holiday abroad without insurance

I became terminally ill 4 years ago with kidney cancer, and was given six months to live. Having said that, the progress of my ilness is unusually slow and I am, in practical terms, very fit with little in the way of symptoms. I've never had a serious comprimising health incident in that time.

Holidays... Much as I'd like to, I can't visit USA. My insurance would cost ten times the price of the holiday, maybe £5000 or more.

I booked myself a two day break in Marrakech for £100 thinking "It is not too far away. I'll do it without any insurance." The holiday is a bargain, but not if I add on an additional £500 insurance.

But I've now realised that this creates a potential problem for other people. It is statistically unlikely that I'd get sick for the first time ever during those two days, but what if i do get seriously ill during the break, for example if I encountered breathing difficulties on the outward flight and they had to land the plane and somehow get me back to the UK. Or what if I die over there and it is necessary to get the body back? It wouldn't be me who deals with the problem. It'd be my family who arent particularly aware of the insurance issues.

The chances of these disastrous things happening are minimal, but if something did, someone in my family would have to finance it and organise it, and subsequently recover the money from me or my estate. It could be thousands of pounds.

Any thoughts? It is unfair of me to put such a responsibility on my family. Should I not go? Should I set up a bank account that they can access in case of emergency. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of emergency return from somewhere like Marrakech? Likely max cost?

Thanks

Tony

Reply to
tonyjeffs
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tonyjeffs gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Why not ask... your family...?

High. Very, very high.

A private ambulance for a hospital transfer within the UK runs into hundreds for a fairly short trip.

Reply to
Adrian

Holidays... Much as I'd like to, I can't visit USA. My insurance would cost ten times the price of the holiday, maybe 5000 or more.

I booked myself a two day break in Marrakech for 100 thinking "It is not too far away. I'll do it without any insurance." The holiday is a bargain, but not if I add on an additional 500 insurance.

But I've now realised that this creates a potential problem for other people. It is statistically unlikely that I'd get sick for the first time ever during those two days, but what if i do get seriously ill during the break, for example if I encountered breathing difficulties on the outward flight and they had to land the plane and somehow get me back to the UK. Or what if I die over there and it is necessary to get the body back? It wouldn't be me who deals with the problem. It'd be my family who arent particularly aware of the insurance issues.

The chances of these disastrous things happening are minimal, but if something did, someone in my family would have to finance it and organise it, and subsequently recover the money from me or my estate. It could be thousands of pounds.

Any thoughts? It is unfair of me to put such a responsibility on my family. Should I not go? Should I set up a bank account that they can access in case of emergency. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of emergency return from somewhere like Marrakech? Likely max cost?

Thanks

Tony

The answer is to go, then if you fall ill and hopefully survive, write to Watchdog or The One Show and have your plight shown to millions. Miraculously, for those poor people, the company implicated ALWAYS pays up. I wonder why that is.

Reply to
Eric Shune

hmmm, so it could work out cheaper for me to get an ambulance to the airport instead of a taxi in future.

Reply to
Eric Shune

Holidays... Much as I'd like to, I can't visit USA. My insurance would cost ten times the price of the holiday, maybe 5000 or more.

I booked myself a two day break in Marrakech for 100 thinking "It is not too far away. I'll do it without any insurance." The holiday is a bargain, but not if I add on an additional 500 insurance.

But I've now realised that this creates a potential problem for other people. It is statistically unlikely that I'd get sick for the first time ever during those two days, but what if i do get seriously ill during the break, for example if I encountered breathing difficulties on the outward flight and they had to land the plane and somehow get me back to the UK. Or what if I die over there and it is necessary to get the body back? It wouldn't be me who deals with the problem. It'd be my family who arent particularly aware of the insurance issues.

The chances of these disastrous things happening are minimal, but if something did, someone in my family would have to finance it and organise it, and subsequently recover the money from me or my estate. It could be thousands of pounds.

Any thoughts? It is unfair of me to put such a responsibility on my family. Should I not go? Should I set up a bank account that they can access in case of emergency. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of emergency return from somewhere like Marrakech? Likely max cost?

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It depends on many things, including what relatives you have and whether you have anything to leave to them. You could quite easily wipe out 250,000 on medical treatment and repatriation, so the bigger your estate the more you or they have to lose. There are other risks than your illness to not having insurance. What happens if you get hit by a hit and run driver- requiring a huge amount of medical attention on site rather than being able to come home?

