A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travel Regions » Europe
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old January 21st, 2009, 01:27 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
David Horne, _the_ chancellor[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,049
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go

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.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"The fact is that when I compose I never think of and never
have thought of meeting the listener." -George Perle
  #12  
Old January 21st, 2009, 05:02 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
irwell
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 758
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go

On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:13:41 +1100, 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.

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

However, my Mother would have been out of pocket something
in excess of $10,000 if she had not been insured last year.
On a trip to Gallipoli for Anzac Day she fell and broke her
wrist.

There were Turkish treatment and hospital costs, costly
changes to Turkish accommodation arrangements when her tour
had to continue without her, cancellation costs for the
weeks of tours in Europe that had been planned, airline
costs, and sundry other charges. Additionally a friend
stayed with her, cancelling her own arrangements to care for
her and those costs also had to be met.

Both ladies were insured by different agencies, but both
agencies were re-insured by QBE back here. All claims were
paid.

Not having insurance because you have never claimed is as
sensible as a teenage girl not practicing birth control
because she has never had a baby.

The argument here should be about the quality of that
insurance, not the need for it.

Cheers, Alan, Australia


We have travelled for years without any insurance, but now that we are
in our 80s we have decided to get it, and on our last trip we had to cancel
due to a death in the family. The insurance re-imbursed us for the whole of
the pre-paid tour, minus a processing fee. Without the insurance the loss
would have been over $6000.00!
  #13  
Old January 21st, 2009, 06:06 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Alan S[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,163
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go

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
Latest: Drivers, Stepped Wells and Baolis
  #14  
Old January 21st, 2009, 07:09 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Runge13[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 495
Default martin and horne, horne and martin etc etc

Yawn

"Martin" a écrit dans le message de
...
On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:43:20 -0000, "someone"
wrote:

We had a big holiday trip planned to Central America in early January,
flying from London to Madrid, and then Madrid to our destination in
Central
America. Due to industrial action by Iberia Airlines in Madrid, we were
marooned there in a queue, unable to leave, and with no food or sleep for
18
hours, then our onward flight was cancelled and we had to fly back to U.K.
InsureAndGo who we had insurance with told us to read the small print,
which
of course said we were only covered if the cancellation occurred on the
first leg (London-Madrid) of the holiday and not for any others.

What a rip-off. Don't insure with them.


So how much have Iberia paid you in compensation?
and what did you do about going to the toilet for 18 hours, cross your
legs?
--

Martin




  #15  
Old January 21st, 2009, 07:32 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
William Black
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,125
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go


"someone" wrote in message
...
We had a big holiday trip planned to Central America in early January,
flying from London to Madrid, and then Madrid to our destination in
Central America. Due to industrial action by Iberia Airlines in Madrid,
we were marooned there in a queue, unable to leave, and with no food or
sleep for 18 hours, then our onward flight was cancelled and we had to fly
back to U.K. InsureAndGo who we had insurance with told us to read the
small print, which of course said we were only covered if the cancellation
occurred on the first leg (London-Madrid) of the holiday and not for any
others.

What a rip-off. Don't insure with them.


I thought that after you set off you became the problem of the airline
rather than anyone else.

On the other hand I stopped insuring with 'Insure and Go' this year because
they put their prices up too much.

Incredibly Halifax are now cheaper...

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.
someone


  #16  
Old January 21st, 2009, 11:35 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Alan S[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,163
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go

On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:40:48 +0100, Martin
wrote:

The argument here should be about the quality of that
insurance, not the need for it.

Cheers, Alan, Australia


Some of us have normal medical insurance that covers the situation you describe.


In non-European countries? Even in some European countries
you would be taking a risk.


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
Latest: Drivers, Stepped Wells and Baolis
  #17  
Old January 21st, 2009, 05:09 PM posted to rec.travel.europe
tim.....
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,591
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go


"Martin" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:35:01 +1100, Alan S wrote:

On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:40:48 +0100, Martin
wrote:

The argument here should be about the quality of that
insurance, not the need for it.

Cheers, Alan, Australia

Some of us have normal medical insurance that covers the situation you
describe.


In non-European countries? Even in some European countries
you would be taking a risk.


Even in Australia and it certainly covers Turkey.

http://www.migrationnews.com/index.c...location_Guide
"Nationals of countries with reciprocal health agreements with Britain are
also
entitled to treatment from the NHS, although exemption from charges is
usually
limited to emergency treatment. Countries with reciprocal agreements
include:
EEA nations, Anguilla, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands,
Bulgaria,
Channel Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, New Zealand,
Romania,
Russia, St Helena, Switzerland, Turkey, and the Caicos Islands."


I doubt very much that you would want to rely on a "government" hospital in
Turkey,

tim




  #18  
Old January 21st, 2009, 07:55 PM posted to rec.travel.europe
Jack Campin - bogus address
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 779
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go

"Nationals of countries with reciprocal health agreements with Britain
are also entitled to treatment from the NHS, although exemption from
charges is usually limited to emergency treatment. Countries with
reciprocal agreements include:
EEA nations, Anguilla, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands,
Bulgaria, Channel Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat,
New Zealand, Romania, Russia, St Helena, Switzerland, Turkey, and
the Caicos Islands."

I doubt very much that you would want to rely on a "government" hospital
in Turkey,


In places where the state facilities aren't very good (the Diyarbakir
hospital didn't look very impressive) there aren't any private ones to
turn to. In places like Istanbul or Antalya, the state one will be as
good as anything in Europe. So it's a non-issue there.

Supposedly it helps to bribe the staff in Romania.

