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Original poster

Am I being nasty..

176 replies

coolma · 19/08/2010 20:43

..or do I feel a bit about the girl who has broken her back in Corfu and is asking for public donations to get home for treatment because she didn't have holiday insurance? Surely, nowdays, insurance is an absolute essential for travelling? I expect I'm being horrible but I really think it's a bt much...

OP posts:

scurryfunge · 19/08/2010 21:48

Maybe not rotting but wouldn't you want to be near home when in hospital? I am sure the treatment is second to none. I just think, yes she monumentally fucked up but now deserves a little compassion.

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 21:50

yes i would prefer to be closer to home if injured but i wouldn;t expect memebers of teh public to pay for it when i overlooked the need for insurance and when i am already getting adequate care. she doesn't need to be home, she wants to be home.

AnyFucker · 19/08/2010 21:50

I have compassion

just not financially

StormyWeather · 19/08/2010 21:53

Well, I do feel sorry for the girl, but really have no sympathy for her plight. I'm in the travel trade and have come across this kind of thing time and time again. The common cry is - 'oh I never get ill'! Well sorry, but I didn't expect my daughter to get appendicitis in the south of France, but she did! And if I hadn't had travel insurance I'd still be paying for it , and that was 20 years ago!

Short sighted and idiotic not to get proper travel insurance in this day and age - it's about £20 to get adequate insurance for a fortnight, if you shop around.

Bear in mind travel insurance covers you not only for illness/accident on holiday, but if you have to cancel before the holiday for illness/accident, the death of a close family member, or whatever, which means you can't travel then you get your money back (less any excess of course) and can rebook when you are well again. It covers your luggage, money, legal expenses if you get into any bother abroad, etc etc.

By the way, starlight, no need for insurance within the UK for medical reasons - the NHS covers us all over the country - unless your household insurance doesn't cover your belongings when travelling, and I would always suggest it within the UK if you were going somewhere that was particularly expensive (ie 5* hotel for an extended stay) in case you aren't able to travel for the reasons above.

scurryfunge · 19/08/2010 21:54

Yeah, ok, I won't be donating either but I still feel it's a shame for her.

[hopeI'mneverinsamepositionemoticon]

TheFallenMadonna · 19/08/2010 21:58

Blimey. She's broken her back! Nobody is being forced to donate. She isn't getting public money to fly home. Can't understand why people are riled when someone who is in a desperate position (however it was brought about) ask for help.

AnyFucker · 19/08/2010 21:58

but you wouldn't be would ya ?

you would buy the insurance in the first place

we all have personal responsibility, don't we ?

scurryfunge · 19/08/2010 22:02

Yes, just uneasy at the piousness about never being in that position.

She fucked up and will regret that mistake for the rest of her life.

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 22:03

exactly AF. she had personal responsibility to ensure that if anything happened while she was abroad that she would get home. she didn't do that. if being home while injured is important, you make sure you have covered yourself so that happens you don't depend on public donations. what would she have done if the public hadn't responded? she would have had to stick it out in spain.

BertieBotts · 19/08/2010 22:03

I guess people are just so used to the NHS being free of charge, that they don't consider what will happen if they get ill or have an accident - because normally you don't have to think about it.

Actually it's opened my eyes, I never really thought about it before. But I have never been abroad other than with school etc. I went to Ireland a few years ago though with my mum, XP and my grandad and I doubt we had insurance for that.

forehead · 19/08/2010 22:05

The woman has damaged her back ffs. I think some of you are being really unkind.

AnyFucker · 19/08/2010 22:05

no she won't "regret it for the rest of her life" (her injury aside) scurry, because she got bailed out, didn't she ?

a lesson learned here...fuck up and you shall be let off the hook

fabulous

< tears up annual travel insurance agreement, why bother ? >

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 22:05

how is it unkind?

Roobie · 19/08/2010 22:06

I think she will probably regret falling off a balcony and breaking her back for the rest of her life rather than the actual inconvenience of being stranded in a hospital abroad (which they will get through one way or another). She is still being cared for after all.

TheFallenMadonna · 19/08/2010 22:06

I'm pretty sure she and her family are well aware of that now. But that doesn't actually alter the situation she is in does it? They are asking for donations. It's voluntary.

DH put his hand in a lawnmower while it was going. Fortunately, the taxpayer picked up the tab for that lapse in personal responsibility.

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 22:08

yes fallen but did he ask the general public to pay for transport from the hospital he was taken to, to the hopital of his choice, on top of their taxes?

AnyFucker · 19/08/2010 22:08

her actual injury is irrelevant in my eyes

I am sorry she hurt herself...who would wish that on anyone ?

accidents happen

that is why, when you are abroad, you take out travel insurance

it's hardly rocket science

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 22:09

if it had been important to your DH that he went to private hospital in the event of an accident he would have taken out health insurance. this is the same thing.

TheFallenMadonna · 19/08/2010 22:09

No, but the hospital he was taken to wasn't in another country. And the staff spoke English. And we could visit him. And allthe other things that make life a little bit less terrifying if you are facing serious injury.

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 22:11

yes, and if he had been going abroad he would have taken out insurance so that he got home with english speaking staff where family could visit him. this girl didn't so she is in spain getting the care.

TheFallenMadonna · 19/08/2010 22:11

Her injury is relevant because it is a terrifying injury. Life changing possibly. I would want to be back home in her situation. A broken leg - I could stick it out I'm sure.

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 22:14

if you would want to be back home then you think ahead and make sure it happens by taking out travel insurance. you wouldn't depend on donations to get you home.

TheFallenMadonna · 19/08/2010 22:14

I am actually pretty shocked at the lack of empathy on here.

Of course they should have got travel insurance. We've just got back from holiday and we had (have to - DH is very accident-prone ), but they didn't. And now they are in a horrible situation. And that is what needs to be addressed for them.

And for the rest of us, highlight the need to travel insurance.

whomovedmychocolate · 19/08/2010 22:16

Gawd! Broken backs are nasty, but I'm with AF on this.

I thought you weren't allowed to travel these days without travel insurance . Seems a bit daft really to let someone get on a plane to a land where if they have an accident, they get bankrupted?

booyhoo · 19/08/2010 22:17

yes, it needs addressed for them, by them. not the public.

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