Travel Insurance

quizzical

I have private health insurance and a E1 11 travel Insurance card. Do I still need to buy travel insurance for a 2 week holiday to Portugal? If so what type of travel insurance should I buy? And who has the best cover at a reasonable price? Thanks

Atlantic Dawn

Yes you do. If you become ill your care in a public hospital will only be covered, if say you broke an arm or leg you generally won't be allowed on a plane immediately afterwards so will have to then cover expenses staying in the country. If you have to be flown home in a special plane it could be €50k plus, insurance would cover this.

Loads of insurers, they are pretty much offering more of less the same thing, if your planning on a few trips a year getting multi-trip cover will work out cheapest, here's a few...
http://www.theaa.ie/aa/insurance/travel-insurance.aspx
https://www.aig.ie/personal/travel-insurance
http://www.justcover.ie/
https://www.123.ie/travel-insurance

coylemj

As above for illness or accident when on holiday but travel insurance will also cover you if you have to cancel before you go because of illness or bereavement - you can claim for non reimbursable expenses like the airfare and possibly the hotel if you paid in advance and there's no refund.

joeysoap

I got 'annoyed' by one of the big insurance companies a few years ago.* and have not taken out insurance since then.

However a friend of mine took ill at Easter in Spain and had to be flown home by air ambulance, so I had a re-think about this. I made online enquiries last night and basically discovered that your own health insurance makes the payments. One company actually asks what health insurance policy you have and when you check the details your limited to your health insurance limits.

I go to a friends property in Portugal, maybe 3 times a year. Lost luggage doesn't really bother me as I buy priority and am allowed to take my cabin bag on board.
Flight delays or even the worst case scenario if flights being cancelled won't bother my either as EU261 more than covers the cost of my flights

My LAYA policy says overseas covers for €100,000 for hospital bills (same as was quoted by travel insurance) and €2,000,000 for repatriation expenses . (More than the cost of an air ambulance?)

Am I missing something or do I actually need travel insurance?

* in this occasion I booked a city break, flights and hotel. My partner had an accident and couldn't travel. It was multi trip insurance and maybe 6 months into the policy. Phoned the company and they only covered the actual cost of the flights i.e. without the taxes and charges. Informed that I would have to claim these off the airline directly. But when the excess wasapplied I was due zilch (cheap flights). When I mentioned the hotel I was told to cancel it as I was giving a few weeks notice I should have no problem. As it turned out they were correct but since then I haven't bothered with insurance.

As I say, am I missing something?

Fred Swanson

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RoYoBo

I'm interested in this topic. Anytime one hears mention of travel insurance in posts here or elsewhere there's a slew of responses that advocate it as being vital.

I always buy it (to be sure to be sure) and (thankfully) have never had to claim but I often wonder whether it's worth it and even if the company I pay will actually cover what I think it does. That's the crux - you'll only find that out for sure if/when you have to claim!

I've read the T&Cs until my eyes bleed and asked all the questions I can think of, but my gut feeling is that there'll be a way to wriggle out of paying in the end. We don't have health insurance but do have the EHIC, so I guess we have to hope we never find out the downsides.

Fred Swanson

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Quackster

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Outside of the EU I would say it is vital as Ireland would have no reciprocal agreements in place for medical care.

But within the EU, it's absolute need is certainly questionable. Good to have but not vital.

Exactly this.

Within the EEA, once you have both a valid EHIC and private health insurance (with overseas cover) I see absolutely no reason to buy travel insurance unless you're spending a serious amount on flights and/or accommodation.

If you don't have private health insurance, then you may want to consider travel insurance for peace of mind as it can be rather daunting in a foreign country in a medical emergency ensuring you don't end up in a private facility and facing a hefty bill!

Maz2016

Just for anyone that has Laya healthcare, they have 30% off travel insurance. I might buy the annual package, handy to have.

Here is a text I got from Laya
As a laya healthcare member get 30% off travel Insurance. Use discount code LAYATRAVEL1 to avail. Unsub text stop to 51159

chancer12

Maz2016 wrote: »

Just for anyone that has Laya healthcare, they have 30% off travel insurance. I might buy the annual package, handy to have.

Here is a text I got from Laya
As a laya healthcare member get 30% off travel Insurance. Use discount code LAYATRAVEL1 to avail. Unsub text stop to 51159

they're still v expensive. You might be covered by your health policy. Mine includes travel ins but only if the lead member is travelling. My daughter is heading off on a longvteip to Asia so ahea not covered by the policy as I'm not going and rheyre substantially more expensive than other providers . Best of luck

coylemj

chancer12 wrote: »

they're still v expensive. You might be covered by your health policy. Mine includes travel ins but only if the lead member is travelling. My daughter is heading off on a longvteip to Asia so ahea not covered by the policy as I'm not going and rheyre substantially more expensive than other providers . Best of luck

+1 when I saw the post you are responding to, my immediate response was: '30% off what?'

A % discount is meaningless unless you know where you are starting from.

Maz2016

15 days for 18.72. I thought that was pretty good. Or annual for 35.10

Fred Swanson

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NIMAN

We are heading on.our 1St foreign holiday at the end of the month, to Spain.

I was going to book insurance for all 5 of us, as I assumed it was needed.

Is it? If any of us needed hospital treatment is it covered without insurance?

