MEDICAL INSURANCE

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greentub

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Does anyone know of a company offering sensibly priced medical insurance for the live-aboard yachtie in the Med. This season we will be cruising the Turkish coast and can not therefore rely on reciprocal EU agreements. with thanks
 
Try talking to Bishop Skinner - they do a 'yachtsmans' travel policy and though that might not quite meet your needs they may be able to advise.
 
I needed medical insurance for a transatlantic circuit, and found that the travel policy offered by Trailfinders was the most economical. Fortunately, never had cause to make use of it, so no idea of the practical benefits.
 
Take care I thought I had comprehensive medical cover until I asked them to put it in writing. Most travel only covers you by scheduled airlines/cruise boats /trains. You often have to produce your holiday receipt when you claim. No receipt - no claim.

I ended up with Bishops Skinner RYA policy.
 
Thanks for the reply. I know some people with this policy and they had the devils time trying to make a seemingly legitimate claim on it whilst in Kos. They spent contless hours on the internet and phone trying to get some sense out of the other end. Eventually a compromise solution was agreed on but the people concerned thought that the actual cover was not what they thought they had purchased. Of course it could have been a misunderstanding by either party. I'll look into it. Thanks
 
Beware three things that seem to be common...

1. They will not insure pre-existing complaints unless you speak at length with them on a premium rate phone call to declare the condition. If you don't then you won't be covered for anything related to those conditions.

2. They dig in great detail to try to wriggle out of their obligations to pay-out. I had unspeakable treatment from AXA on a travel policy sold online by Direct Travel, after being mugged in Barcelona. AXA subcontract the claims handling to a company that claims to convert 50% of all claims to no-pays. This is all done in an underhand way and I found out after becoming suspicious and started to do a lot of digging. They did pay out in the end because I refused to be intimidated and started to make a complaint to AXA's Company Secretary. But many people wouldn't - I was made to feel like a common criminal for making a valid claim. A very nasty experience that I shall never forget - worse than the 'mugging' itself.

3. Put out of your mind any thought of using, say, an annual policy for trips longer than they stipulate - they are liable to check all details before paying out.

Finally, all these policies seem to be underwritten by just a few insurance companies. They don't like to pay out and they don't reckon to pay out most of the time. They will always try to find some reason not to pay so you must have details of everything to do with any claim. By the way, Pantaenius are not the underwriters for theirs.

None of these are 'medical insurance' in the 'BUPA' sense...they only insure you for accident and emergencies and THEY decide what treatment you get. You have to call them for approval first....often on an 0870 premium rate UK number that can be difficult or impossible to phone from abroad. Pretty scary, I'm afraid, and you are on your own when you have to make a claim.

Please note that my experience is very recent - November 2006. I understand that once upon a time things were different, but today, beware.
 
I had to claim once for normal air travel when the French had an Air Traffic Controllers strike. They paid out exactly in accordance with the Policy and not what the change of plans cost me - extended car hire, hotel in St Malo and Ferry back. I pointed out that my claim was reasonable but they insisted on the Policy wording which as Dan Dare could not get me on a flight for 4 days was more than I was claiming!

Never had to claim under medical section but got the outlaws that now live with us added to Policy and she is 71!

We have winter sports cover and just about to claim for no snow if it covers for this!!
 
Very many thanks. Nice to hear from Almerimar. We wintered there in 1999 and 2000. I'm afraid your experience seems to be echoed across the yachting community. I am very wary about all insurance companies but feel the need to have something for Turkey. All the marinas in Turkey seem to have their own ambulance but they do say that in the event of anything happening they whisk you away to the nearest private hospital! Some friends of ours in Kos had much the same expensive experience as yourselves using the RYA Bishop Skinner policy. After a very protracted fiasco all they did was pay the airfare of the sick person back to the UK and then said it was up to the NHS. Frankly, for the cost of airfares these days you might as well do it all yourself it seems. All we really need I guess is 'emergency' cover. Many thanks for your wise words. Andy
 
This is our second winter in Almerimar. From what I hear, things have changed a great deal since 2000. We like it, it suits us for the winter though I don't suppose we'd want to live here. We'll probably settle in Spain, though, and probably somewhere in Andalucia as we find the (Andalucian) people so friendly.

