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Am I being daft paying for annual travel insurance? I ask as it seems that most weeks I see a story about someone who has fallen off a balcony / taken drugs / been in a moped accident and their family are using GoFundMe to fly them home as they didn't have travel insurance.
This week it is a lad in a coma in Cambodia, up to £8k per day for intensive care and £200k to fly him home.
How can people justify spending thousands of pounds on trips and not cough out the relatively small cost of travel insurance?
How can people justify spending thousands of pounds on trips and not cough out the relatively small cost of travel insurance?
Because it's not going to happen to them.
GoFundMe also seems to be used instead of a social security or public healthcare system, when some of the athletes in our sport get injured.
The GHIC would not work in your example, but for many trips it covers the general health element pretty well, so things only really get expensive when repatriation is required..... Then the cash starts flowing very fast!
This is based on a number of events in my life over the years and a current "issue". I rarely every needed to claim on the actual travel insurance
It is a bit weird. But then they might not know this stuff! (although with the internet there's less of an excuse).
In my 20s I was heading off backpacking with my friend. I didn't know of the concept of travel insurance, and my parents had never really traveled either. It was only because my friend's more middle class parents told us how important it was (on the way out the door) that we grabbed a Yellow Pages, phoned up some company and shoved a hastily scribbled policy number in our wallets that we had any insurance at all.
The situation isn't helped by what I feel is deliberately opaque insurance documents though.
It never ceases to amaze me that people donate to these pages? What do people who set them up think? That the world owes them a favour because they couldn't be bothered or chose not to buy appropriate insurance. Perhaps they are hoping for their 15 mins of fame in the Daily Heil with suitably sad faces and a one sided story of doom.
I think you'll find that in some of the cases they took out insurance, but the insurer refused to honour the agreement. They cite something like an underlying illness or such.
So you can take out insurance, then be left up shite stream without an outboard. In those cases thank god for gofundme.
You can holiday quite cheaply in some Asian countries, using hostels etc. If you are young and can book the cheapest flights rather than having fixed dates, I think you could have a holiday in Cambodia for less than a grand for Flights and accommodation, and live quite cheaply while there. So just because it cots thousands to go to Disneyland, don't assume that is what these people are paying.
I also had a problem booking holiday insurance recently because I had already booked the holiday couple of months earlier. Now I already have medical and rescue insurance because I do mountain biking and diving, however I couldn't get general insurance for my kit and any non medical emergencies, I don't know if I would have been able to get medical insurance under those conditions.
And of course young people are just not as aware of the consequences, it is a hard way to learn, but is just a societal reality.
They cite something like an underlying illness or such
Or the person 'forgot;' to disclose the illness so invalidated the policy and is now crying because they were caught out. Perhaps I'm fortunate to have only made 2 claims on my holiday insurance and both were honoured in full with no quibbles in an entirely reasonable timescale.
It normally only takes a couple of small, unfortunate events to create a cluster**** of a situation.
Combined with insurance companies desire to not pay out, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that everyone on gofundme made a choice to not be insured.
Agreed with Tom.
Quite depressing how quick people are to jump on the " you need insurance, insurance companies are great" bandwagon
What are the actual consequences in these situations?
Has life support ever been switched off due to an inability to pay (for a westerner in a foreign country, I suspect the locals might get treated worse)? or is it (as is seemingly common in the US) a case of going bankrupt when presented with a bill that is impossible to pay?
For those of you saying that insurance companies may be at fault, from the go fund need page…
https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-brother-ben-is-fighting-for-his-life-in-cambodia?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer Ben has no medical/holiday insurance, when you’re young you think you’re invincible
Or like a couple of middle aged friends of ours thought it would be fun to jump on a moped in Thailand, no helmets, in flimsy clothing etc. Fortunately they didn't crash, but I'd assume their insurance would have been invalidated.
or is it (as is seemingly common in the US) a case of going bankrupt when presented with a bill that is impossible to pay?
That seems to vary depending on the country. It is common in the USA for treatment to be stopped when the money runs out, especially for long term cancer treatment where each course of medication is billed separately so once you are bankrupted you no longer have access to care.
This is based on a number of events in my life over the years and a current “issue”. I rarely every needed to claim on the actual travel insurance
I've never claimed on house insurance in nearly 40 years of paying it...
Claimed on travel insurance twice. Stuck with 'that volcano' and prior to that 'stuck' with a toddler son who contracted chicken pox on holiday - family legged it home before daughter showed signs.
