Travel Insurance-How Much Can You Drink?

Question

I was watching the TV the other night and this bloke was explaining that he was in serious debt.

The reason for this was: He and his wife were in America and she was taken bad (do not know the full details) she was taken to hospital and there the Docs and Nurses attended to her.

They both had travel insurance to cover them so they were quite happy.

##Like I said earlier I do not know the full details but##

A few days later the travel insurance company rang the husband to ask how she was…then they dropped the bombshell and told him they were not going to pay the medical bill for the reason that she was intoxicated/drunk!

Even though she claims that she only had the one drink and this was not a cause of the injury! They were not going to pay the bill.

This worries me because when I am abroad I have the occasional few drinks-simply because I am on holiday. And if I do have a drink (I will) and am unfortunate to have an accident then there is a good chance that the medical cover will not cover me.

I will get to the point now: How many drinks if any are allowed to have before the insurance becomes void?

Need some advice please?

Answer 1

If the doctor reports the cause of an accident as being due to alcohol intoxication, the insurance company is perfectly within their rights to not cover the costs.  The insurance is for *accidents,* not for people who get drunk and s***w up their lives.

Answer 2

Zero.  If you ever read the exclusions on a travel policy, it has to be something completely unpreventable, to be covered - AND something that's never happened to you before, so is unexpected.  

Drinking has intended and expected consequences, even if it's only one drink - so it voids the coverage.

Answer 3

I don't think there'll be a set limit, what will be the 'decider' is whether the amount of alcohol consumed was a contributing factor. Will also depend on how the policy is worded.

You drink 10 pints .....falling down the stairs is going to get a whole different reaction to catching galloping wotnots from a dodgy kebab on the way home.

You wouldn't expect to claim for aspirin to get over a hangover would you ?  OK a silly example but you get the drift.

The example you quote... I bet there was a lot more to it than she'd had 1 drink... I mean come on, in most countries you can still legally drive after one... any insurer would struggle to refuse to pay out on that basis surely, unless she REALLY couldn't hold her booze.

If you get hurt through getting drunk.... well that's really self inflicted isn't it ?

But I'd say... certainly if you are insured in the UK, a couple of glasses of wine with dinner isn't going to be a big deal.

I reckon the insurer would have to show that the alcohol was a 'major' contributor to the 'accident'... using the 'reasonable' test. They can't say ... Oh you had a sweet sherry, so it's your fault.

Have a great holiday and have a drink for me... but not TOO many for yourself !