| Non-motoring > Travel insurance | Miscellaneous |
Thread Author: smokie |
Replies: 26 |
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Mon 26 Jan 26 19:59
Travel insurance - smokie
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I said somewhere else maybe a suitable subject for a thread... so here goes. Been with Staysure for many years of European holidays, and have declared everything as it arose - and we've never claimed. We both are on high blood pressure tabs & statins (have been for years, only a modest dose, with no change). Also both have hypothyroidism, she has recently been diagnosed with modest arthritis, and we both have acid reflux meds for intermittent usage. All of those conditions are declared and existed before the 20024 renewal, which was about £240 IIRC. Last year I was going to the US for 8 days and they wanted £800 extra for it, so I got it elsewhere (was still a few hundred for the week) Then last autumn we decided to go on a Caribbean cruise, from which we've just returned. So for the last 3 months of the policy I had to pay an additional £600. So I stopped the autorenewal (due end Jan) as we had no plans for further cruising. They renewal came though at £1400. I called them and asked them to remove cruising, expecting it to drop back to something close to last years price. After a lot of to'ing and fro'ing the very best price they managed was nearly £600. The call person didn't seem to understand why that was problematic to me. I told them to cancel it and I took up a quote for £280ish. (They then emailed me with a further £25 off if I changed my mind. They just didn't listen!!). Anyway, apart from that, as I mentioned elsewhere there were some seriously disabled/ill looking people on the boat and I just wondered how they could afford a cruise but more particularly the insurance it must cost them, or maybe they just don't declare their disabilities /illnesses. Are people here generally fairly honest? ((forgetting that they want to know EVERY visit to the doc in the past year and when I said what, even for a cough., she said have you got a cough now?). I realise undeclared stuff could invalidate a claim but I am curious what others do. |
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Mon 26 Jan 26 20:32
Travel insurance - Zero
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Medical conditions cited in my case. Colon Cancer 6 years back, Bladder cancer, 4 years back. Age 71 Annual insurance Europe, and cruising caribean, with Saga £310 Excludes USA and winter sports. I did take a single trip insurance that included Cruis8ing caribean and South America 1 year after colon cancer, £140 quid. cant remember who. |
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Mon 26 Jan 26 22:23
Travel insurance - Manatee
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We had a similar experience with Staysure. Paid £700-£800 (from around £300) when we went to the Far East in Oct 24. Renewal (back to European only) is still £700+. If you have found a reasonable insurer I'd quite like to know about it. I found a slightly cheaper alternative but it turned out the insurer is Great Lakes which is the same as Staysure. |
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Mon 26 Jan 26 22:46
Travel insurance - smokie
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I'm with Gigasure now. No idea about whether they are any good to be honest, but the price fitted for me. Went through Quidco for a bit more off. (My prices btw are for our joint cover, not individual) |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 07:58
Travel insurance - Terry
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Key issue I think is that within Europe the GHIC (formerly EHIC) card covers emergency care within the local public health care system. Go further afield and the insurance company needs to cover all risks. I have deliberately restricted my annual policy to Europe only for this reason - if I want to travel to US or Asia etc I will need a specific extension. There is more than enough in Europe for a lifetime of holidays so in my remaining years it is unlikely I will be frustrated for a lack of choice. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 09:11
Travel insurance - smokie
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Yeah but GHIC only provides cover for a minute part of what holiday insurance covers you for. It won't repatriate you or your corpse, or cover your baggage against loss, or provide compensation for flight delays etc etc so it isn't a replacement for travel insurance despite that some people think so.* And of course mine was Europe only too cos I didn't think I'd want to go further afield (or even squeeze another 2 week hol into Jan/Feb before the 7 weeks in Portugal in March!) but thoughts change - SWMBO fancied more sun and warmth than Europe can offer in mid Jan :-). * EDIT: hence the GoFundMe etc appeals for people who fall ill abroad without proper insurance Last edited by: smokie on Tue 27 Jan 26 at 09:14
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Tue 27 Jan 26 09:50
Travel insurance - Bromptonaut
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GHIC only covers emergencies etc but that's a significant amount of cash the travel insurance provider is not on the hook for. We have an annual policy for Europe only which covers repatriation and flight delays but our possessions etc are covered on an extension of household insurance. We claimed on that once when a friend took Mrs B on his dinghy and capsized it; her glasses went to the bottom of the lake. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 11:36
Travel insurance - Duncan
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>> Yeah but GHIC only provides cover for a minute part of what holiday insurance covers >> you for. It won't repatriate you or your corpse, In the cold light of day, do you really want your (or someone else's ) corpse brought back to the UK? What for? What's the point? Get cremated abroad and bring the ashes back to the UK - if you really feel the need to. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 14:02
