Why I never bother with travel insurance

FH_Brit

lynzpower wrote: »

I broke my leg in italy once. I was in total agony, I saw 2 doctors who did the full x ray, plaster cast, ambulances. Ambulance back to hotel, Ambulance to the airport. Extra staff to get me on a plane where I took 3 seats. Change of flight time so partner also lost his first flight as that was full on return and he needed to come with me. Wheelchair at the other side, cab home.

All paid for with insurance ( just needed to show the document, we didnt need to do anymore)

Insurance cost 35 quid for the both of us.

Money very well spent, Ive no idea how much it would have cost me otherwise. I doubt it would be small enough to put on a credit card.

Very naive not to get insurance. So naive as to be stupid. If you can afford to go away you can afford to pay the few quid for insurance.

Lynz - when you have a good report of a company - NAME them so readers can get the same good service!!!

That is the point of MSE - Value for money!!!

Yoghurt_3

FH_Brit wrote: »

You really deserve everything you may get! You, obviously by the look of your "eloquent" (that means articulate, but you may not know what that means either!) postings, are one of those people who buys travel insurance without reading the T&C's of the policy, and then when you actually make a claim you complain because YOU did not read anything about what you were/are covered for.

Cancellation or Curtailment = not just this your whole policy has strict conditions - but you would know that IF you bothered to read the policy!!!

Baggage: £75 excess = Don't buy CHEAP! - you get what you pay for! for a few more pounds you can have a policy with NO EXCESS!!!

Scheduled Airline Failure - It means financial failure not mechanical - showing your ignorance again!

Supplier Insolvency: I'm not going with a travel agent or package holiday so that doesn't apply. - Really! What happend on your do it yourself holiday when the accommodation YOU booked (Hotel/Villa etc) goes bankrupt?

Missed Departure: What, because I'm running late or only if the car breaks down? And if it breaks down due to running out of petrol - It is cover for most people who make "reasonable" arrangements to travel to the airport/seaport and not the MORONS who risk missing their £1,000.00+ holiday for the sake of £5 extra petrol, or who cannot be bothered to take and extra hour or two to be on the safe side.
(by the way if you are travelling on a motorway and run out of petrol you could end up with a ticket too from the police - Road Traffic Act states it is illegal to enter a motorway without sufficient fuel)

Holiday Abandonment: !!!!!!? - Nice language!!! - It can mean that if your close relative is taken ill back home and you need to "Abandon your Holiday" to return to them, you would be covered - but then you might not want to stop your holiday, because you are having sooo much fun in the bars and clubs. And anyway Grandma can take care of herself!!!!

Strike: Benefit of £200. Like that's gonna buy me a new flight at that short notice - It could rent you a Pedal boat though!!!!

Hijack: £500. Brilliant - Better than a bullet?

What a load of bollix - I agree you talk a load of it....................

Nom nom nom..

Pollycat

Nobjocki wrote: »

Given the scarcity of cars on the road in vast parts of America, the fact that very little driving is done in two-way traffic and the considerably lower speed limits than here I would say that the chances of being hit by another car are miniscule.

Likewise, if you weigh up the number of people who successfully travel abroad each year without complication against the number of people who avail of travel insurance you'll find the percentages minute.

Travel insurance is mostly a con, flogged to you by people on a commission to sell policies which in many cases are largely useless.

For every unfortunate case mentioned on here I could find you 100,000 others where insurance was totally unnecessary - what on earth do you think is going to happen to you lying by a pool in Torremolinos for a fortnight ? You wouldn't buy insurance if that pool was in the Isle of Wight !

Holidaymakers would be far better served by avoiding obvious risks and using the commonsense that many appear to leave behind at check-in.

But you (and your children) are not lying round a pool in Torremolinos for a fortnight, are you?

In your own words you say your children have back-packed all around the world with you - presumably with no insurance.
You've been lucky so far - maybe your reliance on statistics (which you seem determined to keep quoting) will come back and bite you on the bum.

Sure, it's all well and good "avoiding obvious risk" but no matter how careful you are, there's always the chance that the unexpected can happen.
And it doesn't have to be your fault.
It could be a natural disaster or it could be someone who isn't as careful as you.

And that's when a good insurance policy becomes worth it's weight in gold.

You and maybe Yoghurt may not want to buy travel insurance - but don't insult those people who are sensible enough to actually think it's worth while by calling them lemmings and telling them that it's a con.
It's a choice - buy it or don't.

Nobjocki

Pollycat wrote: »

But you (and your children) are not lying round a pool in Torremolinos for a fortnight, are you?

In your own words you say your children have back-packed all around the world with you - presumably with no insurance.
You've been lucky so far - maybe your reliance on statistics (which you seem determined to keep quoting) will come back and bite you on the bum.

Sure, it's all well and good "avoiding obvious risk" but no matter how careful you are, there's always the chance that the unexpected can happen.
And it doesn't have to be your fault.
It could be a natural disaster or it could be someone who isn't as careful as you.

And that's when a good insurance policy becomes worth it's weight in gold.

You and maybe Yoghurt may not want to buy travel insurance - but don't insult those people who are sensible enough to actually think it's worth while by calling them lemmings and telling them that it's a con.
It's a choice - buy it or don't.

Of course it's a choice - that's the whole point of my original post.

Some people choose to spend their lives cocooned in a false security blanket of insurance policies many of which are useless and completely unnecessary.

Others - and there are far more of them than you think - believe many such policies are a complete waste of time.

