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What travel insurance really means

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Re: What travel insurance really means

#131

Post by luispedrocoelho »

J-dawg wrote: post #105
astura wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I said in another post you absolutely have to read and understand your policy before you experience a loss!! Depends on the policy but I doubt there is a "somewhat comfortably" clause - if you want your insurance policy to cover you you generally have to follow what their policy requires and with cheapo insurance like this, if you are clear to fly, you are expected to fly home. It's gonna be very difficul…

> This is why I said in another post you absolutely have to read and understand your policy before you experience a loss!! Yep, and this post has been an education for me! However, I still have issues with the way it's marketed. I think part of the problem is showing these huge numbers for medical cover. It's almost a psychological trick, in the same way that lottery players see an enormous jackpot and somehow confla…

> In reality, most claimants are going to spend much less than 1% of that £5 million limit before they get flown home. It only really applies to people who are at death's door and end up with a long stay in intensive care, or need a fully-staffed medical flight to get them home.

Exactly, but you're saying it like it's a bad thing instead of "this is just what travel insurance is and why it's so cheap."

Re: What travel insurance really means

#132

Post by bancrates »

kinard wrote: post #17

Contact the financial ombudsman, they will be able to help, and in a lot of cases they side with the consumer. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

I would like to second and strongly advise this advice to contact the ombudsman.

I got cheap UK travel insurance, got my jaw broken in Australia, racked up huge hospital bills, hotel bills, curtailment bills...

They tried every trick in the book to not pay.

Although it took over a year the ombudsman made them repay every penny.

It seems you documented everything well - the ombudsman attaches a huge weighting to the medical opinions of treating doctors, so you have a good shot.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#133

Post by weeksie »

gnode wrote: post #76
weeksie wrote: post #66

He paid £275 for 18 months of travel insurance? Well yeah, of course they are going to want to fly him back to the NHS. As a US traveller my insurance was $2600 for 12 months. When you enter into a legal agreement (insurance) read the fine print, it'll save you a lot of disappointment.

> read the fine print People should be able to expect that insurance is as advertised, and there's no "not really" in the fine print. UK courts are much less accepting of such things than the US. The infamous case is PPI misselling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_protection_insurance

Insurance policies are not the same as an iTunes TOS. The policy is an agreement with a company outlining very specific circumstances in which they pay you. I'm sure the company was garbage (they sure sound that way) but when I've had travel insurance it has always outlines the circumstances where I could make a claim.

In the case of an insurance policy the fine print is what you're buying.

Again, to be fair, the insurance company could have had a misleading policy and if that's the case they should be raked over the coals.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#134

Post by luispedrocoelho »

gaius wrote: post #124
trocadero wrote: post #37

I'm somewhat sympathetic to the insurance company here. Travel insurance is there to take care of emergency medical care. It's not for long term care. The guy clearly didn't want to travel because he preferred to be cared in Singapore. From his e-mail: >I intend to stay in Asia for some time yet. I did consider travelling home to have surgery in the UK, but the medical Service here is excellent and I'm already schedu…

He wanted to keep traveling and avoid the NHS Private health insurance is by definition avoiding the NHS, which was 10,000 miles away anyway, so I’m not sure what point you’re making here? If the terms of the policy were we’ll fly you home in cattle class and dump you on the taxpayer then that should be made clear

But he did not purchase health insurance, he purchased travel insurance.

It seems to me that the whole thing is "I bought travel insurance and I thought I would be getting global health insurance, but it turns out it's really travel insurance."

I guess because the NHS is paid through your taxes it may not have been so blindingly obvious to someone in the UK that anything similar to what he is asking for would have cost at least "300£ per month" (and that is assuming he is young and healthy) instead of "300£ for 18 months".

Re: What travel insurance really means

#135

Post by ghaff »

true_religion wrote: post #9

Looks like they wanted him to use NHS, unless he was dying. Luckily, I live in America, where no travel insurrer will ever tell you to return to as costs will increase by 40x.

Oh, I'm quite sure they would as, once you're back home, you're off their hands and in the hands of your regular medical insurance company which you hopefully have.

