was barely dearer than what we paid from one of the major insurers the previous year before my diagnosis.

That's one of the things about pre-existing conditions, isn't it - it isn't as simple as just telling them what you have and all being fine and dandy and fully covered.

I have a (far from uncommon) pre-existing condition that could, quite easily, be blamed as a risk factor for a huge amount of health issues that could befall me.

Whilst insurance would still cover me if I were to suffer as the result of an accident - falling down a mountain, car crash etc. - my health condition means that I would be effectively seen by an insurer - to put it bluntly - as a 'faulty' person, and thus, they would almost certainly seek to pin virtually any health emergency as potentially linked to or exacerbated by my pre-existing condition. A massive proportion of the risks that could befall me would therefore never be covered anyway, even if I had paid a whopping insurance premium in the first place.

It did used to be compulsory when you used to book down the travel agents as they could just refuse to book the holiday, though I don't recall it being so difficult then with having to disclose your complete medical history and there wasn't much shopping around for different policies. I think we just took the one that was with the Tompson or Cosmos holiday package we booked.

Supposing all supermarkets brought in a bizarre new policy whereby the price of their loaves of bread was to be based on the purchaser's surname. Say your individual price for a loaf was the position of the first letter in the alphabet multiplied by £1.

You would get Mr Adams scoffing at how stupid and ridiculous Mrs Young was because she wouldn't pay £1 for a loaf and absurdly claimed she 'couldn't afford' the 'standard, low' price of even just one pound for bread - even though, for her, it simply wouldn't be available for less than £25 for a loaf.

Maybe, if she can't afford something as basic as bread, she shouldn't go to a food shop in the first place?

Due to members of the family having health conditions our insurance for france for 2 weeks was £210!

it’s not cheap for everyone!

however if you can’t afford the insurance you are risking the lottery of life….. I’m not going to play towards people who don’t pay insurance as paying mine alone is enough!

Absolutely it just seems mind boggingly foolish to take that risk

On very recent experience, I took out insurance on booking; was sick enough to see a gp two weeks before the holiday; updated the insurer, only to have them cancel the policy because I now had 'an undiagnosed condition'.

Grr.

Agree. Maybe you should have to provide proof of insurance at some point before leaving the country, or make insurance a mandatory extra when purchasing the holiday (unless you can provide a valid policy number).

If you can afford the holiday, you can afford £20 for insurance.

Or you book a cheaper holiday and pay for the insurance…

Ghic on its own isn't enough.

A few years ago, when in Eu, my mum travelled without insurance. Took ill & needed 15 weeks in hospital. Luckily her emergency hospital care was covered but her repatriation wasn't. Also convalescing isn't covered. We had to pay ambulance costs in local country & had to get her home on a commercial flight. Not to mention the thousands of pounds we had to pay in travel & hotels ourselves

If we'd wanted her to return to Uk, it would've been £40k for intensive care air ambulance

Many people don't read insurance cover either & basic policies make you pay upfront which many people can't afford to do either.

It's viral people understand what they actually need. Read the small print

I always get it it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Comparison websites are great for finding decent priced ones too that's what me and my mum do when it comes to travel insurance

Ours is similar for annual WW excluding Mexico. I even had to add an additional £70 (so it'll cost nearly £700 in all) recently because DH has just got another diagnosis - but as others have said I couldn't risk the insurer refusing to pay out.
I'm now tempted to book another trip later in the year to make it more worth it...
However, I do think it's unfair to call all ppl stupid. I once spent a summer in the US with as it turns out invalid insurance. I only realised I wasn't covered after my return (because I had changed my medication dosage within 12 months...)
Good thing I didn't need to claim eh? Now I'm older and wiser I'm more careful with the fine print.

If I have understood correctly, you need both GHIC and insurance as your insurer won't pay for what should have been covered by GHIC.

In a theoretical serious road accident abroad GHIC covers you being cut out of the car, scooped up into an ambulance, having bleeding stopped, fractures reduced etc. Basically all the stuff you see in '24 Hours in A&E'.

Your insurance covers the 3 days in hospital, the extra week in the resort for you and your family, additional flight costs etc.

Is that about right?

Yes really frustrates me as for most it isn't a lot. I don't insure pets as I pay as needed and generally I come out on top but travel insurance is a must as the costs could lose you your home!

Same here, I always buy a policy and wouldn’t leave the UK without one.

My friend and her husband, both mid 50s, were on a cruise last year when the husband suffered a stroke. He spent two weeks in specialist stroke unit in southern Europe before being flown back into the UK, accompanied by a stroke nurse. Thankfully they had insurance. But it wasn’t a case of “have all that care and then get a bill”, they had to deal with their insurers to arrange all but the initial emergency care.

It's a visa requirement for some middle east countries

Of course it wil be more expensive of you have a lot of health conditions - you are a much greater claim risk.

People with serious or multiple health conditions should look at specialist insurers, if you just go with a standard monneysupermarket (or similar) search you are likely to get a "fuck off quote" ie they don't really want to insure you.

I’ve learned from recent experience to choose the travel insurance company carefully.

We tried to claim for cancelled flights (air traffic control issue) and the insurer refused to pay out because that specific issue wasn’t listed, despite cancellation being included on the policy. It was a cheap policy and an insurer I’d never heard of. I won’t make that mistake again.

We recently had insurance with Post Office. Dd had emergency surgery 3 weeks before travelling. Literally submitted a form and they paid up straight away without any chasing or hassle.

i have just got our travel insurance (couple) for a year! It cost me £649.
My husband had a few medical conditions, which were in the past, but I still had to declared them.
Some quotes were nearly double that amount!
Like others have said, it’s cheap if you are young, and have no previous conditions you have to declare.

I think many people have just got used to the nhs where even if you have paid nothing towards it, someone else will just pick up the bill.

Absolutely agree. My young, fit and healthy nephew broke his ankle walking in Cyprus last week and needed complex surgery before he could come home. He's teetotal so no shenanigans involved. Just bad luck. Thankfully insurance covered it all.

I've just paid £58 for holiday insurance. Family of 4 for one week, but as you said, pre-existing conditions (bump it up), but it is even more important to have.

Tell me you have no disabilities or illnesses without saying…

Cheap, my arse.

We have sometimes not travelled for a time because of the difficulty of getting insurance if you are being investigated for something (that could be cancer but turns out to be perfectly harmless). I can understand why some people would travel without full cover but dont believe you should crowdfund if you have opted out of buying cover.

Do read your insurance carefully as you are likely to find exclusions for anything "alcohol related" and the one time we did need it the hospital tested for alcohol. The level would have been very low so it was not mentioned again but anyone who had had a few drinks would really have had to fight.