Travel insurance - smokie
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I wouldn't but I know SWMBO would want to bring me back, and she'd be expected to be brought back. I wouldn't dare to not carry out her wishes in case she came back to haunt me - she's bad enough alive!! :-) She knows a couple (who were insured) where the chap had a serious heart attack on holiday somewhere distant - South America rings a bell. He was hospitalised out there for ages (weeks if not months) then had to be brought back by a flying doctor service, whatever they are called. She stayed in hotels for the duration, and it cost tens of thousands if not hundreds. Sensibly, they were insured!! |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 15:42
Travel insurance - Zero
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>> >> you for. It won't repatriate you or your corpse, >> In the cold light of day, do you really want your (or someone else's ) >> corpse brought back to the UK? >> What for? What's the point? Get cremated abroad and bring the ashes back to the >> UK - if you really feel the need to. The key part is you, do you really want a complicated surgery performed in a turkish hospital between botched boob and bum jobs. get me home to be done in an NHS hospital. (that was my thought with a broken hip in cuba anyway) |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 09:49
Travel insurance - car4play
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I use travelinsurance.ageco.co.uk I know - it makes us feel old - but then we are! Around just over £200. Bear in mind if you are thinking of a world cruise Smokie, they only cover up to 30 days and will only extend to 45. I am sure with your travel plans this could be a real problem ;-) |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 09:59
Travel insurance - smokie
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I have to say I'd had enough of some aspects of cruising by the end of week 1 - particularly the continual and unavoidable proximity to fellow travellers (esp the days at sea) and being herded round to explore places in 4 hours. But the food, entertainment and service was all second to none - and it was "only" a TUI (Marella) cruise. (Quite happy to go back to just three course evening meals though, and reduce the vino and log island iced tea consumption somewhat :-) ) A world cruise is def NOT on the cards :-) Last edited by: smokie on Tue 27 Jan 26 at 10:00
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Tue 27 Jan 26 14:34
Travel insurance - smokie
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I see ageco (and other) now have two levels of European cover - one including Spain, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Turkey, Cyprus and Malta and another excluding them. Is medical cost particularly high in those? Out of interest I got comparable quotes from Ageco (£354, but limited to 45 days and doesn't include cancellation) and Saga (£227, Europe, 60 days) If I can I'm going to cancel the one I got (£299 but potential Quidco money back) and go with Saga. It doesn't start till 1 Feb so ought to be OK. Saga seems a better policy. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 18:13
Travel insurance - smokie
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Have now checked - my cost with Gigasure is £299 but with £68 Quidco cashback. I know these payments are often dodgy but that brings it to not much less than the Saga one, and the levels of cover are similar. So I'm swapping as I know the Saga brand (even though they were truly awful after our house was burgled some years back!!) |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 10:02
Travel insurance - CGNorwich
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Travel insurance cost rise steeply with age regardless of your health. Throw in a few pre-existing conditions and the price soars. It’s worth shopping around and consider exactly what cover you need. I always take the largest excess on offer. I also wouldn’t be too worried if someone stole my case full of dirty washing and don’t bother bringing my corpse home! I would be quite happy if you could buy a policy with just the health cover and a large excess but as far as I am aware you can’t . Insurers like to sell their the policies on the “extras” they provide. At a pinch I would be happy to travel to most of Europe with just the reciprocal cover provided by the card and pay for any further care or treatment needed myself. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 10:15
Travel insurance - Bromptonaut
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>> At a pinch I would be happy to travel to most of Europe with just >> the reciprocal cover provided by the card and pay for any further care or treatment >> needed myself. I think that but you don't spend long at (say) Madeira airport before you see the Learjet air ambulance. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 10:36
Travel insurance - CGNorwich
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| I was thinking more of mainland Europe but out of interest an air ambulance on average costs £6000 per hour so say £25,000 from Greece for example. It of course depends on an individuals circumstances as to whether that is affordable. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 11:26
Travel insurance - legacylad
