Do I really need a travel insurance policy?

addisonclark

I am planning a trip with my parents outside the country but destination not decided yet, Do I really need a travel insurance policy?

sparrowcar

You don't need one.

However, you are very foolish not to have one considering how cheap they are these days. Google "holiday insurance horror stories" and start reading. Some bloke who broke his back in Cyprus in a jet ski accident had a final bill delivered a few months after he got home of £97,500. The parents had to re-mortgage the house :eek:

schemingbohemia

addisonclark wrote: »

I am planning a trip with my parents outside the country but destination not decided yet, Do I really need a travel insurance policy?

How old are you? You could be put on your parents insurance (obviously if they have a family policy).

If you're travelling in the EU you could (i don't recommend this) get away without insurance as the biggest problem is usually healthcare, the ehic card should cover you.

http://www.ehic.ie/

illegalmidget

i dont see why not.
Policy for you on your own would prob be only 15 Euro?

then your parents get their own couples policy and ity would only be like 20euro.
worth it if soem one ends up in hospital etc..

illegalmidget

PS try ace holiday insurance they are one of the best!

heate

Do you need a passport to travel? Yes
Do you need travel insurance? Yes
It's not some great scam thought up by evil geniuses. I assume you've travelled before? Imagine you were in an accident and had to stay there for a few more days imagine the cost!
An annual policy can be had for less than €30 not even the cost of an A&E visit

Leper

The cheap travel insurance policies are about as effective as the protection of a paper hankerchief during a tsunami. Before you take out a policy ask the questions you need to ask. Have a witness with you so that confirmation of the answers is at hand.

Your parents probably need insurance more than you. However, they need to ask the questions also.

Read the small print and you will probably come across the line like - if for any reason whatsoever the insurance company does not want to pay up, it wont. Read more of the small print also.

One other thing, travel agents are good at telling you that this "Irish" insurance company is great and "Why wouldn't it be?" - Have no doubt the underwriters of the policy are in the UK. From my experience, when you make a claim it will be near impossible for you to contact the underwriters and almost impossible too to get anything from them.

Last Thing:- If you are travelling within the EU an EHIC card for each person travelling probably will suffice (I understand there are changes coming down the line there also).

woodchuck

It’s obviously not a legal requirement or anything, but definitely a good idea. In all likelihood you’ll buy some and not need to use it. The trouble is you never know when you might need it!

I always make sure to get some out of habit and peace of mind. I tend to get an annual policy to cover me for all trips within a year.

But to be perfectly honest I’m not sure how much use it is. For medical issues if you have health insurance and/or the European health insurance card (formally the E111. This is free and easy to sort out online if you don’t already have one) might cover you anyway depending on the country/situation. And to be honest the common things that tend to get stolen (phones, cameras, laptops etc) don’t tend to be covered under a lot of policies anyway :rolleyes: Despite this I would still recommend you get it though, it’s a small amount of money in the grand scheme of things that could potentially save you from bankruptcy if the worst should happen.

Also if you have health insurance it’s usually cheaper to get travel insurance through the same company.

Oranage2

heate wrote: »

Do you need a passport to travel? Yes
Do you need travel insurance? Yes
It's not some great scam thought up by evil geniuses. I assume you've travelled before? Imagine you were in an accident and had to stay there for a few more days imagine the cost!
An annual policy can be had for less than €30 not even the cost of an A&E visit

You dont need insurance to travel -

I've never bought insurance and I've done fine - but they are cheap so maybe not a bad idea

jennifer20

You have need only passport not need travel insurance policy.

Our man in Havana

In Europe insurance is not necessary. A EHIC is a must however.

spurious

You don't need it, until you need it.

lorrscann

I would agree try ACE - I buy an annual one with them.. not worth the risk going without one.. so cheap and gives you peace of mind.

CiniO

sparrowcar wrote: »

You don't need one.

However, you are very foolish not to have one considering how cheap they are these days. Google "holiday insurance horror stories" and start reading. Some bloke who broke his back in Cyprus in a jet ski accident had a final bill delivered a few months after he got home of £97,500. The parents had to re-mortgage the house :eek:

Why didn't he use his EHIC card?

sparrowcar

CiniO wrote: »

Why didn't he use his EHIC card?

The EHIC only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country, He also had to be repatriated which was probably a huge chunk of the bill.

Our man in Havana

If he chose to come back that would be his problem. If he were to stay in hospital abroad the Irish govt would have to pick up the tab.

steve-o

sparrowcar wrote: »

The EHIC only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country, He also had to be repatriated which was probably a huge chunk of the bill.

In fact, even it he had insurance, many policies would categorise jetskiing as an excluded activity and would not cover it. If you intend doing anything remotely active it's really important to read the terms and conditions before buying, otherwise it could be just a waste of money.

CiniO

sparrowcar wrote: »

The EHIC only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country.

Yes.
So I'm sure that if he was Cyprus resident, he wouldn't probably have to pay anything or very little for treatment after accident.

He also had to be repatriated which was probably a huge chunk of the bill.

That's a cost all right, but I don't believe it can be even close to half of what you said.

I don't know what condition he was, but in the worst case even renting an Ambulance with a driver to go all the way from Cyprus to Ireland wouldn't cost anything close to that figure.

sparrowcar

CiniO wrote: »

Yes.
So I'm sure that if he was Cyprus resident, he wouldn't probably have to pay anything or very little for treatment after accident.



That's a cost all right, but I don't believe it can be even close to half of what you said.

I don't know what condition he was, but in the worst case even renting an Ambulance with a driver to go all the way from Cyprus to Ireland wouldn't cost anything close to that figure.

Who knows man, I didn't say it, it was widely reported in the papers at the time so must be other circumstances that lead to the huge bill.

Our man in Havana

He must have used a private jet and had John Travolta flying it.

Our man in Havana

He must have used a private jet and had John Travolta flying it.