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Drinking Holiday Insurance
Comments
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I think you'll find that I don't have an obsession with travel insurance.
As you say, I don't believe I 'got on my (or anyone else's) high horse.
And of course, should someone ask about the advisability of not having dental insurance, I can always point out the error of their thinking.
You've gone on about it much more than they mentioned dental work, yet they're supposedly obsessed over it. And I genuinely cannot believe how a functioning adult still cannot grasp such a mind numbingly simple analogy!
While I acknowledged it's others doing most of the judgement, you give me the impression that you're also doing it - apologies if I've misconstrued your posts.0 -
Note to self, must add travelling to Europe without insurance to my bucket list. Sounds exciting!
Depends whether you're already in Europe or not. If you are in the UK then you no more need insurance to go to France than you do to go to Wales. EHIC covers you.
Turkey is of course a different matter.0 -
Note to self, must add travelling to Europe without insurance to my bucket list. Sounds exciting!
Was the whooooooosh....... noise the analogy going straight over your head?
As for excitement in Europe, depends what you do when you get there or how high or low your excitement threshold is.
I'm off to France and Spain motorcycling this year, sometimes it's exciting, other times a bit dull TBH.
I have one mate who's planning to base jump off the Millau bridge later in the year, I can imagine that gets the adrenalin pumping a bit more than walking around some dull town in sandals and socks.Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.0 -
Kedi_Yavrusu wrote: »And why does any post about Turkey have to result in someone putting down Turkish men?
The reason why posts about Turkey generally involved a put down of Turkish men is because they're often misogynistic, leering pests who consider it their national duty to hassle and harass female tourists.0 -
Apology accepted.callum9999 wrote: »You've gone on about it much more than they mentioned dental work, yet they're supposedly obsessed over it. And I genuinely cannot believe how a functioning adult still cannot grasp such a mind numbingly simple analogy!
While I acknowledged it's others doing most of the judgement, you give me the impression that you're also doing it - apologies if I've misconstrued your posts.
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I used to book these kind of journeys for the insurance companies.
We had a permanent bank of doctors and nurses employed for this ( the specific risk to the patient's life dictated whether a doctor or nurse was needed to medically escort ) and they were never without work -and it was very lucrative for them.
Two hours is a bit of an exaggeration though. They usually know the day before that there is a case pending and once the airline gives medical clearance we'd need to get them out on the first flight possible -they then get a prescribed amount of rest time (if they travel in business the rest time is shorter than if they travel in economy)before they travel with the patient from the hospital abroad to the UK hospital where they do the handover. Private ambulances at both ends of the journey- the NHS won't pick them up from the airport.
The costs both for the travel, hotel and a very healthy hourly rate add up but the insurance companies regard this as more cost effective to get this done than further weeks in a foreign hospital stacking up charges.
I worked in the department that handled all of this - There were always at least five agents doing nothing but dealing with the airlines, making the reservations and logging and getting medical clearance - there was another team of at least thirty people who did the liasing with customers and making arrangements for those who could travel under their own steam or could use their original flights without assistance or escort. We worked a 24 hour shift pattern - and this was one single insurance company (a very well known one ) and we didn't handle work for any other insurance companies .
The distress of the families either stuck in a foreign country or at home trying to make arrangements for a loved one on holiday abroad even knowing it would all be paid for was bad enough - I can't imagine how much worse it would be without the wherewithall to pay for it or deal with it without language skills (the company employed a lot of agents with language skills -and also had a bank of freelance interpreters on call) or the knowledge and time to cut through the red tape.
I've said before I wouldn't even do a day trip to France without travel insurance - and some people scoffed - but once you see just how difficult it can be it's easy to think "It'll never happen" but in my view ten or twenty years of annual policies can pay for themselves with even one fairly minor mishap.
I was gobsmacked when I started working in this field at just how many and the variety of cases- The most common was first time MRI (heart attack) the heat, extra booze and often more activity than at home all contributed but there were some extraordinary cases too - like the seven year old taken to Florida by his (supposedly) recovered alcoholic NRP who went on a bender the first night there and ended up getting sectioned leaving the lad alone (Dad refused to give permission for the boy to be flown home so he was stuck in a hotel room until his Mum could be flown out to bring him home).
Luckily the holiday reps agreed to stay with him (but liability issues meant they couldn't take him anywhere) otherwise the US authorities would have taken him into care. Incidentally the holiday company was Thomsons - the company getting complained about on another thread for insisting their clients take travel insurance.
I have no idea what happened to the Dad - He was on his own as he'd invalidated his own policy. I assume he was deported but there was a very real possibility that once released from hospital he'd have faced child neglect charges and could have been jailed and then deported on release. (and chased by the US authorities for his treatment costs later assuming they didn't write it off )
Still there will always be people who think they will never have a first heart attack or a stroke or slip and fall or believe they will never have another driver crash into them or hit them as they cross a road on holiday............ They have made the decision that travel insurance isn't needed - and I've made my decision based on what I've seen ............... Maybe I'm a pessimist but maybe they are a bit too optimistic !
Before I worked in that job I'd have said these cases were rare too..........now I know better . We were never quiet at work and we only dealt with the major cases - the a few stitches or an overnight in hospital and back to enjoying the rest of the holiday and getting the planned flight home weren't even on our radar but dealt with as "administrative issues" by another department.
Just out of interest and nothing more - in how many of these cases did the insurance company involved try every trick in the book to wriggle out of their responsibilities ?
And apart from alcohol what are the other main contributory factors which tend to invalidate the standard travel insurance policies that most tourists take out ?0 -
Deleted_User wrote: »The reason why posts about Turkey generally involved a put down of Turkish men is because they're often misogynistic, leering pests who consider it their national duty to hassle and harass female tourists.
The worst holiday decision I ever made was to take my two teenage daughters to Turkey, when walking out or sitting outside at a restaurant, it was a constant fight to keep the !!!!!philes away from them.
We ended up staying in the complex and even that wasn't totally safe.Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.0 -
Was the whooooooosh....... noise the analogy going straight over your head?
As for excitement in Europe, depends what you do when you get there or how high or low your excitement threshold is.
I'm off to France and Spain motorcycling this year, sometimes it's exciting, other times a bit dull TBH.
I have one mate who's planning to base jump off the Millau bridge later in the year, I can imagine that gets the adrenalin pumping a bit more than walking around some dull town in sandals and socks.
I hope your mate has good dental insurance Just in case he should need any implants 0
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