megmet

I was going to say that we used ALC.....but we paid 264€ (using an agent), we will have to have a serious look around before renewal!

billgates

I travel back to the UK regularly but never think about insurance.
What do you expect to get for your money? I can't think that I would be stranded anywhere, if my flight was cancelled in the uk then there are relatives nearby, likewise if the flight is cancelled at Malaga then I just go home.
Why would someone like me require travel insurance for this sort of journey?

billgates

And another thing....
Surely the airline is liable for a cancelled flight?
They would also be liable for any lost luggage.

Lynn R

I think the cancellation element of travel insurance relates to flights that the passenger might have to cancel (eg because of illness) rather than those cancelled by the airlines themselves. Also, if you miss your flight because of travel problems en route to the airport (as we nearly did once due to an accident on the motorway) you would be out of pocket if you didn't have insurance.

Until recently the most an airline had to pay out for lost luggage was £14 per kilo, so if the contents of your suitcase were expensive you would have lost out if relying on that. I believe the maximum amount of compensation has now increased to £850 but I bet it's not easy to get that out of the airline!

jackytoo

Supposing you had an illness/accident in the UK and could only travel back by ambulance. Insurance covers repatriation.

megmet

That is just what I was going to say Jacky!

Many people have fallen foul with that one, a serious operation and travel home by air ambulance costs many thousands of pounds, so it's well worth the insurance......unless of course you happen to be one of those immortal people who don't need it.

VFR

I can see where Billgates is coming from as he would stay with relatives in the UK until he was better should the worse happen, so no need to be repatriated.

SpanishAngel

Easy to say but the practicalities might be very different. The moral is never travel abroad without insurance. The cost of an annual policy far outweighs the potential problems/cost of travelling without.

billgates

But surely the European Health Card covers emergency treatment?

billgates

And I'll bet that most expats still have a correspondence address in the UK, at a relative or friends house, and should they need to see a doctor for non-emergency treatment then why not just say they now live there?

I dunno, for the minimal risk of missing your flight because of a motorway accident or breakdown, the very unlikely requirement of repatriation, the potential hassle in getting compensation for lost luggage, travel insurance when just popping between the UK and Spain on a regular basis just seems an expense that's not worth bothering with.
Life's all about risk and to my mind this is one of the most minor of them.

Mitzyboy

You would think so, but only for an emergency. If you are feeling ill or need to go to a doctor under normal circumstances, you will be charged. £30 for a consultation last time it happened to me

It's not that easy. You need to be registered with a doctor, and to do that you have to provide utility bills etc. So if you are going to do that, basically you have to lie through your teeth to achieve it.

jackytoo

Insurance Co's have a habit of checking where you live. Know someone who lives in Spain and had BUPA insurance. T&C's covered him for stays of about 3 months. He had a heart operation in málaga...BUPA did some checking, found he had actually been in Spain longer and refused to pay the 12000€ bill. This was a long time ago.

Soapdish

I still think Trailfinders is the best. Based in London but my whole family gets their travel insurance through them and you can be living in Spain and its no problem. My son had a mishap playing football in the park while on holiday in the USA and we informed them straight away and he had his op on his knee within 48 hours. Once we sent them all the paperwork, they paid us up within the month!
They have different levels of insurance, normal, silver and gold. I pay about 112 pounds per year for the gold insurance.

mikelincs

repatriation cost around £10,000 about 4 years ago, I had a friend who needed it to get back to the UK from Spain where he was living, luckily he was an ex policeman and the police union paid for it, he had been diagnosed with terminal lung Ca and wanted to be back in the UK when he died as his sons and other relatives were there, he lasted 7 days after getting there.

bobd22

Yes the Police Federation has a good insurance package that Cops can pay into which provides various cover including life legal cover and holiday insurance and retired cops can continue to pay into it up to age 65 on retirement beauty of it is it covers you for multiple trips up to 60 days and can be used for life cover and travel if living overseas, well worthwhile continuing to pay into about £25 a month for husband and wife.