# Travel Insurance - When It Is Worth It



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

We are off to California in February to see our friend Tim and to play with one of his 1950's cars, a Hudson Hornet. The car had a rebuilt gearbox fitted a couple of years ago, but it leaked from day one and the original box has been rebuilt since and I will be doing that for Tim.

The point of this post was to mention that Tim's mother is out there at present, and has not been well. She is currently in hospital under observation and is likely to remain there for a few days.

Tim always makes sure she has full medical cover, as we do, and it's going to be quite a bill for the treatment, stay in a private room etc etc.

I know we grumble about the NHS, but think yourselves lucky you don't have the costs and the paperwork they have out there.

We should get an update phone call soon to give us the latest news.

Peter


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## fdhadi (May 9, 2005)

Hope all is well Peter. I'm sure the treatment or care she receives will be top class out there. The EHIC card won't cover that so like you say it's very important good quality medical insurance is purchased beforehand. 

You would not believe the amount of teenagers I teach who go on summer holidays with friends and don't pay for medical insurance, scary really but it's £30 or so less they would have for alcohol. 

A working holiday Peter, make sure you obtain the correct visa lol


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Yes, good quality is important. My brother lives in the States. His wife had breast cancer. Just before her diagnosis she changed her fair quality medical insurance to his better quality one. Thank goodness she did. If she had stayed where she was it would have run out and they would have been bankrupted paying for her care.


If you know anything about pet insurance it is very similar. Some policies cover the condition for ever and renew the cover every year. Others offer a maximum benefit and once a limit is reached on claims that is all you can claim, ever! There is always an excess to pay.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Update from Tim, his mother's heart flow rate is low and she's going to have an investigative angiogram.

She has also picked up a UTI and is having antibiotics for that.

Looks like she is going to be in hospital for a few days yet, and then has to get well enough for the trip home.

Peter


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I would NEVER EVER travel anywhere without holiday insurance.

About 40 years ago, whilst on holiday in Portugal with us, my sister was taken seriously ill and required urgent repatriation to the UK for highly specialist treatment. So an air ambulance was required, which was duly sorted out by the holiday insurance company VERY efficiently indeed. There was none available in England France or Portugal at that time so they got one from Finnland (yes really!!) 

On my return I contacted the holiday insurance company to thank them AND enquire what the cost had been. Bearing in mind it was FORTY years ago, and only from Portugal, the air ambulance, together with the specialist medical team they had to divert to pick up from the UK en route to Faro, cost the insurance company £27,000 (Twenty Seven thousand pounds) That was just about twice what I had paid for my house about a year prior to this holiday. 

I staggers me the number of fools who adopt the "It will never happen to me" attitude and dont bother with holiday insurance. An interesting fact is that the single biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in the USA is medical bills. Think about that before declining holiday insurance. 

Andy


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

A friend's husband had a heart attack on arrival - in the airport - in the USA and was on life support for 2 days before sadly they had to unplug. The hospital cost US$100 000 not to mention repatriation et al. The hospital care was first class. Thank goodness for travel insurance.


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Caveat! Some insurances won't cover you if you set out with a risky condition, or if a family member or associate is at risk, and you set out knowing full well you'll probably have to curtail your trip. Read the small print, all 40 pages of it!


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

My sister used to work in the US "health if you are wealthy enough" system so I have heard some of the horror stories about people on their deathbed being asked to sign their life away.

I have also seen some of her bills, such as when my nephews were born - eyewatering doesn't even begin to describe them, they were probably more painful than the delivery.

I have just paid to upgrade my Flexaccount European cover to worldwide cover. The first question I was asked was is that "worldwide" or "worldwide including The USA and Caribbean" and that says everything to me.

The upgrade to worldwide excluding the USA and Caribbean was £20pa, I didn't bother asking how much extra including the USA and Caribbean would cost.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Like all insurance Peter, hopefully we will never need it but when you do it is just one less worry at the time.
Hope Tims mum pulls through and is OK soon.

