| Non-motoring > Travel Insurance! | Company Cars |
| Thread Author: No FM2R | Replies: 76 |
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New Thu 14 May 20 17:56
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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Never, ever, ever, travel without it. I am currently dealing with a man who has none. He's a Brit, he arrived here 6 weeks ago, on business. He has had a stroke and even though he is recovering cannot speak, feed himself, or move to any great degree. The hospital want to discharge him because they are buried in COVID-19 and need the bed. In any case they say there is nothing more that they can do. So far the hospital bill is £140,000. To fly him back to the UK on a commercial flight with a nurse will cost around £30,000. But there are no commercial flights. To fly him back on a Medivac flight will cost £200,000. To move him to a rehabilitation home will cost around £3,000 per month if we can find one willing to take him and some way of paying for it, bearing in mind it could be for years. Or at least until we find some way of getting him to a facility in the UK under the NHS. His children have refused to pay, I think they don't have money but they're a bit funny, though I haven't spoken to them directly - the Foreign Office in London has done that. He is a freelance consultant. The company he was representing had arranged travel insurance for him but he didn't complete it for some reason - the cost was only £80. He has 10 credit cards, none of which have much in the way of space on them. We have no way of accessing any UK funds he may or may not have, he cannot communicate sufficiently to give us permission and the family are unwilling to help. However, with 10 credit cards my WAG says he hasn't got any money in his account(s) either. What a *$£%% mess. All because he didn't pay £80 for insurance. And we don't even know why not. NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT INSURANCE |
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New Thu 14 May 20 18:01
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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| And make sure repatriation is included!!! |
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New Thu 14 May 20 18:20
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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Is this common in Chile, what normally happens in such situations? How did you come about to be involved in this? |
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New Thu 14 May 20 18:30
Travel Insurance! - CGNorwich
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| Lack of travel insurance is going to be one of the big problems in restoring the tourism industry. Most insurers have withdrawn from the market and I don’t see any company being prepared to cover Covid 19 in the foreseeable future. Such insurance as becomes available excluding Covid 19 is going to be very expensive. Insurers have had their fingers badly burned. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 18:43
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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| I wouldn't imagine making it too expensive would be in the insurers interests. They need money coming in, like all businesses. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:26
Travel Insurance! - CGNorwich
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| True but I suspect a lot of the players won’t re-enter the market and it will very much be a sellers market. The inevitable exclusion of cover for Coronavirus will make travelling a risk. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 20:07
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>> True but I suspect a lot of the players won’t re-enter the market and it >> will very much be a sellers market. The inevitable exclusion of cover for Coronavirus will >> make travelling a risk. Perhaps. I suspect that mostly it will make no difference to the "normal" or ideal risk. Older people and those with pre-existing conditions will probably face changes but that'd be about it I should think. Targeting/excluding Coronavirus specifically would be hard. Perhaps practically impossible. Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 14 May 20 at 20:07
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:27
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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>> I wouldn't imagine making it too expensive would be in the insurers interests. They need >> money coming in, like all businesses. travel insurance is just a small part of the insurance market, withdrawing from that will have not much effect on the bottom line. Insurers spread their risk across many types of insurances and markets. Insurance is all about risk and reward, if the risk is too high it will be removed form the books. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:30
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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>> Is this common in Chile, what normally happens in such situations? Its common in many countries, travelling to the USA without adequate medical insurance for example is pure folly, makes Chile look cheap. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:33
