Infuriating Websites & no Travel Insurance

2 minute read time.
After spending frustrating hours trawling through site after site looking for travel insurance I have finally got the price down just below £1000 for an 18 day trip to Florida next year for my son's wedding. I'm already fuming because the price for me is about £230 dearer because of booking a single room, and the flight and hotel alone has come to £929. "That's easy! says my son. "You just get somebody to go with you and it will be down to £700 like ours" Now this may give you a slight indication why I am a little lacking in the 'barnet' stakes after spending 25 years living with this giant of logical thinking. I only need to talk somebody into an unwanted holiday costing megabucks and I can save a couple of hundred pounds. Why oh why didn't I think of this! I'm now at £1900 and got flight, hotel and insurance. Hang on while I get a toilet roll to make a list of all the other costs we haven't got to yet.Let's start with...... I'm self employed so no holiday pay, my business stops earning if I'm not grafting so there's three weeks with no incoming cash. But all my business expenses keep on bobbing along which will add about another thousand pounds (it does seem less if it's words not figures) Money to spend while I'm there. Who knows what that great unknown will be. Anyone got a guess? Car Hire, another couple of hundred The mandatory theme park admissions, and they like to do them all, and insist everyone comes with them. Cost of getting to/from the airport, which is definitely down to me. They already want me to provide this by getting everybody there in my coach, so 2 days wages for the driver. So realistically I'm looking at somewhere in the region of £4500 for the whole thing. Am I alone in thinking they are being very selfish? apparently not. The vast amount of relatives just cannot go, so it will be a tiny wedding with about 16 people attending. Why can't they get married here and then honeymoon over there, even get the ceremony done again once they get there. He says if they do it here they would end up inviting loads of guests they don't want to invite. (remember this is Mr Logic we are talking about.) So tonight I will pop over there and let them see the printouts from the insurance quotes I waded through last night. I'll just anticipate the conversation a little, it will go something like this : "Can't you just not mention the cancer" "I've got another 2 cameras up my ____ (rhymes with throb) before next April, the price for that insurance isn't fixed if anything changes" "You'll be O.K, just do it now" "Works really tight at the minute, people are just not spending. I'm subsidising myself every month" "Well you must have money put by" "At present I'm chasing people who are late paying" "Can't you make them pay faster" "That's a great idea Neil, I'll start with you. How's about sorting me out with the cash for the car I bought for you in February" I just wish I was in my twenties again so I knew everything. Bren p.s What was that bit about infuriating websites? Spend 20 minutes filling in forms and at the end you get : WE CANNOT OFFER YOU AN ONLINE QUOTE BECAUSE OF YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY. PLEASE PHONE FOR A QUOTE. (sod it I'm off to the pub)
Anonymous
  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi

    I have just cancelled my holiday for two weeks in October.  I have been looking forward to it for months but then two weeks ago diagnosed with cancer.

    Annual insuance which we have had for over 10 years with BOOTS - was due for renewal on 24th August (the day of my op) and when I phoned they said they were unable to insure me because of the cancer.  I pointed out that when I booked the holiday I was fighting fit and I thought thatw was partly what insurance was for.  No such thing -  they said you will not be insured in OIctober and therefore unable to cancel via the insurance. Huh.

    Our GP said typical of insurance companies they can wriggle their way out of everything and anything...and they do.  I took out the insurance anyway as it stood so covered for missed departures etc and baggage and of course any thing else that may happen as long as it is not connected to the cancer - who knows what may happen in the future.

    I have onlly been married 15 years to Tom and we just sneaked off to register office with two witnesses and told no one. I booked a days holiday from work!

    My  mother weas a little disappointed - she said I did her out of a new outfit!

    Boots told me to try a company called All Clear ( sounds like something to clear the drains!) but I could not be bothered to hang onthe phone for  ages and ages at my expense - so tried on line. They will insure all cancers etc  but only for the duration of the holiday and the premium just for me was in some cases more than the holiday itself! (and I bet there is still the small print).

    Take care

    Maralyn

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Thanks all for the information. Every site you try makes you put all personal details in or you can't progress to the next screen. I've learnt to make little 'errors' in addresses at this stage to save getting bombarded with crap mail the week after. And to put a digit out in my mobile number or get prevent tele sales calls. But my day ended up ****** because I ended up talking to BT call centre. - If you've seen the Jim Davidson 'Buying a radio for his boat' sketch you'll know EXACTLY what I mean.

    and Glenna, paying for things wasn't a lesson he took to heart very well. We should have named him Arthur Daley, but only when it comes to his father.

    Anyway skydiving or white water rafting sounds like a much more restful hol than mine's likely to be. Think I'll do that instead.

    Bren