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Rozbowen

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Hi All

This is my first post so be gentle with me :)

Not a fully paid up liveaboard :( no boat as yet but investigating the financial implications and options.

* What is the best bank account to allow free withdrawals from all EU countries if such an institute exists

* What is the best organisation for GBP to Euros transfers. Some are free but the rates are low

* What do you do for healthcare?

Many thanks in advance

Roz
 
Don't think there are any "free" banking services. Often discussed on this forum, but there is never any consensus as deals change all the time and individual requirements change so you just have to shop around at the time to see what is on offer.

On healthcare, it depends on your circumstances, where you are travelling and your attitude to risk. Many people are quite happy relying on an EHIC (if they are eligible) if travelling in Europe and maintain the right to NHS service in the UK. Typical travel insurance is usually not appropriate for a liveaboard lifestyle, but you can get specialist insurance at a price. If you are reasonably fit and have any medical conditions under control then the EHIC plus always ensuring you have access to emergency funds is probably the way to go in Europe. If you are travelling further afield you may wish to review that.
 
think about opening a bank account in a european country (particularly if you are still in UK). It takes time, loads of paperwork but is well owrthwhile. My bank account is in France (Credit Agricole). Plenty of forex companies about - buy a property magazine like "French Property News" and there are many adverts and loads of useful info.
 
Nationwide has a current account with a £10 monthly fee which allows charge free withdrawals in Europe (and other various insurance benefits). Their VISA card is also charge free in Europe.
Medical insurance is so expensive that it´s best to rely on a combination of an EHIC card and self insurance.
For big transfers, someone like HIFX, but you would need to have a receiving bank account
 
With Citibank you can have sterling & euro accounts, online transfers between the two and free withdrawals from Eurozone ATMs.
 
I have an account with ABN-Amro in Holland. I believe it is easy to set up from UK, they have translations of most pages, although I opened it when I lived in Holland. We transfer funds from UK from time to time, with a reasonable fee (£15 I think) We are then able to use ATMs throughout Europe at no cost, although we pay €3 per month to hold the bank card.

My experience of EHIC is very good, I had surgery in Greece, well done, that cost me nothing. A friend suffered some sort of stroke there and was also treated very well, including free transport by ferry in the company of a doctor and nurse to another island where the necessary treatment was available. All on EHIC.
 
Have look at Norwich & Peterborough current account. We have been cruising for over 20 years all over Europe and Turkey and USA. We used to use Nationwide BS but they started to charge and we still don't like their account that charges £10 a a month. So our current account at N & P does not charge us for foreign transactions on our debit cards and they also give us an excellent exchange rate for Euros and dollars. We have used this account for nearly 4 years now. we have medical cover through Pantaenius online for world wide cover - annual policy and quite reasonable We think. good luck.
 
For cash we use a pre-pay card from CaxtonFX (http://www.caxtonfxcard.com/). You pay for this with the lower exchange rate they offer to load the card but you pay no ATM fees (unless the owner of the ATM charges in which case we use a free back ATM). It works well for us, we can load the card online and then walk immediately to the nearest ATM and get the cash out.

We use the EHIC for healthcare. I've used it a couple of times in Greece (broken wrist and minor heart trouble) and it works very well. SWMBO used it for treatment for a broken finger in Spain, Italy and Malta. I had surgery for colon cancer here (in Greece) too, we paid for that ourselves and it was only 7000 Euros, that's probably less than a couple of years of decent health insurance premiums. The healthcare here is more accessible, cheaper, and just as good as at home. We can't envisage needing to be repatriated for healthcare. We'd have anything needed done here.

BTW. I reckon the EHIC is a win-win too. I get access to Greek healthcare at no cost to me and I'm pretty sure the Greeks bill the NHS a lot less for the treatment I've had than the NHS would charge themselves....
 
Here in Corfu, if the new main island hospital near the marina discovers that you have health insurance, they clear you off to the nearest private hospital known locally as "The Polyclinic". Otherwise the EHIC is fine. You get served quicker at the "NHS" too!..
 
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Hope I got it right.

Still in uk at the moment but will be gone by next june. I have used Barclays international in jersey (channel islands) for some years and will have both sterling and euro accounts when we go. All my money will go to the sterling account and I will transfer over when the rate is good.

EHIC I've not used yet but am interested to hear any more info on it. I have daily doses to take and am keen to hear how others get on with supplies.
 
keithgdg said:
Still in uk at the moment but will be gone by next june. I have used Barclays international in jersey (channel islands) for some years and will have both sterling and euro accounts when we go. All my money will go to the sterling account and I will transfer over when the rate is good.

EHIC I've not used yet but am interested to hear any more info on it. I have daily doses to take and am keen to hear how others get on with supplies.
Click to expand...

Except for an emergency supply for which I had to pay full price (with a scrip.) I have always taken sufficient from UK.
 
Opening a euro account in your destination country is a drag but once done can be used there for internet top ups of telecom accounts (otherwise pre-pay in shops is necessary).

I use Currency Fair for transferring the squids into euros.
 
keithgdg said:
EHIC I've not used yet but am interested to hear any more info on it. I have daily doses to take and am keen to hear how others get on with supplies.
Click to expand...

I've only used EHIC in Portugal and it worked OK. Any costs for tests (which are often at a private clinic) can be reclaimed once back in the UK, provided referral was by a state doctor - don't go direct to a private clinic or you pay the bill. Some medications which require a prescription in UK are available over the counter here.
 
I think the EHIC is for emergency use only. In Spain we buy our daily doses over the counter in the pharmacy, and the costs are lower than the prescription cost would be in the UK.
 
Details of what you can use the EHIC for here
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx
'Your EHIC lets you get state healthcare at a reduced cost or sometimes for free. It will cover you for treatment that is needed to allow you to continue your stay until your planned return. It also covers you for treatment of pre-existing medical conditions and for routine maternity care, as long as you're not going abroad to give birth.
The EHIC is valid in all European Economic Area (EEA) countries, including Switzerland. For more information about what is covered in each country see our country-by-country guide.'

We used it in Spain and Greece and never had to pay anything except prescription charges. Different friends of ours had various ailments during their travels and had similar treatment. Even if I had insurance, which we did not, I would not mention it as it is likely to complicate things.
 
+1 for Caxton FX I've been using it for the last year and it saves alot of hassle, gives a reasonable rate and can be managed on line. As for Medical EHIC and UK scripts
 
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