Originally Posted by
hfly
As for travel insurance, that is generally a UK thing and statistically is a waste of money, partially accepted by everyone in the UK as essential because of a government backed ad campaign for over a decade aimed at making sure that the bucket and spade crowd didn't overwhelm British missions abroad.
Also driven by most Brits not having health insurance (on the US model) and thus not being covered when travelling to bits of the world that consider healthcare a privildege rather than a right.