I've always bought insurance, and checked what was covered - e.g. mountain biking - been on family holidays where my insurance specifically says 'no MTB' - so I didn't.
How people are ignorant to this these days when media is full of people who get banged up and have no insurance. I'm old now, but wouldn't have gone away when young without getting insurance.
Given that insurance companies are rarely in the red because of the payouts they make, it would seem buying policies is a mugs game. And that by buying insurance, you are paying for other people’s care anyway, as well as a margin for the insurance company.
If you can’t self insure, you’re just sponging of more careful people and don’t deserve to go on holiday.
It's not like this is new
2001 an English bloke I knew smashed himself into a car in Thailand non a moped. He needed facial reconstructive surgery.
No travel insurance, no money to pay for medical treatment on that scale.
The bloke who's car he hit paid for the medical treatment out of their pocket. I'm not sure why, it much have cost a fortune. It was the story I was told at the time.
The English guy had been living cheaply while teaching English in Thailand.
I had travel insurance. I hired a moped in Laos. I don't remember getting a helmet with the moped. I'd never driven a motor bike or car. It seemed a normal thing to do.
Would I have been covered if it was me that had crashed? No idea.
I like to think of myself as sensible.
A few years back an afternoon in Whistlers medical center cost £3,500. They say they scanned me with a cat scan and X ray, I don't remember any of it.
I had travel insurance (specifically for MTB, specifically because I don't have the cash to pay for an airlift off a mountain/ medical stuff on the way home) and it took my insurers (dogtag) the best part of a year to pay out.
"If you can’t self insure, you’re just sponging of more careful people and don’t deserve to go on holiday."
Firstly, given that I can't cover myself for five million quid of medical liability, I guess I'll have to just continue on sponging when I go on holiday.
Secondly, I won't be losing any sleep over buying a £30 policy for a weeks jaunt to Lanzarote or La Plagne or wherever.
Then again, maybe you were just troll-lol-lol-lol-loling, in which case I hope you fall into a pothole when walking out of the destination airport, break your ankle, manage to stand just in time to be participate in an RTA as a vulnerable pedestrian, and have to be repatriated, all without the benefit of travel insurance.
Where the **** are you going to get a policy for la plagne for 30 quid?
Given that insurance companies are rarely in the red because of the payouts they make, it would seem buying policies is a mugs game. And that by buying insurance, you are paying for other people’s care anyway, as well as a margin for the insurance company.
If you can’t self insure, you’re just sponging of more careful people and don’t deserve to go on holiday.
Either I've completely misunderstood or this makes little sense to me.
I would hope most businesses are rarely in the red, after all operating costs are covered they're there to turn a profit for their owners and shareholders. Obviously you're paying for other people's care, I'd rather that than them paying mine though.
How is it a mugs game? Insurance is there to cover costs in an eventuality that you can't or don't wish to realistically cover yourself.
Very few of us would be doing anything if we had to self endure, holidays, driving, home ownership to name a few, you're going to need a big bank balance to cover those.
Then again, maybe you were just troll-lol-lol-lol-loling
You must be new here
I’m still good paying annual travel insurance. MrsBS had an OTB crash in Majorca one spring a few years back, spent a week in the private hospital of Alcudia courtesy of AXA and they threw 2 CAT scans, X-rays and some emergency dental work in with the deal. We only booked it in the airport when we realised our old policy had lapsed, could’ve just thought “it’s never been needed before”. Best £28 I’ve ever spent!
Interesting reading my policy for upcoming trip, specific exclusions like any injury while drunk or under the influence, any fall accommodation balcony etc- you can imagine some prior high cost claims…..
Should not be allowed to fly out if you don't have valid insurance. Bit heavy handed maybe, but the idiots need protecting from themselves! See also: Smoking Ban thread.
How can people justify spending thousands of pounds on trips and not cough out the relatively small cost of travel insurance?
Wait till you find out a not insignificant number of people haven't insured their cars despite it being the law and a risk to other people not just yourself!
Am I being daft paying for annual travel insurance? I ask as it seems that most weeks I see a story about someone who has fallen off a balcony / taken drugs / been in a moped accident and their family are using GoFundMe to fly them home as they didn’t have travel insurance.
The question is - do you have enough friends with enough money? Actually insurance is not that different to GoFundMe...
