InsureAndGo insurance - more like insure and don't go

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.

someone

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.

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

--
(*) 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

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...
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.

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

--

Unfortunately, some companies will refuse to deal with you if you refuse to
insure. So if you want to go to e.g. Antarctica on a package trip (which is
just about the only way you can do it), forget it. You must have insurance.

someone

someone wrote:

Unfortunately, some companies will refuse to deal with you if you refuse to
insure. So if you want to go to e.g. Antarctica on a package trip (which is
just about the only way you can do it), forget it.

I'll need to remember that next time I plan a trip to Antartica.

--
(*) 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

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

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

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

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!

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

"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