travel insurance

[whowouldknow]

Do you actually need travel insurance when you are travelling in the EU? I have always had an annual policy for traveling to USA etc however this year we will only be in Italy - and advice - is the E111 enough?

It's enough for basic healthcare but shoud you need repatriation or anything more serious you will need an insurance policy.

E111 is only medical care and not all of it will be free.

If you dont want cover in case of death repatriation, loss of goods etc then no need to bother

Definitely go for travel insurance. The unexpected can definitely happen. Like accidentally giving birth at 32 weeks in Spain and, after 2 weeks there, having to be air ambulanced home - the extra accommodation and living costs and the air ambulance (ca ?20,000) would NOT be covered by the E111. Doubtless this exact thing is not going to happen to you - ! - but something weird might...

PS the E111, or EHIC as it now is, was very easy to use to access FANTASTIC medical care in Spain. As far as it goes, its brilliant and we in no way felt like second class citizens.

absolutely, the public liability is handled very differently in many eu countries. just imagine you cause an accident and have to pay for the care of a disabled person for the rest of their lives out of your own pockets.

The EHIC will give you the same emergancy medical cover that a resident in that country has but that is all. What about cancellation / loss of belongings / travel delay / mediacal repatriation etc etc

Travelling without insurance cover is a huge risk and not worth the small saving on the premium.

thanks for your messages - will get it sorted now :)

If you buy an annual policy they cover you if you are away in the UK too.

This is totally worth it as I tend to have more expensive stuff travelling round the UK then a few cheap holiday clothes that I never get to wear in this country (looking out the window at the lashing rain).

Travel insurance always strikes me as cheap too. Given the number of things that could go wrong between airlines, hotels, medical, personal belongings etc. Shop arounf though.

Do shop around - and look out for exclusions too.

We usually need a slightly higher level of cover as DD1 has a food allergy (or any medical treatment realting to a reaction wouldn't be covered), and have paid slightly more to be covered for canoeing and luging (summer toboggan thingy). Best thing to do is to read the exclusions bit of the small print.