Maz2016

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

It is

chancer12

Anyone had any quotes for Backpacker - worldwide? Am getting from 55 - 115, huge variation. Any steer appreciated

joeysoap

NIMAN wrote: »

We are heading on.our 1St foreign holiday at the end of the month, to Spain.

I was going to book insurance for all 5 of us, as I assumed it was needed.

Is it? If any of us needed hospital treatment is it covered without insurance?

Niman, nobody on here can really answer that question. It's a matter of how comfortable you are with/without travel insurance. EHIC cards cover public hospitals.

uck51js9zml2yt

joeysoap wrote: »

Niman, nobody on here can really answer that question. It's a matter of how comfortable you are with/without travel insurance. EHIC cards cover public hospitals.

But they don't cover repatriation, lost luggage, death or delays.!!

Mush09

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone can advise me....
Will insurance companies cover a cancer sufferer, finished chemotherapy two months previous, on a trip to USA for a week in Feb.
Will they cover flight cancellations should this be needed?
His own health insurance doesn't cover him abroad.

Thanks

beechwood55

Mush09 wrote: »

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone can advise me....
Will insurance companies cover a cancer sufferer, finished chemotherapy two months previous, on a trip to USA for a week in Feb.
Will they cover flight cancellations should this be needed?
His own health insurance doesn't cover him abroad.

Thanks

You will need to contact the insurance companies directly. They may offer cover but it may be very expensive.

Mush09

Ok thanks a mil

beechwood55

And what I would say is that the person involved should not consider travelling to the US without insurance. That would be madness.

coylemj

Mush09 wrote: »

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone can advise me....
Will insurance companies cover a cancer sufferer, finished chemotherapy two months previous, on a trip to USA for a week in Feb.
Will they cover flight cancellations should this be needed?

As poster beechwood55 advised, you will need to contact the insurance company directly, declare the person's current medical situation and see what they say.

Flight cancellation cover involves a possible claim of just a few hundred Euros which is peanuts. The big issue/problem for an insurance company potentially providing medical cover for a person recently treated for cancer and travelling to the US is that they may take a 'turn' when over there and require inpatient treatment which in the US costs an absolute packet. I'd be prepared for a refusal or a large quote.

naughtysmurf

If I was traveling to the US as a healthy person, I'd want €5million medical cover, when we last traveled as a family to the US, €10million medical cover was in place, policy wasn't that expensive as a percentage of the whole trip, not even 1%, hopefully you never have to use it

munchkin_utd

Mush09 wrote: »

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone can advise me....
Will insurance companies cover a cancer sufferer, finished chemotherapy two months previous, on a trip to USA for a week in Feb.
Will they cover flight cancellations should this be needed?
His own health insurance doesn't cover him abroad.

Thanks

seems like VHI multi trip insurance covers pre existing conditions and they mention that they are one of the few who do.

https://www.vhi.ie/pdf/products/MultiTrip%20Rules_01Aug17_MHMT30.pdf

coylemj

munchkin_utd wrote: »

seems like VHI multi trip insurance covers pre existing conditions and they mention that they are one of the few who do.

That is highly qualified in the terms and conditions on page 2.

You must already be covered by a private medical policy (e.g. VHI/Laya/Glohealth etc.) which covers emergency treatment overseas up to the value of €65,000 and that policy must contain cover for pre-existing conditions.

It's all very well them saying that pre-existing conditions are covered but if your current medical insurance doesn't cover pre-existing conditions when you go abroad then VHI Multitrip won't cover you either.

Am I required to have a current Private Medical Insurance Plan to avail of MultiTrip cover?

Yes. Your MultiTrip cover is especially designed to complement the overseas cover provided by private medical insurance plans which cover a minimum of €65,000 for overseas medical emergencies.

Are pre-existing medical conditions covered on my policy?

Yes, unlike most other travel insurance plans on the market, MultiTrip from Vhi Healthcare includes cover for pre-existing conditions up to the full limit of your medical cover, provided your private medical insurance plan has overseas cover and your pre-existing medical condition is covered under the terms and conditions of your private medical insurance plan.

So your local medical insurance has to pick up the tab for the first €65,000, they will take care of the balance. But if your home medical policy doesn't cover travel to the US or does not cover treatment for pre-existing conditions when travelling abroad, the VHI Multitrip policy is worthless.

Fred Swanson

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coylemj

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Not all policies Fred. I have travel insurance via my credit card with AIG and they don't require me to have any existing medical insurance, nor do they insist that I use the EHIC card if I'm getting inpatient treatment in the EU.

But given the competitive nature of the travel insurance business and the propensity for people to cut corners and go cheap when buying the product (usually at the last minute and grudgingly), it's a business that lends itself to restrictive Ts & Cs.

Limerick_MH

FBD do a good deal on travel insurance combined with car hire excess insurance within the EU

coylemj

Limerick_MH wrote: »

FBD do a good deal on travel insurance combined with car hire excess insurance within the EU

As with VHI Multitrip, it pays to read the terms and conditions where you will find that the FBD travel policy requires that you have a local medical insurance policy which provides overseas cover......

Q - Does it matter what type of Private Medical Insurance policy I hold?

A. Yes. It is mandatory that your Private Medical Insurance policy provides cover in respect of overseas medical expenses;

Otherwise you cannot buy Holiday Plus Travel Insurance.

http://www.fbdtravelinsurance.ie/info/faqs