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?

Surely the paraglider and/or company is responsible for the medical bills as she was hit by them?

But what happens if he/they don’t have any insurance?

When my brother and I were very young my father had a serious operation and Mum had to go back working in a mill to make ends meet, not much sick-pay back in the early 1950s. One woman she worked with had a fire at her house, she had no home insurance though smoked 40 a day and was out drinking every weekend, and one of her friends organised a collection. When my Mother refused to contribute as she always made sure she paid for insurance she was ostracized for the rest of the time she worked there.

"Surely the paraglider and/or company is responsible for the medical bills as she was hit by them?"
Yes but in the meantime, the girl needs surgery now. Normally, your travel insurance would pay out and get the treatment sorted and then pursue the paraglider company insurance for reimbursement. That's how car insurance etc works. Of course her parents were too cheap to pay the few quid that the cover would have cost so her ongoing suffering now is down to them.

Being on a waiting list for anything can make you uninsurable for medical care. For example, being on the neurodiversity waiting list pathway could make a child unable to get medical insurance. These waiting lists can be years.

They are, but it could take months (or years) for them to pay out, and the girl needs surgery now.

You need your own insurance to cover you in the short-term, and then they can claim back the costs from the other party.

Not my experience- although you may need to shop around. Premium didn’t increase for DD - although from memory there did need to be a short phone call.

It's possible they have money/insurance. And if they don't?

Important to get insurance that covers the cost of a loved one’s accommodation to stay with you if you’re hospitalised. I’ve known people whose loved one has ended up in an ICU abroad (after unexpected heart attacks, accidents or operations) and their next-of-kin has had to remain there (if on holiday with them) or fly out and pay for accommodation to be with them.

Some have needed to stay for weeks before the person’s well enough to be put on a medical flight home, which is astronomical without insurance. The alternative is remaining in hospital abroad and a loved one having to stump up for accommodation.

Young, healthy, fit people can be involved in a RTA or other accident or need for sudden surgery (e.g. appendicitis). But the older you are and/or the more conditions you have, the risk of hospitalisation naturally increases.

Have done it accidentally... BIL who lived abroad had a sudden illness that claimed his life. I'll be honest, I didn't even think about booking insurance, we just hopped on the plane. I have sympathy for those caught up accidentally.

It’s a company, I’m pretty sure it would have insurance to be able to work.

It was in Turkey...any idea how Turkish law works 're liability. No me either.

So you take your family on holiday (not a necessity in life). Your 2 daughters are injured in a freak.accident and you have skimmed on what 40 quid tops travel insurance....I expect the mums phone contract is more than that a month. And then they are asking other people to pay for their mistake. No not mistake, negligence as it's not like you can forget to buy insurance because the travel company/airlines ask if you have it and you have to tell them your sorting your own or buy thier

I know I sound harsh but 20 years of working in insurance means that I am completely jaded by people who think I'll save a few pounds and bitch and moan when it goes tits up.

Some companies don't let you book I didn't think unless you had insurance.
Do you mean extra travel insurance for things not covered, if so that's for the individual to sort out.

No and holiday insurance isn’t expensive anyway if you source it independently. Especially if you don’t have medical issues

I agree that travel insurance is an absolute necessity - but the providers are absolute scammers too. My worldwide travel insurance annually, pensioner with a number of medical conditions - £400. Three weeks before I travelled last, and two months before the insurance lapsed, I broke a finger. Not badly, not complex. But I declared it. They added a premium that was more than the original policy!!!

Two months I told them where to stick the policy and went with another provider - still with the same broken finger it cost me £400. And to add insult to injury the original company suddenly decided that they coulod also offer to continue my policy for the £400. So the extra premium was nothing but a piss take!

So, it's likely that eventually the paragliding company and/or the person paragliding's insurance will pay up.

But go fund me has already paid for the medical bills.

Time for another family holiday I guess - no reason to bother with travel insurance when you can get other mugs to pay.

Hopefully it’ll serve as a warning and people will remember to get travel insurance.but I doubt it…

So?
That's the point. They shouldn't be able to travel if they don't pay for insurance

People who make the choice to not take out insurance but expect others to pay for their idiocy clearly feel 'entitled' to travel and this incident won't change that.
Of course, I'm sure the family will return any funds to those who are footing their bills if the paragliding insurance pays up? Right? 🙄

Well if it's that easy to claim from their insurance, why is the family doing a GoFundMe? Hint: because it's likely not that straightforward and they need the money immediately.

Can I add to this that in the event of a cancellation or coming home early; for some travel insurers they will not cover you for this due to the illness or death of a loved one if they have attended the doctors or are even waiting for tests for the specified condition. And even if they consider covering; you may need to get their doctor to complete paperwork for you and there will definitely be a charge for this.

I think some people are very optimistic and don't expect awful things to happen, especially on holiday.

I obviously agree that people should have insurance, but nobody is forcing people to contribute to the go fund me pages. That's on them. The people who do contribute are probably the same people who don't have insurance and see themselves on the same position.

It's not like the taxpayer is bailing them out.

Especially to a place which is literally famous for its paragliding. I’ve been there several time and there’s tonnes of people throughout the day jumping from the mountain. I’m sorry for what happened but it could have a) been prevented and b) she should have definitely had insurance to go there

Don't double check details / thick.

My stepma didn't believe in travel insurance - surely no-one would ignore a holiday maker in pain, and the airlines would sort out transport home. We tried to convince her otherwise... Annoyingly, nothing ever went wrong for her!