Holiday Insurance

Some good advice on here, but do check the MoneySavingExpert site (M Lewis) for further hints, especially age restrictions.

I had a leaflet about Ageuk travel insurance, maybe worth a look?

GHIC issued by government will allow yoh to access emergency care in EU countries but will not provide repatriation if needed. Best to have a basic private holiday cover insurance.
Enjoy your holiday.

Georgesgran

That’s a yes, yes and yes.
Google insurance for seniors and take it from there, but prices will depend on the state of your health and ages. I wouldn’t take the risk of not bothering.
My Worldwide insurance is with the Post Office. I’m 73.
Some GNs have bank accounts which include travel insurance, with limits.
An GHEC is free and helpful, but doesn’t cover much.

You can pay extra & upgrade, they will screen you for existing conditions.

Yes of course you do. The GHIC card pays for around 80% of frontline treatment. This concession is likely to be withdrawn in due course due to Brexit.
Anything involving surgery or repatriation is not covered and the costs could be enormous.

Ps meant card not car

Yes you both do. What makes you think you don't? Also get a GHIC car, it's free.

Yes, good insurance is a must. A friend’s son went on holiday without it and managed to break both legs. They couldn’t afford the cost of repatriation by air, so my friend had to hire a van, kit it out with a mattress, drive out and bring him home, fortunately just from France. I think that was one painful lesson he won’t forget in a hurry!

Please do check any insurance offered with bank accounts. We used to have a worldwide policy that changed to Europe only. A friend hadn’t noticed the correspondence about this and he and his wife had two holidays in the US completely uninsured before it came up in conversation. That could have been a very expensive mistake!

I realise not everyone will have expensive holidays, but I like safaris which are generally over the price limit that is covered by travel insurance companies (£10K) and wondered what other people do. Do you just accept you will only get part of the price of the holiday back if anything goes wrong? Or are there any specialist insurers out there. Thanks in advance

Anyone here with DP over 80 with various health problems/been hospitalised recently? Where can you get reasonable travel insurance?

crazyH

Always with Staysure

👍🏻

I've not travelled outside the UK since 2013, but as I have MS I knew it was imperative to have travel insurance 'just in case'.
It's a good thing I took out the cover as within 36hrs of arriving in Turkey, I was admitted to hospital with MS related symptoms, and there I stayed until it was time to head back to the airport 5 days later.
The bill for my time in hospital was just over £23k (fully covered by my insurance), and I'd not had any major tests or treatments at all, it was basically a few standard blood tests, a couple of bags of fluids, a few tablets, a bed and food for a 5day stay.
I would also advise the OP (and anyone else thinking of booking a holiday) to get the insurance immediately/as soon as they book their holiday, because it will cover them if for some medical reason they are not able to travel, they will be able to claim for a lost holiday.

Please do. I just went to the US for 2 weeks and paid about £120. I have osteoporosis. The EHIC won’t cover much in France. I doubt the fee will be much for a week in France. I went through Martin Lewis’ comparison site

Our recent 10 day visit to the US had an insurance cost of just over £2,000 with Staysure for the two of us aged 84 and 78 with cover for about ten declared issues between us. It was the best deal I could find given our ages and issues. We used to have multi trip cover with LV= for Europe but age prevented that later. Yes, get the GHIC card for Europe.

Insurancewith.com are excellent, especially for cover with existing medical conditions when travelling further afield.

My friend’s husband fell and broke his leg on second day of hols in Portugal. The insurance paid for his hospital stay, for taxis for my friend and her daughter to visit him.

It also paid for a nurse to accompany them on the flight and right to their house. It also covered 6 seats on the plane, one each for friend, daughter and nurse and 3 for him and his plastered leg!

Imarocker

EHIC on its own will NOT DO. You must have travel insurance. The EHIC only gives you emergency or basic treatment is some counties. Most important of all, travel insurance covers repatriation ie if you need a medical evacuation. Also, EHIC doesn’t cover loss of money or luggage. Every year we see appeals from people who are stranded due to illness and have to Crowd Fund.

The EHIC card no longer exists - you need a GHIC card now.

Imarocker sorry I didn't explain myself very well.

We had taken out full private travel insurance for my mother-in-law, as we always do for ourselves as well.
My point was that for a reasonably minor accident the local medics didn't even ask about this, which surprised us as we'd fully expected them to do so and require proof of having it.

My Dad once required the full heart-attack-helicopter-off-a-mountain trip to hospital abroad and all that went with it, including needing to be escorted back to the UK by a doctor and nurse, so as a family we don't cut corners on travel insurance!

EHIC on its own will NOT DO. You must have travel insurance. The EHIC only gives you emergency or basic treatment is some counties. Most important of all, travel insurance covers repatriation ie if you need a medical evacuation. Also, EHIC doesn’t cover loss of money or luggage. Every year we see appeals from people who are stranded due to illness and have to Crowd Fund.

Most insurance companies assume that you will use your GHIC before making any claims. Check this.

A few years ago my mother-in-law fell and cut her head on holiday in Lanzarote. The receptionist called an ambulance for her.
Apart from dealing with the blood loss, the first thing the paramedics wanted to see before they took her to the hospital was her EHIC (in those days) card.
She had excellent treatment, with no bill or insurance claim involved.

A dear friend took out holiday insurance for her and her husband . They went to Spain . He became unwell and an ambulance took him ( she was with him ) to a hospital. She was asked for 6 thousand euros up front, knowing she was insured she paid it , husband died a day or so later in the hospital. During all the stress and upset she didn't think or realise she was actually in a private hospital and not a public hospital.

It's a long story which I won't go in to but she ended up with a huge bill to pay out. Her insurance policy would only pay out in a public hospital.

I am writing this true story to ask you to be aware that if you are taken to a hospital to make sure it is a public hospital, or check with your insurance that either hospitals are covered

To be clear:
make sure that you have your GHIC (look on gov.uk if you don't). This covers you for 'medically necessary' care. It does not cover you for continuing care of any kind, and not medical repatriation. It does cover immediate problems arising out of a pre-existing condition, but not any long-term treatment.
Most insurance companies assume that you will use your GHIC before making any claims. Check this.
Have a lovely time!

crazyH

Always with Staysure

We have used Staysure several times but this year Avanti beat them hands down.

Yes, it’s essential and don’t just rely on that covered by your bank, which can be minimal Our friend had to come home by air ambulance from Greece, fortunately he had the insurance to cover it.

I'm in France, our medical insurance is covered by our bank. French hospitals are strict about taking all your insurance details before they treat you, unless it's children.