Travel insurance - optional or essential?

[MEL_Traveller]

In some places you are required to pay for or supply your own meals and drugs, so it might become an issue.

i agree. but if my medical I strange was paying $10,000 a day for me in an ICU and my insurance didn't provide me with 'cash in hospital' that would be the last of my problems. smaller aspects like the latter are easy to self insure if all you can afford is a basic 'medical only' policy.

 

[equus]

Our car isn't insured, apart from compulsory third party. Comprehensive insurance was going to cost upwards of $300 a year. The car only cost $1000. If the car's totalled, we'll buy a "new" one.

Are you sure you mean only compulsory third party? Compulsory third party only covers personal injury to third parties, not property damage or other legal liability.
Are you sure you don't have any other third party property damage cover? You may be happy to risk paying for a "new" car for yourself, but what about the new Porsche for the person you hit?

 

[SFSC]

I have been travelling to SE Asia for over 30 years , always with TI and never claiming and now i am getting old my problem is getting cover because my doctor has prescribed Warfarin which means i am not effectivly covered for almost all medical with some companies ( those underwriten by Zurich) or needing to pay excessive add on premiums or taking a chance on not needing it.

I live a pretty boring life - I am not a risk taker spending my days maybe swimming in the pool , going out to eat at local restaurants and going to the shops and so on. Yet TI becomes a gamble for me as the way policies are written if , for example , i fall over in the street i am not covered by the policy.

Are there others in my situation and what do you do ?

I'm sure there are quite a few.

This is a really helpful post. Knowledge and reported experience about which insurers totally exclude coverage for certain conditions and people taking certain medications could help prevent another AFF person applying to the wrong company and being denied cover. I'm not sure if there would be enough data generally available to make a dedicated thread detailing insurers and their exclusions worthwhile though.

Another thought - I personally would not find it worthwhile to take up any insurance that has any condition that is denied cover because an insurer could argue that just about any event was caused by the condition.

 

[amaroo]

Are you sure you don't have any other third party property damage cover? You may be happy to risk paying for a "new" car for yourself, but what about the new Porsche for the person you hit?

That's when the insurance company of the Porsche owner chases you until you pay......or sends you down the bankruptcy path.

 

[sanne]

I'm sure there are quite a few.

This is a really helpful post. Knowledge and reported experience about which insurers totally exclude coverage for certain conditions and people taking certain medications could help prevent another AFF person applying to the wrong company and being denied cover. I'm not sure if there would be enough data generally available to make a dedicated thread detailing insurers and their exclusions worthwhile though.

Another thought - I personally would not find it worthwhile to take up any insurance that has any condition that is denied cover because an insurer could argue that just about any event was caused by the condition.[

My husband and I travel overseas several times a year and have always relied on our CC travel insurance as we both had no Pre Existing Conditions. This year changed all that, we both have had a few non serious medical conditions that are now deemed Pre Existing. I spent a long time researching the best travel insurance for us ( ages 72 and 66 ), we also wanted an annual one if possible for more than 45 days per trip. The best by far both in terms of fine print and ease of applying was COVERMORE.

Fortunately we haven't had to claim from them and hope we never will but can at least travel with peace of mind that everything is covered. I am of the opinion that if a Travel Insurer can get out of paying, they will.

Interestingly, the quote was cheaper from my travel agency than doing it on line by over $800!!

Hope this helps anyone else in this situation.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Another thought - I personally would not find it worthwhile to take up any insurance that has any condition that is denied cover because an insurer could argue that just about any event was caused by the condition.

Insurance companies are bound by insurance regulation and insurance law.

They cannot deny a claim on dubious grounds.

If you have diabetes they can exclude any diabetes related treatment while you are overseas, but that won't affect your cover for emergency treatment for a car accident, or if you had a heart-attack, or required dental work.

 

[BadgerBoi]

i agree. but if my medical I strange was paying $10,000 a day for me in an ICU and my insurance didn't provide me with 'cash in hospital' that would be the last of my problems. smaller aspects like the latter are easy to self insure if all you can afford is a basic 'medical only' policy.

The experience that a friend of mine had a few years ago in an eastern European hospital when her choice was to either pay what amounted to bribes to nursing staff to bring her food or she would have had nothing to eat tells me that there are all sorts of situations where different things take on more importance. Everybody has heard of the $10,000 a day medical expenses in the LOTFAP, but the lack of food in some other countries came as a complete surprise to me - and also to her when it happened. She also had to pay upfront for antibiotics.

 

[amaroo]

Insurance companies are bound by insurance regulation and insurance law.

They cannot deny a claim on dubious grounds.

If you have diabetes they can exclude any diabetes related treatment while you are overseas, but that won't affect your cover for emergency treatment for a car accident, or if you had a heart-attack, or required dental work.

Would that be on the basis that you've completed the application honestly*.......I.E. owning up to an existing condition?

Always wondered what would happen if you had an accident and needed to call upon your insurance.....they request/obtain your medical history....bada-bing - you didn't tick this box for blah, blah.....totally unrelated however, since your application isn't full and complete - you're stuffed!

A bit like having comprehensive car insurance however, the tyres are bald - there goes your insurance.

* I always submit honestly completed applications - promise.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The experience that a friend of mine had a few years ago in an eastern European hospital when her choice was to either pay what amounted to bribes to nursing staff to bring her food or she would have had nothing to eat tells me that there are all sorts of situations where different things take on more importance. Everybody has heard of the $10,000 a day medical expenses in the LOTFAP, but the lack of food in some other countries came as a complete surprise to me - and also to her when it happened. She also had to pay upfront for antibiotics.

be that as it may - the insurance company isn't going to send someone out to the hospital to give you $100 every day. You have to claim it back afterwards. so the $100 while obviously nice to have, wouldn't be an immediate benefit, nor help the situation above.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Would that be on the basis that you've completed the application honestly*.......I.E. owning up to an existing condition?