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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>> >> Is this common in Chile, what normally happens in such situations? >> >> Its common in many countries, travelling to the USA without adequate medical insurance for example >> is pure folly, makes Chile look cheap. >> Yes I know the US has expensive medical care but I was asking about Chile. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:42
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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> >> Yes I know the US has expensive medical care but I was asking about Chile. >> Thats the point, the where doesn't matter, its the same pretty much anywhere outside the EU, and when we leave, will be the same there as well. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:54
Travel Insurance! - CGNorwich
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| Even the EU can be a problem if you have no insurance and require repatriation. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:50
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>> Is this common in Chile, what normally happens in such situations? Yes, though this is a severe case. I've had two cases this severe this year. At the trivial end there was a guy twisted his ankle walking down the stairs. Went to A&E, got an x-ray, confirmed it wasn't broken and had it bandaged up. £1,700. It's usually idiots in their 20s having accidents. Most other people aren't dumb enough to travel without insurance. >> How did you come about to be involved in this? For a variety of reasons I work closely with the Embassy, Consulate and other parts of the establishment here. Aside from anything else I am also the Chairman of the Royal British Legion in Chile. On this one I was asked for advice and suggestions rather than direct involvement, though now I am directly involved anyway. Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 14 May 20 at 19:51
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New Thu 14 May 20 21:15
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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Thanks for the explanations. Yes, though this is a severe case. I've had two cases this severe this year. >> >> Was the other case resolved in any way satisfactorily? |
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New Thu 14 May 20 21:28
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>Was the other case resolved in any way satisfactorily? It was rather though in many ways it was different to this one. In brief, and vaguely to avoid identification; Man in his 70s, alcoholic, cancer sufferer, back injury, addiction issues, found on the streets having escaped slavery, illegal in Chile, UK passport expired, absolutely no funds. Needed cancer surgery and pretty much everything else. The major advantage here was that he wanted to remain in Chile, said he had nothing to go back to the UK for. Fortunately it emerged that he had been in the Army which was where he had injured his back and had been invalided out, meaning various charities became interested including my own. His cancer has been operated on successfully, though it involved the removal of bits that no man wants removed. He is receiving treatment for his back - mostly painkillers. We managed to persuade the Chilean authorities to forgive his illegal stay and grant him a permanent visa, got a new UK passport which we paid for, arranged permanent accommodation, gave him a cell phone, bought him clothing, bed, blankets etc. etc. and I think his life is probably better than it's been in 30 years. He moved into his permanent accommodation this morning. modest, but clean warm and safe. His old regiment from the UK provide a small but sufficient income. (after a bit of battering them around the head) He hasn't had a drink in 4 months though I studiously and repeatedly ignore the cannabis smell. A very happy ending. On the one in question now the hospital is now prepared to waive the medical fees for the time being, though the liability will remain, subject to us finding him somewhere else to be with the one stipulation that they are not prepared to allow any other Chilean organisation to have payment problems. Still, little by little we'll get there. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 11:28
Travel Insurance! - Duncan
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>> For a variety of reasons I work closely with the Embassy, Consulate and other parts >> of the establishment here. Aside from anything else I am also the Chairman of the >> Royal British Legion in Chile. >> >> On this one I was asked for advice and suggestions rather than direct involvement, though >> now I am directly involved anyway. >> Is the RBL only open to Brits in Chile? What percentage of Brits have been in the services? I did National service in the 50s, toyed with the idea of joining the RBL a couple of times, but never did. Is it the same sort of set-up in Chile as in UK? Sorry, it's all questions. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 12:27
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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| National Service in the 50's? Isnt the RBL only for real soldiers? |
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New Fri 15 May 20 12:31
Travel Insurance! - Bromptonaut
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Plenty of men on National Service ended up in hotspots like Korea, Malaya and Cyprus.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 15 May 20 at 12:33
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:08
Travel Insurance! - R.P.
