How can you trust travel insurance to pay out?

[radamfi]

How can you trust travel insurance to pay out? Everyone travelling abroad is recommended to get travel insurance but how can you absolutely guarantee that that they will pay out? I've already stopped going to the US, the main reason being the cost of hospitals. Yes, travel insurance should cover it, but what if they don't? They might find something in your medical history that you had forgotten about as it was so long ago, or catch you out on some technicality. Going to the EU is currently safe, because of EHIC, but in a few days the same problem will apply. I don't want to be bankrupted by a £1,000,000 hospital bill, but I also want to go on regular trips abroad, and I live for that.

 

[najaB]

How can you trust travel insurance to pay out? Everyone travelling abroad is recommended to get travel insurance but how can you absolutely guarantee that that they will pay out?

Simply put: you can't. It's in their interest to pay out the smallest number of claims as they reasonably can.

What you can say with 100% certainty though is that if you don't have insurance any bills will be landing at your doorstep.

 

[radamfi]

Is there still hope for reciprocal coverage from January?

https://www.kidneycareuk.org/news-and-campaigns/impact-brexit/ says

The government has once again stated that it would like arrangements in place for e.g. tourists and short-term business visitors. They say that “should these discussions not conclude with a healthcare agreement, we will continue to look at this issue carefully” and “we would seek to agree reciprocal arrangements with EU and EEA countries bilaterally. But we cannot start these discussions until the negotiations with the EU have concluded.”

 

[najaB]

Is there still hope for reciprocal coverage from January?

It would be in the best interest of the UK to continue reciprocity of healthcare arrangements. But with this government...

 

[Chester1]

Is there still hope for reciprocal coverage from January?

https://www.kidneycareuk.org/news-and-campaigns/impact-brexit/ says

95% of the treaty has been drafted and that part of that 95% is believed to include a chapter on social security and healthcare. I don't know if that will include EHIC or whether there will be some changes or a more basic reciprocal agreement. There has been an issue with some British expats using the EHIC when its only meant to be used for people visiting not residents. Its subject to a deal on everything being agreed.

 

[jthjth]

How can you trust travel insurance to pay out? Everyone travelling abroad is recommended to get travel insurance but how can you absolutely guarantee that that they will pay out? I've already stopped going to the US, the main reason being the cost of hospitals. Yes, travel insurance should cover it, but what if they don't? They might find something in your medical history that you had forgotten about as it was so long ago, or catch you out on some technicality. Going to the EU is currently safe, because of EHIC, but in a few days the same problem will apply. I don't want to be bankrupted by a £1,000,000 hospital bill, but I also want to go on regular trips abroad, and I live for that.

There are no guarantees, but don’t buy cheap. Cheap policies are cheap for a reason. My son, when he was a medical student, was due to go on a month long placement in Sri Lanka. This didn’t happen because of the bombings there. His university was insistent he had to find a replacement, and this with just a month or so to go. Through a friend we found something in Iceland - so at the opposite end of the expense scale. His insurer, LV, not only refunded all the lost air tickets to Sri Lanka, but paid for replacements to Iceland, travel to and from the airport both in the UK and Iceland and covered the difference in the accommodation costs. It came to a considerable sum. All without a moment of arguing. Price comparison web sites are not necessarily in your best interests.