Why would you take you family on holiday without travel insurance?!

[IsitaHatOrACat]

AIBU to think that this is part of the cost of the holiday.

Yet again there's a family raising funds to pay for medical care abroad. This time for a 15 year old old. This must be a terribly distressing situation to be in however why take the risk?

Another thing to point out is if you're in need of repatriation then it is the insurance company who deals with the doctors and the airlines. I have travelled home with a sick parent in a tiny air ambulance plane with just us and two doctors. Where do you even start to organise something like that without insurance. It's not just the paying it's organising it, coordinating it, dealing with any language barriers. Who would know where to start while you're sitting at the bedside of a sick relative?

Well I declared them all, have a statement listing them and accepting me, so assume they are covered.

Jesus Christ no. Never.

I would never go abroad without insurance. A silly risk.

Recently went to Italy. Had EHIC and travel insurance. Thoughtless to go without it! Explains the granny in the carpet apocryphal story, though.

This family also appears to have taken their kids out of school to go on holiday as well… in the lead up to GCSEs…

There are prompts when booking airfares. I travel Easyjet, TAP or Ryanair every couple of months and both easyJet and Ryanair have questions specifically asking if you have insurance and tickboxes you need to tick to confirm you do. I don't recall seeing them on a TAP booking but as they're a national carrier who cater to a lot of different traffic types I could understand more if they don't do it

My FIL had a terrible accident while on holiday, which resulted in paralysis. He spent many weeks in a private hospital and had a full medical repatriation. I dread to think what would have happened if he didn't have good travel insurance.

The same year my cat was hit by a car and needed £4k of vet care. Also insured, thank goodness!

And insurance is still pretty cheap.

I never donate to stupid people.

I never understand why people don’t. My SIL died suddenly abroad but even before then I always took it out. I’ve just taken out a new yearly policy and mentioned everything from HRT to antibiotics my husband took 2 years ago. My brother still had difficulty with the insurance company following his wife’s death though. I think it should be compulsory add on when you book travel.

You really have to know the fine print on those credit card policies. Most will discontinue health cover once you reach 65!

It's not just the cost that's covered - it's all the admin and translation too. My friend's husband had a stroke in Greece and died after a few days in hospital. The insurers sorted everything out directly with the hotel so she could stay on, and they got her daughter flown out to be with them, then brought them all home again. Apparently the paperwork to bring a coffin on a flight is huge and she was very relieved that someone else did the admin.

Same. Don't understand it at all. You just never know what might happen.
Someone at work asked about it as they never usually bothered for Europe but we're going to nz. We go to Europe only but always get insurance. Can't think of anything worse than being stranded etc.
And we did have to use it a couple of years ago as my son started being sick day before.. over night both ends. There was no way we could travel. Gp signed sick form and we went a week later. Phew.

@HisNibs mine is that for me alone. I still buy it though. Honestly, I can't fathom not buying travel insurance.

@ThistleTits It could be worse... for my MIL it was nearly £1,600 for an annual policy (that included USA & Caribbean and cruise cover). Yep, £1,600 for one person and there was no choice since the cruise won't let you board without proof of cover. Still, better safe than sorry.

I pay about £80 per year for a family of 5 for mukti trips to Europe. Covers everything we need, also UK holidays too. I will never understand why people don't!

Yes, and she was hit by a paraglider, through simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so surely it's the paraglider who should be paying all her costs - even if it bankrupts them! (Not that I don't agree that the family should have their own insurance, but in this case it's clearly up to the person who caused the injuries to pay: and surely you can't paraglide unless you have insurance?)

I have always bought travel insurance and brought up the DC to do the same.
As we are getting older and DH has had a few health issues recently it was a pain to declare everything on last year's annual policy.
This year I have changed insurance provider and the new company has the extremely reasonable condition that you don't have to declare every ingrowing toenail you've had in the last 20 years, you just declare the major stuff and then sign to say that you understand that in the event of a claim they will ask the GP for your records,and you will be unable to claim for any pre-exisiting conditions which you have not declared. Sounds fair to me, and presumably if you are the victim of a car crash or other accident they don't bother to ask for records as the event they are paying for has nothing to do with your previous condition (although, I suppose if it was the insured party at fault they might ask for them to check that your doctor hadn't warned you not to drive due to dizzy spells or something similar.)

Totally agree @IsitaHatOrACat . I was unexpectedly unwell whilst abroad and my medical bill was nearly 1 million dollars. Without insurance I wouldn’t have stood a chance.

@TattyAna would you mind stating who the insurance company is please? Interested for future reference. At the moment we have annual via our bank but have to phone to declare everything! Of course I understand re the 'big' stuff but the v minor things easily get forgotten🙄
Unfortunately we can never get any cover for DD who has complex health needs and a physical disability. We used to be able to get it when she was smaller but she has a muscle disease of unknown cause, which is stated on hospital letters & now, despite trying all sorts of specialist risk companies, even seeing if it can be done with a high excess, we can't get any cover at all for her.
We took a decision after covid became less of a thing to have occasional holidays in Europe so that we can try to get a bit of a sunshine break. We ensure we have her GHIC and a plan about how we will get home. We do know it's a risk but every year to I do try to get insurance cover for her and will continue to keep trying in the vain hope that either we get a formal diagnosis and/or find an insurance company that will take the risk....We will never go to the US or further afield without cover though.

YANBU, it was my first thought when I read this story. I wouldn't give them a penny, it's on them I'm afraid.

I refuse point blank to donate to any Go Fund Me’s for people who didn’t buy travel insurance. If you can afford a holiday, you can afford travel insurance 🤷‍♀️

My late husband and I were involved in a serious RTA in The Netherlands. He was in intensive care for 2 weeks, 5 weeks in hospital in total. I was in hospital for 2 weeks then a rehab unit. We were flown back to the UK by air ambulance. I would never travel without insurance.

the it would never happen to me mentality of some people is mind boggling!

Travel insurers are definitely getting much stricter on what you need to declare. I booked our main holiday for this year and sorted insurance at the same time. All fine, no issues. We then booked a last minute short trip away over Easter. I went to sort insurance through the same provider. The questions specified “anything you have seen your doctor about in the last two years and have been prescribed medication for” - In the last two years I had been prescribed medication for hay fever and a chest infection. I queried this with insurer and they said “as you were prescribed medication it has to be declared”. So I tried a few other insurers and they all asked exactly the same question and they all said I would need to declare the prescribed medication. My premium for a 3 night trip to Majorca went up from £21 to £26 because I declared allergy medication and antibiotics for a chest infection 22 months previously. It’s not much, I know, but for a healthy person with no pre existing conditions I was quite surprised to see the difference and thought it would be a huge jump for anyone who’d had anything even remotely serious. I’d never seen questions like that until earlier this year.

Finger slipped.. mean to vote that you are not being unreasonable.

Totally stupid to not take insurance.. it’s peanuts for peace of mind.. I’m sorry about the distress the family is suffering right now and hope things get better, but this is penny pinching gone too far… and before anyone mentions “cost of living crisis”, I’ll say it again, travel insurance is peanuts, and also a vital essential, as opposed to a holiday, which is a luxury.