From previous experience I found when I had to call upon my travel insurence it was slow to help and ultimately would of been cheeper to save the premium, this is also the experience of my friend. Therefore this time I have decided to travel without it (am I insane?) also are there any countries in south america that require tourists to have travel insurance to enter?
I asume the answer is no but just want to make sure.

david.

Never heared of it being needed so forget it if you don´t think it´s worth having.
Fraser

When you say travel insurance, are you talking about insurance for
trip interuptions, stolen items, lost items and such?

Does it cover medical? If so, then I would consider it.

Of course MOST of those companies are not going to spring to your aid
when your in Bolivia or other remote areas. What you can do, and many
have, is document your losses and submit them for claims when you
return to the UK.

Some companies will pay, others will work hard to find reasons to
deny your claims. Read ALL the fine print.

If your insurance covers medical and evacuation, it MAY be worth
while...if it actually works when you need it. The Med-Jet company
and some others actually do come through, or so I've heard.

If its just for loss of personal property then I'd give it a pass.

Someone I know just bought "travel" insurance on a recent Italy trip just because she needed a new camera. She "claimed" her camera was stolen
and got paid for its replacement. Plus, she was covered if anything
else happened. In truth, she gave the camera to a friend and
falsified the claim. Got a new $600 digital camera off them.

These are the reasons why its so hard to actually collect on
these policies: too many folks running scams.

Funnily enough, a friend did manage to recover $2,500 USD from a
Mexican Auto insurance company for crash damage to his bike.
I was stunned at his success. He had booked the policy online
before we went. We saw a Mexican adjuster at the border and
about a month later he got a check.

Good luck and I hope you never need the insurance...

Patrick