Travelling with no insurance?

zagfles

Archergirl said:

Some people just don't care, hence all the 'Go fund me' pages They just expect other people to foot the bill................

Or they just have a different attitude to risk. It's as pointless to try to lecture them or sit in moral judgement as it is doing it to someone who smokes, or drinks/eats excessively. Everyone knows the risks, some are prepared to take them.

When you look at the typical cost of insurance and compare it to the horror stories everyone always trots out, it's obvious that the chances of the worst case scenarios happening to you are miniscule. Insurance companies can only pay the massive costs some people claim from the premiums of all those who don't - so do the sums.

Personally - I doubt I'd venture out of the GHIC area without medical insurance, whether it's worth it in the GHIC area is more debatable particularly for those with PEMCs.

lisyloo

I thought someone might say that, but I’m sure you realise it covers death or serious illness of other people, either in your travelling party or immediate family.
most people wouldn’t want to go away if a parent or close family member died or there was a funeral that could not be moved (actually they can be “put on ice” but only if you are in control of the date).
your spouse, partner or travelling companion(s) similarly might be affected if you died or were seriously ill.

if your Billy no mates then fine but that’s not most people.

i agree there is a high bar, fortunately the information is available before you go, so you can decide whether you accept the financial risk or not.

persaonlly I’d have a similarly high bar for cancelling holidays as it affects other people e.g. work colleagues, travelling companions, but yes you won’t be covered for a cold. Serious illness means .....well on yer death bed or incapacitated from travelling.

lisyloo

zagfles said:

Archergirl said:

Some people just don't care, hence all the 'Go fund me' pages They just expect other people to foot the bill................

Or they just have a different attitude to risk. It's as pointless to try to lecture them or sit in moral judgement as it is doing it to someone who smokes, or drinks/eats excessively. Everyone knows the risks, some are prepared to take them.

When you look at the typical cost of insurance and compare it to the horror stories everyone always trots out, it's obvious that the chances of the worst case scenarios happening to you are miniscule. Insurance companies can only pay the massive costs some people claim from the premiums of all those who don't - so do the sums.

Personally - I doubt I'd venture out of the GHIC area without medical insurance, whether it's worth it in the GHIC area is more debatable particularly for those with PEMCs.

I agree, people should be able to take risks if they want to (if it doesn’t hurt others), but it does cover more than medical.
for example it can cover cancellation due a hurricane, companies going bust etc.

yes sure, insurers have to make money and with average luck you’ll be out of pocket, but airlines, hotel going bust DO happen and so does volcanic ash etc.

ive only claimed once in my life and that was when easyJet cancelled a flight.

ive got no issue with people taking risks if they understand what they are.
im not convinced some people do.

MalMonroe

Over the years I've travelled a lot and have been on many long haul flights. I would never, ever travel without insurance. Especially relocation insurance. I know someone who was very cavalier about insurance, wouldn't pay, never happen to him, etc. He then had a skiing accident in Canada. Cost him an absolute fortune, he ended up having to sell his house and downsize. He can't afford to travel very far now.

It just isn't worth it. Travel insurance is essential if you are going to travel. Sod's law - I have never had to claim. But it won't stop me buying it in the future. 

If your luggage is lost you have to replace everything that was in it yourself. I've also been lucky in that I've never lost any - well, only once but it was recovered within 24 hours.

Sadly, you can't live anyone else's life for them and if they insist on travelling without insurance, what can you do? I would just never feel safe without it. It really is my safety net. 

lisyloo

Going skiing without it is madness.

zagfles

lisyloo said:

zagfles said:

Archergirl said:

Some people just don't care, hence all the 'Go fund me' pages They just expect other people to foot the bill................

Or they just have a different attitude to risk. It's as pointless to try to lecture them or sit in moral judgement as it is doing it to someone who smokes, or drinks/eats excessively. Everyone knows the risks, some are prepared to take them.

When you look at the typical cost of insurance and compare it to the horror stories everyone always trots out, it's obvious that the chances of the worst case scenarios happening to you are miniscule. Insurance companies can only pay the massive costs some people claim from the premiums of all those who don't - so do the sums.

Personally - I doubt I'd venture out of the GHIC area without medical insurance, whether it's worth it in the GHIC area is more debatable particularly for those with PEMCs.

