Travel insurance - should be a sticky

I’ll be a devils advocate. Few years ago, maybe 15.

Got travel insurance. One of the big companies. Think of a colour. Couldn’t Travel as a result of an accident (broken foot)

Phoned the company. ‘ how much were the tickets?’ Excluding taxes? They don’t count. I was told there was nothing to get back there - the excess wasn’t reached. Flights were under €30 ( Lisbon) ‘Can’t you cancel the hotel?’ As it transpired I could and did.

Insurance company were useless. Aer Lingus were fair, was able to change the flights for £40.

It’s different now and I’m not advocating no insurance. Just be aware and ensure there’s cover for hospitals and repatriation on your health insurance.

I’m not saying don’t insure, just be aware.

A few years ago I had an accident in the Canaries. I fell on marble stair case and had skull and facial fractures. My private health insurance covered my costs including helicopter transfer to Tenerife for maxillofacial surgery. My private HI covered my hospital costs and transfer to Tenerife but not other costs. However my regular travel insurance covered my outpatients appointments and scans after discharge, my accommodation until I was fit to fly and costs for a companion to stay in a 4 star hotel with me and while I was in hospital for 2 weeks in total and flights home, we even had to get a taxi from dublin airport to my door as it was covered in my plan. This policy cost about 15 euro from AA insurance. My advice... never chance travel without insurance.

limerickabroad wrote: »

Agree that travel insurance is a very wise thing to have . . .

Have people found that over the last 2 years, the cost of travel insurance has gone up significantly? 2 years ago (with AA), mine was 30 euro per annum. Last year it went up to 40, and this year it is 50 euro. It's still worth it, of course, for peace of mind, but still . . .

If you need annual insurance , you must travel abroad on 2 or more holidays a year. Therefore €50 must be a tiny percentage of your travel costs . Sounds like good value

Not necessarily. I deferred taking out an annual policy after booking the first part of an extended trip to the US last year because doing so meant the same policy would also cover an extended trip to Africa this year.

As it happened, the insurance wouldn't cover three "incidents" relating to the US trip (before I even got there) because from their point of view, they were either not part of my holiday (breakdown on the way to the airport in own car) or not actually a problem (second-leg flight from UK to France was cancelled by airline and refunded, with no other flight to that airport [ever], making the first-leg redundant). Fortunately, I got my money's worth out of the policy on the very last day of my "African" trip ... when I was robbed in Paris. :mad:

My only real interest in having the policy was for medical expenses (in the US) and to cover the repatriation of my injured or dead body. Over the years, I've found that no amount of insurance covers the kind of disruption caused by external forces, and it's much easier (and cheaper) to plan for and/or expect unforeseen events instead.

ted1 wrote: »

Your flights were under 30 euro....come on every policy has an excess. Taxes are always refundable directly from the airline : https://www.aerlingus.com/support/cancellations-and-refunds/

Claiming taxes back costs as much as they’re worth. And it only taxes, no the administration fees. Basically they’re dead money.

I suppose every scenario is different. In 20 odd years I have never been refunded in cash. Usually deposit back to credit card within a week after holiday and returning home. I’m looking at Easter now and I’ll only consider apartments with refund policy’s. Most have refundable deposit for breakages etc.

Insurance aside everyone should get an E111 card which gives you access to any public hospital in the EU for free. Only problem is they expire after a couple of years so you have to remember to renew it.