Do I really need travel insurance?

Indie_Kid

Looking at going abroad next year and am looking at travel insurance. Hardly anyone will insure me due to my disabilities. Staysure want some £300 for one years cover.:mad: I should add that, I am not doing any extreme sports, etc. whilst on holiday.

What does travel insurance cover and do I really need it? A few people have told me I don't need it. Also, if I do need it, what do I look for?

wiogs

No you don't need it.

As long as you have several thousand pounds spare cash to deal with any incidents you may encounter, such as illness, hospital treatment, repatriation etc etc.

£300 could well be a bargain, and indeed much less than one of my relatives pays.

Ebe_Scrooge

Do you really need home insurance ? No, until everything you own is destroyed in a fire, and you're left with no house, no possessions, and no way of buying a new house and everything else.

Travel insurance, like most insurance, is not necessary until you need it. As well as covering things like medical costs ( which can be astronomical, particularly if you needed to be flown back home ), it will cover things like lost luggage, theft of your camera, theft of money. Plus, if you end up not being able to take the holiday ( family emergency, medical problem, airline goes bust, war breaks out in your destination, any number of things ), then you'll get back what you've already paid out so far.

All of these things are not nice to think about, and realistically probably unlikely to happen. But if they did happen, you'd be glad of the insurance. That's the very nature of insurance - it's to cover the unexpected / unwanted.

So no, you don't NEED it, but it's very wise to take it. Check what it covers - most policies will cover the scenarios I've described above, but I guess the key things are medical costs, loss / theft / damage of personal items, and unexpected cancellation.

Oh, and just to add - do you need a year's cover ? Many companies offer annual policies, which are useful if you travel a lot. But for a one-off holiday, just buy cover for the week, fortnight, whatever that you need. But buy the insurance when you book the holiday, so that you're covered in the event of cancellation.

Indie_Kid

I am hoping to go away twice next year and once in 2016; so yes, a years' cover is probably needed. Unless it's cheaper to buy 3 lots of single trip cover?

I have just checked on money supermarket. No matter what scenario I put in, (not undergoing investigation, shunted, etc) I can't get any quotes at all. :mad:

Indie_Kid

It works out quite a bit more expensive if I have 3 trips within 12 months - Stay sure want £122 for a 4 day trip.

peachyprice

Have you looked on the website for your particular disability, quite often a society will have found an insurer that will cover people with that condition.

InsideInsurance

Unfortunately sickness and injury can befall anyone.

Ultimately it comes down to how much of a risk taker you are and to a lesser degree where in the world you are going. Within the EU/EEA assuming you qualify for EHIC then medical costs are predominately going to be covered but if you were to fall and do yourself a nasty injury you could be stuck in a greek hospital for months or having to find your own accommodation there until such time as you can fly back on a normal carrier.

Travel insurance on the otherhand would arrange a medevac back to the UK as soon as Drs declare you fit to travel. With the cost often being for a private jet, a doctor and a nurse or two to be on the flight with you etc you are looking at a 5 figure bill.

If you go outside the EU then you have medical care to pay for on top of that and if you are not in a country with top end hospital care you may even find yourself having multiple medevacs. The most expensive claim I saw from travel insurance was a fairly young chap who had a stroke whilst on a Caribbean cruise, total bill was almost £900,000 and the bill was "as low as that" because he died whilst still being treated in the USA.


There are travel insurers that simply exclude pre-existing conditions. If you are a risk taker and confident that your existing conditions are not going to cause you any problems you could look at one of these (their cover tends to be the budget end of the market but all are fine for medical costs) so that you are covered for unrelated issues. This will partially depend on how likely other things can be pinned back to your pre-existing conditions or not

Horace

Try Insure & Go. https://www.insureandgo.com/travel-insurance/travel-insurance-for-people-with-disabilities?gclid=CObc0cehhsECFVDItAod5woAtA

I have used them in the past without any problems and I have pre-existing medical conditions/disabilities.

To have travel insurance is a no brainer, other countries are not like the UK whereas we have the NHS to rely on, they have to pay privately. Factor in the cost of say a medical flight home of around £20,000 plus the cost of an ambulance if you have had an accident as well as a hospital stay plus any meds etc - you could easily be talking of around £200,000+. Don't know about you but I just don't have that kind of cash lying around which is why I always have travel insurance.

sillygoose

I simply wouldn't travel without it, ever.

Whilst the UK falls over backwards to do every whim Europe requires, I find that the rest of Europe only picks the bits it likes! (avoiding bits it dislikes such as healthcare, health and safety etc) The EHIC is hardly worth the baggage space to take to some countries but show them an insurance policy number and you get treated perfectly well.

Voyager2002

Note that Cuba offers medical insurance for visitors at a fixed fee of three US dollars per day. You can buy it at the airport on arrival.

Obviously that would not cover cancellation costs but would kick in the worst happened.

macman

But where are you travelling to?
If it's say, France, you might be fine in a local public hospital under EHIC cover.
But if you're going to the USA, or anywhere outside the EU, you'd be insane to travel without insurance.
And if you rely on EHIC alone you will not be covered for repatriation, cancellation due to ilness, lost baggage, etc...