We continue to take out the AXA policy on a trip by trip basis (we are away too long to qualify for an annual). In the end they did pay out £700 for our stolen property and I suppose that if one of us had something really terrifying like a heart attack, stroke, or something that needs specialist treatment and air ambulance, we might be covered.

Maybe more importantly, we feel more secure having the third party indemnity insurance; since we don't insure a UK property at the moment we are not covered by the usual household policy and what would happen if one's act or omission led to damages? The problem is that if you have assets - and an expensive yacht is certainly an asset - they might be seized in the case of damages and I would like to always be able to show some alternative means for any damages to be settled that does not involve impounding the yacht. Maybe over-cautious, but when taken into account with the other potential benefits of travel insurance, worthwhile and I sleep easy.

One of my pet gripes is the rapid migration of all UK phone business phone numbers to premium rate 0870 numbers. It can difficult to get through and on a PAYG mobile the cost is so high you can't put enough credit on! If only they would have an ordinary 'geographical' number with area code, you can get through without much trouble. You would think that travel insurance companies would make it easy to get through from overseas, no? No!
 
[ QUOTE ]
One of my pet gripes is the rapid migration of all UK phone business phone numbers to premium rate 0870 numbers. It can difficult to get through and on a PAYG mobile the cost is so high you can't put enough credit on! If only they would have an ordinary 'geographical' number with area code, you can get through without much trouble.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have a look at this site
http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php
 
Lemain,

I know you have quite a strong attitude on insurance issues. But as you are still in the EU, I wonder exactly why you are not happy with the reciprocal facilities under the EHIC? I think I would be as happy(!) anywhere in Europe if I needed treatment.

I am currently contemplating a trip (not by sea) to NZ, and cannot really see the need for medical to there either?

Vic (p.s. hope and trust the adventure is going well)
 
I've been a support of saynoto0870 for several years - it's good to publicise it! Trouble is, not enough people understand the issues.
 
Yes, great site......but the b*******s are getting used to it and sometimes it's impossible to catch up. I post every number I can. Often looking for the 'overseas number' works. Personally, in most cases they just loose business because I do not call 0870 (premium rate) unless it's a real emergency.

Vic
 
Vic, the adventure is going well, thanks! Enjoying every minute.

I have private medical insurance in the UK (BUPA) and when or if we decide to settle in another country we'll take out private cover in that country (maybe with BUPA International). So for the time being, it is nice to know that we can get back to the UK to get into the BUPA net.

Some good British friends of ours, who are now resident here in Almerimar, Spain, and do not have any private cover, have had terrible trouble financing adequate care for the husband who has been seriously ill. They have had to sell many investments to get the care they felt they needed so it isn't true to say that (in Spain at least) the state care is sufficient. Rightly or wrongly, I have always felt that I could (if I had to) fall back on the NHS but I don't have enough information to make that judgement about the Spanish system. I think that the Italian system might leave you rather disappointed. Most travel insurance companies advise you to take your medical card and travel insurance (though they would say that, wouldn't they?).

The important thing is to understand where one stands and what the insurance actually offers. It is a disgrace that insurers are allowed to issue policies that exclude the very things that the insured thinks he is covered for. It would be easy for them to be written in clear language but it is only the sales stuff that they make clear. All the exceptions and exclusions are in the small print. Still, we just have to learn to read them carefully. What is less clear is the service you'd get in a foreign country. As for NZ, I haven't a clue what a foreigner can get though none of my NZ relatives has private cover, as far as I know. But then none of them has had long-term hospital care, either, so I don't know what it is like. For the fairly small premium I think I'd take it out, just to be safe.

Enjoy your trip to NZ. From what I hear it is a wonderful place and I am looking forward to going (likewise, not in my own boat unless the urge takes me!).
 
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