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| Especially Korea. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:13
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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| I think the first ones ended up in the tail end of Palestine, a fair few ended up in suez as well. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:11
Travel Insurance! - zippy
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>> Plenty of men on National Service ended up in hotspots like Korea, Malaya and Cyprus. >> >> +1 Father in law had a very rough time and lost several friends. Like knocking the Home Guard who lost 1200 volunteers. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:25
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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| I bet Duncan never made it past the cookhouse at catterick. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 14:00
Travel Insurance! - Duncan
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>> I bet Duncan never made it past the cookhouse at catterick. >> The barbs that hurt most are the ones which are closest to the truth. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:27
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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>> Like knocking the Home Guard who lost 1200 volunteers. I think you'll find more civilians were killed than the Home Guard. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:30
Travel Insurance! - Bromptonaut
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>> I think you'll find more civilians were killed than the Home Guard. Does that included all civvy casualties or just those with civvies working close to active servicemen? |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:34
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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>> >> I think you'll find more civilians were killed than the Home Guard. >> >> Does that included all civvy casualties or just those with civvies working close to active >> servicemen? There is a difference? Death caused by war is a death, uniformed or not. Your point is? |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:43
Travel Insurance! - Bromptonaut
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>>Your point is? One of curiosity about the numbers. Once you include the blitz etc it's blindingly obvious that civvy deaths will exceed those of Home Guard. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:45
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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>> >>Your point is? >> >> One of curiosity about the numbers. Once you include the blitz etc it's blindingly obvious >> that civvy deaths will exceed those of Home Guard. Exactly my point. Home guard deaths were nothing special |
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New Fri 15 May 20 14:04
Travel Insurance! - zippy
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>> >> >>Your point is? >> >> >> >> One of curiosity about the numbers. Once you include the blitz etc it's blindingly >> obvious >> >> that civvy deaths will exceed those of Home Guard. >> >> Exactly my point. Home guard deaths were nothing special >> That's rather offensive IMHO. If they died volunteering then they made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the country. They may have lived if they stayed at home and hid in their Anderson shelter. Last edited by: zippy on Fri 15 May 20 at 14:05
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New Fri 15 May 20 14:18
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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>> They may have lived if they stayed at home and hid in >> their Anderson shelter. In London, Liverpool, Coventry, possibly not. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 18:21
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>> Is the RBL only open to Brits in Chile? No. We also contain an organisation called "The Volunteer Fund". During World War I and World War II particularly, Chileans volunteered to serve in HM Forces. We will support them. We raise money ourselves, we arrange support through us from various military charities and we are obviously part of and supported by RBL in London. We run a well supported poppy appeal and Remembrance every year and work closely with the British Embassy - who are excellent for us. In spirit, intent and mission it is the same, but the operational reality is different. e.g. normally British charities will not pay for ongoing health care since they are geared around a country which has a National Health Service. One of our beneficiaries is a Chilean female now 98, in a home, no health insurance, no money and she flew and delivered fighters and bombers to war zones for the RAF. Imagine the bills! But by and large for her health care that money has to be raised locally. Another of our beneficiaries is a 79 year old Scouser. Invalided out of the Army many years ago found living on the streets of Santiago last year having escaped from a modern slavery operation - alcoholic, cancer, back injury, penniless, living on the streets when we found him. Imagine those bills! It's a much more personal organisation than the UK. I know most of our beneficiaries and have met most of them, drink beer with a couple of them if I visit. It is totally non-political, we take no money for ourselves or RBL operations. Every last penny is spent on beneficiaries. Because we're such an outpost we are close to the Establishment - British Embassy and all the Commonwealth Embassies, most of the European Embassies, Asian and surrounding Embassies. Chile is essentially a military country and so we're close to the military here as well, particularly the Navy and Air force. In fact that is how I got involved with the RBL because I was already in that world and knew the organisation and so was asked if I would join and help as a Director and a few years later I subsequently became Chairman. It's very rewarding at many levels. It's very 'immediate'. I authorise a payment and I will hear or see of the difference it makes to someone's life almost immediately. Equally if someone has an issue then I will hear of it immediately. Because of my closeness to many organisations then I can make things happen quickly and we are very well supported from London, particularly by RCEL, a fantastic organisation with some great people. >> What percentage of Brits have been in the services? Brits don't join the Forces from Chile any more. Or at least, very rarely. The ones that join(ed) from Chile were mainly those from families with close ties to the UK or with British ancestry. However, a surprising amount of veterans travel. Or a surprising amount of older travellers are veterans, depending on how you look at it. So the British community here is fairly old and with quite a high military content. Chile is also somewhat of an 'elitist' organisation; private clubs and the like. Now I appreciate that is not generally a good thing, but it does mean I can yank tails personally when I need to, which can be very useful. We have plots and tombs in the main cemetery here and all ex-Servicemen and women have the right to be buried there if they wish. And many do. Of course we may for the expenses and look after their graves for ever. There is an excellent sort of Anglican Community church here and they support us, so most funerals are held there. By law you have to bury someone within 48 hours of death, which can be challenging, so a very flexible and responsive church is essential to us. Such services are always attended by diplomats out of respect. And Remembrance is held there. Our last Remembrance service, and remember that it was in the middle of the riots, was attended by 19 Ambassadors. That is b***** good. It is unbelievably rewarding and almost reaffirming to work for such a 'good' charity which does so much direct good. To do something for no financial reward, actually it costs me, just to help others makes me feel better and probably settles a few karmic ghosts as well. I received a photo yesterday of the ex-alcoholic scouser above moving into his new accommodation having had all the health care he's needed so far with more to come. Happier and safer than he has been in many a year and embarrassingly grateful. On a much more shallow level I enjoy it. I have long moved in 'significant' places for want of a better word but rarely has my role been public. This is very public, and I enjoy that. Shallow, i know, but we all have to get some fun. Of course our relevance to the Chileans is diminishing. We have no WWI veterans or dependents left and we have fewer WWII veterans and dependents. But not none, and some of them have fantastic and quite unbelievable stories to tell. Roughly about 70% of our expenditure is on WWII vets & dependents. >> Sorry, it's all questions. Sorry the answers are so long-winded. And probably quite disjointed. Phones weren't intended for this much typing. Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 15 May 20 at 18:21
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:55
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>what normally happens in such situations? Sorry, missed this bit. 1) Victim's own financial resources 2) Family's resources 3) Find a charity that can help In this case if it cannot be resolved then they will transfer him to a public hospital. Think WWII triage with the impact of COVID-19. The problem here is that this guy needs long term rehabilitation. He cannot take care of himself at any level. But he doesn't really need medical treatment. Trust me, the NHS may have it's problems and be frequently run by the worst management in the UK, but it is a gazillion times better than the alternative. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 18:44
Travel Insurance! - zippy
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>> NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT INSURANCE >> Having been a person that instigated an “Is there a doctor on board!?” call, almost got the flight diverted and was met by an ambulance on the tarmac I can confirm that it’s vital. (Actually the doctor saw me going over and was apparently out of his seat before I hit the floor!) A really good friend had a stroke in Florida. The bill came to nearly US$500k, all covered by insurance including the repatriation flight. Luckily he has made a decent recovery. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:35
Travel Insurance! - R.P.
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| Never leave home without it (literally) I have year round insurance (with repartreation) - however for the trip to 'Nam I took out specialised insurance for the specific activity on the trip (off road riding), one of our lot fell 20 feet off a landslide that we were crossing. He caused himself some damage that we fixed with our own kit. He was 81 at the time, I admired how stoic (I'd have cried like a baby if it had been me.) he was. Fortunately he rode the rest of the tour. He had insurance from the Post Office which cost more or less the same as my specialized insurance. Could have been interesting. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 19:39
Travel Insurance! - tyrednemotional
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>> He had insurance from the Post Office ....... Could have been interesting. >> ...with that, for repatriation you just address him, stick a stamp and "par avion" stamp on him, and off he goes...... ;-) |
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New Thu 14 May 20 20:11
Travel Insurance! - BiggerBadderDave
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"NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT INSURANCE" Indeed. I have to be vague as it's ongoing. A guy who was staying the weekend (Airbnb) in my Manchester pad fell last year and his frail condition caused countless nasty problems, long time in hospital and he and his family are Londoners. And of course, no travel insurance. My insurers will deny liability so we'll see how things will pan out, and lord knows how or when things will happen with the virus. The point is, don't just think you need travel insurance cos it's 2 weeks abroad and you're wearing a sombrero and flip flops. You might be traveling anytime, anywhere. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 22:15
Travel Insurance! - Bobby
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Must admit, it makes my blood boil when you see these just giving type fundraisers set up for folk who go abroad to the Benidorms and Magalufs and end up in hospital or worse and turns out they have no travel insurance. Friends and family are expected to chip in to provide the health cover or the repatriation of the body. In most cases I am pretty sure the travel insurance would have been cheaper than their first round of drinks! And of course, another mistake many make is to take out travel insurance just before you leave - should be purchased at same time as holiday To provide all the pre holiday insurance you need like cancellation. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 23:23
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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It's easily solved, make proof of insurance a condition of boarding. It annoys me, but it depends. Some drink fuelled dick falls off a balcony and yes, it b***** annoys me. Some 82 year old bloke has a stroke and the resulting punishment for a bit of stupidity is rather extreme. |
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New Thu 14 May 20 22:36
Travel Insurance! - legacylad
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I’ve had annual multitrip cover for as long as I can remember. Had arguments with friends who advise to get the cheapest. “They’re all the same”. No they’re not! Two friends of mine got stranded in China with the Icelandic ash cloud event. Stuck there for 10 days. The insurer for one of them paid out for those 10 days in a 4* hotel. The other didn’t. Always read the small print....excess, contents, single article limit etc etc. I have an LV Premier policy, costs me almost £100pa. Big deal. I just sigh when I see folks having to crowd fund to get home from overseas after falling off their rented scooter and having no insurance. Dimwits, which is about the kindest thing I can call them. In October 2015 I took a 16 day rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. Amazing trip about which I could wax lyrical, but I contacted my insurer beforehand and found out I wasn’t covered....the policy only covered white water rapids up to grade 4 (of 10) so I took the advice of the rafting company (OARS) and bought a specialist policy costing £360. Due diligence showed me the cost of being airlifted by chopper, with medics, from the bottom of the ‘big ditch’ in a worst case scenario. I would have had to sell my house to pay it, so I bit the bullet and paid the premium. And yes it was an expensive trip, but sleeping out under the stars at night, being scared Sh****ss the first few times passing through roaring rapids was worth every penny. Do it if you ever get the opportunity. There’s no age limit!! |
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New Fri 15 May 20 00:00
Travel Insurance! - smokie
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A mate has "free" travel insurance with a premier bank account of some sort (HSBC IIRC). I used to have the same with a NatWest premier account but at the time I looked at the small print and decided that while the headline cover looked quite good the actual nitty gritty of the policy meant that the cover wasn't close to a "proper" travel policy. He is adamant his is good enough, and maybe it is. But as LL says it's always worth reading the small print. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 09:03
Travel Insurance! - helicopter
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Like LL ,I have LV premium cover which I renewed last week at £144. I have a number of medical conditions which make the premium higher than for most. When SWMBO died last August we were due to go on holiday to Greece the following week.When I rang LV to make a claim I was very sympathetically dealt with and they did not ask for any proof , simply saying that the claim would be paid minus excess and that 'hopefully that will be one less thing for you to worry about'.It was paid promptly straight into my bank account. I am not saying that they are cheap but you do get what you pay for and IMO insurance is all about how claims are dealt with and not cheapness. It looks like I may also have to claim for the £400 deposit on my holiday booked in June last year for this years holiday in Crete. Last edited by: helicopter on Fri 15 May 20 at 09:04
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New Fri 15 May 20 09:50
Travel Insurance! - CGNorwich
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Much of travel insurance cover is window dressing. . The vital bit is the medical and repatriation cover. I don’t think I would be too worried by the loss of my suitcase. Happy to carry a large excess if there is a significant saving. Always amazed by those who travel without any financial reserves and are stranded with a few euros in their pocket. you should travel without having the cost of a return ticket or a credit card with a decent limit. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 10:02
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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Always amazed by those who travel without any financial reserves and are stranded with a >> few euros in their pocket. you should travel without having the cost of a return >> ticket or a credit card with a decent limit. Probably the same who walk up mountains in flip flops, drive every with the fuel light on etc. Some people just aren't wired up to plan for anything. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 10:05
Travel Insurance! - Bromptonaut
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>> Much of travel insurance cover is window dressing. . The vital bit is the medical >> and repatriation cover. I don’t think I would be too worried by the loss of >> my suitcase. Happy to carry a large excess if there is a significant saving. That's pretty much my line. We've no fancy clothing or expensive jewellery. Bikes, cameras etc are covered under home insurance. Even something as simple as a broken wrist can be thousands of dollars in the US. Dealt with an inquiry at work from somebody in exactly that situation a couple of years ago. In that case I think he had insurance but fell from a balcony during drunken horseplay and insurer washed their hands. Debt was passed on to UK agents for recovery. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 11:16
Travel Insurance! - Falkirk Bairn
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>>Always amazed by those who travel without any financial reserves and are stranded Couple in their 80s, in poor health decided to go to Goa for 3 weeks. Got caught up in the lockdown in India Pleading for help as they have little money and are still there 5 weeks on. Why, if you are in your 80s, ill health, have little money in the world (total savings £5K) did they go to to India? Surely they have family that should have talked them out of it. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 11:19
Travel Insurance! - Duncan
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>> Why, if you are in your 80s, ill health, have little money in the world >> (total savings £5K) did they go to to India? >> >> Surely they have family that should have talked them out of it. Perhaps they thought, well, if anything goes wrong, someone will bail us out? Chancers? |
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New Fri 15 May 20 18:27
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>Perhaps they thought, well, if anything goes wrong, someone will bail us out? >>Chancers? Perhaps, but not in my experience, not on the long haul stuff. Often foolish, sometimes unlucky, but rarely cynical. Drunken teenagers in Magaluf are a different matter. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 11:23
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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Why, if you are in your 80s, ill health, have little money in the world >> (total savings £5K) did they go to to India? One last chance to see the world? >> Surely they have family that should have talked them out of it. >> Some people are very stubborn and won't listen. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 11:37
Travel Insurance! - Falkirk Bairn
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>>One last chance to see the world? They could hard walk by the look of them - probably sat on hotel patio for the 3 weeks. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:09
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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>> >>One last chance to see the world? >> >> They could hard walk by the look of them - probably sat on hotel patio >> for the 3 weeks. >> >> Maybe that was enough for them. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:31
Travel Insurance! - Bromptonaut
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>> Maybe that was enough for them. Seems to be enough for a lot of people. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 13:41
Travel Insurance! - Netsur
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My insurance is through my Caxton card where we pay a membership fee. We chose this as AXA refuse to allow family members over the age of 18 to be part of a family policy even though they are students and living at home. All Caxton require is that each family member has their own Caxton Card, even though they are all on one account. We have claimed twice with Caxton using their claims handlers in Brussels. Very happy on both occasions; one was delayed luggage and one was a cancelled holiday due to a family illness. When I was stranded overseas just recently due to Covid-19 I was concerned about medical care as I had been away for more than the permitted maximum number of days per trip. I emailed the claims company and they replied promtly saying that until regular commercial flights commenced I was considered as stranded and they would continue to provide cover until such flights commenced. I managed to get home on a repatriation flight so would still be covered if I was there now. The cost for five of us (four adults and a teenager) is about £150pa. Worth every penny so far. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 17:21
Travel Insurance! - smokie
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| Is that the Caxton Red card or the premier one Netsur? |
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New Mon 18 May 20 13:30
Travel Insurance! - Netsur
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>> Is that the Caxton Red card or the premier one Netsur? >> To be honest, my wife organises it. So I have no idea but they look like regular cards.. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 18:26
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>Why, if you are in your 80s, ill health, have little money in the world (total savings £5K) did they go to to India? Sometimes they are stupid or foolish, sometimes they made a mistake, and sometimes they simply didn't understand the risk. Or perhaps they wanted to see India together before it was too late and failed to plan for a global epidemic shutting down all travel. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 18:23
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>Always amazed by those who travel without any financial reserves and are stranded with a few >>euros in their pocket. you should travel without having the cost of a return ticket or a credit >>card with a decent limit. From a common sense point of view of course you are correct. But if you are old, in some cases very old, little time left and perhaps desperate to see something, somewhere or do something, before you die, would you let lack of resources stop you? I probably wouldn't. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 18:51
Travel Insurance! - R.P.
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One of our beneficiaries is a Chilean female now 98, in a home, no health insurance, no money and she flew and delivered fighters and bombers to war zones for the RAF. Imagine the bills! But by and large for her health care that money has to be raised locally. Brought me out in gooseflesh that one Mark. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:09
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>Brought me out in gooseflesh that one Mark. You should try sitting down and talking with them. www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/doing-their-bit-the-female-fighter-pilots-of-world-war-ii/ In that article you will see mention of: "19-year-old Margot ‘Chilli’ Duhalde, spoke no English at all on arrival, yet went forth with the same sense of courageous daring" I knew her personally though sadly she died about 2 years ago now, about 10 days after I last spoke with her. She lived in Valparaiso of a reasonably affluent family and held a pilot's licence and flew as part of a Chile/French social group. She told her parents she was going to go and visit a friend in Canada. Instead she caught a boat and went to Southampton intending to join the Free French Air Force, got arrested as a spy, released again, and then told that the French did not accept female pilots. She heard that the RAF did and so joined up and flew for the war. At the end of the war she left the ATA and joined the French Air Force as their first female combat fighter pilot. She returned to Chile in 1947 and was refused a job by LAN (Chile's national airline) as they did not hire females. They had some balls, I wouldn't have said that to her. She opened her own flying school and worked as an instructor. Margot later became Chile's first female air traffic controller. She retired in her 80s. She was a force of nature and was, shall we say, 'determined' to get her own way in all things. She didn't need our help, which is why I can talk about her, though she was a close part of our organisation. however she is pretty typical of the ones that do need us. I could tell you some stories that I've been told personally by the person(s) that did them. Awe inspiring some of them. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:12
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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Article in Spanish. Even if you don't understand it the pictures will give you the idea of the woman. www.dgac.gob.cl/margot-duhalde-a-un-ano-de-su-partida/ |
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New Fri 15 May 20 22:53
Travel Insurance! - Kevin
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There's a very good BBC documentary called Spitfire Women about the women of the ATA that is broadcast every now and again. Most recently 2 or 3 weeks ago. It includes interviews with some of the last surviving members describing their experiences. Chilli got her nickname because of her nationality and it was easier to pronounce than her real name although lots of them seemed to have nicknames. One of the pilots (I think it was Mary Ellis) described an incident where Chilli was ferrying a plane and had to put down in a field due to technical problems. The locals couldn't understand her and assumed she was one of the enemy so they detained her and handed her over to plod. It took the brass 24hrs to get her released. After that the CO decided that Chilli had to learn some english so he assigned her to work in the maintenance hangar for a while. Needless to say, the english she learned from the male maintenance crews was somewhat colourful. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 23:01
Travel Insurance! - zippy
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>>Spitfire Women Thanks for the heads up! It is on iPlayer at least on Sky until 2nd June. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 23:37
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>she learned from the male maintenance crews was somewhat colourful. It stayed that way. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:12
Travel Insurance! - zippy
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> Brought me out in gooseflesh that one Mark. And me! There are some wonderful people around! Last edited by: zippy on Fri 15 May 20 at 19:15
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:15
Travel Insurance! - R.P.
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| Indeed, rode over to Nantwich a few summers ago - stopped for a brew at a little genteel cafe there. A lady of advanced years stopped to speak to us. She had been a despatch rider during the war...most unassuming. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:18
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>> She had been a despatch rider during the war...most unassuming. So was my Grandad, in war zones. He wouldn't talk about it at all. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:26
Travel Insurance! - zippy
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>> >> She had been a despatch rider during the war...most unassuming. >> >> So was my Grandad, in war zones. He wouldn't talk about it at all. >> >> A friend’s husband had to recover battle damaged tanks in WW2. He wouldn’t talk about it. I wish he had, he might have added a few years to his life. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 21:03
Travel Insurance! - Robin O'Reliant
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>> >> >> A friend’s husband had to recover battle damaged tanks in WW2. >> >> He wouldn’t talk about it. I wish he had, he might have added a few >> years to his life. >> Very few who have experienced real combat do. The people who go on and on about their military service generally haven't done any. |
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New Sat 16 May 20 00:31
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>Very few who have experienced real combat do. They'll mention it in the course of conversation, but they certainly won't have a conversation about 'it'. One guy I like very much had volunteered with his two brothers. Overland to Buenos Aires and boat to Southampton; a treacherous journey. One Army, one Navy and him. RAF Bombers. He'll talk about the camaraderie, the life, the emotions but will not talk about the action itself. It is my custom to refer to them all as Mr. or Sir. when I greet them. This particulary chap has been known to rip my head off about it; "I'm not a b***** officer, you can call me [first name], or [last name] or any insult you like, but do NOT call me sir!" Another guy, a particularly friendly and cheerful chap, was in charge of a S&R MTB. He will talk again about the lifestyle and the colleagues but not about specific action. Actually he spends most of his time complaining about the higher command and various idiots he blames for the war in the first place. It constantly impresses me that the Chileans who went through such hardship to volunteer in the war have, almost without exception, been successful in their civilian life as well. Those that survived, that is. They're all old now, very old. I have been to so many funerals over the last few years I find it very sad and emotional. Out of interest our youngest beneficiary is an Afghanistan veteran fallen upon hard times with severe mental and emotional problems. He should go back to the UK, but he simply won't. He believes that the Government and The Queen in person are involved in a conspiracy against him. He lives in a shack in the middle of nowhere, he won't tell us exactly where, though I suspect that I know. We try to send him food parcels to a nearby bus station but he believes that we'll either drug the food or put tracking devices in the package. Very difficult. i knew him before the mental issues, perfectly normal pleasant chap. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:46