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I renewed my LV Premier policy a few days ago, down £10 since last year to £145. Europe only and no winter sports. I was caught up in the Icelandic ash cloud drama whilst skiing a few years ago & incurred substantial expenses in returning home, for which they paid out in full. Since then, although I’ve shopped around, from memory I’m a loyal customer..although I think LV now owned by another group. Only statins which they’ve noted. Because i do a lot of exercise in mountain areas, it is imperative I have cover for upland area rescue…LV provide cover up to 6k metres ( Mt Elbrus is 5500mtrs) No coastguard to pick you up FOC or volunteer Mtn Rescue Teams, in a worst case scenario, and most of my fellow walkers take out insurance with the AAC ( Austrian Alpine Club). Cruise cover comes as standard and cannot be deleted to reduce the cost..i asked, and again got verbal confirmation of full cover for mountain incidents. Off to lower mtns of the Marina Alta in March, then French & Spanish Pyrenees late May/June, then Picos mid June & again in september. A good friend of mine broke her ankle in the mountains 3 weeks ago…fortunately near a trail head so friends carried her out to a car..further away and it would have been a Guardia Civil helicopter. Safe travels everyone |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 14:43
Travel insurance - Terry
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A Which analysis shows that 51% of travel insurance claims are for medical reasons, 28% for travel cancellation, and 19% for missed or delayed transport. Many medical issues will be the relatively trivial - food poisoning, cuts, falls, road accidents, alcohol related stupidity etc. Most easily and usually swiftly treated with shortish recovery times. GHIC in Europe covers emergency state provided health care on the same basis as for locals with no formal time limits. Most policies covering Europe exclude the cost of private healthcare. Although very high cost, repatriation of either bodies or seriously ill is rare and unsurprisingly likely to be much cheaper from Europe than USA, Far East etc etc. Cancellation or other travel claims will similarly be much less costly in Europe. I am not surprised by the premium difference between European and world wide cover - by comparison cover is partial and likely to be lower cost where there are claims. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 16:50
Travel insurance - bathtub tom
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A relative had heart failure on a flight to UK from Mexico. 'Plane diverted to N America where they were sent to hospital. New flight crew had to be flown out, 'plane re-fuelled and all passengers found hotel accommodation. I hate to think what all that cost the insurers and they kicked up a hell of a fuss, trying to re-coup some of their costs, to no avail. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 22:05
Travel insurance - Bobby
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A slight thread hijack to ask opinions. Son is going skiing somewhere in Europe in a fortnight. As he is an idiot (well that’s not fair we are realising that he is showing lots of signs of ADHD but that’s another story) he has still to arrange travel insurance. Problem is he is off work just now with a shoulder injury that he had been getting physio on but no one knows what the issue is till he gets an MRI which is a long waiting list. Possible rotator cuff? So do you tell the insurance company this and risk a huge premium or an exclusion. Or do you go with the assumption that if he had to receive medical treatment then it’s going to be for a fall, a fracture or whatever and his existing issue will be irrelevant? And yes, he maybe would be better not going skiing but he has went through so much mentally recently that I couldn’t bear telling him not to go. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 22:39
Travel insurance - Terry
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>> Son is going skiing somewhere in Europe in a fortnight. As he is an idiot >> (well that’s not fair we are realising that he is showing lots of signs of >> ADHD but that’s another story) he has still to arrange travel insurance. Skiing is physical. A shoulder injury could I assume affect his ability to ski safely. Expecting an insurance company to pick up the tab in the event of a claim whilst skiing seems like a triumph of hope over common sense. In an emergency I expect he would get some local treatment with a GHIC card. The rest is a risk you and he need to make a judgement upon. Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 28 Jan 26 at 11:49
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Tue 27 Jan 26 23:22
Travel insurance - smokie
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Just do a couple of quotes on an online comparison site using made-p details, one with and one without the injury and see what difference it makes. Some declared issues make only small change in my limited experience (though I expect his would make a large change). Though it would seem extraordinarily risky to go without insurance, and/or to not have declared it, despite Terry's faith in the GHIC. In fact if he's got a bad arm I'm surprised skiiing is on his agenda at all... |
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Wed 28 Jan 26 09:14
Travel insurance - CGNorwich
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| The first option. Anything else potentially voids the policy. |
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Tue 27 Jan 26 22:34
Travel insurance - Fullchat
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I still pay into the Police Group Insurance scheme and as I am aging the benefits are reducing. It has good travel cover and breakdown. When I went to Ukraine last May I rang up the Underwriters to ascertain coverage. A quick enquiry across the office revealed I wasn't the first to make the enquiry and no I wasn't covered. It seemed that most within the group from different walks of life were also in the same position. |
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Wed 28 Jan 26 07:32
Travel insurance - legacylad
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one thing 50 years of skiing on & off has taught me…always have darned good watertight insurance. Anything else is beyond foolhardy. |
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Wed 28 Jan 26 14:21
Travel insurance - bathtub tom
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Don't we all remember when we were young, invulnerable and immortal? The parents can pick up any bill! |
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