Insurance - x people pay £n upfront for a certainty that in a range of situations (but not all) they can get costs of £x*n [obviously its a bit more complex to help actuaries justify their salaries! but the essence of it is that the risk is shared amongst all premiums]
GoFundMe - X people donate £N after the event in the hope of covering a now-defined cost of £X*N.
Should not be allowed to fly out if you don’t have valid insurance. Bit heavy handed maybe, but the idiots need protecting from themselves! See also: Smoking Ban thread.
What bollocks.
How can people justify spending thousands of pounds on trips and not cough out the relatively small cost of travel insurance?
Because it's often far from small, and it's often far from necessary.
MrsBS had an OTB crash in ..... etc
We had something different in detail but essentially similar In Germany one Christmas when the kid ( 6 months old) had a bit of a temperature. Tookim to docs for a few tests. Four hours later they phoned and told us to take him to hospital immediately. Cue loads of doctors, scans, tests and four weeks in hospital for him and his mum. We didn't have travel insurance. No problem, not needed. They just sorted him out.
Broken wrist boarding in St Anton. Stookie
Broken foot kayaking in Norway. X rays, crutches.
Ripped toenail in France
And a few others.
None of it paid for by travel insurance. Each one cost significantly less to fix than the travel insurance ( would have) cost.
There you go. Just for a bit of balance in the thread
Some of the responses in here have shocked me. I would never go abroad without travel insurance and, for most standard holidays, it is not that expensive.
I really struggle to believe that the treatment described by thegeneralist could be cheaper than travel insurance. I have just paid £30 to cover myself, wife and teenage daughter for a week in Greece. That is not going to pay for anything described and certainly not 4 weeks in hospital.
I can understand daft teenagers not getting travel insurance. My son (now 27) never bothered when he was younger so I would buy it. The 32 year old man in the gofundme link is old enough to understand why insurance is important so I have little sympathy.
Just to be clear, the x rays, crutches, stookie,t oenail were all cheaper than the insurance
The 4 week stay in a German hospital on an antibiotic drip definitely wasn't, but it didn't matter as we didn't get charged for it. They just sorted him out, put the wife up for 4:weeks and gave him the best medical care imaginable. No charge.
I should have put a page break or something after that section and before the minor injuries to emphasis that I was trying to describe two different sets of scenarios. Soz
£30 is indeed hideously cheap. Our insurance never comes in less than three figures for a week.
you could have a holiday in Cambodia for less than a grand
Don’t forget to pack a wife.
Just to be clear, the x rays, crutches, stookie,t oenail were all cheaper than the insurance
The 4 week stay in a German hospital on an antibiotic drip definitely wasn’t, but it didn’t matter as we didn’t get charged for it. They just sorted him out, put the wife up for 4:weeks and gave him the best medical care imaginable. No charge.
Guessing that was covered by the old E111 card scheme thingy... Reciprocal health service agreement.
The 4 week stay in a German hospital on an antibiotic drip definitely wasn’t, but it didn’t matter as we didn’t get charged for it. They just sorted him out, put the wife up for 4:weeks and gave him the best medical care imaginable. No charge.
@generalist
I find this hard to believe unless your wife is a German citizen or a citizen of a country with reciprocal health care arrangements (and even then, the "sorting out of bills" is done behind the scenes. Was this pre-Brexit??
We still have a reciprocal health care arrangement with the EU. I would get insurance for a ski/climb/mountain bike holiday in Europe but I wouldn't bother for an ordinary sightseeing or cycle touring trip.
Even if you're just going to Europe travel insurance is a good idea. Last year we had flights in and out of Sardinia, a week there and ferry over to Corsica for a week (and ferry back the day of the flight home). 3 days on the second island and got a text saying all the ferries back for the 3 days after tomorrow were cancelled due to weather. Options were (4 people during the school Easter holidays, if you're wondering why they're pricey) :
Get new flights home from Corsica, paying a repatriation fee for the hire car - total £2,500
Get the ferry 3 days early and get new flights on the day we cross - total £1200
Get the ferry 3 days early and pay out for a hotel in Sardinia for 3 days with zero notice - total £1400
We chose the last option as it suited us best. Total cost to use of £50. Granted it's not £200k but it can save a bunch of cost and ballache (as we didn't have to spend ages fishing around for the absolute best deal on a hotel), knowing it was all being picked up.