Travel Insurance! - CGNorwich
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“would you let lack of resources stop you? I probably wouldn't. No I probably wouldn’t if I wasn’t imposing on others I was really thinking of the considerable number of holidaymakers who were stranded in the Canaries when their flights were cancelled and unable to sort out an alternative way home For themselves because the had no money. |
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New Sat 16 May 20 00:40
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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>>I was really thinking of the considerable number of holidaymakers who were stranded in the >>Canaries when their flights were cancelled and unable to sort out an alternative way home For >>themselves because the had no money. I think there's an important attitude test which many/most of them fail. They choose to go on their holiday, in their way, and then believe it is their duty for everybody else to help them. Though we get that type of holidaymaker here too. I happened to be in the Embassy when the Airlines began announcing that they would be cancelling flights. There were many, really quite abusive, entitled, mostly middle-aged Brits recently of a cruise ship demanding to know what the British Embassy was going to do about flying them home. One of them when told there were flights the next day said that was no good since he didn't want to fly home until the following week. I'd have told the lot to sod off, but of course the Embassy has to try to be civil. My experience of the Embassies, over many years, is that if you're up s***-creek through no fault of your own they'll do everything they can to help you. But if all you've got is inconvenience, or disrupted plans, or you've been breaking laws, they have no time for you. It is typically that those Brits that think the Embassy is there as a private travel agent are the ones that complain the most. |
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New Sat 16 May 20 08:33
Travel Insurance! - legacylad
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I was in Spain with several friends in March when it kicked off. There were 4 parties of us staying in the same area, returning to the U.K. at approximately the same time, and our flights were being cancelled left, right and centre. We were in lockdown and slightly concerned. Jet2 cancelled our flights twice, we rebooked alternate flights online, which were also then cancelled. Once you had changed a cancelled flight online their system didn’t allow you to do it again, so phone calls it was. I eventually spoke to a Jet2 agent late in the evening who offered me a flight the following day to another U.K. airport. Thank you very much...myself and friends booked on it immediately. I phoned everyone I knew who was in the same dilemma advising of availability on this repatriation flight and two idiots wanted to stay on for a further week, enjoying their paid for villa, and fly back to the original airport. I stopped helping them at that point and it turned pear shaped for them. You can’t fix stupid. And Jet2 were great. Organised chaos at Alicante, but their staff on the ground were brilliant. Even at Newcastle when we landed late evening their young ground staff were great, with people on our flight heading off all over the U.K. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:15
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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The subject of this thread is not ex Armed Forces, he's Merchant Navy. That rather throws a spanner in the works. now dealing with the "Merchant Navy Welfare Board" in London trying to find out what can be done. Life is never b***** easy. 7 days in the Military is all it would have taken. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:41
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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There is a very snobby attitude against the merchant navy, not only now but during the war (both wars) I doubt anyone did more to win the war than the "merchies"
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 15 May 20 at 19:41
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New Fri 15 May 20 19:42
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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| He'd have been Merchant from about 1954, so still a difficult place to be. He signed up at 16, i think. |
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New Fri 15 May 20 20:14
Travel Insurance! - sooty123
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>> There is a very snobby attitude against the merchant navy, not only now Who has that attitude currently ? Last edited by: sooty123 on Fri 15 May 20 at 20:17
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New Fri 15 May 20 20:33
Travel Insurance! - Zero
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As we barely have a merchant navy any more, not many. But it certainly existed into the 60's by the RN and the RNR about all aspects the merchant navy during conflict
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 15 May 20 at 20:34
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New Fri 22 May 20 17:49
Travel Insurance! - No FM2R
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It is ongoing though with progress. There is an absolutely outstanding organisation based in the UK; ISWAN. As helpful and responsible as you would hope a charity would be, but quick and efficient which charities mostly are not. As well as their own funds they are a contact/information point for many other charities. Their knowledge of the various funds and charities available to seafarers and the real and practical help they offer is admirable. In the very unlikely event that you ever need to know; International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network www.seafarerswelfare.org |
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