I live in a 200-year-old house. Nothing has happened to it for two centuries.What's the point in buildings insurance ?

If I go to any European country covered by the European Health Insurance Card what's the point of medical insurance - most of these countries have healthcare that is comparable to if not better than the NHS.

Provided I don't go white-water rafting or get drunk and ride a motorbike without a helmet or eat seafood in a dodgy-looking restaurant or cross the road without looking both ways I am under no more risk than I would be walking down a street at home.

In short I refuse to be a victim of the 'elf and safety culture that pervades every aspect of British life and which prevents people from actually thinking objectively for themselves.

richardw

Why don't you think it could be you?

richardw

Nobjocki wrote: »

many of which are useless and completely unnecessary.

I was ill and couldn't go on holiday, I claimed on a cheap travel insurance policy and recieved a cheque, why do you think the policy was useless?

It did what it said on the tin.

Pollycat

richardw wrote: »

Why don't you think it could be you?

Nobjocki seems to operate in the belief that if he (and presumably his family) are careful, there is no need for any insurance at all.

Of course, when Nobjocki is driving along the road there will never be a driver who is late and fatefully decides to jump a red light or is texting on his mobile or falls asleep in an articulated lorry on the motorway - because he's careful.

Of course, when Nobjocki is on holiday (maybe back-packing around the world with his uninsured family), nobody will break into his house, steal his valuables and trash his 200 year old house - because he's careful.
And he will never have a leaky pipe that will damage his carpets - because he's careful.

Of couse, as Nobjocki is enjoying his holiday, ensuring that he doesn't expose himslef and family to risk by white-water rafting or getting drunk or riding a motorbike without a helmet or eating seafood in a dodgy-looking restaurant or crossing the road without looking both ways, nothing can happen to him - because he's careful.

Although Nobjocki makes the point that whilst he's engaging in these activities abroad, he's under no more risk than he would be walking down a street at home (a statement that I can actually can see some sense in), he doesn't seem to understand that if something happened to him whilst walking down a street at home, somebody would just call 999.

However, if something happens whilst he's abroad, the kerching of cash registers would start to ring as soon as he admits he has no insurance.

Although I agree with Nobjocki that the E111 is invaluable in a European country - what it won't do is repatriate him and his family - if he's unfortunate to encounter someone who isn't as careful as he is.
And of course, an E111 card is not a lot of good if you're driving across America, holidaying in Thailand or back-packing round the world.

What Nobjocki doesn't seem to understand about those people who DO buy travel (and other types of) insurance is that, far from being "cocooned in a false security blanket" and "can't actually think objectively for themselves" is that they ARE thinking for themselves and making a decision that just might save them a lot of money, stress and worry if the worst happens.
And if the worst doesn't happen, then we've spent a few pounds and have peace of mind.

duchy

The thing is most posters on here OP frankly don't give a toss if your uninsured house burns down, your kids get stranded or you have to sell aforementioned house to pay off your "statisically unlikely" medical bills.

What does concern us that the inexperienced holiday maker doesn't read your twaddle and think "It's OK not to take out insurance as that bloke on the internet says it is" People can make informed decisions based on the experience of others with the balance of info on here.

I too find it incredible how many people don't think insurance is important....Until something happens. I've booked people holidays-offered them insurance and got told "We already have it" A month later they come in again and say "My op has come through-can I take out that insurance now as I need to cancel" DOH. I've repatriated people whose parents have had heart attacks at home , victims of hit and run RTAs, heart attack victims (the incidence of heart attacks on holiday is scary-heat and booze is a bad mix) on a very regular basis. Less commonly-the elderly mother of a holidaymaker was mugged back home and died , another had their roof blow off in high winds, housefires. Many of these you CAN'T take steps to negate the risk apart from purchasing a lucky rabbit's foot !

richardvc

Yoghurt wrote: »

By the time you've paid excesses, waited for a claim to be processed, watch them weasel out of paying, found out that you're not covered when, as far as you can see, the policy states that you are.....

..it's really not worth it.

Only read that but it's pretty ignorant !

Get yourself some travel insurance or run the risks. I think we all know someone who has benefitted from having it and it has saved a lot of money.

Just a taster but my mother in law had to have a quadruple heart bypass in NZ in Jan this year and ended up staying out there until May and then they flew one of her daughters out there to get her. That was ALL paid for by travel insurance.

Nobjocki

duchy wrote: »

The thing is most posters on here OP frankly don't give a toss if your uninsured house burns down, your kids get stranded or you have to sell aforementioned house to pay off your "statisically unlikely" medical bills.

What does concern us that the inexperienced holiday maker doesn't read your twaddle and think "It's OK not to take out insurance as that bloke on the internet says it is" People can make informed decisions based on the experience of others with the balance of info on here.

I too find it incredible how many people don't think insurance is important....Until something happens. I've booked people holidays-offered them insurance and got told "We already have it" A month later they come in again and say "My op has come through-can I take out that insurance now as I need to cancel" DOH. I've repatriated people whose parents have had heart attacks at home , victims of hit and run RTAs, heart attack victims (the incidence of heart attacks on holiday is scary-heat and booze is a bad mix) on a very regular basis. Less commonly-the elderly mother of a holidaymaker was mugged back home and died , another had their roof blow off in high winds, housefires. Many of these you CAN'T take steps to negate the risk apart from purchasing a lucky rabbit's foot !

If you'd read the posts more carefully you would have noticed that I am not the original poster but merely adding my opinion in favour of his view.

Of course you're in favour of travel insurance - you sell it ! :rotfl: