Safety Issues Again....

A piece from The BBC - a cautionary tale, but a very brave woman. Visit her Facebook page HERE

A woman whose husband and daughter died in a speedboat accident has urged other boat users to wear a safety kill cord.

The Milligan family, who were on holiday from London, were thrown out of their boat off Padstow in May 2013.

Nick Milligan, 51, and his daughter Emily, eight, were both killed. Victoria Milligan lost a leg and her son Kit was severely injured.

A report concluded that if a kill cord had been worn the engine would have cut out when they were thrown overboard. The report said that Mrs Milligan was at the helm of the speedboat Milly on the Camel Estuary when BSkyB sales boss Mr Milligan said she should make a turn. Mr Milligan then reached across to take the helm and increased the engine throttle setting to full, throwing the whole family out of the boat. The boat then continued to circle under full power, striking several members of the family.

The report concluded that if a kill cord had been worn at the time, the engine would have cut out when they were thrown overboard.

A passerby filmed the speedboat out of control in the Camel Estuary

Nick Milligan and eight-year-old daughter Emily, left, were killed while his wife Victoria and son Kit were seriously injured

Mrs Milligan has a message for other boat users.

She said: "Please always wear a kill cord. Even if you are coming into shore or a pier, always put it on. Just be aware you are driving a powerful machine and always have the right training."

Mrs Milligan added that the family had received full training before the accident.

"My husband was hugely safety conscious," she said."We had done our speedboat courses. He had always worn a kill cord, what happened to us was a horrific accident." 

Mrs Milligan has been raising money for Cornwall's rescue services. She has already raised more than £250,000 for Cornwall Air Ambulance and presented the organisation with a cheque at its base on Thursday.

"I was slightly dreading going to see the rescue helicopter in situ but I found it incredibly uplifting to give back a huge amount of money to the charity which is fully funding their night flying technology," she said.

"That is going to save lives and that's the best legacy we can leave for Nicko and Emily."

And she is hoping to raise more than £300,000 for the RNLI and Child Bereavement UK in a a charity cycle ride starting in Cornwall. The ride leaves Trevose Golf Club in Cornwall on 20 June and arrives 272 miles later at Trinity Fields, in London on 22 June. There are 125 cyclists taking part with a further 25 riders joining for the final stage on Sunday.

Stay Safe In The Sun

From the BBC:

Sunscreen alone should not be relied on to prevent malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, research suggests. The UK study backs public health campaigns calling for sunscreen to be combined with other ways to protect the skin from sun, such as hats and shade.

Animal research, published in Nature, reveals more about how UV light induces cancer in skin cells. Malignant melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, with more than 13,000 people diagnosed each year. Sun exposure is a well-known risk factor for melanoma skin cancer.

Cancer Research have said It's essential to get into good sun safety habits, whether at home or abroad, and take care not to burn - sunburn is a clear sign that the DNA in your skin cells has been damaged.

But, until now, the molecular mechanism by which UV light damages DNA in skin cells has been unclear. In the new study, scientists at the University of Manchester looked at the effects of UV light on the skin of mice at risk of melanoma. This then allowed them to examine the effects of sunscreen in blocking the disease.

"UV light targets the very genes protecting us from its own damaging effects, showing how dangerous this cancer-causing agent is," said lead researcher Prof Richard Marais.

"Very importantly, this study provides proof that sunscreen does not offer complete protection from the damaging effects of UV light.

"This work highlights the importance of combining sunscreen with other strategies to protect our skin, including wearing hats and loose fitting clothing, and seeking shade when the sun is at its strongest."

Make sure you stay safe in the sun this summer - whether at home or abroad, cover up well because sunburn can ruin your health and your holiday. 

For Holiday Insurance Quotes, please check out our website HERE. 

Roaming Charges.....Again

As always, data roaming charges are back in the travel news again after a British teenager left her parents facing a bill of £2,907 when she used her mother’s mobile phone on a family holiday to stay in touch with friends online

The girl, from Greater Manchester, used the mobile, which is registered in her mother’s name, during a break in the Turkish beach resort.

