Not another Go fund me!

[Bignanna]

Is anyone else fed up with people begging for money on Go Fund Me, to bring a family member home from abroad, because they are seriously ill in a far away country?
He didnt have travel insurance as he thought he wouldn’t need it, being young and fit! There’s another article in the Daily Mail about him and the family are wringing their hands and begging for help. Whist I sympathise with anyone being seriously ill, this was so easy to avoid, and it keeps happening. It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth that it seems ok to beg others to compensate for other’s stupidity.

I really can't fathom why anybody would be stupid enough to go on holiday without taking out insurance.

There really is so excuse for travelling without insurance.
you’d spend the £10 or so on a few drinks so why not cover yourself?

go fund me begging has reached the extreme.

Just scroll by.
And insurance is not cheap for many people. Because I am on an NHS waiting list for a straightforward operation mine is prohibitive. I do still pay it though.

I know nothing about Go Fund Me apart from ignoring appeals completely.

Surely the recipients are making a profit out of this, or is the fund managed or audited by a third party to ensure every penny goes towards the issue at hand? I'm sure it isn't.

Idiots who go abroad without HI are just that, idiots. But I'd say most of them think everything will be ok once they have one of those health card thinggys. However, that doesn't cover a longer stay, or repatriation if you need an air ambulance, assistance, or your bones need to get home in a coffin. Sorry if I sound flippant, but it just makes me a bit er... annoyed.

A friend / neighbour of mine had a child with a degenerative physical disability. NHS funding for home adaptations are not very much (in this family's case, insufficient for the work required).

I agree that in the case of a road accident, then motor insurance should cover the resulting need for adaptations, but I guess this will also have a ceiling limit..

DS had a teen holiday with friends last year and not one of them who poked it could say what they brought (didn’t know if they paid for travel insurance) I booked one separately - less than £20

This thread reminded me to get my travel insurance sorted for my summer holiday

When you book you need cover incase something happens prior to the holiday, not just ON holiday -
so many people lose money because they bought you were only cover whilst you were away.

Get some now.

Yes! There was a really sad case recently where a TikTok user died and her friend/ sister in law / god knows what did a gofundme but then closed it and asked for direct donations into her PayPal or bank account and they raised ££££ but there has been no accountability for where that money went. Probably on takeaways as they asked for more money for the funeral.

Recently the sister in law/ friend went on holiday with the money. All very suspect. The worst bit about it all though is that despite 3 adults being in the house at the time she passed away, and the fact they were meant to be taking it in turns to sit with her she ended up dying completely alone. So to ask for money for a funeral/ holiday/ money to start a charity when you couldn't even make sure she didn't die alone is gross to me

Yes, it might need appropriate at some point, but I don't know how they could know what was needed within a few days.

I'm shocked that people go abroad without travel insurance. I'd never leave the country without insurance. My dh has several medical conditions. Even though he's unlikely to need help for any of them them they are still added to the insurance. Its costing us £185 for a week but id rather that than having to find thousands.

The ones that annoy me the most are people crowd funding to take their kids to Disneyland or whatever. FFS.

Agreed. I am also fed up of people thinking that I would like to give money (under the guise of buying a cake/service I don't want) to pay for their dc to go on a fabulous holiday at the end of year 11 under the guise of needing to fundraise for it because they'll be doing a few days of spurious community work.

Part of my job is giving travel vaccinations and part of the assessment involves asking if they've got travel insurance and reminding them why they need it.

Martin Lewis always advises that you get your travel insurance immediately after booking your holiday. Too many people leave it until the day before their travel, or wonder why they can’t get a refund if they decide not to travel.

I guess fit healthy young people struggle to believe that they could ever fall seriously ill or have a serious accident on holiday.

Then that’s very naive of them! Plus if they don’t get cover for risky activities, which costs extra, then the Insurers won’t pay out. They won’t pay out if the holiday maker was drunk at the time, either!

Long distance relationship ones wind me up. Asking for money so they can travel and see their other half.
and what happens after that trip? On the beg again?
what about the costs if it gets serious and you want to get married? Visas are expensive

How can you possibly decide that you 'don't need' insurance?

The whole idea of insurance is that it will cover you in an unlikely event that you probably won't need... but there is always a chance that you might; and if you do end up needing it, it will cost you far, far more money than you could ever otherwise afford.

Spent a fortnight in a Spanish hospital when my appendix burst. I nearly died.

It was touch and go whether they were going to let me out so I could get my return flight, or if they were going to send me on a medical flight home, which could have cost £200 a mile (and this was in the 90s!).

I saw the bill for the hospital too as they sent it to us as well as our insurers and I could have bought my first house outright with that cash.

I always have insurance now. Even in the UK if I’m going to be more than 2 hours drive from home. I just have an annual policy. Costs me a bit more as I have a clotting condition but it’s worth every penny.

My ex neighbours have one running right now

They are the most nasty,spiteful arseholes who tried to make our lives hell

The fire was the the bedroom and destroyed it and the bathroom

They could afford a posh ring doorbell,expensive phones,a fancy car,4 pets and nice holidays but not pay the £3 a week for insurance

They've set up a gofundme for 'living expenses' (they claim benefits plus he does work but the dss doesnt know he lives there) that their dd is autistic (bollocks-she really isnt,plus it seems to chop and change which dd has the condition) have lost everything (they havent-they came back the following day and made a lot of trips with boxes) that the house burnt down (it didnt-two rooms did-plus it's council they don't own it) to help buy 4 new phones as theirs where burnt to a crisp (bollocks-all 4 had them in their hands while stood outside) and to help with the clean up (they don't have to lift a finger-the council can and will do all that)

It's begging and more fool anyone who gives them anything

I pay £160 a year to cover everything in case of fire,theft or anything else-I wouldn't dream if going begging all over the Internet but some people no shame

It's the height of entitlement

What happens if they need a thousand pounds but raise five thousand? Does the fund have limits?

I have 2 chronic health conditions that always push my insurance cost up but I would never ever go abroad without insurance. And I always make sure that includes a medical flight home.

I used to work in a job that involved getting ill people from abroad home and it was a nightmare when they had no insurance. But I remember one guy who called his insurance company and the following a medical team swooped in and flew him back home.

Don’t think so! If they get thousands extra then a nice holiday is on the cards, or of course they could give it to charity…

They get to keep it. Whever set the fund up is the person the money is sent too. They don't even have to do what they said they wanted it for.
I worked with sick kids and saw so many gofundme's supposedly to send kids abroad or buy medical appliances and the parents and family would suddenly start appearing in expensive clothes and splashing cash all over the place, used to infuriate me that some poor old dear was giving her last penny to help a sick or disabled child and these people were using it like a lottery win.

It's so fucking stupid, they'll pay £££ for the holiday and then will penny-pinch at the insurance. It cost me £40 for a ten day family policy for crying out loud.

I spend £100 a month on travel/contents/life insurance due to age and declared the fact I take statins etc. so I have bugger all sympathy for people who take risks and don't insure.