 Poster: A snowHead
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A cautionary tale for those who think that they can do without it (no sensible SHd, obviously), or will fix it up at sometime before they fly, in case there's an accident on snow.
A few weeks ago, my friend booked a family early sun holiday, cost £3.5k+, for mid May.
Today, as they do, their young offspring fell off a swing and bust both leg bones multiple times. Doctors say that whatever they do to fix it, not a cat in hell's chance of said child, and therefore family, flying off in 4 weeks' time.
No holiday insurance. Ooops...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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silly error. If he is very very lucky the travel company may let him defer the holiday.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Just on the off chance, have they checked their bank account terms and conditions?
Many bank accounts seem to include holiday insurance as part of their benefits???
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Possibly covered if paid off a credit card?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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God I hate these threads. You have omitted to mention how many holidays the family has successfully gone on in the past without issue.
You've also omitted to mention the huge majority of other families who have successfully managed to go on holiday this year sans insurance.
Please could you outline the financial impact on that group of families of their decision.
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| TheGeneralist wrote: |
God I hate these threads. You have omitted to mention how many holidays the family has successfully gone on in the past without issue.
You've also omitted to mention the huge majority of other families who have successfully managed to go on holiday this year sans insurance.
Please could you outline the financial impact on that group of families of their decision. |
Travel insurance cost is trivial compared to the cost of a typical family holiday. How many uninsured holidays would you have to have without an issue to compensate for a single loss of this nature? Worse still is an uninsured medical emergency abroad which can be extremely expensive. Travel insurance is most definitely a must-have cover IMHO. Travelling abroad without it is not really a sensible option to consider.
I suppose the lesson here is not to leave it until the last minute and lose out on the pre-holiday cover. We had a successful claim a couple of years ago when our youngest came out in chickenpox the day before we were due to travel. We had to change all our flights at considerable cost and lost about 4 days of the holiday. A friend of mine broke his leg ahead of a booked mountain bike trip to Whistler and was not insured. He had to abandon the trip completely. These things happen sometimes, but best to insure at the time of booking any expensive trip.
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@Grizzler, good point. The insurable event (ie the holiday) could be insured at any point, so why not insure it as soon as there is a risk of loss.
Which is one of the reasons why I like an annual family policy, because I know that left to myself I've made some panicky calls late on the night before traveling to sort out insurance. Not the best way to get a good deal on the right cover!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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A few years ago I had a heart attack a few days before going on holiday. The Avios we booked the flights with were returned minus a small charge. IIRC the biggest loss was the prebooked parking at Gatwick. In total the loss was less than the excess on the travel insurance. Cancelling a holiday is not always as expensive as you think. The airline will often return the taxes and surcharges on the flight, which can be a lot, and the hotels will often not charge you if you cancel in a sensible time.
I think I would be more upset if my child had broken both legs in multiple places than having forgot travel insurance.
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Worse still is an uninsured medical emergency abroad which can be extremely expensive.
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It can be but a EHIC may cover almost all medical emergencies in Europe.
Having said that I do have annual travel insurance.
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@TheGeneralist, @uktrailmonster, This wasn't so much a cautionary tale about why you should have insurance. It was more a reminder that if you are going to get insurance, as most people do, then it make sense to get it at as soon as you book your holiday and not leave it until the moment of departure. Sound advice.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| johnE wrote: |
A few years ago I had a heart attack a few days before going on holiday. The Avios we booked the flights with were returned minus a small charge. IIRC the biggest loss was the prebooked parking at Gatwick. In total the loss was less than the excess on the travel insurance. Cancelling a holiday is not always as expensive as you think. The airline will often return the taxes and surcharges on the flight, which can be a lot, and the hotels will often not charge you if you cancel in a sensible time.
I think I would be more upset if my child had broken both legs in multiple places than having forgot travel insurance.
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Worse still is an uninsured medical emergency abroad which can be extremely expensive.
