Do you think holiday insurance is a necessity or a luxury?

[faithfultoGeorgeMichael]

Where I live there are an increasing number of crowd funders every year for people who have an accident on holiday and have no insurance. I have always thought this was a minority of people willing to accept this risk but yesterday I spoke to a younger colleague (I am 51, she is 32) who said that no one she knows ever buys insurance and it is seen as a foolish waste of money to her and her friends.

She is off to Indonesia for a month in August with her children - with no insurance!

YABU: I would go abroad without insurance
YANBU I would only go abroad if I had insurance

You usually need to fly back with a doctor. Ambulances both ends. Sometimes a nurse as well.

either that or stay out there a long time.

How many people can afford the costs of anything beyond minor health issues treated privately abroad?

Bonkers to travel outside of the UK without insurance. It’s a small amount to pay for peace of mind compared to the cost of the holiday itself. I’d not be able to enjoy the trip knowing I wasn’t covered,

I am a travel insurer by trade. Yes in short it is absolutely worth it. I can see an argument that you might rely on reciprocal care arrangements if you were going to well developed European countries such as France, Germany or Holland, but even then if you were seriously ill you would finish up with a sizeable bill, and you might not be repatriated home for a number of months until you could travel normally. In the US the costs would be life changing. I dealt with a case in Las Vegas recently where a man was admitted for tests to a hospital. No surgery, just tests and supervision. The cost was in excess of $100k and I have seen worse. In other jurisdictions, the emergency cover is not all that good. On Rhodes for example, there are only 12 ipublic ntensive care beds and nursing cover is usually provided by relatives. If you do not have health insurance this could really impact on your survival chances. Please take good cover. Be wary of buying the cheapest option off the internet as well.

Exactly this, they needed a medivac. European countries won’t just keep you and treat you indefinitely. How do people not know this?

Sorry OP but your friend is a fool. What on earth would she do if extensive treatment and air lifts home were needed in the event of an accident?

Thought I’d look into bank accounts with travel
insurance. Had to declare pre-existing conditions. It would cost dh and I £500 extra on top of the monthly fee. I can honestly see that my foreign holidays have come to an end, sadly.

(we only go abroad once a year, so it’s a lot on top of normal holiday costs)

Yeah. You don't even need to be rich on this - I insure my possessions for the absolute minimum when I go abroad, because even if I lost everything I took, it wouldn't be unaffordable or difficult to replace it all.

For some people even within the UK it's important.
I used to work in a hospital at a very popular South Coast destination for old people to go on holiday.

They might only be in hospital for a day or 2, but if the coach had gone without them, they were shocked to discover that they weren't entitled to NHS transport all the way back home. Even if you can afford to pay the costs without insurance, having the hassle and expense of organising new accommodation and transport home can be hard when you aren't well.

It's not much so yes we always get it. However when we were robbed on holiday the insurance company refused to pay out! It's more for medical risks, especially in countries whichcharge a fortune! Xx

I found myself in urgent need of medical assistance while abroad one year, I was in pain and panicking, when I suddenly realised that we had travel insurance. My DH phoned them, explained the situation, and got the OK for treatment within a couple of minutes. I can't tell you the relief it was, especially when we got to the hospital, and were stopped by a doctor at the door, who wouldn't even let me in until they'd actually spoken to my insurance company to check that I had the necessary cover. Imagine getting to that point, only to find yourself turned away at the door, doesn't bare thinking about, does it?

I also disagree with someone who said they didn't understand why people bother to insure for holidays in the UK. Yes, we have the NHS if we are ill whilst away, but if you've paid out for a nice hotel, or rented an exclusive holiday cottage, and then a family member is taken ill, or dies, just as you're about to go away. You've then lost the complete cost of your holiday, which could run into £2 or £3k or even more. So again, I think it's worth it.

Of course you should have insurance! And GHIC card.
Unf it’s easy for the companies not to pay out as for illness you pretty much have to declare if you’ve sneezed in the past two years!
FIL was caught out years ago, he had a suspected heart attack and although was insured, hasn’t declared a small health issue and they wouldn’t pay out.

Going abroad - necessity. Even if you have an EHIC or whatever it's now called, you might need to be flown back to the UK, or your remains might if you die over there.

Staying in UK - depends whether you can stand to lose the cost of your holiday if you're not able to go.

Necessity. Although it's easy to get caught out and do a thing that in retrospect you aren't covered for. And there was a lot of prevarication around responsibility of insurers in the event of war. To me that should be one of the reasons you buy insurance, to get you out of a war has started.

If they were treating it there then I can't see why the need for that. But yeah staying there for a few more weeks is preferable and damn sight cheaper than 34k

It’s an absolute necessity and ridiculous to travel without it. Twice in my life I’ve had to claim, once was hospitalised on a holiday with a severe allergic reaction to something I had no idea I was allergic to. Second time when MIL died and we had to cancel at short notice. In both cases I was so grateful and relieved that we had insurance.

I don’t know, sometimes insurance can be excessive. I was waiting for consultation on fibroids - so just gynae, but because I’m was on the nhs waiting list, I had to declare this. Which meant I now had to get pre existing medical insurance cover, ended up being close to a grand. Luckily after some back and forth on the phone they reduced it to around 600, which I think is a lot of money. We paid it, but insurance can be crazy excessive sometimes and there will always be something in the t&c’s that they will try and find a way to not pay you out.

I didn't know holiday insurance for the UK was a thing. is this something I should be worried about now?

I go to Europe without travel insurance, I wouldn't go outside Europe without travel insurance due to medical costs. We go abroad 5-7 times a year and have never needed travel insurance in 40 years - IME insurers will try anything to get out of paying out anyway.

If local care is sufficient then insurance might not be prepared to cover repatriation anyway. If i died abroad I would just happily have a local cremation, repatriation is a choice.

Insurers would like you to think so.

Insuring for what? Healthcare? In the UK, with the NHS.

It's crazy not to have insurance. Even in Europe where health care is reasonable, costs can run into thousands for even relatively minor care of you end up in hospital. In the USA it can be tens of thousands.

I find it ironic that some people consider insurance unnecessary but would be happy to crowd fund to get their medical expenses paid for. It's a strange attitude. I don't want to pay but are happy for others to pay for me.

I fell ill and was in hospital in the UK several hundred miles from home. I had to pay for a company to drive my car back home and a private ambulance to get me home. I had sepsis and it took me much longer to recover than the 2 week hospital stay and I couldn't drive for weeks after. (Partner can't drive for reasons I won't go into here) Plus the additional accommodation for my partner who had to stay on while I was in hospital. It's not just about the medical expenses. Costs mount up significantly. That costs thousands. Claimed back through insurance.

I only ever go on long weekends that are no more than 2 hours from my home... and I go with DM who drives. I can not think why I would need travel insurance for something like that.

It’s usually for if you cancel or can’t go or damage to the property rather than medical because you just use NHS