Why Travel Insurance Is Not Just An Extra Holiday Expense
In 2003 founder members of Coverhunter.com, Gary and Geoff Fincher were away
on a skiing trip with friends. At this time, most insurance policies were not
offering hazardous/winter sports as an option, it generally had to be requested
or a separate policy written; however, it was available and as we were to find
out, it was something that we should have given a lot more though to.
It was great week high up in the Italian Alps until the final morning. I
remember following our instructor and I was closely followed by my friend Jon;
we were flying! We stopped half way down the run to wait for the others , but
they never arrived. After a few minutes our instructor realized something was
wrong and called for help on his two-way radio. We had just come down a very
challenging blue run that had big jumps when taken at speed so we feared the
worst. We slowly started our ascent and after about 20 minutes, came over a brow
to see our group standing around with their skis crossed in the snow. "Oh no,
it's your dad" my friend said. Sure enough my dad was lying there with a
dislocated shoulder, it wasn't a pretty sight and he was in a lot of pain.
A first aid crew quickly arrived and he was loaded onto a sled and taken to
the resort clinic with the group in pursuit. On arrival I was asked if my father
was insured, thankfully we both were, I provided the documents and was assured
that everything was in order and that he would be given the best care. A doctor
soon arrived and twisted my father's arm back into its socket, it was amazing to
watch the pain drain away from my father's face. They applied the biggest
bandage and we set off to meet the remaining members of our party
When we gathered for an après ski drink the subject naturally turned to the
incident and travel insurance. Out of six of us only three had the correct
insurance, two others had insurance but with no winter sports coverage and one
had no cover what so ever.
Some important lessons we all learned were:
- Don't go on holiday without insurance, always make sure you have the
correct coverage for your trip and activities
- If you can't your policy certificate with you, carry a piece of paper
with your policy number and emergency telephone numbers.
- Enjoy yourself and don't let avoidable expense ruin your trip.
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- Geoff Fincher, February 2008