Always wondered what would happen if you had an accident and needed to call upon your insurance.....they request/obtain your medical history....bada-bing - you didn't tick this box for blah, blah.....totally unrelated however, since your application isn't full and complete - you're stuffed!

* I always submit honestly completed applications - promise.

that's not how it works. Insurance can only deny you to the extent that one of your answers is material. I don't admit to a pre-existing illness but that is not grounds for the company to deny my claim for something totally unrelated. That's the law.

If I have diabetes and I'm in a car accident, provided my diabetes didn't cause the accident then I'm still covered.

I should add a note that it may be fraudulent to claim under an insurance policy for a matter which ought to have been disclosed, but was not.

 

[prozac]

The experience that a friend of mine had a few years ago in an eastern European hospital ..................

Just an aside, my cousin broke her leg skiing in Czechoslovakia a couple of years back. At the hospital they wouldn't touch it because they were concerned about payment from Netherlands medical system (reciprocal agreement). After some considerable hours her husband asked how much it would actually cost. When they told him 60 Euro he paid in cash knowing it was a bargain. Said the doctors were all over-qualified as not enough jobs for them in Czechoslovakia so the treatment was first class.
Apologies for thread creep.

 

[BadgerBoi]

be that as it may - the insurance company isn't going to send someone out to the hospital to give you $100 every day. You have to claim it back afterwards. so the $100 while obviously nice to have, wouldn't be an immediate benefit, nor help the situation above.

Be that as it may, if you spend a few weeks in hospital and you're digging into limited funds that you hadn't budgeted for you're going to be grateful for that $100 per day however and whenever you get it. Lucky for you that you just see it as pocket money and inconsequential, a lot of people are less fortunate I guess.

 

[JohnK]

Amaroo

TID excludes activity at any height > 30000m

Are there any mountains on earth > 30000m?

 

[footy99]

Are there any mountains on earth > 30000m?

Haha. I think he meant 3000m. And TID only excludes it in the context of snow sports. Otherwise you're in trouble just visiting places like La Paz!

 

[legroom]

I didn't realise I made a mistake with the extra '0' there. Sorry

BTW, I found World Nomads (http://www.worldnomads.com/travel-insurance) which covers just about every sports incl. hiking on glacier up to 6,000m if you take Level 2 option.

Haha. I think he meant 3000m. And TID only excludes it in the context of snow sports. Otherwise you're in trouble just visiting places like La Paz!

 

[Rebekkap]

Are you sure you mean only compulsory third party? Compulsory third party only covers personal injury to third parties, not property damage or other legal liability.
Are you sure you don't have any other third party property damage cover? You may be happy to risk paying for a "new" car for yourself, but what about the new Porsche for the person you hit?

You're quite right, sorry! We have third party property.

 

[nannieann]

I agree that travel insurance is essential. We have always taken annual travel insurance as we regularly travel to New Zealand about six times a year with a couple of trips to either Europe or America. Because of the reciprocal medical arrangement between Australia and New Zealand we don't see a problem not having travel insurance for across the Tasman trips. However my husband will be 82 by the time we are booked to travel to Europe in July 2014 and we are finding it impossible to get travel insurance. He has a number of pre-existing conditions and has had a heart attack followed by coronary artery bypass surgery (1986), two strokes with left and right endarterectomies (2001 and 2002), although his health is excellent and well managed by medication including warfarin. Does anyone know of any insurance company who would look at providing insurance? Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I agree that travel insurance is essential. We have always taken annual travel insurance as we regularly travel to New Zealand about six times a year with a couple of trips to either Europe or America. Because of the reciprocal medical arrangement between Australia and New Zealand we don't see a problem not having travel insurance for across the Tasman trips. However my husband will be 82 by the time we are booked to travel to Europe in July 2014 and we are finding it impossible to get travel insurance. He has a number of pre-existing conditions and has had a heart attack followed by coronary artery bypass surgery (1986), two strokes with left and right endarterectomies (2001 and 2002), although his health is excellent and well managed by medication including warfarin. Does anyone know of any insurance company who would look at providing insurance? Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

the same reciprocal Medicare coverage for New Zealand also applies to a number of European countries. While it's of course not ideal to travel without insurance it might not be possible to get suitable coverage at a reasonable price.

there might be a policy that excludes all pre-existing conditions, which might at least off-set some things. But you need to weigh up the disadvantage of not going all versus accepting travel to countries only where a reciprocal medicare cover is provided.

Have you tried APIA?

 

[RooFlyer]

Insurance case in point.

After 30 years of driving, my number came up. I was hit by a drunk driver while driving a rental car in the UK. Fortunately at low speed and fortunately only a sideswipe with minimal damage to either car; no injuries.

My rental car insurance reduced the up-front liability to 800 pounds. My travel insurance meant that in the event of the other party's insurance not covering the damage, I am totally covered with nil out-of-pocket.

Knowing all this, I was able to drive away after the police carted the other party away, totally relaxed and able to continue enjoying the holiday.

 

[fn0]

The medical part is essential. The rest I could do without if it means a significant discount.

Totally agree - emergency medical is the essential part of insurance as the cost of medical treatment can bankrupt you. I am lucky because my retiree Extended Health plan covers emergency medical for out of country trips up to 60 days long. If you have this, it's usually not worth worth the extra cost to buy travel insurance to add delays, baggage loss etc.