Travel insurance - a cautionary tale

I pay about £20 a month travel insurance through my bank. I paid a bit more at the outset for being over 70.
I have no plans to travel abroad in the near future so should probably cancel it. Insurance companies rely on those of us who are laissez-faire .

I do wonder what would happen if I actually needed to make a claim as my track record for claims on my house insurance has been dismal.

LOUISA1523

I paid £95 for travel insurance to take my Mum ( who was 85 at the time) to Canada for 3 weeks....I thought that was pretty good ...was expecting more .

That is amazing.
I paid nearly £1000 for four days in New York and I was 63 years old. It cost more than the actual holiday.

Do your mum not have any medical conditions?

I paid £95 for travel insurance to take my Mum ( who was 85 at the time) to Canada for 3 weeks....I thought that was pretty good ...was expecting more .

Sorry Felx Plus account over 70.

maytime2

Westend Girl. Nationwide still offers insurance to people aged eighty and over. You do not have to open a current account, a savings account will suffice. Relatives of mine have taken up this offer.
I would like to say that one has to be scrupulous in being truthful when applying for travel insurance. I know of someone who suffered a bleed on the brain whilst on holiday, they had insurance but had not declared that they were on blood pressure tablets. The insurance company refused to pay out.

I think you will find that Nationwide only offers travel insurance for over 70s on its Flex Plus Account and you need to pay a premium over 70 and also declare any pre existing conditions.
This may still be good value of course, but it’s important to know that it only is available on the paid for Flex account if over 70.
I think it may be different on other N/W accounts for under 70s.

I will be 79 in July, and so have one year left to travel before the insurance becomes so excessive I cannot afford to go anywhere. I have travelled across the world and lived abroad etc and have always made sure I have the appropriate insurance that was needed. My father worked in insurance and so we were aware of the various things, so for example if you are going on a cruise you need to inform the insurance people and you will pay more than if you were land based etc. Also I have given full details of any illness or medication I take but make sure that if I have even a minor illness after I have given all the details I ring and tell them so that that can be added to the policy if required. If you dont do that you give the insurance a get out clause . So another thing that some people do not realize is that you need to have your prescription with you to show if you are on any medication when you go abroad. Different countries have bans on various drugs etc., so you could have a medication for a condition that in another country was banned. By carrying your prescription you can prove that the medication you have with you is prescribed for you. Also if there is a problem you can then show the doctor in a hospital the list and they will be able to check it for any possible side effects etc. I am also very careful about where I keep my tablets etc. I will make sure that I have a weeks amount in my handbag, then further amounts carried in the cases , so that if I had two cases there would be some in each , should a case go missing when you arrive at your destination. Having a weeks surply on me, means that if all the luggage disappears I can go to a doctors or hospital and have time to sort further amounts without getting into a panic or spoiling my holiday. My view is that I do what I can to make sure I am safe and sensible whilst away. If something happens then I have done what I could to avoid a problem and if it occurs then I am prepared to get help. When my husband and son were at home the last check ups consisted of passport, money, medication. Again when my husband was alive we used to have a"swap" so I had usually 3 days of his medication and he did the same with mine. Again that just covered problems like luggage not turning up. Of course we had our own medication for a week too but this just was an added safeguard. I do get extremely annoyed about the over 80 rule and see it just as they want to get as much money as they can from you. If is fine that they check medical details for all passengers, but age does not come into it in that way. I know that I do a lot of things that someone 20 years younger does not do , so the fact that I have a clean licence and am happy to drive anywhere , and a younger person I know would not be happy even driving on the motorway in this country, so the age does not count, it should be on your ability to fulfill tasks and the proof such as clean driving licence.

He chose to travel knowing he couldn’t get insurance as he was such a risk, but he chose to do it and now he has caused his poor son untold grief. What father does that, who did he think would fund his hospital bill?

We had a friend who, when taking out holiday insurance, denied he had any pre existing conditions. He had HBP, high cholesterol, and was pre-diabetic. His argument was that it made the insurance too high. When we pointed out to him that if he, for example, tripped over and broke a bone, in some countries they would take his bp, and this would go back to his insurance company and he would be found out he poo pood it. Until he and his wife went to Malaysia. His wife slipped over and broke her wrist, for some unfathomable reason this required a 2 night stay in hospital. Fortunately, she did not have any pre existing conditions so the insurance company paid out. Had it been him, they wouldn't have done. He tells us that he has now declared his conditions. Stupid man!

westendgirl

I wonder how many have done this successfully.
The price of travel insurance is exorbitant. I used to have mine with my bank account but when I turned 80 that stopped. I have been quoted costs for the insurance more than the cost of the holiday. it is very disheartening and of course we no longer have ehic .

Yes we still have a health card! GHIC
People forget that we are still European just not in the union.
However, I would never go abroad without insurance. We went to Amsterdam recently and it cost us £17 for the two of us.
My Daughter & extended family went to Cyprus the end of May & she told me a few days ago that they didn't bother with insurance. I was horrified, I am so glad I didn't know at the time. They did have the health cards each which I suppose is damage limitation.
Insurance cost her Nan & Grandad £300

This is very interesting. There was a heated discussion in this household about this last year. My husband thought it was ok, (it’s only a week), I was adamant that it was not a risk I would take.

We were about to go to Cyprus for one week to see family, most insurers wouldn’t even quote for us and just refused. Then we ‘got lucky’ , coughed up and went. The cover cost more than the whole trip.

