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?!

They might not be able to with high street insurers but there are specialist providers.

For Europe, there is still the GHIC card, why did friend not get this one, it's free.

I agree, OP, it's illegal but have done it myself (with GHIC). one of the issue is the long NHS waiting lists and when you ate waiting for a diagnosis, nobody will cover you. I had a family emergency and had to go (and had a small accident but all covered by GHIC thankfully).

We still do. There is a reciprocal agreement still in place between the UK and the EU . You just need to apply for it (free). But it never did cover all expenses like repatriation. It was always highly recommended that you took our additional insurance.

Exactly this. I do think it is irresponsible to travel without the means to pay.

Yes. Why would they take the risk of going abroad, needing medical help and not be able to pay for it. Would they just join the Go Fund Me gang?

for certain/complex conditions there is no cover. I can only assume you don't have complex disabilities? and if under investigation, nobody will touch you in any case.

Best not go to the GP for anything that might need investigation before you go on holiday as you might not be able to get insurance and if you have already got insurance it may become invalid because of waiting for a diagnosis.

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/

The old style EHIC still exists. Called GHIC now. many seem unaware!

Have you not heard of waiting lists? years!

Out of interest, does anyone know if travel insurance will turn one down whilst waiting for an ASD assessment? My DC is on a 6 year waiting list.

Yes, that sounds a bit more nuanced.

Do you think uninsured people, before entry into foreign countries, should have to provide evidence of a certain amount of money in the bank that they could hypothetically access in the event of needing hospital treatment?

Exactly, years so probably best to go private if you need a quick diagnosis.

I have no idea about a ASD assessment though, hopefully someone can help

Good point, but out of intefest what would he do if needing medical care abroad?
I don't hink it should be illegal btw, but I do buy insurance when I travel just in case I am in an accident and need expensive medical care. Curious to know what other options there are too.

It would be best to ring your insurance and ask. Or at the very least notify them of the potential diagnosis. There are some horror stories of people needing medical treatment and their claim being knocked back by their insurers even though the claim is nothing to do with what they are waiting for investigation for.

I know, that worries me but not going away for 6-7 years is just crazy. I will probably stick to GHIC countries to be on the safe side!

Like your son?

I think the poster has said he travela by private jet so hes not bothered😂

Can anyone tell me, generally, how far back do you have to go on your medical records? My DH has had quite a few investigations over the years but no real diagnosis on some of them.

He really annoys me because I keep saying he needs to get a history from the GP. He takes statins but allededly told our travel insurance company that it was merely preventative because his DF and DB both had heart attacks a few years back. I recall that he was investigated for heart palpitations at the time but in any case he tells me that the travel insurance company told him “it was alright” as he had nothing wrong with him.

I don’t believe this in the slightest (I used to work in health insurance!) And know that they would have excluded this from our policy or made him pay a premium, which he didn’t.

He seems to think that his opinion of what was investigated matters more than what the GP records will say! I mean he doesn’t really know what they have put on his records.

I keep telling him that they will find any reason not to pay so he has to disclose everything honestly but he just keeps on dismissing me. We’ve had the same argument countless times. It’s really frustrating because if he gets ill, it will be me having to sort it out.

I am going to have to somehow get him to get a summary of his GP records.

Sorry for long read but if anyone knows how far back you go that would help me. Thanks.

YABVU

I don't have any kind of insurance, apart from NI. I think insurance is a con.

😆

Just wow.

YABU

nobody is forced to contribute to any gofund me page, or a family members pickles.

Life (and insurance) is all about risk and if some people choose to travel that is their risk.

Many people cannot qualify for insurance for various reasons and that's not a reason to tell them they can't travel.

I haven't recently looked at the maximum liability covered by a typical travel insurance policy. Flying a Gulfstream 6 back from Australia with full medical cover as a MediVac is probably quite expensive. How much does one need to set aside? 5 million? 25 million? So how many people in the country does this really effect? How many have that amount on instant access? 0.01%? 0.0001%
Those sort of people are usually capable of looking after themselves

Well it gets complicated for those who has overseas citizenships. I always buy travel insurance, but I think I'm still covered by state healthcare when I go home to visit my parents. I have got the free cash handouts before they stopped giving them out as cash (the recent ones required a bank account which I don't have).

Holiday insurance needs looking into, it's ridiculous that you could go to the doctor with something fairly minor and be on a long waiting list for investigation and not be able to get holiday insurance

The GHIC card covers most things and people rely on that. I never would and have always paid for health insurance. I can’t see any point in making it illegal to travel without. If you object to funding someone who needs help, don’t pay up.