Shocking Problems If You Don't Buy Travel Insurance

Without insurance, families of travelers who die while traveling may need a lot of money and face language and legal barriers to bring their loved ones home.

Death is the last thing on the mind of holidaymakers, but it is something to consider. “Not being prepared for the worst can cost your family,” says UK funeral director Jackie Lymn Rose, who has 30 years of experience as a repatriation specialist – helping to bring the deceased back home from abroad.

Rose said that in addition to the grief, the cost of repatriation and transporting the body from one country to another can cost tens of thousands of dollars, along with many complicated legal procedures that the family of the tourist must face.

Shocking Problems If You Don't Buy Travel Insurance — ***Rose has 30 years of experience in repatriating bodies.*** Photo: Aw Lymn Rose The Family

Rose describes repatriation as the process of “returning a body to the country of their citizenship,” and there are many steps involved, depending on the laws and customs of the country where the traveler died, as well as the circumstances of their death. In addition, flights to bring the body back home may not take off on time, be delayed, or be canceled.

Rose advises travelers to purchase travel insurance when vacationing abroad and to read it carefully to ensure that they are covered in the event of death. Having insurance that covers this issue will save loved ones from having to worry about everything, as in many cases the cost of repatriation is very high and not everyone can afford it.

Rose has seen many cases of tourists dying while traveling abroad without repatriation insurance, and was “heartbroken” when she witnessed a tourist die while on vacation in the Canary Islands. Their family needed more than $100,000 to bring their loved one home because they had no insurance.

Another case involved an elderly couple on vacation in Tenerife, Spain. One of them died suddenly. The Spanish authorities told Rose that the body could not be brought back to the UK for burial without paying nearly $10,000 in upfront costs.

Garry Nelson, director of corporate affairs at a UK travel insurance company, said that “costs can mount up quickly” when it comes to repatriation. Nelson pointed out that an air ambulance , with a medical escort, from Spain to the UK can cost $30,000 to $36,000. In cases where a body needs to be transported across continents, such as from Europe to the US, the cost can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In addition, the waiting time to receive the body of a loved one is also a time of grief and discomfort for the family. If a person dies of natural causes, it can take 5-7 days for the family to have the body repatriated. But in some cases, it can take several weeks.

Travel experts suggest travelers purchase insurance when traveling abroad, and find out in advance what they're covered for to "make the process of saying goodbye to a loved one as easy as possible," Rose said.

According to vnexpress.net

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