Is travel insurance compulsory?

mickyd21

I work for a inderpendant tour operator. I would strongly advise anyone to get travel insurance. Not because i work for a t/o but to the fact of the number of cases where passengers have been taken ill in countries and have had to pay thousands to get medical treatment, also not just medically, i had one customer just last week that had been to Kenya " Holiday of a lifetime" had his wallet along with money credit cards etc, and also his two digital cameras. He decided not to take any insurance at all and actually provided us with made up details and tried claiming through our company. This is the reason that the travel industry are making a point of taking insurance or providing there own details

ManAtHome

Whilst travel company insurance could possibly be described as a "con", cover from independents is a small percentage of the holiday cost. Going without is a bit like buying a new car and insuring 3rd party...

I've never had to claim, but I still make sure I have it.

shown73

All well and good, but you should be free to do your own thing. Of course I could have gone somewhere else than E-bookers, but it was an urgent trip, it was still reasonably cheap, and I just didn't have time to trawl around, but I still resent having to pay extra for something which, in fact, I already had.

ManAtHome

Never used e-bookers, most sites ask you to enter the name of your insurers (more rarely the policy number). Quite a few say that it's a condition of flying, not the total package (dunno how true that is).

budgetflyer

8 years ago it cost Norwich Union over £10K to get my brother inlaw and his family home from the states when he took ill on the flight home. This included cost of having to divert the plane to Richmond ,Virginia, hospital stay, hotel for his wife and kids and flights home 4 days later.
I have never had as much as a sore finger on my many times abroad but I wouldnt do without insurance. You really dont know whats ahead

Nobjocki

You miss the point.
Of course there are individual cases where having travel insurance has proved beneficial - but these are rare cases among the millions of people who take out insurance and never need it.
Life is about taking risks based on percentages ( if I run fast enough will I get across the road before that big truck hits me ? )
And what most people don't factor in is the sheer,unbridled joy of doing something in your life like travelling to a foreign county without cocooning yourself in insurance policies and " What ifs " and little blow up neck cushions for the plane journey.
Here's my theory - if you take a packet of boiled sweets onto a plane to suck in case your ears pop on take-off and landing you will,without a shadow of a doubt,have travel insurance.

MrSmartprice

We go abroad around six times a year. So we have an annual policy which covers us, plus DD if she decides to come too. It costs just over £50 for the policy. That works out at about three quid per person per holiday.

Is it really such a big deal that it is worth risking so much for such a piddling amount? Especially as we never book package holidays so never have a 'rep' to fall back on. I suppose the 'chancers' would expect the British Embassy/Consulate to bail them out in a mess.

trisontana

Nobjocki wrote:

You miss the point.
Of course there are individual cases where having travel insurance has proved beneficial - but these are rare cases among the millions of people who take out insurance and never need it.
Life is about taking risks based on percentages ( if I run fast enough will I get across the road before that big truck hits me ? )
And what most people don't factor in is the sheer,unbridled joy of doing something in your life like travelling to a foreign county without cocooning yourself in insurance policies and " What ifs " and little blow up neck cushions for the plane journey.
Here's my theory - if you take a packet of boiled sweets onto a plane to suck in case your ears pop on take-off and landing you will,without a shadow of a doubt,have travel insurance.

Well it's up to you . Nobody is forcing you to take out insurance. Just be prepared for a hefty bill if you fall ill or have an accident.

Some companies do insist that you have some form of insurance policy before you travel with them . But that is up to them what they put into their T&Cs. They are only protecting themselves from being stuck with an uninsured sick customer thousands of miles from home, with no means to pay their own medical bills.

MFewings

Nobjocki wrote:

You miss the point.
Of course there are individual cases where having travel insurance has proved beneficial - but these are rare cases among the millions of people who take out insurance and never need it.
Life is about taking risks based on percentages ( if I run fast enough will I get across the road before that big truck hits me ? )

I hope for your sake that when that big truck hits you its in the uk where you will get free medical help otherwise you are gonna have a bill much bigger than the truck with no insurance to pay it.