Hey everyone,

After traveling to Ghana in Africa and volunteering there for three months i have found myself desperatly wanting to see more of the world! So i am planning to travel with a friend using an around the world ticket but we have no specific time scale, were gonig for the whole "travel until the money runs out" idea.

Anyhow i was just wondering what type of insurance i would need to go for, i have looked a little into backpackers insurance, Is that my only option? how do i book the insurance without knowing how long i will be traveling and what sort of prices should i expect to pay!

Any suggestions would be greatly appretiated, there seems to be many friendly and helpful people on here so i thought this was the best place to ask!

What have you looked into so far? I have never personally used traveler insurance, but my work provides me with a Manu Assistance card. I've never had to use it, so I don't know how good it is.

I have heard good things about World Nomads, but nothing specific.

I just looked into different Backpackers insurance but i dont know what level of cover i would be best getting and some of the prices vary drematically from just over 100 pounds for 12 months up to 300 pounds.
I know that insurance is something important but i dont want to be ripped off, because i need to budget my money!

I use insurance on and off, depending where I am. I'm currently insured (with World Nomads) cos' I'm in Asia, and as it happens I actually need to use it cos' I got run over by a motorbike in Laos last week and now I'm in Bangkok to get mended. I'll let you know how I get on with World Nomads. Yesterday I called them to find out the whole claims procedure and had a ridiculous conversation with a woman who didn't even know Laos was a country, and didn't understand the concept of not being on 'holiday'. The phone call achieved nothing and cost me a night's accommodation. In about an hour I'm gonna get myself to hospital and get myself sorted. I'll worry about the idiots afterwards. If I get no joy, I'll never waste my time on travel insurance again..

Yes, get on getting sorted so we can all feel better, especially you! Am curious to know how the insurance pans out.....never had to make a claim.

Yeah good look with getting yourself sorted, i imagine getting run over by a moterbike isnt a pleasant experience.
It's a strange concept purchasing something that you hope you will never have to use! Thank you for the advice info hope all goes well with the claim and mending!

I truly feel for you - I'm a very laid back person, but when I am on the phone to a call centre, I can feel my blood pressure starting to rise - 90% of the time they don't seem to have a clue what you are talking about, even after explaining it two or three times - grrrrr.

Let us know how you get on at the hospital.

*sigh* Yes, call centres *blech*

Actually I'm just going now. Found out at the last minute yesterday it wasn't a public hospital (I'm only 'allowed' to go to a public hospital.) Found out there's one about an hour out of Bangkok. Will let you know..

Hey Scott,

I know we've only chatted once or twice, but it seems our thoughts and concerns on the site often mirror each others. I'm gutted to hear about your accident. I'm in Laos right now, and having done the motorcycle thing any number of times, can relate to the feeling of "Oh crap" in getting an injury over here.

I don't have any travel insurance. I had no love in trying to find a place to insure me for as long as I've been out here on the road, two plus years now. Or it was so expensive I wouldn't be able to stay out here that long. It's stupid, I know. I guess my karma's been getting me by so far. In Africa when I was sick, it was cheap and I just paid out of my pocket. In Nepal when I had to go to a clinic, it was expensive as hell.

I hope all is well with you. If you are still in Asia, maybe we'll meet up somewhere. I'll be heading to Bangkok quite soon as I'm nearly out of money after all this time, and my girlfriend and I might head there looking for work.

All the best,
DJ

Jeepers, how'd you get run over by a motorbike?! Passed out in the road again? Seriously, I hope you are OK and got fixed up. The "public hospitals" only rule is a new one on me. When I get sick in BKK I used to go to the 5 Star hospitals like Bumrungrad, which have Starbucks and McDonalds in them! Bizarre...

cheerio

Cheers Steve-o. Well I'm out of hospital now after yet another Woz-shocker and back in my own bed, at least a bed without round the clock care. I'm slowly on the mend at last and the guys at the Bangkok hospital have put me on a rigorous physio schedule over the next seven days. I guess we'll see..


Good call. Well I'll be down here in Phuket certainly for the next five or six weeks. I'll be recovering and slowly getting some strength back in to this bashed and battered body of mine. May join a local Muay Thai club to really get back on track.

Mate seriously, if you're hanging in Bangkok and fancy a few days away from the pollution or a swift weekend away or even fancy heading down this way as an alternative, just let me know. Would be good to swill a couple of Singhas on the beach with yer. Might be able to let you crash here for a couple of days too depending on my circumstances at the time. If not, I may get up to Bangkok in the next couple of weeks to sort out the usual visa mess, though I'm gonna try and make it happen in Phuket. Keep us posted.

Oh and incidentally, the last hospital situation wasn't worth the claim as the policy excess outweighed the cost of the treatment, just ended up losing a night's accommodation on a phone call to that stupid representative who didn't know where Laos was.

The new hospital bill from last week (not a public one this time) came to $4000 US and I'm currently waiting on World Nomads to pay up. If they don't I'll be bruised financially, and if they don't I'll never be bothering with travel insurance again. It's not like it's a cheap policy either.

Wow, travel insurance is so sketchy sometimes! Good luck on getting reimbursed...

I'm glad to hear you're doing better. What's physio like?

Hi Scott,

I'm the General Manager for World Nomads and the recipient of a tuk tuk to the thigh in Cambodia last month.

Firstly, I'm horrified to read of the poor service you received when calling. Bottom line is it's not good enough and in regards to not knowing Laos was a country is just flat embarrassing. I'm going to message you if you don't mind not only to ensure that you're well, but also to find out a little more about your experience with the customer service team.

Our primary aim is to ensure all of our customers keep travelling safely and that we support you to ensure you get the most out of your trip. This is not by any means the norm from our team so I will be following up.

I hope you're well and safe and again apologise for the poor customer service you received on this occasion.

Chris Noble
General Manager
WorldNomads.com

This is encouraging to read. Hopefully it works out for ya Wozzy. The fact that they seem like they care is a good sign....

How did it got with World Nomads Scott?

I always have travel insurance whenever I go somewhere - it's usually about 10% of the cost of my ticket so I figure that's a cost that's worth paying. Before you start looking around for prices you really need to know what places you plan to hit - cover for the US is waaaaay more expensive than cover for Asia. Most policies will only cover you for a year, although some will allow you to extend them; if you choose to get a round the world ticket they generally only last for a year anyway.

Here if 'they' know you're gone for more than a year you get a real hassle b/c your OHIP runs out. (Ontario Health Insurance Policy) which covers hospital stays and general health etc and that's really not a great situation to be on.....

Toekoms should be fine - they're in the UK so the National Health continues regardless.

Well it seems like Chris cares at least. Just hope we can get it sorted..


Chris, thanks for your mail and your post (AND your original email of before). Nice to see someone associated actually take an active interest. It's only now that I've got proper internet access again after two weeks to-ing and fro-ing from the hospital, so now I can start giving answers.

To spare the unnecessary details for the readers here I'll email you the details, ref numbers, claim numbers, dates and times etc directly so that you can look into. I'll post the results here, as it seems quite a few people are interested in seeing the outcome. Will be in touch. Thanks again..

Hey Scott,

Glad to hear you are on the mend. I"m up in the north right now, in Pai, leaving tomorrow. I'm thinking of going to a Muay Thai gym as well, but just as a story idea I have about being out of shape and getting my ass kicked.

My girlfriend and I should be in Bangkok by around Christmas or shortly after. I'll drop you a line once I"m down in that part of the country. Would great to meet up if possible. Rest up and feel better.
DJ

Cheers mate, look forward to it. And go easy at the gym - it hurts..

I've never had to use it