Ray.
p.s. we have friends in Kingman AZ who have almost restored to original a 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air. It looks brilliant.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Stanner said:


> I have just paid to upgrade my Flexaccount European cover to worldwide cover. The first question I was asked was is that "worldwide" or "worldwide including The USA and Caribbean" and that says everything to me.
> 
> The upgrade to worldwide excluding the USA and Caribbean was £20pa, I didn't bother asking how much extra including the USA and Caribbean would cost.


Cost cover for US travel insurance is one more reason I do not want to go back there. My travel there was to visit our offices so cost me nothing.

Since then immigration system has got more restrictive - having issued me with an 'Indefinite Multi-Entry Visa'(Maybe my boss having been the Air Attache at the British Embassy, Washington helped) they then cancelled all of those Visas.

And on Friday they will have Trump, and he seems ready to cancel the NAFTA - Gawd help them.:surprise:

Geoff


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

This is it.................... Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

A friend went skiing. She took out, thank goodness, travel insurance. She had the inevitable accident and tore all the ligaments in her knee. Everyone assured her she would be in and out of the Swiss hospital in time at all. Unfortunately the insurance company, despite protracted negotiations, refused to pay for it and insisted she get strapped up and come back to the uk for the operation! So, as above, read the small print.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

patp said:


> A friend went skiing. She took out, thank goodness, travel insurance. She had *the inevitable accident* and tore all the ligaments in her knee. Everyone assured her she would be in and out of the Swiss hospital in time at all. Unfortunately the insurance company, despite protracted negotiations, refused to pay for it and insisted she get strapped up and come back to the uk for the operation! So, as above, read the small print.


Bit of an exaggeration? I have been skiing for 20+ years and have only sprained a thumb - that was falling into a hole on the dry slope, before I had ever been near snow.:laugh:


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Sorry! It is just that every adult that I know that has been skiing has had an accident. Did you start young? You must have done if you have been going for 20+ years


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Tim just called, his mum has had the angiogram and a Stent was put in during the procedure once they found it was needed.

She went down at 07.30 and was out around 11am.

MRI scan to be done, things looking pretty positive.

Peter


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

patp said:


> Sorry! It is just that every adult that I know that has been skiing has had an accident. Did you start young? You must have done if you have been going for 20+ years


Not at all - I could not afford it until I was 37. Then a Scotsman in our office kept saying 'should you be starting at your age?' I thought he was joking, but he wasn't, so I eventually had to tell him to shut up. In my first 2 years of skiing (2 weeks each year) I progressed up 4 classes.

I have skied slopes where one says 'Oh ****!' before launching - 'The Wall' at Avoriaz, for example. But worse, is where the Black steepens in the unseen bit e.g. L'Epaule at Val d'Isere.

I am not sure I had insurance in the first years, unless it was in the holiday package, but have annual Holiday Insurance now, including skiing, on which we had to claim - for a lost day due to bad weather - my only claim:laugh:

Tell your friends to

Get fit - I did specialist excercises for 2 months

Get good equipment - double-turntable bindings

Get good instruction - Swiss or Austrian, not the lazy French ones, in my opinion.

Oh I suppose if they are prone to accidents, they should also have good insurance, but I suppose the more accidents they have the higher the premium:surprise:

Geoff


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I always figured I could get 4 weeks on a warm beach for the price of a cold 5 days up an alp skiing. No contest to me.

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

My friend has said "never again" to skiing I am afraid. She is a vet and so on her feet all day and must be able to drive. NHS would not operate when she first returned home so that made the whole process even longer. She was told that a broken leg would have healed much more quickly.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I must admit on our last trip 

I forgot the insurance and depended on the EH card 

If anything untoward had happened I guess we would have needed to pay 

Sandra


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

In the news today just another reason not to go skiing.!!!!!!
30 dead up an Italian mountain.

Ray.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Ray they prob weren't all skiing 

Could have been me just relaxing in a beautiful area 

So so sad

But who can ever know the moment ?

Sandra


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