Travel Insurance ... should I or shouldn't I 'risk' going without it?

[Linda farley]

I've got a dilemma ... I've had some blood tests done, some are back and others are still being processed and depending upon the results may require more investigation, or nothing at all (nothing serious, just trying to get to the bottom of my somewhat OTT allergy reaction).

The problem is that whilst this is going on I can't legitimately get travel insurance as I have to declare that I'm having 'investigations' and/or 'awaiting test results'. We were originally planning on going this Thursday but put it off until next Thursday to allow for the bloods to come back but it looks like it's gonna be the end of this week at the earliest then of course I'll need to know what the plan is from my GP etc.

We've always had travel insurance and I'm the first to stay not having it is silly however we are so fed up and want to get away (need to be back in mid-July as that's when Mum's flat sale is likely to complete) that we're seriously considering only having it for hubby so we can get away before the summer madness and temperatures. We're thinking of down to the bottom of France then coming back up via Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France over a period of 2 months, and other than me messing about in my kayak occasionally we don't do anything even remotely risky but I appreciate it's not just activities which travel insurance in intended for.

The EHIC/GHIC covers for emergency medical care as well as chronic and pre-existing conditions where you can't wait for treatment, but obviously not for repatriation which is the main thing we want it for, ie not bothered about the usual stuff such as lost baggage, missed departure etc. I've been trying to see if I can get just 'repatriation' cover but this isn't as straightforward and tends to only repatriate if you are dead!

Anyone got any suggestions?

Hi, 4 years ago I had a stroke and did not have insurance. Was in Galicia which is a bit third worldly. The ehic replacement covered everything In Spain . The most difficult things were booking a disabled cabin ( seems everyone loves them) and as I was totally paralysed down the left actually getting into the Moho. My husband built a stair case which was a great conversation piece on the boat. It was grim but we did it. Having had the stroke in spain the worse thing was getting help in England , there wasn’t any. I’ve managed this year to get insurance but as I haven’t had another stroke in 4 years I’m not convinced it’s worth the money. Still will go for it though .