To think that it should be illegal to go abroad without travel insurance

[AusBoundDD]

A friend has just put a plea for GoFundMe donations on our WhatsApp group as one of her cousins was involved in a car crash whilst on holiday in Spain, ending up in hospital with multiple bad fractures. He was uninsured so the family have been left unable to pay for his hefty ambulance fees, surgery, hospital stay etc. To make matters worse he isn’t fit to fly commercially and instead needs to be medically evacuated home to the UK via private air ambulance.

It feels like a yearly occurrence - someone begging for help to get their relative home after they’ve been stupid/naive enough to leave the country without adequate travel insurance. Surely it should be like having your passport - you can’t board a plane or gain entry to a country abroad without it?!

Yeah this. Problem is, it's the people who are unable to fork out tens/hundreds of thousands of pounds in medical bills, who are the ones who go away with no travel insurance. Why bother when you can start up a GoFundMe? People keep coming out with this tedious line 'but you don't have to give to it!' but the thing is some people will, and DO. People who are soft, and kind-hearted, and gullible. And some will take advantage of people like this.

People who are financially well-off, and switched on, and savvy will take the travel insurance, because they don't want to use any of their money/wealth for medical bills. People who claim they can't afford it - but can miraculously afford the holiday, are the ones crying on social media, and begging for money for GoFundMe because they didn't want to pay for travel insurance. (That would very likely have been less than £50 each!) It's never rich/wealthy people. Not because most of them can afford the medical bills, but because they have the nouse to take out travel insurance!

A few posters have gone on about someone they know who had to pay £500 or £1000 for their travel insurance, but the fact is that the VAST MAJORITY of people will pay less than 3 figures. The average cost is around £30 to £40 per person! I know a number of people who have pre-existing medical conditions, asthma, chronic illness, diabetes, epilepsy, etc, and the amount they pay is still under £100. So I have no idea where people are being offered these hilarously astronomical amounts!

I have no idea where people are being offered these hilarously astronomical amounts!

DH has an incurable cancer. It will most likely be a few years before he is actually ill from it, but already mainstream insurers won't cover him. So far specialist cover has been £1000 to £3000 a trip depending on the destination.

I've been researching and I think there is cheaper cover available but we had to arrange it quickly around chemo and didn't have time to shop around. So we decided we will look at this as spending the money now instead of on the future holidays he won't get to have. 😥

@OooPourUsACupLove I am really sorry about your husband And sorry that going abroad is not an option now. I guess these crazy insurance prices do exist, but as I said, most people will not be paying this, Most will pay less than £100 a person. Less than £50 in most cases.

Thing is, in the vast majority of cases, it's not the ones who have conditions that cost £1000 to insure who are popping abroad with no travel insurance. It's people who would have had to pay £33. Same people spend a small fortune on ciggies, bingo, vapes, booze, and scratchcards, but won't pay less than £40 for travel insurance. Then they start a GoFundMe page expecting other people to put their hand in their pocket. (And as I said, whilst no-one HAS to give, some people are soft and gullible and will fork out money!)

Not my experience and I have several health conditions. I declare everything and pay the extra.

Surely people can remember the last 3 years of their health history?

Well what are you suggesting? That they do travel abroad and risk getting stuck with a bill for several hundred thousand pounds?

If people can’t afford health insurance they shouldn’t travel abroad. It’s not that great a hardship if you are that unwell.

One of my relatives will not go abroad again due to the cost of insurance which is appropriately high

What when you are not unwell at all and still get extremely extortionate quotes as I did 18 months ago.

Yes, they will not cover you if waiting for ASD assessment. I had this very scenario 2 years ago BUT there are some insurances that will cover you for everything else just not the thing you are on the waiting list for. It’s really important to check as one insurance policy I was going to take out wouldn’t have covered my DC for anything as they were on the waiting list for ASD.

Unless he is prepared to lose his house in the event of an accident, no he shouldn’t be travelling.

How would you police it? You could show a cheapo policy but not worth paper written on as it won’t cover you due to occupation or medical history.
There was a lad injured in Thailand recently (slipping near waterfall) with a go fund me. There was insurance but wouldn’t pay out apparently. Article said he was in army but just on hols with gf, not doing any extreme activities or sports. I was checking out policy for a group trip and in tiny print military staff were fully excluded so I assume he’s fallen foul of a clause like that.

In 2015 myself and my late husband were involved in an RTA on our motorbike while travelling through Holland. Husband was in ICU for 5 weeks and had to be returned to the UK by Air Ambulance. Never would I travel without insurance. People who do should not resort to GoFundMe when things go wrong. No way would i be contributing

I have several serious long term conditions which are all stable, never had a problem getting travel insurance through specialist providers, although it costs a bit more, obviously

More to the point, it should be illegal to enter UK as a foreign national without private health insurance unless a reciprocal arrangement is in place with the other government. Too many people come to UK and expect the NHS to treat them free of charge when they have not contributed any money to UK government funds.

If he doesn't have sufficient funds to deal with any potential medical issues then yes, he'll have to holiday at home unless your family has agreed to club together and cover him.

So, what happens if you cannot get insurance?

You either don't travel or you have a good savings account that can cover any costs.

As someone said in one of my solo travel groups… there are two types of travellers; those who pay for their own insurance and those who’s insurance is the expectation that people will contribute to their GoFundMe page.
I think that having insurance should be requirement of travel.
And it is usually possible to find insurance whatever the age or health of the traveller. I took my aged parents on holiday when they were in their 90s and the insurance was about £1000.

People who come to this country to work pay their national insurance through PAYE, PLUS a yearly immigration health surcharge to access the NHS which is paid upfront when they apply for a visa; currently over £1000. There are exemptions that I’m aware of but they certainly can’t swan in and access the NHS for free.

I have incurable cancer. When I put my details into comparison websites only 2 will insure me, quotes were £6 and £18K for Europe. Specialist insurers like Insure With won't insure me. I holiday in the UK. I am desperate to go abroad though and am considering using my European health card, I understand you would receive emergency care in line with residents but it does not cover body repatriation. I/my partner would have the funds to pay for anything required. I think you should have to prove you have insurance or sufficient funds before you travel. In fact I remember when you had to accept the agents insurance or give details of your alternative.

What about those that come over on boats?

Anyone , even a tourist can access emergency NHS treatment for free

Well Spain isn’t going to pay for his care….it’ll have to be paid for somehow.

Always check the small print and what the policy provides when buying such a cheap policy.