Currently in Bali on an extended trip myself, took a while to find a travel insurance co that covered the things we expected to do (nothing extreme at all, finally covered with Saga 🤣) but I'd never really checked exclusions on previous holidays which was an eye opener on the risk I'd put myself in - just by hiking above a certain level, riding a bike above 125cc or cycling an MTB on a ungraded path.
*The amount of European looking people riding round on scooters in Bali with flimsy clothing & no helmets is quite something, seems like the done thing, shocking how people follow the trend rather than risk assess themselves
"We still have a reciprocal health care arrangement with the EU. I would get insurance for a ski/climb/mountain bike holiday in Europe but I wouldn’t bother for an ordinary sightseeing or cycle touring trip."
I'm insurance adverse but for the limited cost (because it's very unlikely) I'd still want to insure myself against the massive repatriation costs should the worst happen, even if it's in a wooden box rather than a medivac plane. Maybe having my brother in law die on such a plane colours my view though.
The 32 year old man in the gofundme link is old enough to understand why insurance is important so I have little sympathy.
I was most definitely capable of doing faft things at 32 and no doubt still am.
I certainly have some sympathy for the poor sod. It's not like he's a rapist, he made a bad judgment call and fell seriously ill. He might have been abroad doing similar countless times and got away with it? Humans being humans he pushed his luck and got dealt a shitty hand this time.
We can all be one bad decision away from something which utterly changes or even ends our lives and not even know it. Most of the time we don't know it because we got lucky but there isn't a human alive that gets every decision right.
We still have a reciprocal health care arrangement with the EU.
Yes, but we'd be paying the same as them AKA not free..., and be careful of anything judged 'pre-existing'.
In an earlier life, when I was travelling non-stop with work I always had world-wide cover through work for all of us but since then we just pay for travel insurance - see it as just another holiday cost (and in reality about the price of a decent lunch).
It’s also only fair on your family. If you end up in a coma, having emergency surgery, or worst case coming home in a box, the last thing I want is my parents having the mega stress and financial implications, of an already terrible ordeal, just because I choose to go mountain biking.
We’ve just paid £160 for two people, for European annual cover, including mtb, via ferrata and pre existing medical conditions. The flights cost 4 times that and the bike cases 5 times, all of which are part of the holiday budget.
Insurance – x people pay £n upfront for a certainty that in a range of situations (but not all) they can get costs of £x*n [obviously its a bit more complex to help actuaries justify their salaries! but the essence of it is that the risk is shared amongst all premiums]
GoFundMe – X people donate £N after the event in the hope of covering a now-defined cost of £X*N.
I basically agree with this. But using x for a discreet number of people, and n for a variable amount of money makes my teeth itch.
I certainly have some sympathy for the poor sod.
I feel more sorry for their family. They are left with a magnified version of have a very unwell pet with potential bills of thousands but feeling a moral duty to 'do the right thing' and bankrupt yourself (not him) to give them a chance of getting well.
Paying for insurance sucks but for travel insurance where the costs could get so massive that you'd end up putting your loved ones in very challenging financial positions because of your decision, it feels like a no brainer.....
GoFundMe – X people donate £N after the event in the hope of covering a now-defined cost of £X*N.
The irony of course being that many of the X people will have actually paid for their own travel insurance so by being 'guilted' into are helping and in effect paying £N twice - once for their own cover and once for the person not willing to pay their £N.
My insurance for mountain biking holidays in the Alps usually comes out at ~£140 per week with £100 excess, so it’s not exactly pennies. Even cutting it back to not cover my bike and it’s ~£60
Generally my policy with insurance is to only get it for things that could bankrupt me, such as medical expenses, medivac and repatriation charges. Otherwise I prefer to rely on my rainy day account.
My insurance for mountain biking holidays in the Alps usually comes out at ~£140 per week with £100 excess, so it’s not exactly pennies. Even cutting it back to not cover my bike and it’s ~£60
How much would you spend on a decent dinner in an Alpine resort, that won't be "pennies" either.
**Perhaps I’m fortunate to have only made 2 claims on my holiday insurance and both were honoured in full with no quibbles in an entirely reasonable timescale.**
I have made a total of three claims against travel insurance. Two out of the three times I was utterly shafted. The most recent one was when a bag went missing on the outward flight in 2022. The insurance company were obstructive at every step of the way, asking for receipts and photographic proof of ownership which we couldn't do in some cases – who takes pictures of hair straighteners (expensive ones) that were a gift in the first place. Three months later we were still trying to sort the claim out (and had re-bought most of the stuff that had gone missing) when the bag turned up so (despite contradicting the insurer's own policy) they wouldn't progress the claim as they said the bag was no longer lost. However, we now have duplicate items – most of which we don't need two of. I put a complaint in and it was upheld, but I only got a small amount as an apology, nowhere near the full cost of the original claim.