These travel policies may notionally cover some level of urgent medical care but they're mostly designed (and priced for) cancelations due to injury/sickness/emergency, lost property, and getting you back home even if that requires a helicopter from some remote hillside (hopefully).

I'm sure there are 12 month policies you can buy that legitimately cover international health care for a 12 month period in addition to other travel-related risks but they'll cost a lot more.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#136

Post by trocadero »

gaius wrote: post #124
trocadero wrote: post #37

I'm somewhat sympathetic to the insurance company here. Travel insurance is there to take care of emergency medical care. It's not for long term care. The guy clearly didn't want to travel because he preferred to be cared in Singapore. From his e-mail: >I intend to stay in Asia for some time yet. I did consider travelling home to have surgery in the UK, but the medical Service here is excellent and I'm already schedu…

He wanted to keep traveling and avoid the NHS Private health insurance is by definition avoiding the NHS, which was 10,000 miles away anyway, so I’m not sure what point you’re making here? If the terms of the policy were we’ll fly you home in cattle class and dump you on the taxpayer then that should be made clear

Here's the handbook for the policy he bought:

https://www.insureandgo.com/media/1228/iag_mf_pw_adv_0518.pd...

Page 20 says:

What you are covered for

We will pay up to the amount shown in the table of benefits on pages 4 and 5 for any costs for the following that are reasonable and necessary (see definition on page 14) as a result of you being unexpectedly injured or ill during your trip.

1. Emergency medical, surgical and hospital treatment and ambulance costs.

It also says:

Special exclusions which apply to section B

We will not cover the following:

2. Any treatment or surgery which we think you do not need immediately and can wait until you return home. Our decision is final.

12. Any medical treatment that you receive after you have refused the offer of returning to your home area, when, in the opinion of our medical advisors, you are fit to travel.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#137

Post by gamblor956 »

legohead wrote: post #33
dalore wrote: post #3

I always wonder when I buy insurance, if I need it will they actually pay out. You should be able to get insurance for your insurance. So when you need insurance and it doesn't pay out. Then that insurance company can go after the first one without having to resort to twitter or medium to shame them.

Every time my wife's parents travel to the US we get them insurance. Their most recent visit was the first time we actually needed to use it, and it was just minor. After they arrived they both quickly got sick, not flu type symptoms but a weird spot on the neck, dizziness, and a couple other things I can't remember. It seemed like it could be serious so we took them in. Doctor examined them, said they were okay and…

Report it to your state's insurance commissioner.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#138

Post by DoreenMichele »

gamblor956 wrote: post #137
legohead wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time my wife's parents travel to the US we get them insurance. Their most recent visit was the first time we actually needed to use it, and it was just minor. After they arrived they both quickly got sick, not flu type symptoms but a weird spot on the neck, dizziness, and a couple other things I can't remember. It seemed like it could be serious so we took them in. Doctor examined them, said they were okay and…

Report it to your state's insurance commissioner.

^

Look up contact info here:

https://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm

Re: What travel insurance really means

#139

Post by greedo »

luispedrocoelho wrote: post #46

From his telling, the company was not very communicative when he contacted them, but, fundamentally, saying he should fly back to the UK for treatment and they'll cover the flight does not seem unreasonable. He complains that "unless you are injured so horrifically that you cannot survive another moment without life saving surgery, odds are they’ll just tell you to fly home and have the surgery for free." But, to me,…

His flying from Bali to Singapore is totally understandable. He was in pain/shock and not advised by doctors to avoid flight.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#140

Post by ghaff »

gnode wrote: post #79
jochakovsky wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they would still tell you to return, since any costs in the US would be paid by your regular medical insurance, not your travel insurance.

In this case I presume you'd not be paying for US insurance, as you'd expect to be backpacking for many months more.

But the expectation of most travel insurance is that you also have regular health insurance.

If you think you've found a neat hack like:

-- Skip buying regular health insurance

-- Buy a $300 12-month travel insurance instead

-- Spend the savings traveling around for a year while being fully covered for medical expenses

You're probably missing something.

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