One thought though if you are determined to go abroad. Stick to the EU and get an EH1C.

That entitles you to medical treatment on the same basis as a local person (not often free, but with some or most costs met) throughout the EU.

I know some people go to European countries without insurance relying only on the EH1C. I never have. We always take insurance, particularly for things it would not cover, such as repatriation, but it would underwrite a lot of the medical costs if you choose where you go carefully.

It's your own decision though- you need to research it to see what it offers and work out whether it is a chance you are willing to take.

Neb

Reply to
Nebulous

Holidays... Much as I'd like to, I can't visit USA. My insurance would cost ten times the price of the holiday, maybe 5000 or more.

I booked myself a two day break in Marrakech for 100 thinking "It is not too far away. I'll do it without any insurance." The holiday is a bargain, but not if I add on an additional 500 insurance.

But I've now realised that this creates a potential problem for other people. It is statistically unlikely that I'd get sick for the first time ever during those two days, but what if i do get seriously ill during the break, for example if I encountered breathing difficulties on the outward flight and they had to land the plane and somehow get me back to the UK. Or what if I die over there and it is necessary to get the body back? It wouldn't be me who deals with the problem. It'd be my family who arent particularly aware of the insurance issues.

The chances of these disastrous things happening are minimal, but if something did, someone in my family would have to finance it and organise it, and subsequently recover the money from me or my estate. It could be thousands of pounds.

Any thoughts? It is unfair of me to put such a responsibility on my family. Should I not go? Should I set up a bank account that they can access in case of emergency. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of emergency return from somewhere like Marrakech? Likely max cost?

Thanks

Tony

Some banks offer travel insurance as part of their current account deals. I get it 'free' with a LloydsTSB account. It might be worth your looking at this.

Rob Graham

Reply to
robgraham

The insurance you've been quoted takes account of these high costs and (to some extent) their low probability.

In view of your concerns the insurance seems like a good idea. It's designed to prevent exactly the problems you're fearing.

If you think the insurance is too expensive considering the actual risk, you might consider self-insuring. So, find out what the maximum cost might be, and put that aside in a new ring-fenced account. You've obviously thought about that. Make sure that if the worst happens, the money is accessible to the people that will need it. Also acquaint yourself with the procedures and put them down on paper so that your relatives wouldn't be wondering what to do. One of the benefits of insurance is the disaster management service that comes with it. It's not just the money.

Reply to
Mike Barnes

Thanks I think probably I have to bite the bullet and face the fact that I should have thought this through in the first place. I can't reasonably impose this huge burden of responsibility on other people by going without insurance. I can't cancel the holiday without messing my travelling companions about. I can find the £600 for the insurance for this two day break. Having inadverantly "dropped myself in it", I'll have to pay up and put it down to experience. Hopefully I'll learn from it.

Expensive, but it's the only sensible way. Thanks for helping me clear my thoughts.

Tony

Reply to
tonyjeffs

Re USA - if you really want to go, then go without insurance! I don't think US immigration insist on medical insurance (they've never asked me to prove I've got some). Apparently US hospitals have to treat emergencies without demanding proof of means to pay. Of course if you do need treatment it could cost a fortune, but then if you're terminally ill is a small risk of being bankrupted really not worth taking for a holiday you really want before you die? Nobody else can be forced to foot the bill. Of course your estate could be wiped out if you die, if you really want to leave anything (house etc) to someone then why not give them it now?

This isn't "sensible" advice, but SFW? In a year's time you might be too ill to go anywhere and when you're lying in bed waiting to die thinking about your life, will you look back and be glad you were "sensible"?

Reply to
Andy Pandy

Why would you want repatriating from the EU? If I was too ill to travel normally I think I'd prefer to recover in a French or German hospital than an NHS one. Repatriation is only really important of you go somewhere with poor medical facilities or in the middle of nowhere.

Reply to
Andy Pandy

Err, because my family, friends and work are all here? As we tend to drive to France via the tunnel there could be a lot of circumstances where I wasn't fit to drive home but didn't want to pay for a suitable alternative. At about 80 for an annual family policy it doesn't exactly break the bank.

As I said I do know people who are prepared to risk it but we never have.