I agree, people should be able to take risks if they want to (if it doesn’t hurt others), but it does cover more than medical.
for example it can cover cancellation due a hurricane, companies going bust etc.

yes sure, insurers have to make money and with average luck you’ll be out of pocket, but airlines, hotel going bust DO happen and so does volcanic ash etc.

ive only claimed once in my life and that was when easyJet cancelled a flight.

ive got no issue with people taking risks if they understand what they are.
im not convinced some people do.

Cancellation is just not a big deal, unless you book expensive packages or non refundable hotels/flights where you pay thousands up front. My last few holidays would have cost hardly anything had I cancelled the day before if I had no insurance (which I did). It's a very minor consideration for me. Like I said, book refundable if you're worried, as no insurance will cover cancellation for any reason. What's important to you might not be for the insurance company.

zagfles

lisyloo said:

zagfles said:

Archergirl said:

Some people just don't care, hence all the 'Go fund me' pages They just expect other people to foot the bill................

Or they just have a different attitude to risk. It's as pointless to try to lecture them or sit in moral judgement as it is doing it to someone who smokes, or drinks/eats excessively. Everyone knows the risks, some are prepared to take them.

When you look at the typical cost of insurance and compare it to the horror stories everyone always trots out, it's obvious that the chances of the worst case scenarios happening to you are miniscule. Insurance companies can only pay the massive costs some people claim from the premiums of all those who don't - so do the sums.

Personally - I doubt I'd venture out of the GHIC area without medical insurance, whether it's worth it in the GHIC area is more debatable particularly for those with PEMCs.

I agree, people should be able to take risks if they want to (if it doesn’t hurt others), but it does cover more than medical.
for example it can cover cancellation due a hurricane, companies going bust etc.

yes sure, insurers have to make money and with average luck you’ll be out of pocket, but airlines, hotel going bust DO happen and so does volcanic ash etc.

ive only claimed once in my life and that was when easyJet cancelled a flight.

ive got no issue with people taking risks if they understand what they are.
im not convinced some people do.

Going bust - if you paid by credit card you should get refunded, at least for that element. There is stuff insurance won't cover eg most have exclusions for war, so if you booked to go to Ukraine you might be snookered. But then you might put things into proportion and realise you've only lost the cost of a holiday, not your home, your life, your city, your country, or your friends and families lives.

zagfles

lisyloo said:

Going skiing without it is madness.

In particular insurance that covers winter sports. Standard insurance won't usually.

Having said that, we've done stuff on holiday like sky diving, paragliding, parasailing, high ropes etc which probably weren't covered by insurance. Not planned in advance, didn't check insurance cover at the time, deliberately, and very very glad I did them as they were some of the best experiences I've had on holiday. My logic was I was taking a risk with my life. No insurance will bring you back to life. So if I can accept risk to my life, I can accept a risk to my finances.

lisyloo

zagfles said:

lisyloo said:

zagfles said:

Archergirl said:

Some people just don't care, hence all the 'Go fund me' pages They just expect other people to foot the bill................

Or they just have a different attitude to risk. It's as pointless to try to lecture them or sit in moral judgement as it is doing it to someone who smokes, or drinks/eats excessively. Everyone knows the risks, some are prepared to take them.

When you look at the typical cost of insurance and compare it to the horror stories everyone always trots out, it's obvious that the chances of the worst case scenarios happening to you are miniscule. Insurance companies can only pay the massive costs some people claim from the premiums of all those who don't - so do the sums.

Personally - I doubt I'd venture out of the GHIC area without medical insurance, whether it's worth it in the GHIC area is more debatable particularly for those with PEMCs.

I agree, people should be able to take risks if they want to (if it doesn’t hurt others), but it does cover more than medical.
for example it can cover cancellation due a hurricane, companies going bust etc.

yes sure, insurers have to make money and with average luck you’ll be out of pocket, but airlines, hotel going bust DO happen and so does volcanic ash etc.

ive only claimed once in my life and that was when easyJet cancelled a flight.

ive got no issue with people taking risks if they understand what they are.
im not convinced some people do.

Cancellation is just not a big deal, unless you book expensive packages or non refundable hotels/flights where you pay thousands up front. My last few holidays would have cost hardly anything had I cancelled the day before if I had no insurance (which I did). It's a very minor consideration for me. Like I said, book refundable if you're worried, as no insurance will cover cancellation for any reason. What's important to you might not be for the insurance company.

Very few package holidays are refundable.
It’s generally a total loss of you cancel within a certain time period e.g. 12 weeks.
many people book holidays worth 4 figures especially if it’s for a family.