12 months global travel insurance has cost me about £160 this year.
Son of a friend's partner: walking in the hills in Vietnam, got caught in a landslide and lost his leg (his mates died).
My daughter's friend: slipped off a wooden walkway down to the beach and had to spend a week in hospital with a smashed ankle.
A friend flew out to the Philippines yesterday to see her daughter who's had an emergency appendicectomy while travelling out there.
Why wouldn't you get travel insurance?
Reciprocal health agreements are great... right up until the point you need to get home. e.g;
- airlifted off a mountainside - £££ (depending on location)
- dead in a box - £££
- Still ill, being repatriated to the UK - ££, if a row of seats on a commercial flight. ££££ if air ambulance
- You've been in hospital and missed your flight, no longer have accommodation, transport, etc - have fun sorting yourself out
or
- You're in hospital and on your own as you'd need to pay to fly out a family member
That's before you look into all the other more minor parts of policies
please name them*
Admiral.
Cheers I got a quote from them yesterday on the back of this thread so they can stick that up their arse!! 🙂
Slight rabbit hole:
I've made one claim on European car insurance. Breakdown recovery from France as it goes.
Various French garage fees (three places failed to fix it - nobody did Honda in France at that point, apparently).
French breakdown recovery fees.
Hire car in France for a week.
A weeks worth of hotels / gites / hot dinners.
Fresh pair of ferry tickets back.
Hire car in UK to cover ferry -> home trip.
Car repatriation.
Car moved to local garage for repair.
All covered, with a £100 (ish) excess.
Plus they did a helpline so that all of the above could be arranged by someone who spoke French, because my ability to (just about) order lunch wasn't going to cover it.
Experiences vary, clearly. Without insurance we'd have written the car off, paid someone to scrap it, and taken the hit on several hire cars and ferry tickets, I guess.
Guessing that was covered by the old E111 card scheme thingy… Reciprocal health service agreement.
Probably in the background. We never actually got asked for anything, but I'm guessing the missus mentioned he was forrin when she gave details.
find this hard to believe unless your wife is a German citizen or a citizen of a country with reciprocal health care arrangements (and even then, the “sorting out of bills” is done behind the scenes. Was this pre-Brexit??
Yep, same as most of the posters on this forum. UK has a reciprocal agreement. Yep was pre Brexit.
We chose the last option as it suited us best. Total cost to use of £50.
@5lab. Just for clarity/ completeness can you confirm that this is the only holiday you have ever taken out travel insurance for ?
where this argument falls down is that I have auto-renewing travel insurance which cost about £45 this year, if I'm doing something like skiing/MTB I will add on to it - I could do this twice a year (I wish!) and the total lifetime cost of my insurance wouldn't come anywhere close to what it would cost to repatriate me/my body to the UK. We are not talking about minor boo-boos/ouchies as in your cases!Just for clarity/ completeness can you confirm that this is the only holiday you have ever taken out travel insurance for
are not talking about minor boo-boos/ouchies as in your cases!
I'm this instance I wasn't talking about them either. I was talking about the scenario 5lab outlined where he might have had to cough up £1200. He seemed to be saying that he only spent £50 on insurance and thus was ahead by £1150..
I was just commenting on how fortuitous it was that the first time he paid for travel insurance he actually needed it ...
Or alternatively.....
Just for clarity/ completeness can you confirm that this is the only holiday you have ever taken out travel insurance for ?
no, I have (free) annual trip cover for the family, but its also not the only claim I've made. I've also (over the years) claimed :
£300 for late bags
£400 for a lost wedding ring
£300 for a mobile phone that got dropped down the toilet by my wife
£150 for new oakleys after I walked into a low beam and scratched the ... out of them
£500 for flights we couldn't use when my wife broke her leg
£300 for a stolen wallet with cash in it
and probably a couple of other things I'm forgetting about. I'm up in net terms for sure
Breakdown recovery from France as it goes.