We then asked about cover for Australia - £2k minimum, single trip only. Canada was going to be more than double that, again, single trip. So we were sad and thought that once you get over 70 travel is financially impossible., unless you are lucky enough to be rich.

Then someone mentioned packaged bank accounts and thanks to Martin Lewis’s website, we were able to finally get reasonably priced cover.

We too use the FlexPlus account with Nationwide, specifically for the travel insurance, as it’s multi-trip and worldwide. By opting for a joint account it covers us both if we decide to do solo trips independently of each other.

We did the full medical screening questionnaire and paid a bit extra as we are both over 70 and have several health conditions (DH has had a stroke previously, high blood pressure, COPD etc etc; I have AF, several autoimmune diseases, etc etc.) - but the eventual premium was nothing like the quotes we’d had before, if we could even get a quote: most companies refused us cover. It came to less than we’d paid for one week in Cyprus.

What the insurers told us was, they wanted to know everything, even the seemingly unimportant things, they were not nearly so concerned about what it was as not knowing. So that made it easy (if lengthy).

So we happily went to Australia this spring and are going to Canada and USA this autumn. While we still can, we will.

I haven’t read the article about the poor gentleman stuck in Turkey, but these reports are becoming a common occurrence. I hope things resolve for him soon, whatever the rights or wrongs of it.

Spot on.

He didn’t choose to travel without insurance he couldn’t get insured - yes he did!
Whether he couldn’t or whether he wasn’t willing to pay whatever he was quoted
he chose to travel without insurance

You can get a GHIC card on the UGov website, it’s free and an easy application form.

I m afraid I don’t feel sorry for anyone who flouts the law or flouts sensible precautions and I also don’t like the idea of crowdfunding why should others pay for your stupidity and get you out of a pickle
His poor family must be besides themself
I know people who cut corners and travel without adequate insurance and I think they are foolhardy
I probably won’t go on another holiday overseas but that’s just how it is and I have to accept it I went to Barcelona last year and declared everything, tablets, past history etc I would never ever travel without being fully insured even when I go to visit my daughter in Ireland I m on the cusp of 80 and it all goes up then doesn’t it
I didn’t know about a GHIC card where do you apply to them from I always had a European one
Three of my grand kids over the years have been ill while travelling one needing hospital treatment and thankfully they were fully insured

It’s hard to miss out but very foolish. I can’t get health insurance so I can’t see my daughter and grandchildren probably ever again given my age and bad health. When a crisis situation arose in the family on the other side of the world I so wanted to risk it but the fear of being taken ill on the plane, getting offloaded somewhere in the Middle East and racking up a bill in the millions brings me back to reality.
Still hoping for a big win from my premium bonds so I can afford to bring the family to the U.K. to visit.

Willow68

He didn’t chose to travel without insurance he couldn’t get insured? That’s different, feel bad for him and his family, I think it’s great they can get some help and no one has to contribute. However, I have no time for people that just chose to save a few pounds and not get it out of choice!

No, he still CHOSE to travel knowing he wasn't insured.

I have several medical issues and now my husband does too. I am doubtful that we would get medical insurance and, if we did, I think it might be hugely expensive.

If it was just for holidays, I wouldn't care but we have a daughter and 4 grandkids in the USA. They have been there for 10 years and we intended to visit but various issues prevented us- they moved house a couple of times, I was very ill, then it was lockdown, and my husband later got ill. Now I think it may be impossible.

I am going to get some quotes but I am not optimistic.

It's pity the NHS don't bill those "tourists " who are not entitled to free NHS treatment. It could help balance the books.

As a Holiday rep I often saw the problems that non existent or inadequate travel insurance caused, so I personally would never travel without it. My last holiday abroad was actually cheaper than the travel insurance due to my medical conditions but it was simply a case of biting the bullet and paying up or not going.

Absolutely right. It’s your duty to make full disclosure when applying for any kind of insurance or renewing it.

A friend had a heat attack whilst on holiday in Spain. He had to pay part of the treatment (still in the EU at the time) and needed a medical repatriation costing thousands.
His insurance company refused to pay out as he had not declared another medical condition, which was not heart related.
Be fully truthful with the insurance company or your claim may be invalidated.

So did we, and amazingly we survived.

MillieBoris

Holidays - everyone seems to have gone berserk on their right to have a holiday whatever the cost. Why should we contribute towards somebody not taking responsibility for their actions, I feel very sorry for the family but how silly to take that risk at 68 with pre-existing conditions.

I think this is a very valid point.
Parents taking children out of school so that they can get a cheaper holiday, or insisting that they MUST go away - particularly annoying near exam time.
I’m sure many of us did not go away every year , or possibly went camping for a long weekend or to stay with grandma or auntie because a holiday was a luxury - especially a foreign one.
I remember hearing (and using )the phrase “days out” which meant just that - a bus ride to a city or if you lived near enough the seaside but home again at teatime - because the family finances did not stretch to going away that year.
A holiday is lovely, it can be necessary to have a break, but (cliché alert) you cut your coat according to your cloth don’t you?
We did.

When I travel out of the euro zone but including UK, I take out travel insurance to cover a few extra days incase of flight cancellations. Maybe it’s silly but I prefer to have peace of mind.

Holidays - everyone seems to have gone berserk on their right to have a holiday whatever the cost. Why should we contribute towards somebody not taking responsibility for their actions, I feel very sorry for the family but how silly to take that risk at 68 with pre-existing conditions.