Why you should have travel insurance

[Ellmau]

Sorry this link is from the DFail, but it is a salutary tale about what could happen if you either don't have travel insurance, or as in this case, don't declare your pre existing conditions to save a little money in the short term: Family of British grandmother, 52, who was found covered in blood in a luxury Turkish hotel claim she is being 'held hostage by a prison camp private hospital' who won't let her fly home until she pays tens of thousands of pounds in medical bills | Daily Mail Online

(I do feel sorry for the family, and if we could avoid being too judgmental that would be nice, but I hope it might make people think about their own decisions.)

Anyone going on holiday should have travel insurance. No excuses.

This has reminded me to do ours today! Thank you. But yes that is shocking but we are warned when booking holidays abroad to have insurance

To add, you should arrange travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday. (So you are covered if something happens and you need to cancel.)

Isn't before you book better? If you book flights then buy your travel insurance you aren't covered.

Yes you are, you’re covered for anything that happens between getting the insurance and the holiday (subject to exact policy terms e.g. some don’t cover anything that happens within 24/48 hours of taking out the policy).

I wonder how easy it would be to set things up so you had to provide travel insurance details before you could book the holiday?

I’m sure it’s easy enough to add this onto websites.

DH was taken ill in Montana, 20 years ago, and the bill (paid by insurance) was over £250000k. As well as having insurance, please make sure you update your records with the insurance company as they will always try to find a way not to pay.

I think deep down she has insurance but has pre existing conditions so don't think she will be covered. So also make sure you list all of them. Losing suitcases/cancelled flight are small compared to the medical bills.

The article does say she has insurance but as a pp has said, they don't think it will pay out due to preexisting conditions... What is the point in it in that case?!

I have pre existing medical conditions that are declared to my insurer each time I take out a policy. These conditions (or situations arising directly from these) may not be covered but everything else should be.

Undeclared medical conditions may invalidate an insurance policy - I'm on a FB group for people with my condition and there was a post today about not declaring it - what's the point of getting insurance if by not declaring a condition your insurance might not be valid and they can reject any claim.

I sympathise with them but can't help thinking if you're going to the bother and expense of taking out travel insurance at least you should make sure it covers you in the event of disaster - even if it costs a few quid more to declare an existing condition.

My father had a stroke in Spain. Care there was fine (well it wasn't, but he didn't have to pay for it), but we wanted to get him back to the UK. No insurance which was quite surprising for them, but I think my mother said she'd normally have paid with American Express which would have included insurance but this time didn't and she forgot. Anyway cost her £12,500 to medivac him home.
My son had to go to A&E in the US. Was there for four hours and the bill was $1200 (sent to us months afterwards). We had insurance so just had to pay £200.

I have used travel insurance for decades and never had to claim. But was so grateful for it when dd had an accident earlier this year. Medical bills, airport assistance, extra seats etc all covered and excellent communication from the insurers throughout.

I don't blame the hotel staff for reacting like that! And not every hospital does have an ICU. I'm sorry for the lady, but this situation is of her own making by not making sure she had the right insurance.

Can I just add, go through a decent company. I took out insurance through a cheapo company I found on GoCompare. Had to cancel holiday the day before due to DH being ill. That was mid-March. All correspondence had to be online with no phone number given. They wouldn't accept that the hotel wasn't refundable even though it clearly stated that in the canx email from the hotel so I had to get someone to write me a special letter. All really annoying and long-winded. Got the settlement letter yesterday. It's been a nightmare dealing with the cheapo company, their agents, and the actual insurer (AXA). I didn't realise that the cheapo wasn't the actual insurer. In future I would book direct with a well-known insurance company with a UK phone number.

Totally agree. Our family health insurance for this years 1 week holiday, is around £200 for our family of 4. This is due to multiple health conditions. No way would I not declare them, just to save £100 or so.

A relative with cancer went Majorca without insurance. He fell ill (unrelated to the cancer) and spent a month in hospital before he died. His widow had to sell their house to pay the medical bills and could not afford to have his body repatriated.

If you can't afford insurance, you can't afford to go on holiday.

Absolutely agree. If you are not going to be honest about pre existing conditions you may as well not bother. Well I guess you might get away with it if you make a claim for lost luggage or something, but if you put in a claim for anything medical at all pre existing conditions are very likely to come to light and then they will probably thennot cover anything, even if completely unrelated. It's a really false economy. I have pre existing conditions as does my son so our holiday insurance can be quite expensive but I'd never risk not declaring. In my experience, if you make any kind of insurance claim the company will look for all possible ways to minimise their payment so you really don't want to hand them a reason on a plate!
To be honest, my sympathy is limited for anyone who travels without valid insurance. They know they're taking a gamble and have to be prepared to deal with the consequences if it doesn't pay off. I also think it's rather selfish, as it is often family members who get left trying to sort everything out if an unisured person is seriously ill or dies abroad.

We have annual insurance so just check that every so often to make sure it's valid. We always have worldwide cover at a decent level. You just never know.

Dh gets his included with his work medical insurance.
Dd (young adult) has hers separate too as it's cheaper that way for her.
I have some medical conditions so have to have separate ones - not cheap but essential for me.

Even if you declare them some policies won't include them.
I spend a lot more to ensure the existing conditions are fully covered.

I would never travel without insurance but I can slightly understand why people do. Our insurance this year was close to £3K. That is another holiday.

I had no choice but to pay as we have things booked and one of us has medical problems which many declined.

I called a few days ago as I had a silly accident and wanted to note it. No extra charge for the condition, but still had to pay an admin fee.

It's really discouraging.

For me it's the hypocrisy of not wanting to pay the £200 or whatever but then expecting others to do so when they have the crowdfunding page.
I have a heart condition, and various other things on the pre existing condition list. It didn't cost that much more. Hopefully never need it but it's there.

Wow, that's a lot @zippitydoda Ours is hundreds rather than thousands and that feels expensive.
Presumably though there is either a significant risk of your family needing to use medical services when they are abroad, or of the specific services required being very expensive?
Most people with some existing medical problems wouldn't be charged that much so should be able to afford it. I confess I do resent the cost a bit but then I think that it's actually less than the cost of a day trip or a nice family meal out and the consequences of not having it are potentially life changing.
I suspect most people who don't take out insurance just don't think anything will happen to them and prefer to prioritise the spending money. Obviously that's their prerogative as its not legally required, but they then need to be prepared to deal with the consequences.

You must tell them about all preexisting conditions too even a trip to the gp for antibiotics

There was a case a few years ago of a retired university lecturer who had a stroke while on holiday in Peru. His partner thought they were covered by the travel insurance included with their credit card but it turned out that they were only covered if the whole holiday was paid with the card. They had applied for the card and spent a trivial amount on it. Their whole party had their passports taken and were stuck in Peru for months with the bill running in to hundreds of thousands.

I wouldn't trust travel insurance bundled with bank accounts or credit cards. For many older people the travel insurance will cost as much as the holiday itself, especially if it includes the USA.

Yes, she was clearly idiotic and didn't declare pre existing conditions