Seastoke
Well-known member
. Felice people often say about me, if I say it’s raining , get the factor 50 out.
San Marino Flag for pleasure craft in the Med
- Thread starter Skipper Felice
- Start date
Tranona
Well-known member
I agree. Having travelled extensively for over 50 years mostly covered by my employers I have only needed to try one claim for weather related flight delays in Kazakhstan which was excluded because I could not get an official weather report that showed the weather met the insurer's definition. Can still see the snow covered planes on the apron and the hour or so it took to clear the ice of the plane I eventually got out on.
Only once taken personal insurance for a month long trip to NZ at the cost in 2013 of £650 for the two of us. Inevitably no problems even with my then dodgy health. Looked again at doing the same a couple of years ago and even though my health is now better it was more than double the premium.
Grubble
Well-known member
But do you expect to get refunds for non-refundable items on the grounds that you didn't bother with trip insurance as its a waste of money? Do you start a gofundme if you get stranded somewhere due to lack of insurance? Most people aren't in the position to self-insure as perhaps you are.
Grubble
Well-known member
But would you travel anyway without insurance and who would you expect to cover the costs if you had a medical emergency in NZ, for example? Too many people just think "it won't happen to me" then have to start a gofundme to get home.
Tranona
Well-known member
NZ has a limited reciprocal arrangement with the UK and I have sufficient readily available funds to cover any costs not covered by this. I did take the insurance , partly because I had a stay in Singapore as well. However personal travel in Europe was/is covered by the E111/GHIC so never felt any need for extra insurance.
Insurance is all about risk and consequences and the only insurance I buy is either compulsory or where the potential consequences can be extreme, such as houses and to an extent boats. In both these cases premiums are modest anyway because the risks are low.
LBRodders
Well-known member
Apologies for the Fred Drift, but seems we are already there 
Quick bit of balance to the discussion re Travel Insurance. Had a 'week's' trip to the Canaries in February this year. Long story short, partner fell ill and we ended up with a 6 week stay instead of 1. She had to have an operation and ended up in Intensive Care.
Although medical reciprocal agreement would have provided healthcare, I am not sure it would have given the level of care we got under private cover [24/7 translator cover is priceless].
The thing we wouldn't have been covered for, was keeping the family there for a further 2.5 weeks and flying another family member out to take the kids home.
In addition, we had a medical escort flight home. Total bill was circa 100k GBP.
We get included family travel insurance as a benefit of a bank account, so technically don't pay for it per se.
Its one of those things, that you don't need it until you need it.
Quick bit of balance to the discussion re Travel Insurance. Had a 'week's' trip to the Canaries in February this year. Long story short, partner fell ill and we ended up with a 6 week stay instead of 1. She had to have an operation and ended up in Intensive Care.
Although medical reciprocal agreement would have provided healthcare, I am not sure it would have given the level of care we got under private cover [24/7 translator cover is priceless].
The thing we wouldn't have been covered for, was keeping the family there for a further 2.5 weeks and flying another family member out to take the kids home.
In addition, we had a medical escort flight home. Total bill was circa 100k GBP.
We get included family travel insurance as a benefit of a bank account, so technically don't pay for it per se.
Its one of those things, that you don't need it until you need it.
Grubble
Well-known member
That's perfectly fair. The issue I have is people not taking travel insurance then, when an insurable event happens, expecting that the cancellation policies they agreed to when booking, all get torn up. If you book a flight with Ryanair and can't use it because you broke your leg, you don't expect them to refund you out of kindness, but lots of people do.
Tranona
Well-known member
I agree with that A few years ago my wife had to stay at home from a trip to Corfu because of late medical advice not to fly. Granddaughter and I still went and had a spare seat between us. Only £80 (Easyjet) lost and not worth the hassle of trying to recover. Nice to have a bit more space in the cattle truck.
Irish Rover
Well-known member
Win, win eh
jfm
Well-known member
No I don't expect to get any refunds for non-refundable items - what a dumb question. We are talking about trivial sums and you can shove your gofundme notion where the sun doesn't shine!
It's this simple: I am able to self insure, and I think these one-trip travel insurance products are sometimes close to a scam, so I choose to self insure.
You are right that things could go wrong, but I'm going to challenge people who shout about what could go wrong as a sort of fear tactic to sell what I consider to be a scam product.
jfm
Well-known member
Good luck to anyone in finding an insurable event after the exclusions, conditions and limitations in the insurance policy have taken their toll.
Grubble
Well-known member
Exactly - it's a dumb question, but lots of people ask it. Maybe you aren't aware, but gofundme is seen by many as the new travel insurance (just one of many examples):-
British teenage girl in intensive care after paraglider lands on her during last lunch of holiday
You have the means to self-insure, you really aren't typical of what I am talking about, so please don't take any of this as a dig at you.