I can replay exactly the same story from my best friend and her family last year, who had no travel insurance (they forgot) when their van broke down in France. Phoned me in a pretty major stress. Had to pay for all of that (the breakdown to the nearest garage was covered by their breakdown cover), though they couldn't afford a hire car as they were so expensive in France in August. End up stumping up so many unexpected costs they couldn't afford a replacement holiday that year. Spent 10 days at home, walking from the door (van took 3 months to come back) trying to entertain the kids.
yeah, that's not what this thread is about though. We're talking about worst-case-scenario stuff that you cannot possibly self-insure for unless you're extremely wealthy. The stuff that would financially cripple your family who'd have to sort out your mess unless (and even?) if they start a GoFundMe and beg off strangers. Not a broken foot/lost suitcase/broken down car.I’m this instance I wasn’t talking about them either. I was talking about the scenario 5lab outlined where he might have had to cough up £1200
"chrismacFull Member
It never ceases to amaze me that people donate to these pages? What do people who set them up think? That the world owes them a favour because they couldn’t be bothered or chose not to buy appropriate insurance. Perhaps they are hoping for their 15 mins of fame in the Daily Heil with suitably sad faces and a one sided story of doom."
Why are you making snotty remarks about the Daily Mail? Your post would fit in perfectly on its comment board.
I got an annual policy with YellowJersey (not sure who underwrites), but it was £110/odd.
It specifically covers actual sporting activities (bar competition obvs). I hadn't realised that the vast majority of insurers won't even cover you for just riding down the road abroad..
As for those risking it, well, you ( or donors) obviously have your back..
put a complaint in and it was upheld, but I only got a small amount as an apology, nowhere near the full cost of the original claim
Go to the ombudsman (FOS) if it's within 6 months of the complaint being closed?
I haven’t been abroad on holiday since the mid-90’s, but I’ve had travel insurance as part of my bank account, along with AA car cover. I’m now in a position to start thinking about a holiday abroad, so it’s not something I have to think specifically about. I won’t be taking part in anything like mountain biking, kayaking or anything like that, so not concerned about those sorts of activities causing an injury. I am looking into a possible trip to New York, so additional health cover is definitely something I’d look into, I’ve read far too many horror stories about how costs can escalate dramatically for even small injuries. The fact that the people I’d be staying with both work at a major hospital, one in A&E, the other as a surgeon probably wouldn’t help me much!
Not every bank account has worldwide cover on their packaged insurance. They won't cover pre-existing conditions unless notified and a possible extra premium paid.
https://www.rbs.co.uk/insurance/travel-insurance.html
It's a rabbit hole. Reading the small print for going bike touring is a nightmare. Helmets required yes/no. Altitude limits. Gravel roads covered?
Family of four, annual European cover including skiing and MTB, with a couple of pre-existing named and covered conditions - roughly £250
So that’s about 10 summer days including 6 on the bikes in the Alps, and one or two weeks skiing in the winter for just over £40 per person.
Minor European injuries (eg a broken foot) are of course covered under the GHIC provided you can get to the medics without being recovered from the piste.
Strangely the only time we needed to claim was actually on a planned Canadian trip when some emergency surgery in the UK a few weeks before we were due to go meant canning the lot - flights, accommodation etc. The resort were nice enough to refund the lift passes, but the insurance paid out thousands.
Because it’s often far from small, and it’s often far from necessary.
Every time you don't claim, insurance is not necessary. It is cheap as chips, at least when you're under 75.
On the other hand, break your leg in the US and suddenly your £75 ww annual policy is very good value:
Best part of 20k USD.
Need a repat? 50k USD.
Not using travel insurance is either brave or stupid IME.
The cancellation section alone is worth it.
I have little sympathy for those that don’t bother, I’ve always had it.
Colleague of mine (an idiot) didn’t have insurance and was on a stag do in Hamburg, hopefully very drunk, stepped into the road after waiting for two cars to pass, hadn’t noticed the third car. Killed instantly. £25k to bring his body home. I politely declined to donate.
I paid £680 to just cover medical and repatriation for codriving on the Safari Rally in Kenya and that was trundling along slowly at the back of the field with very little risks involved. But I wouldn’t want my parents to sell their house to medivac me home. Just not worth it.
"If you can’t self insure, you’re just sponging of more careful people and don’t deserve to go on holiday"
Well, that's total bollox really.
How many can self insure to the tune of £100k or £200k or more when they're 22 or 23 years old ?
Won't reach £200k ? See how much it costs when someone you know has a head injury, brain bleed and subsequent stroke and is in intensive care for ages, followed by air repatriation. That example is unfortunately real for someone I know.
