On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:27:59 +0000,
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) wrote:

Alan S wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:45:21 +0000,
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) wrote:

I'm wondering how much I've saved in the last 20 years by never buying
insurance.

You're extremely fortunate if that is true.

I'm hardly alone.

On each of my trips I ended up ahead on insurance; usually
only a little.

If you're seriously saying that you've claimed on insurance on every
trip, then you're perhaps _very_ unlucky.


No, but I am in a different health-care system. I pay about
AU$200 per month for our Private Health Insurance. In Oz we
have a mix of Public and Private health care.

When we are out of the country that insurance is inactive,
so I suspend premiums during our absence. To put that in
context, on my '03 trip I wandered the world for just under
5 months, thus saving a little under $1000 on health
insurance. My travel insurance premium was less than that,
so I was already ahead. I wasn't covered for my pre-existing
illnesses (I have a few:-) but I would have been covered for
any accidents or other afflictions.

When I returned I claimed for a lost jacket (left on a
restaurant chair), some stolen sunglasses and a couple of
other trivial things. I pointed out to them that they had
done pretty well for covering a diabetic leukemic travelling
with an arthritic through multiple countries, 20+ flights,
two ferries, four hire cars, countless hotels and a train.
They paid without a qualm.

It was similar on my second trip in '06; the claim was
mainly for two pieces of luggage. One was destroyed by BA,
the other by AA, who describe this as "fair wear and tear":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_s/3213992077/
(you should have seen the insides:-)

Neither would reimburse me, the insurance did.

On my third trip I needed treatment by a doc in Hong Kong.
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/2008...g-kong_29.html
Both the insurers and I were grateful that it occurred there
and not in NYC.

Mate, I strongly advise you NEVER to go to the US of A
without insurance. I know far too much about the US medical
system to ever do that myself. Doing that would be a form of
financial Russina Roulette.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
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