She claims she only used it to check social media websites such as Facebook, but managed to download 630 MB of data – racking up a bill of almost £3,000 in the process.

The case highlights just how expensive overseas mobile phone use can be, particularly outside the European Union. Unless users purchase a “Data Bundle”, Orange charges £8 per MB for data use in Turkey, meaning just a few minutes’ browsing can cost a small fortune. Bundles reduce the cost dramatically, but still make mobile use far more expensive than in Britain. An Orange bundle permitting up to 20MB use each day costs £3 per day, for example, while one permitting up to 100MB use costs £10 per day. Carissa’s father, said he had bought a data bundle before they left Britain.

“We bought one before we went away, but clearly it wasn't enough,” said the father. “The size of the bill was crazy – far more than we can afford. I've only just set up a new business with my wife.” He says the phone was cut off after the bill passed £1,000, but alleges that an Orange representative, during a telephone conversation, said there had been a mistake and reactivated it. He said it was cut again on the final day of the holiday, when the bill reached its final figure.

Orange said it sent a number of text messages to the mobile phone in question, flagging up the high data use, and initially demanded that the bill be paid in full. Later once it had been contacted by The Telegraph newspaper the firm offered to reduce the bill. 

“We know our customers want to use their phones abroad and that’s why we offer a range of bundles depending on their needs,” said an Orange spokesman. “In this instance, The customer purchased a bundle which was not big enough for her usage. As a gesture of goodwill, we've recalculated her bill with the most appropriate bundles applied.”The move should cut the bill from almost £3,000 to around £200.

As in our previous post, HERE, we always recommend that you check with your mobile provider before travelling outside the UK. returning to a bill of several hundred pounds can totally wipe out any savings carefully made when planning your trip. 

For news, ideas and quotes please check out our website HERE. 

Comparing Canada’s Leading Credit Cards – Emergency Medical Benefits

“I don’t need travel insurance. I already have coverage with my credit card!”
Sound familiar?

This is a common excuse many travellers have for not buying travel insurance. While their credit card travel coverage may be free, it often just doesn’t cut it.

Travel Underwriter's Product Specialists have compared some of Canada’s leading reward credit card providers’ emergency medical coverage. Here are some features that stood out:

Pre-existing condition stability periods:   
Some of these credit cards have pre-existing condition coverage, but their stability periods can’t compete. Travel underwriters’ competitive stability periods let us protect more of the customers, more often.

No penalty for waiting to notify assistance company*
Travel Underwriters puts the customers first, protecting them when they need it most. They don’t penalize travellers for waiting to notify them when something’s gone wrong. With the cards compared, travellers must call immediately before receiving care, leaving them vulnerable in a medical emergency.

Coverage for scuba** and more
Travel Underwriters’ insurance will provide coverage for fun ways to unwind including scuba diving**. This allows your customers to take the vacations they want.
                                                                             
The product you buy has the right coverage, with higher limits and more options, ensuring you feel protected on their travels.

Bridges International Insurance Services is an agent of Travel Underwriters.

Passport Trouble.....

After our recent article about passport renewal it seems we were just in time. MPs say they have been inundated with complaints from constituents who have found their passport applications delayed and friends on Facebook have shared their thoughts regarding the delay.

Thousands of people face having their summer holidays ruined because a growing backlog at the Passport Office means they may not receive their documents in time.

Some new applications are now taking as much as two months to process and there are warnings things could get even worse as the holiday season gets into full swing.

The backlog has already reached half a million according to some estimates and staff from other departments have now been drafted in to help deal with the growing crisis.

But unions claim officials only acted when the backlog reached 350,000, by which time it too late to make a significant impact.

They claim poorly paid staff are being forced to “paper over the cracks” by working overtime and have waned they could be forced to take industrial action unless urgent steps are taken to address their concerns.

In a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph Newspaper, the Unions says many of the current problems can be traced back to job cuts at the Passport Office and the use of private companies to undertake work that used to be done in-house.

As mentioned in our article HERE, you really should give yourselves plenty of time before your holiday to renew or order a passport.

For Travel Insurance quotes and Information check our website HERE.www.holsure.com