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?!

Yes, unless you are willing as a family to pay for medical treatment. My DH and I have health problems which mean that insurance, despite automatic cover with the bank, is an extra £3-400. It wouldn’t stop us travelling but I would be unwilling to travel without the extra cover.
In addition you need to check that your insurance covers dangerous sports such as skiing or diving and especially if you hire scooters abroad.

What’s the issue with a parent paying for their DC’s insurance? I’ll happily admit that I paid for 21yo DD’s. It’s not her fault that her insurance is more expensive than it would typically be for someone her age, plus I wanted to make sure she had the best cover - not just the cheapest option on the comparison site!

You have to tell an insurance company absolutely everything. I had a similar argument with my DH, who wasn’t up for telling the truth.

i point blank refused to travel with him unless the complied.

Ah, you know it's almost summer when the travel insurance threads pop-up.

How would it be policed? What about people who can't get insurance?

What would the punishment be?

YABU.

It really does. Wasn't there a case of a woman who thought she was insured only to find out that because she hadn't mentioned she was on HRT, they refused to pay out for a totally unrelated medical problem?

I mean, current medication is pretty hard to forget when declaring your medical history but these insurance companies are bastards.

Anyone recommend a lesser bastard travel insurance company please for an upcoming European trip?

It sucks, but unfortunately yes - they shouldn't be going abroad. My mum is in the same boat, can't get insured because of her conditions. So she doesn't go abroad. Unless they are a multi millionaire (and said millions are sitting in the bank ready to go, and not tied up in property etc) they could end up in a v messy situation

Well yes. What on earth would they do if they had an accident or were taken seriously ill?

Speaking from experience as my Mil was nearly bankrupted after her insurers wouldn't pay out after she was taken ill in the US ( had insurance but hadn't declared an existing medical issue.

Ask yourself the question in reverse. How would you feel about the NHS funding yet another tourist who hadn't got insurance. And who racked up a hefty bill that you as the tax payer had to fund.

If you can't afford the insurance you, it's the risk you take. It's not a right to go on holiday.

I don't know how this whole insurance thing works, but surely there should be some sort of thing that allows people with lots of health conditions to claim for something that is nothing to do with those health conditions and get insurance based on that. Like accidents.

Is he being prevented from travelling abroad, no, because he is able to pay himself which would be a consideration and the alternative if you can't get jnsurance,you'd just need proof of funds and a promise to pay declaration.

I keep thinking what will happen with the weight loss jabs as so as many seem to be on them but will insurance companies try & blame them for any issues when travelling?

I know lots of people who either don't go abroad or pay through the nose for insurance due to medical conditions.

It seems extra wild not to have insurance if there's a real possibility you could need medical care!

Considering how many people have illnesses/on medication as they get older I reckon a large % travel without insurance.

It’s certainly incredibly reckless to travel without insurance unless you have the means to fund any medical bills which might be run up whilst you’re away (a friend is currently in this position due to multiple conditions, she prefers to go without the ridiculous price of the insurance and pay her own way if a bill arises, fair enough as she has the means).

But for those who would not be able to afford this…you must be insured. I live in Wales and every year on Walesonline, you will find multiple stories about people who have had accidents or illnesses whilst on holiday and are asking for donations to their Go Fund Me. People who can’t physically leave hospitals because they don’t have the means to pay. People who need to get home for UK treatment but can’t, because the cost of repatriation is eye watering.

The first of that sort of story for 2025 must be due about now…it’s very often people who have fallen off quad bikes, etc.

Final thought is that I used to work with someone who had previously worked for a travel insurer. Another colleague, who was off to Florida, was gloating about how he had never paid for travel insurance and she asked him if he had any idea whatsoever how much it would cost to treat him in a US hospital for even the most minor thing and, if the worst came to the worst, how much his family would have to pay to repatriate his body. He literally had no clue, and was horrified when she threw some figures at him.

How would it be policed?

In the exact same ways that other travel documents are. Passports, visas, for some countries you even have to be able to show your bank balance upon entry in order for them to confirm that you are able to support yourself for the entirety of your stay. It’s really not a tricky question, nor would it be that hard.

As for punishment - no insurance = unable to board your flight/get turned away at the border. Simple

"Close to half (44%) have risked travelling without any cover in place when they go on holiday, conceding it’s not something they always purchase."

As I thought.

Equally if people stop contributing to go fund mes people would be less prepared to take the risk

Unfortunately stupidity is not illegal!

My mom had an accident abroad and luckily she had great thorough insurance. It really highlighted how important it is. Each X-ray was £250 - they took 5 in a minute so that was over £1000 there. Blood tests, hundreds, it soon mounts up. I would never ever risk it.

I’m certainly not one of the contributors!

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people have an insurance with their bank account and just think it's ok, I have my holiday insurance with my bank and really don't give it another thought and just think they are covered because they are under 70 or whatever age you need to be eligible for it.

There and lots of insurers who specialise in this, for future reference (DH has a motor neurone disease). We use this:

https://www.fishinsurance.co.uk/

It is very foolish not to have insurance if you have a disability or long term condition, IMHO.

I think for some conditions they impact so much of the body it would be almost impossible to split it out. Or maybe its the risk of one thing impacting another. Eg. You have cancer, so anything to do with that isnt insured. But you go abroad and break a leg. Seems unrelated but maybe the cancer treatment has caused loss of bone density. I have no idea if this is how it works am making stuff up. For my mum i think its the fact she has half a dozen conditions and is being investigated for several more so its almost impossible to know what to exclude

When you take out travel insurance, do you all read the (usually over 10) pages of detailed terms and conditions? Exclusions? The ones that expect you to declare pre-existing conditions of close RELATIVES, etc etc?

Last time I went abroad I was meticulous in reading this stuff and the amount of time it took was ridiculous, as I was reviewing different providers. They were all different in different ways. I had to get dates of doctor appointments for last 2 or so years. I don’t trust these companies not to find something random they can use from the small print, so I tried to be completely accurate. Or it might have been worthless. This was also just after Covid and the Covid clauses variety was something to behold and not in a consistent way!

Which is why it’s best to go through a broker and let them do the nitty gritty bits for you!