Another very good reason for travel insurance

Katya

Australian Traveler Dies in Indian Hospital

My heart goes out to this man's family. I guess what we can all learn from this is the importance of travel insurance when travelling in India, because you DON'T know what can happen while travelling, and even a minor illness can become life threatening if stuck in a rural Indian hospital. (I'm not suggesting this man's paralysis was minor, but I doubt he would have died from it in Australia).

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Aishah

Katya - I have moved your thread to Health and Well Being where travel insurance discussions are. Travel news and Commentaries is mainly for news items that have an effect on travel e.g. plane strikes etc.

I knew George - when I stayed up in Landour I used to see him over the last three years. It was an appalling situation when he fell down the kud (a steep valley). And it is here on this forum, this morning that I now find out he has died. Another of my Landour friends has been keeping me in touch with how things were going with him, but even she may not know this so will send her an email with your link. An awful thing to happen to such a lively man, and I feel very saddened by this news.

Re travel insurance - pros and cons for this I feel for those of us who spend a lot of time/ live in India. I don't have it - I shall rely on the medical services here and as I approach an older age, am quite philosophical about all this.

Not knowing the full circumstances, my friend did tell me he was in an excellent hospital in Delhi, to be stabilized ready for travel. What he suffered from his fall was not minor - I think the outcome may have been the same in Australia or here. There are Delhi hospitals which are amongst the best in the world.

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Katya

Thanks, Aishah for a personal take on the story. I am so sorry to hear that you lost a friend, and that you found out like this.

Yes, long term travel/living in India does present a more complicated argument around insurance. A considered and philosophical decision not to take out insurance is seems quite valid, and it sounds like this might have been George's story too.

But I did think it was a good opportunity for us all to put ourselves in his situation (any of us could undergo such a serious and freak accident) and see what a frustrating and potentially dangerous situation it would be for us, and the pain and heartache it would cause our families - too many travelers forget travel insurance in a careless and unconsidered manner. I think it is important to realise that your government might not be able to help you, and that the cost to you and your family might be astronomical.

I really do feel for his family, having gone to so much effort to raise the funds to bring him home, and to achieve such a mammoth task, only to have their hopes dashed in the end, in such a tragic manner.

Nick-H

Whilst the cost of care in India is not astronomical compared to some other countries, it may still be more than the traveller can afford. The cost of repatriation/evacuation, especially in the case of complete paralysis, certainly would be astronomical.

This is such a sad story. Condolences to Aishah, other friends and family.

On a practical note, insurers are fond of restrictions, for obvious reasons, and if the intention is to climb mountains, or even to trek, then one should check that it is covered.

dillichaat

My condolences to the friends and family of the victim.

I don't agree with the above. If the impact of such a decision in case things go wrong would be strictly limited to the person involved then yes, I would agree. But it's not limited. In case something happens the government (which, imho rightly refused here) would be approached to step in, family members will be tapped and have to choose between coughing up large sums or letting their loved one die etc etc. As this sad case illustrates, costs can be astronomical, especially if you're admitted to icu and need medevac. It's just not responsible not to take precautions and shove the risk and costs onto others' shoulders.

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Haylo

I'm so sorry that you heard about it this way, what a horrible shock. When I saw the title of the article, my heart was in my mouth as I waited to see if it was about another Australian that I'm currently concerned about, so I can imagine how you felt.

IF you have people back home who care about you enough for them to be prepared to spend their own money on your medical costs, I think you owe it to them to take out insurance.

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steven_ber

My little incident seems trivial in this thread, but it needs to be said in a thread that will attract people thinking of not buying travel insurance.

I never get travel insurance, mostly because of cost, and a little to do with laziness, but I've never had a problem, so why worry.

A few days before the end of my last trip I slipped on some marble steps at the Salvation Army place in Mumbai, I quickly realised that I hadn't broken any bones, but the pain was such that I thought I had internal injuries, or maybe internal bleeding, my mind really starting going into overdrive about getting home.

I had no money left, so couldn't go to hospital (if that's what was needed), I knew I couldn't tell that airline about any injury as they stop people flying if they have a back injury, so I had to hope that if I had internal bleeding I would be OK till I got back to London nearly 3 days later.

I worried over nothing and in the end I was fine, but I'll take travel insurance next time I go, the small percentage it adds to the overall cost is really worth it.

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*jyoti*

I have medical evacuation insurance is only a few dollars a month. I'm not sure if it requires regular health insurance or not. A friend's mother was in Nepal a couple years ago, and when they were in the mountains she broke her leg and had to be helicoptered to Kathmandu & then flown to UK. The medical evac insurance paid for all of it.

And driving a scooter in Delhi has reminded me to do some research on hospitals here, also, so I know where I want to get treatment if something does happen!

Aishah

Glad you were fine, Steven. An interesting anecdote and serves to show us all, anything can happen at anytime.