If you find yourself needing hospitalization in West Lothian, see if
your insurance covers a helicopter airlift to somewhere that knows
the meaning of "hygiene". St Johns Hospital in Livingston is the
filthiest medical facility I have ever seen (I was in there for a
week, in which time nobody came round to mop up the pool of puke I
left on the bedside table after coming round from the anaesthetic).
The Royal Infirmary in Glasgow isn't much better.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
  #19  
Old January 21st, 2009, 10:09 PM posted to rec.travel.europe
someone
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go


"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:43:20 -0000, "someone"
wrote:

We had a big holiday trip planned to Central America in early January,
flying from London to Madrid, and then Madrid to our destination in
Central
America. Due to industrial action by Iberia Airlines in Madrid, we were
marooned there in a queue, unable to leave, and with no food or sleep for
18
hours, then our onward flight was cancelled and we had to fly back to U.K.
InsureAndGo who we had insurance with told us to read the small print,
which
of course said we were only covered if the cancellation occurred on the
first leg (London-Madrid) of the holiday and not for any others.

What a rip-off. Don't insure with them.


So how much have Iberia paid you in compensation?
and what did you do about going to the toilet for 18 hours, cross your
legs?


Our tour company is working hard for us. So far we think they have got the
cost of our cancelled Iberia flights back (slightly less than 25% of the
total cost of our holiday, since we had other internal flights in Panama
that we missed, as well as the holiday accomodation costs.). We are
pursuing a claim with Iberia for ca. £2300 per person.

When we finally got to the head of the queue, 1500 people and 18 hours later
we insisted on a letter stating that our flight had been cancelled, which we
got from the bored clerk. I also had lots and lots of time to write down the
Air Passenger Rights charter which was posted in the check-in hall. To wit:

"Cancellation - financial compensation is due unless your were informed 14
days before the flight, or you were rerouted close to your original times,
or the airline can prove that the cancellation was caused by extraordinary
circumstances." [A strike by Iberia staff cannot be called extraordinary, I
think, since industrial action had been going on for some months,
unbeknownst to us]



"Airlines can be held liable for damages resulting from delays (limited to
approximately ? 4,800), for damage to and loss of baggage (limited to
approximately ? 1,200), and for injury and death in accidents. However,
airlines shall not be liable if they have taken all reasonable measures to
avoid the damages or it was impossible to take such measures."



The airline took no measures to help us at all, never mind reasonable
measures, the staff all disappeared, aside from the one young girl at the
desk left to deal with about 1500 people. As I said, we had no food or
sleep for 18 hours (48, if you start from when we left home until we arrived
back home).



There were toilets, and near the toilets a drinking fountain, so at least we
had toilets and drinking water. There was a McDonald's with a queue of over
150 people at all times, and a cold sandwich bar which sold a slice of ham
between two slices of a small baguette and a soft drink. We bought one in
desperation, it was like eating cardboard. The toilets ran out of paper and
soap so they were pretty dire by the time we came to the front of the queue.



We had all started out as civilized people in a queue, helping each other
out, standing in when someone wanted to go to the toilet or get water or
whatever. But after 18 hours, and as we neared the counter with the (by
now) two staff, there was more pushing and shoving, everyone vying for a
place, and being accused of shoving in. It was just horrible, since we were
all hungry and without sleep.



It was without a doubt the worst 48 hours of my life.



To get back to it, don't insure with Insure and Go, and don't fly with
Iberia Airlines.



someone


  #20  
Old January 22nd, 2009, 02:05 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Alan S[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,163
Default InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go

On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:51:38 +0100, Martin
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:35:01 +1100, Alan S wrote:

On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:40:48 +0100, Martin
wrote:

The argument here should be about the quality of that
insurance, not the need for it.

Cheers, Alan, Australia

Some of us have normal medical insurance that covers the situation you describe.


In non-European countries? Even in some European countries
you would be taking a risk.


Even in Australia and it certainly covers Turkey.

http://www.migrationnews.com/index.c...location_Guide
"Nationals of countries with reciprocal health agreements with Britain are also
entitled to treatment from the NHS, although exemption from charges is usually
limited to emergency treatment. Countries with reciprocal agreements include:
EEA nations, Anguilla, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria,
Channel Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, New Zealand, Romania,
Russia, St Helena, Switzerland, Turkey, and the Caicos Islands."


I was well aware of the reciprocal agreement. When my wife
needed a prescription urgently in Oxford neither the
doctor's receptionist nor the pharmacist had heard of it or
were prepared to research it. I spent quite a while trying
to get them to do so.

I paid £60 for the doc's appointment and about £15 for the
prescription IIRC. The insurance reimbursed me on return.

Nor was my mum, or the Turkish hospital, aware of any
Oz/Turkey agreements. Things may look good on web-sites but
turn out to be a little less useful in an emergency.

That list does not include an awful lot of countries.

I forgot to mention that my Gold-credit-card insurance has
many limitations, particularly for car insurance excess
removal. Having the travel insurance made a tremendous
difference to car rentals in the USA - no need to pay the
additional insurance which is usually higher than the
rental.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
Latest: Drivers, Stepped Wells and Baolis
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Travel Safe --Insure [email protected] Europe 0 November 19th, 2006 01:02 PM
Looking For Cheaper Insurance? Free Auto, Home, Life and Health Insurance Quotes. We Keep Your Information Safe! advisorsunset USA & Canada 0 April 23rd, 2006 07:50 PM
Insure and Go travel insurance? Martin Europe 3 January 31st, 2006 07:19 AM
Travel insurance advice ( with AXA insurance ) Ebodsky Europe 18 July 31st, 2004 08:36 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:37 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.