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It can be but a EHIC may cover almost all medical emergencies in Europe.
Having said that I do have annual travel insurance. |
I ski in Canada, so EHIC is irrelevant. But the point remains if choosing to use travel insurance, better to get it at the point of booking to get maximum benefit if things do go wrong beforehand. Thinking back, another friend of mine had to abandon a package holiday to Lake Louise after breaking his thumb on the dry slope a couple of weeks beforehand. I can't remember whether or not he was insured at the time.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Would never travel without comprehensive medical cover - but often don't bother cancellation cover.
When travelling independently (not on a package trip) the losses associated with getting ill and not being able to go often aren't that great. Once had to cancel a trip due to illness - lost the cost of the flight but that's about it. But rental car and hotel could all be cancelled with no penalty. Nothing else had been booked or paid for.
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With an annual policy, I’m more concerned to ensure the insurance covers the maximum number of holidays possible so I time my purchase accordingly. No-one in my family has ever been unable to travel in decades of holidays and, if it happened, the rest of the family would simply travel without them.
Cancellation cover is a risk I’m happy to self-insure for.
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You know it makes sense.
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rental car and hotel could all be cancelled with no penalty
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Depends on how you book and where you book.
Pre-paid car rental may have a big enough saving that offset the insurance cost and still come out ahead.
Some hotels allow cancellation up to a few days prior. Others, especially smaller hotels at some location, do not refund the full booking cost.
All in all, the cost of the insurance is OFTEN, but not always, well worth it.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I won't get around to it. Pooling risk with more risky people, for stuff which is a sunk cost.... well that's not an investment I'm buying.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
I think I would be more upset if my child had broken both legs in multiple places than having forgot travel insurance.
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+1
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| philwig wrote: |
| I won't get around to it. Pooling risk with more risky people, for stuff which is a sunk cost.... well that's not an investment I'm buying. |
Depends if you're talking about cancellation and cover for personal items - or medical cover. Self-insuring some things is fine. But in my view - travelling without adequate medical cover is just daft - and rather selfish. It involves passing on risk to your friends and relatives who may need to rally round to fund treatment and repatriation in the event of serious illness or injury.
The costs can be astronomical in some parts of the world - but even in Europe remember that an EHIC won't cover things like repatriation. Getting back to the UK in an air ambulance from some European ski regions could cost more than £10,000.
Outside of Europe you could end up in a situation where friends and relatives have to remortgage their homes to get you home - or to provide crucial treatment.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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It makes financial sense not to insure against risks you can afford to take - the insurance industry only exists to make money, after all. But a good medical insurer also takes a lot of weight from the shoulders of an uninjured family member. When a neighbour took his aged (and uninsurable) mother on a cruise he was quite prepared to meet the costs of her dying in some corner of a foreign field (or fjord). Which she duly did. But he was unprepared for the legal and logistical difficulties and was very glad of the advice of the insurance company he himself was insured with.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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MrJ9 and I never anticipated having to claim on insurance for a cancellation. But he contracted septic arthritis and was on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks and we had to cancel flights to NY. The lovely insurance company paid up for cancelled flights. I am glad I was insured - and Mr J9 is fine now. We have never claimed before and touch wood never again.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I renew each February with no gaps. Certainly it wouldn’t occur to me to book a holiday and not get insurance at the same time.
As a seperate bit of advice though, if you have a rolling insurance policy always check that payment has been collected before you go. Last year my debit card expired in the summer and I didn’t think anything of it. The following February we returned from skiing to find a letter saying they had been unable to collect as the card had expired. So glad nothing happened on the holiday or we would have been stuffed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As with all things insurance, if you actually crunch the numbers, it's a bad bet. That's why insurance companies make money.
I never take out insurance unless 1) it's a legal requirement or 2) The 'stakes' are too high e.g third part indemnity, house insurance etc. If you can reasonably afford the loss, then you are likely to come out ahead by not taking out insurance.
