Times when travel insurance has paid off for you

[Waterweight]

Just that. Anybody had Experiance of travel insurance "working" & what was the result ?

My DD had a stay in a French hospital. Total bill was huge, tests, X-rays, ambulance, oxygen, drugs, bed for me, food, consultants, interpreter, thank god she could fly home.

I know someone WITHOUT holiday insurance and had to airlifted off a mountain. £80k.

Thankfully, we have never had to claim, but I still wouldn’t be without it. I’ve had cancer, so my premium is pretty high. Still wouldn’t consider travelling without insurance.

When my son broke his humerus clean in two 4 days before our trip - insurance paid out in full. (Hence it worth taking the travel insurance as soon as the trip is booked!)

and when my daughter who has a multitude of problems had issues with her heart in Florida last year at Disney, one phone call to the (expensive but ultimately worth it!) insurance company and everything was taken care of from ambulance to the A&E the transfer to the specialist hospital and the taxi back to the hotel on discharge. Would have been royally screwed without it!
my daughters travel insurance costs the equivalent of another holiday but having the problems she does we have a life is too short attitude so are always on holidays and trips and have obviously needed to use it so it’s been worth it’s weight in gold quite literally for us!!

Booked to go to Bali. Unexpected pregnancy, due date was same date as flight out of Heathrow. Excellent work travel insurance repaid the full price of flight and hotel

travel insurance was valid all year round. This pay out was like 6 months+ before the travel. So yes definitely have insurance from the date you book the trip!!!

They claimed it back but had to find a five figure sum instantly... took months to get it back. He would probably be dead if they hadn't. They didn't get any of the interest back which was very high. They then missed payments on other things. None of that was covered, just the initial sum.

My dd had an accident by the side of the pool and needed stitches in a very deep wound and required general anaesthetic. We paid over 3k on our cc for this and the insurance company paid out minus excess and in line with currency conversion no issues at all! Thank god for it!

Had my face stitched in USA after I fainted, also paid most of a claim for my son's ear infection in Spain. Mine is a high now due.to health issues but I always pay it, I don't bother with life insurance at home or things like extended warranties so it offsets

Me, no. Luggage stolen in Brazil, local police report apparently wasn't sufficient. Also Brazil, hotel charged me for extra nights after I'd returned to UK, insurance said they couldn't verify my claim and I should've reported it to the police in Manaus (from home??) Jewellery stolen on plane home from Thailand, insurance said it wasn't covered as I'd left Thailand and only reported to the police at home.

Easyjet flight delayed by 8 hours, neither the airline nor insurance would compensate. I tried fighting that one but they wore me out.

Caught amoebic dysentery in Thailand but the wonderful doctor was so cheap, it wasn't worth claiming.

I was mugged at the same hotel in Manaus. The only worthwhile thing he got was my credit card, and Visa were fantastic - froze the missing one, gave me an emergency code for an ATM, and couriered a new card to me (which was then skimmed by the hotel management!)

The other replies here are VERY strong illustrations of why we need insurance, though, and I'd never travel without it.

Friends partner got a rare and vicious infection in rural Spain years ago. Hospital, accommodation for friend and repatriation.
School ski trip, ice storm, several kids needing hospital including one poor kid who broke both legs. Italian hospital, accommodation and food for accompanying teacher then flight home by air ambulance.

Yes, we had a similar experience, plus a vulnerable adult who needed full assistance to return home.

You're buying risk cover, so it always "works" whether you claim or not.

Had our apartment broken into and insurance covered the value of them all.

We missed our flights once because our cruise arrived back late.
The travel insurance paid out for the replacement flights, which were expensive plus a night in a hotel and meals for 4 of us.
However there was a €75 excess and they took the €75 off each of us rather than the full bill which I thought was a bit of a scam.
It paid out pretty promptly once I managed to get documentation of the delay from the cruise company.

My DH's mother died suddenly whilst on holiday. Insurance paid for repatriation and several other things besides.

Ddad. Heart attack in california.10 days in intensive care and private flight repatriation. In 2001 it topped £250k.

Always pay it, never had to use it.

You can guarantee that the one time I didn't take it out, I'd need it

I'm hoping my DS' school travel insurance will cover the trip he's meant to be doing in 5 weeks. Injury yesterday and I'm not sure he'll be going 😩😩😩.

Broke my ribs skiing in Austria. Insurance paid out everything medical related plus including ski passes & equipment hire costs that I no longer needed. I was surprised how simple it all was, I think I received all the money back in two weeks.

I had to cancel (non- refundable) flights to attend a close family member’s funeral and my travel insurance paid out (subject to an excess).

I also got a payment as I was confined to my cabin on a cruise after I caught norovirus onboard. Small consolation but I was grateful!

I know people who have had large costs reimbursed for medical treatment in the States. A lot of document gathering required but the insurers were helpful.

£300 is less than band 3 on the NHS, not a big amount worth paying an excess for

On Holiday in Cyprus when DS was 2.5, he fell off a climbing frame and broke his femur…we were stuck out there for an extra week. It was a private hospital so cost over 1000 euro per night, and he had 2 operations before eventually being flown home by air ambulance. Insurance covered everything including the holiday apartment for an extra week for me (DH stayed in the hospital with DS as I was 7 months pregnant), a hire car for the week and new flights home for me. Plus transport back from the airport etc.

Our insurance was provided via our NatWest bank account and turns out it was very good - it was they that insisted on the air ambulance to get him home which alone cost €85K!

My 1 year old daughter was blue lit to a hospital in Mexico and had an overnight stay, on a drip. The bill was many thousands. All covered by insurance.

There is a huge difference between travel insurance (for cancelled flights, delays, lost bags, broken cameras etc) and international health care cover.

Travel insurance = I've wasted money for years paying and they've rejected every claim.

International Healthcare Cover = absolutely essential only an idiot travels without it

Medical is the biggie, including medivacs and repatriations.

Always travel with insurance. It is a false economy not to.