Neb

Reply to
Nebulous

If you were unfit to travel normally you'd hardly be likely to be in a fit state to work, or to be socialising. You may want people to visit you in hospital but that's a problem if you travel 300 miles away from your home in the UK.

Breakdown cover usually covers "only driver taken ill" eventualities, since it's nothing like as expensive as an air ambulance type repatriation.

It's not really a risk if you're going to a country with better medical facilities than the UK and which the EHIC covers.

Reply to
Andy Pandy

No good.

Lloyd's TSB is underwritten by AXA (they are French ). They require any pre existing condition to be notified to them at renewal time, and to be informed of any changes of new conditions as they arise, at least anually. They can impose special terms including higher premiums and if they have not been informed and a claim arises refuse to cover it. Even if they are informed then they can still decline to cover it.

IME AXA are one of the worst.

To all intents and purposes health insurance is useless unless you are young with an unblemished health record. these people represent a standard risk which is known. It would cost too much in terms of Doctors fees paid at private rates to assess the risk of each and every individual with a poor health record, if it is possible at all.

I've been looking for an insurer who will cover me for a failing heart valve and a couple of other serious conditions. I'm symptom free at the moment but the condition is expected to get worse over the next two years ultimately needing a repair to a heart valve or a replacement.

One underwriter says on their website that they cover 250 pre existing conditions, this may be true but the 250 includes such as ingrowing toe nails and in my case operations I had when I was 5, 57 years ago and have been entirely dormant since. They also have a catch all list of 6 "More serious" conditions you can only have one of the six at standard terms.

Unfortunately these six include high blood pressure and high cholesterol as "More serious conditions" despite the fact that probably the major of the population have them and they can be controlled 100% by tablets without any difficulty at all.

As regards the OP I the problem with visiting the USA is not only the high cost of treatment there (obviously) but also the trip of

5,000-10,000 miles to get back accompanied by a nurse and all travelling on full price tickets if you get sick. I just wonder off hand whether it would be possible to get back overland from Marrakech at least as far as a Spanish Hospital, perhaps chartering a car with a driver.

HTH.

Derek

Reply to
Derek Geldard

[snip]

You may want to look at yesterday's Guardin (Sat 5 Sept)

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Might offer some useful leads?

Reply to
Allan

In message , Nebulous writes

Wait till you get to 75, then it gets increasingly difficult to get

*any* insurance.
Reply to
Gordon H

As a result of your post I phoned the helpline and was told that all my wife's conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol) were fully covered. So unless Axa fails to deliver if and when asked, I feel reasonably confident!

Rob Graham

Reply to
robgraham

What I need is a sort of "repatriation for illnes" insurance. If I get catastrophically ill, it is not me who has to sort out the logistic and financial problem. It is my companions. It is a heck of a responsibility to place on them. I wouldn't want to risk my family's inheritance either. Although the odds of such a disaster are minimal, the consequences if it does happen are huge. I will therefore accept that I've made a financial boo-boo and will pay the insurance. It is reasonable that, provided one is prepared to pay, insurance is available for any eventualtiy. It is a statistical exercise. I'm not interested enough in the USA to pay thousands of pounds for insurance. Marrakech will be good. Expensive for two nights, but good!

Thanks, Tony

Reply to
tonyjeffs

Your thinking is good. I wonder how many people understand the responsibility they are placing on other people by not having insurance. And this goes for other insurances as well. I'm alarmed by the statistics that show what a large number of people do not have life assurance but whose families would be destitute if they died. They say they can't afford it. Like they can't afford council tax or any other of life's necessities (TV licence, cigarettes, petrol).

Rob

Reply to
robgraham

In message , Andy Pandy writes

You may need to pay a translator for every medical consultation, and you need one who is familiar with medical terms.

My friends who went to live in Spain some years ago have found that inconvenient and expensive.

Reply to
Gordon H

Destitute?? Where are you, Bangladesh? Or does "destitute" mean not being able to afford designer clothes and Sky TV? Or do you make a living selling insurance?

In the UK the NI bereavement benefits plus means tested benefits available to widowed families are easily enough to avoid "destitution". Plus most company pension plans offer good bereavement benefits. My family would be worrying well off were I to get run over by a bus, there's no way I'm giving my wife any more reason to bump me off!

Reply to
Andy Pandy

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