I think you are different from most people/families - which is fine, but it’s not representative of your average family of 4 booking a package holiday.

I always book cancelable hotels in the uk but there is usually a time limit - sometimes 48 hours, sometimes it’s 2 weeks.
It’s almost never possible to certain types of holiday abroad in a cancellable fashion e.g. a cruise.

In the main I’d say the reasons most people would cancel e.g. death, serious illness, natural disaster would mostly coincide with insurance coverage,
Of course that might not be you but I’d say you are the outlier, which again is fine, but not representative of the average holiday making family who would not for various reasons be able to make cancellable arrangements.

if you disagree can you tell me where I can book a cancellable boat based diving trip? Or cruise?

zagfles

lisyloo said:

zagfles said:

lisyloo said:

zagfles said:

Archergirl said:

Some people just don't care, hence all the 'Go fund me' pages They just expect other people to foot the bill................

Or they just have a different attitude to risk. It's as pointless to try to lecture them or sit in moral judgement as it is doing it to someone who smokes, or drinks/eats excessively. Everyone knows the risks, some are prepared to take them.

When you look at the typical cost of insurance and compare it to the horror stories everyone always trots out, it's obvious that the chances of the worst case scenarios happening to you are miniscule. Insurance companies can only pay the massive costs some people claim from the premiums of all those who don't - so do the sums.

Personally - I doubt I'd venture out of the GHIC area without medical insurance, whether it's worth it in the GHIC area is more debatable particularly for those with PEMCs.

I agree, people should be able to take risks if they want to (if it doesn’t hurt others), but it does cover more than medical.
for example it can cover cancellation due a hurricane, companies going bust etc.

yes sure, insurers have to make money and with average luck you’ll be out of pocket, but airlines, hotel going bust DO happen and so does volcanic ash etc.

ive only claimed once in my life and that was when easyJet cancelled a flight.

ive got no issue with people taking risks if they understand what they are.
im not convinced some people do.

Cancellation is just not a big deal, unless you book expensive packages or non refundable hotels/flights where you pay thousands up front. My last few holidays would have cost hardly anything had I cancelled the day before if I had no insurance (which I did). It's a very minor consideration for me. Like I said, book refundable if you're worried, as no insurance will cover cancellation for any reason. What's important to you might not be for the insurance company.

Very few package holidays are refundable.
It’s generally a total loss of you cancel within a certain time period e.g. 12 weeks.
many people book holidays worth 4 figures especially if it’s for a family.

I think you are different from most people/families - which is fine, but it’s not representative of your average family of 4 booking a package holiday.

I always book cancelable hotels in the uk but there is usually a time limit - sometimes 48 hours, sometimes it’s 2 weeks.
It’s almost never possible to certain types of holiday abroad in a cancellable fashion e.g. a cruise.

In the main I’d say the reasons most people would cancel e.g. death, serious illness, natural disaster would mostly coincide with insurance coverage,
Of course that might not be you but I’d say you are the outlier, which again is fine, but not representative of the average holiday making family who would not for various reasons be able to make cancellable arrangements.

if you disagree can you tell me where I can book a cancellable boat based diving trip? Or cruise?

Last couple of holidays we went on, the hotels were fully cancellable up to about 3 days before and after that or no-show they just charged the first night, so max loss was one night, about £60 or so, flights were Ryanair for about £50 return for 2 of us. So last minute cancellation would have cost us around £100, not sure the insurance excess would have covered that! Before that we went on a package, £300 for 2 of us. Losing that wouldn't have caused us to starve. Insurance was there, but as I said no big deal.

The other way to reduce the risk is to book late, the later you book the less chance of anything happening to cause cancellation. Plus it's usually a lot cheaper. Our last few holidays were booked less than a week in advance, mainly because we wanted to know the COVID situation, no point going somewhere and finding you can't do what you want to because of restrictions. Booking late applies to cruises too, we've got friends who go on cruises all the time, they book last minute for about half the usual price. Just before the pandemic they did a cruise round India/SE Asia for about £500 each, others who'd booked months in advance had paid well over £1000 each for the exact same cruise. I've done stuff like diving trips but on a turn up basis, or booked the night before. Day trips though, rather than a full holiday if that's what you meant.

But it's all a bit moot anyway - the main reason I (and probably most people by the sounds of it) have travel insurance is for medical, and you get cancellation and other stuff thrown in. It might be possible to get medical only but I don't think significantly cheaper, and my travel insurance policy is very good value for the amount of travelling I do anyway!