Insurance - won't this alone kill overseas travel forever?

[DateandTime]

Unless I've misunderstood?

It seems that any insurance for any new booking made now won't include cover for CV. So that's no cover for being unable to travel because of conditions where you're going but more importantly no medical insurance should you be taken ill with CV abroad.

Would you travel knowing you had no cover?

I'd travel within western Europe whilst we still have EHIC cover under those circumstances but that's about it.

Got the email this morning.
I wouldn't travel without over.
But don't intend to go aboard this year anyway.
In a years time I'll reassess.

Yes you're still covered under EHIC until 31st December at the least.

But you need to understand how EHIC works, and most people don't.

It's EEA only and therefore won't cover anywhere outside that area including north Africa, Middle East, Turkey. (sounds blindingly obvious but many people don't understand that).

It's STATE healthcare only. Will not ever cover treatment in a private clinic. Fine if you're in Scandinavia or Western Europe, not so great if you've bagged a bargain break to Bulgaria or Romania.

It's not FREE healthcare. You get treated on the same basis as locals. In Norway for example, locals pay around £17 to see their GP. You will too. Several European hospitals ask for a small contribution towards tests and other costs. Other countries charge "bed and board" costs for overnight stays, or expect families to provide food, sheets and towels.

Oh and should have added:

You actually need the card. You can't just pitch up with your passport and hope for the best. There is a long winded way of getting an emergency health authorisation faxed from Newcastle to whichever hospital you've found yourself in, but as they only work office hours it's hardly convenient.

And your kids need their own EHIC too.

Forever is an awful long time. A vaccine will very likely be found and be widely available in the next two years, after which this will be just one among many diseases, and one which produces only mild symptoms in the vast majority of cases.

I wouldn't travel abroad uninsured for coronavirus until there's a vaccine - we are covered for things already booked but nothing new. Even then what we are covered is patchy - if you need treatment that's covered, put in quarantine, missed flights due to a temperature and refused boarding probably not covered for so we could rack up costs in the thousands if we went this summer to Asia but we won't. EHIC ends this year and we've often had issues trying to use it with some countries refusing it and saying we need to go private.

I've just checked our annual travel insurance (included with bank account) and on trips booked now, for Corona it excludes disruption etc, but still includes healthcare if we get Covid-19 whilst on holiday.

I've also done a date change to next year on long-haul trip booked before the change (rather than pursue a refund) so we'll have the full pre-Corona cover on insurance. However, I'm personally happy to book a new trip as long as the medical is covered. We're also planning a Eurostar trip as quickly as possible after lockdown!

Our insurance covers corona medical for trips bought before March but not for ones after that, now excluded via small print as its been declared a pandemic. There's a notice about it on website. I thought almost all insurers were not covering for corona medical now using small print clauses. Within Europe this year check if EHIC covers it - we have been refused options open to locals though before in countries were theoretically it works though like Spain.

I'd check that Jarstastic. I've had an email from my bank to say it's changed and CV not now covered at all unless trip was booked before March.

I've double checked and medical covered as long as not travelling against FCO advice (obviously can't now, but indicates can when lifted?). Medical is all that's covered though.

I've just had a quick look at World First Travel insurance which I've had recommended to me before (at that time it wasn't cheap but it wasn't expensive) and it also appears they would cover medical?

I've also just had a quick look at Saga (whom I assumed would be comprehensive given what they charge) but they seem to only cover repatriation if you get Covid-19, but not in destination country medical treatment, and of course nothing else.

Forever is an awful long time. A vaccine will very likely be found and be widely available in the next two years, after which this will be just one among many diseases, and one which produces only mild symptoms in the vast majority of cases.

What she said.

No

I’ve had similar discussions recently, not directly linked to insurance but about whether the appetite for international travel will decrease as a result of the virus.

Will it hell.

In a year’s time, I expect demand for flights and holidays to be back at pre-virus levels. The drivers for people wanting to go on holiday, or fly to Amsterdam for the weekend, or whatever, are still there.

As long as people have got £100 for a return air ticket and a desire to wander around European cities gormlessly taking selfies of themselves in front of the Trevi fountain etc to post on Facebook so that everybody knows that they have been, the desire to travel will be as strong, or stronger than, it ever was.

As long as Britain retains its current cool and wet climate, there will be people who want to visit warmer countries.

As long as people want to go to Tallin for a stag weekend with cheap beer, people will want to fly off and do just that.

We took out a years insurance last December to cover a couple of holidays we were due to have this year - we got one in but a biggie is later this year. Checked our insurance and any cancellations due to a pandemic aren't covered. Luckily we paid on our credit card....

To NZ (other home) yes. Reciprocal emergency care and family. Doubt would become very unwell in 26 hrs travel. Short trips to Europe, yes. Again, wouldn't be away from home long enough to incubate and become unwell whilst away from home.

A 200 day cruise? The fuck. But with norovirus, wouldn't have gone near that anyway!

Surely if there is no vaccine or cure then travelling on insurance that doesn't cover covid would be stupid. I can't see my DM being able to visit us in France again.

@Frenchfancy I guess it depends on your perception of risk. It is a disease which has about a 1% fatality rate (and even that might be a signficant overestimate), where the vast majority have mild to moderate symptoms. If you're not in a higher risk group, you are very unlikely to need hospitalisation and your symptoms would probably be no worse than the flu.

Bearing in mind that much travel insurance turns out to be pretty worthless when it really matters, would the risk of catching Covid 19 be worth taking? I guess that would be up to the individual.

Those of us who have (very likely) had it will get tested for antibodies eventually and will then feel confident to travel.

IcedPurple

Precisely.
I'd be hesitant to do a 2 week tour of the States, due to the raised risk of gradually becoming quite ill mid trip, but would happily do a 3 day weekend in Milan (eventually).
Same for trips home to ones "other home" country. As long as there is reciprocal health care and family to stay with, the only insurable concern would be the length of travel to get there - most one way trips are less than a few days, so fairly safe in terms of mid trip illness.

Obviously would buy the flexible tickets and accommodation to permit late cancellation!

@PicsInRed

Same. as someone who's in a relatively low-risk category, I'd happily travel short-haul for a week or two even without insurance covering Covid 19. Others may not feel the same way, which would be up to them. You could say life is all about weighing up risks and everyone does this differently.