My son is an actuary, and he tells me the biggest money makers for the insurance industry are appliance insurance and pet insurance.
As regards holiday insurance, the stakes can be pretty high when you look at medical costs.
Pam W - sorry just seen you already made this point.
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@eblunt,
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the biggest money makers for the insurance industry are appliance insurance and pet insurance.
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Completely agree. I would never consider taking out either of these.
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@foxtrotzulu +1
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I've often wondered how annual travel insurance policies would work in an example like the OPs.
Let us assume you take an annual policy and renew it every March (in each year it could be with a different provider). What happens if say in September you book a holiday for the following easter in early April and then have an accident the following February meaning you need to cancel your April trip. The trip is after your previous annual policy will have expired so arguably not covered, but before you take the next annual policy that would cover the period in which the trip was due. There seems to be a gap. Or do annual policies cover you for cancelling trips due to take place after your expiry date if it is a result of an incident that takes place whilst you are covered ?
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Funnily enough for our Feb half term trip this year we couldn't actually buy our insurance policy until a week before the trip as my wife had heart surgery scheduled two weeks before we were due to go. So we had to wait for the surgery, then go back a week later to get sign off by the consultant as fit to travel, then buy the insurance for the trip the following week. As it goes we were only exposed the cost of the tunnel (which you can rebook for a later date anyway) and the appartment rental, but we figured if she wasn't signed off I could have gone with the kids anyway and left her at home to enjoy the peace !
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We pay a small amount monthly for this - given the bills friends have had in the past to us it makes sense. You could of course just put the family pet down and get another one - lot cheaper 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| eblunt wrote: |
As regards holiday insurance, the stakes can be pretty high when you look at medical costs.
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Yes, too much risk to take for a relatively small saving in overall holiday cost. Odds are that you thankfully won't need the insurance, but when you do it suddenly seems like amazing value for money! For us the travel costs alone (family of 4 flying business/first to Canada) are well worth insuring. As it happens our premium bank account insurance cover is excellent and includes recreational skiing as standard worldwide. We've had a couple of pretty hefty travel claims over the last 10 years too. One postponed trip due to chickenpox (that cost a few grand alone in rearranging flights) and one missed flight due to a traffic delay (M25 closed), which again cost a small fortune in arranging alternative flights at very short notice. All covered in full by the travel insurance with minimal excess.
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| Gazzza wrote: |
I've often wondered how annual travel insurance policies would work in an example like the OPs.
Let us assume you take an annual policy and renew it every March (in each year it could be with a different provider). What happens if say in September you book a holiday for the following easter in early April and then have an accident the following February meaning you need to cancel your April trip. The trip is after your previous annual policy will have expired so arguably not covered, but before you take the next annual policy that would cover the period in which the trip was due. There seems to be a gap. Or do annual policies cover you for cancelling trips due to take place after your expiry date if it is a result of an incident that takes place whilst you are covered ? |
That is actually an excellent question. Seems in a lot of cases they will . However, as I side note when I was with Snowcard my annual policy ran out halfway through a holiday I asked if I renewed for another year from the date of expiry that I would be fully covered. They said no the policy would have to fully cover the complete trip so I had to restart my renewal early to cover it. MPI, who I currently use, on the other hand confirmed to be I could just renew from the date of expiry and all would be OK. I presume that only works if the cover level is the same. It's complicated this insurance lark.
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You know it makes sense.
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As on the day you are claiming for having to cancel is within the 12 month period you have paid for you would be covered as its cancellation cover you would be claiming under. I even had a situation where a client had an annual policy Europe only, but they had booked a trip to the USA departing beyond the renewal date for the next 12 months. If they had to cancel, the geographical boundaries where they were covered for were irrelevant. The insurer would still have to pay out. What they had to do of course was at the renewal, upgrade from Europe to the USA for the medical/repatriation part, which is geographical.
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FAQ
