Should I buy insurance? I'll be there about a week including Florence starting Sept 3. Thanks in advance. Dave

If you are from US, see if your medical insurance covers you in Italy. If not, take out a travel insurance with medical and repatraition cover. You ill be charged as a private patient to access Italian health service, or to be seen privately.

If you are an EU citizen you will have reciprocal coverage and should apply for a free European Health Insurance Card in your own country. Otherwise you may get free treatment for minor matters, or for major matters if the hospital/doctor doesn't bother to bill you, but you can't count on it. You need both medical insurance AND evacuation insurance.

I wouldn't bother if you can ABSOLUTELY guarantee that you won't fall ill, break a bone, be injured in a car accident, be mugged, have a stroke, or anything like that. And you can absolutely guarantee that you won't have anything stolen or need repatriation to your home country. Otherwise you're stuffed.

Bit of a no-brainer really. Apparently large numbers of British tourists go abroad each year with no form of travel insurance. They think the government will sort it out for them. Remarkable.

"Apparently large numbers of British tourists go abroad each year with no form of travel insurance"

Why bother? Get sick in Milan and you'll get better treatment, free, than at home. Crash your car in Milan and your domestic car insurance covers it.

Most of us, most of the time, go to other EU/EEA countries. Buying extra insurance for a journey to one of them is usually just a way of handing cash over to the insurance company for zero benefit.

Or do you take out insurance for a trip to the end of your street?

Is the OP a EU citizen? Sorry, my psychic powers have deserted me.

And if your £1000 camera is stolen? If a close relative dies just before you leave? You break leg just before you leave? Your EHIC card covers repatriation of a dead body home does it? Car insurance gives fully comp coverage in Milan?

Medical emergency in the USA, Africa? EU agreements not much use there either. Or the Channel Islands come to that.

You put some good stuff up here, flanner, but "Or do you take out insurance for a trip to the end of your street?" is just patronising self-opinionated bollocks.

Got into a scooter accident and ended up with broken bones in my rib cage. Went to the hospital in Venice. I was told upon check in "cost is free". I don't know if this is because they did not want to hassle with American insurance or what but I have never paid a dime for the care. In Northern Ireland, broke my arm (yeah, I don't have much luck overseas) and they charged my US healthcare. When they got the bill they were unsure how to process because the costs were far less for the operation than it would have been in the US. They paid 100% and I still never paid anything. Never know but your health insurance should cover you.

Auto insurance is a different story. Mine has always told me that they do not cover me internationally.

Moral: I do not worry about medical (I should given my propensity for injury) but buy super insurance for automobiles.

catherine - some US health-care insurance covers you abroad (mine does for emergency care) and some does not. Most notably, Medicare doesn't.

I became ill in Paris back in the early 1980s and had to go to the ER. DH had to pay the ambulance driver before they would drive me to the hospital (forget how much, but DH had that much in his pocket, so not outrageous). The hospital never charged a dime. DH kept trying to give them our address at home (USA) for sending a bill. They would never write it down...

A few shots (it was an allergic reaction) and I was on the metro back to our hotel.

I have had the same experience overseas. Was charged nothing at a hospital in Dubrovnik, and I paid my bill in Paris with a credit card. Submitted the bill to my insurance (Blue Cross) back in the States, and they paid in full - promptly.

As for insurance to cover shipping me back home for treatment and/or burial, forget about it! I'd love to be forced to recuperate in Paris. If I kick off, I can assume it will not be because of a lack of competent care; plus, if I were that ill, the stress of flying across an ocean would surely tip the scales. Anyway, if I cash in my chips while on vacation, DW knows I would just prefer I be dumped in the cart that comes around every morning. (They still do that, Bring out your dead!", in Europe, don't they?)

Hi strad,

>Should I buy insurance?<

How can I possibly answer that without knowing something about you?
Age, health, itinerary, current ins.........

" is just patronising self-opinionated bollocks."

No. Just patronising. Next time I'll be less polite.

>>>thursdaysd on Aug 23, 09 at 08:16 PM
catherine - some US health-care insurance covers you abroad (mine does for emergency care) and some does not. Most notably, Medicare doesn't.<<<

Mine used to (group policy), but they dropped out of country coverage and we didn't know it. You need to check the fine print every year when your insurance is renewed.

Less polite bollocks? Probably. Do you always react this way when someone has an opinion different to yours? You must be a barrel of laughs to be with. It must be a huge burden, being right about everything.

(They still do that, Bring out your dead!", in Europe, don't they?)

I hope so.

You can fight your own battles, Flanneruk, but what a pompous ass stfc is being. You merely stated that such insurance is a waste of money. Your opinion, which I share, by the way. No need for the name calling; but perhaps stfc is an insurance agent.

The issue is that many people don't need insurance for most of those reasons. I don't, for example -- I don't own expensive cameras, for example, so all of these expensive things being stolen are impossible. If I had to cancel my trip for some unknown reason -- so what, I don't prepay anything, I wouldn't be out any cost except a modest change fee on the airline ticket. One does not need insurance absolutely, besides, it is a matter of risk assessment. One would pay more for insurance over the years than what one recoups, most likely. Medical care is cheaper in Europe than where I live in the US. So, it's isn't really a no-brainer at all.

strad549- I believe from other posts that you are from the US (chicago) so I would say buying travel insurance coverage depends on whether your US insurance covers treatment in Italy and how risk averse you are. Just because a given procedure costs less in Europe than in the US does not mean you could afford it if you had a major injury or illness and needed a lot of care
Usually medical coverage is bundled with other trip insurance

Before I left for Sicily for my trip earlier this year, I checked my insurance provider (a Blue Cross-Blue Shield PPO)to see if I had personal medical coverage. I discovered that not only was I covered -they said they would reimburse anything I paid with copy of bill- but they provided a list of "network"-recommended physicians in the various areas of Italy. short answer: check with your insurance company. It is very possible you already have coverage, and they may provide more info as well.
For a rental car, however, I recommend that you sign up for the high coverage. In any event, READ the agreement carefully to know what is required in order to obtain coverage and/or receive any necessary treatment, etc. Then, read it again.

Sorry for being a pompous ass, nukesafe. No I don't work for the insurance industry.

It is my opinion however that anybody who travels abroad without adequate insurance is a fool, and I find it inexplicable that so many do. That is the view I expressed in my first post. Flanner's response, the opposite opinion as is his privilege, was expressed in a patronising and self-opinionated way, particularly 'Or do you take out insurance for a trip to the end of your street?'. THAT'S pompous, and I make no apologies for my 3rd response. I meant it.