Ive never had insurance for European trips. Repatriation is the only thing not covered
Or mountain rescue. I don't think helicopters come cheap! If you can't drag your shattered leg off the mountain yourself, or you are unconscious and your mates won't carry you down as your neck seems to be at a funny angle, that could financially ruin you.
And it's not state funded in the UK either, seems to be predominantly charity funded/volunteer run.
Fun fact, GHIC doesn't even cover all of Europe, let alone global.
The last major story I read about crowdfunding was a family who left their daughter abroad to stay on and extend her trip into a working holiday (or something), they'd bought travel insurance but because she hadn't started the trip/cover in the UK, the policy was voided. I think she had a bleed on the brain or something.
Genuine mistake with the T&C's or trying to save the cost of flying back out a few days later...who knows
Ive never had insurance for European trips. Repatriation is the only thing not covered under reciprocal agreements I took that risk
Cancellation, personal belongings, airline failure, travel disruptions, loss of passport, etc etc etc
On the health front you are also missing out on the assistance piece which is probably as important as the care itself. Plus, the choice of audited providers will be far better and selective. The medical team at the assistance company ultimately has your medical interest in mind. A local provider that you haven't chosen and won't be audited might not.
The cost of European travel insurance is derisory too.
Ive never had insurance for European trips. Repatriation is the only thing not covered under reciprocal agreements I took that risk
Not exactly true. Earlier this year Mrs NBT had an accident on a ski trip that resulted in a hospital visit. Ambulances are not free in France, and they don't leave until you've paid. so she was left waiting for me to return with my credit card after I'd been told to go and dump my stuff back at the apartment. An ambulance to the local health centre then a second ambulance to the valley hospital (the health centre were unable to reduce the shoulder dislocation) cost just shy of €1500.
We're still waiting on the payout but the claim also covers the curtailment of that trip, plus cancellation of the second trip.
Or mountain rescue. I don’t think helicopters come cheap!
I got specific mountain rescue & medical insurance when I was in the Alps last year. You can buy it by the day and when you're already in country. Quite reasonably priced too.
Useful to supplement a basic travel policy perhaps.
Just checked my annual insurance, family of 4 is £43. Tripsure Annual Platinum. Covers Emergency and Repatriation to £5m. Sports and Hazardous Activities also included.
I have to admit to having gone on biking holidays and just thought my standard annual cover would be sufficient.
Strange that folk don’t see it as a holiday cost. No chance would I go anywhere without it. My family (and my savings) couldn’t afford to buy an airport meal let along medical costs abroad.
I go away two or three times a year so £43 is money well spent.
On the health front you are also missing out on the assistance piece which is probably , the choice of audited providers will be far better and selective
Made me laugh
The medical team at the assistance company ultimately has your medical interest in mind.
Really made me laugh.
Just checked my annual insurance, family of 4 is £43. Tripsure Annual Platinum. Covers Emergency and Repatriation to £5m. Sports and Hazardous Activities also included.
Which "hazardous activities are those? Not mountain biking, not rock climbing, not cycle touring, not even jumping off a 3 m diving board, not kayaking nor rafting, skiing. They are all add-ons that take it up to £146.
Which is still insanely cheap TBH. So much so that I would have no confidence in them paying out
It also excluded search and rescue costs, which is useless.
It also excluded needless exposure to peril.
It also stipulates that you need to be supervised and tuitioned by experts qualified in the pursuit of activity in question. You must use all appropriate precautions, equipment and protection.
Then it gets even more pointless:
The availability of the insurance does not in itself imply that we consider such sports and activities safe. At all times you must satisfy yourself that you are capable of safely undertaking .. etc
More holes than a colander
Also worth bearing in mind that with annual travel insurance, you get cover for any overnight trip anywhere (within the limitations of your cover obviously) so simple overnight stays away from home are also covered. For the difference in cost between paying for a single holiday cover and multi-trip, it's a no-brainer (just don't insure with Admidral).
Is Dogtag still popular? Used to be a go to insurer recommendation when I was competing overseas.
It also doesn't cover skiing off piste, ski acrobatics, sledging, freestyle
Likewise if your 17 year old son skis down a different piste to meet you at the cafe. He is no longer insured.
Cycle touring is only covered if a helmet AND body protector is used !
Ditto cycling.
Kids aren't covered at all for most of the activities. I ncluding cycling! Or go karting
Or even hiking FFS. They're not even allowed to go tubing...
That policy is a waste of time