Private Health Insurance companies for EU and UK - any recommends ?

Marceline

Marceline

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Hello again - just another newb question

Just wondering - are there any Private Health Insurance companies people could recommend for being in/around EU but also give coverage when back in the UK ? Hoping next year to get over to Ireland and other countries the next year for a month or so (likely under 90/180 day rules, but am also hoping to get visa stay for longer in a couple of years) and wondered if there were companies who's insurance would be useful both when in UK or EU areas?
 
You are covered by your GHIC card as you will be a tourist rather than a resident. If you want to get additional cover for short stay then you need a specialist travel insurance. If travelling by boat then you can get this from a variety of insurers. Try Bishop Skinner. Many people find the GHIC adequate in Europe. When you apply for your visa (presumably for France) then they have a medical insurance requirement as you can no longer use the GHIC. Suggest you wait until then to find out what the requirements actually are.
 
Tranona said:
Many people find the GHIC adequate in Europe. When you apply for your visa (presumably for France) then they have a medical insurance requirement as you can no longer use the GHIC.
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Just to clarify that. For the 6mth French visa the GHIC is accepted. For the 12 month one it's not, but that visa is a prelude to residency rather than tourism.
 
You have to understand that health insurance in your country of residence eg UK and the travel insurance you buy as a uk resident to travel abroad is very different product. If you want to have cover to travel in EU(but not fot Channel Islands ) than as said then what was previously called EHIC and now GHIC gives basic treatment but not evac home -some eu countries hospital facilities and fairly basic eg Greece say and clearly outside eu eg Egypt or suchlike even more basic -examplles abound of holidaying brits complaint at facilities in foreign hospitals (not because of medical care but the hotel type facilities) . Press stories aboud where they want to be evacuated but are not fit enough to travel and have to undue local facilities.
If you want to travel therefore either take out cover with a bank card eg nationwide card or Amex card etc or go broker eg Staysure,the Co-op etc ,A A or whatever. Just don’t buy cheap as chips cover . For uk health insurance it’s clearly best to buy via your employer (even civil servants can get private cover) she’s but if self employed then just stick to main names but of course it’s tax deductible and no doubt you already have an insurance broker for critical illness cover and corporate policies like third party liability who might help with what’s suitable for needs
 
Forty_Two said:
Just to clarify that. For the 6mth French visa the GHIC is accepted. For the 12 month one it's not, but that visa is a prelude to residency rather than tourism.
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Not any more. As part of the roll-out of EES, France has started asking for details of your insurance covering repatriation. You can't enter on the visa waiver programme without insurance and proof of funds.

There have been quite a few issues at St Pancras with the Police aux Frontières turning travellers away.

What France’s crackdown on British tourists means for you and new post-Brexit demands
 
st599 said:
Not any more. As part of the roll-out of EES, France has started asking for details of your insurance covering repatriation. You can't enter on the visa waiver programme without insurance and proof of funds.

There have been quite a few issues at St Pancras with the Police aux Frontières turning travellers away.

What France’s crackdown on British tourists means for you and new post-Brexit demands
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Well, I flew to France to visit my brother in November, and NONE of the matters reported by the Independent were checked, or even mentioned at any point. I flew from Stansted to Carcassonne, and was expecting the EES things at Carcassonne, but they weren't implemented, nor was there any sign of them being implemented. It happens that I decided (at the last minute!) to take out medical insurance, but I certainly couldn't have provided proof of a place to stay. Stansted is a fairly important airport, even if Carcassonne isn't! Carcassonne still used the manual passport checks, and if I was going to be asked for medical insurance or proof of a place to stay, it would have happened then.
 
Forty_Two said:
Just to clarify that. For the 6mth French visa the GHIC is accepted. For the 12 month one it's not, but that visa is a prelude to residency rather than tourism.
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GHIC wouldn’t cover the whole 6 months and certainly wouldn’t cover you for a year is using the schengen 90 days either side of your 6 months. It is possible to extend the tourist visa to a year without residency (and VAT implications) now.
 
It's a question on the EES screen, so when you do french EES, you have to state you have insurance.
AntarcticPilot said:
Well, I flew to France to visit my brother in November, and NONE of the matters reported by the Independent were checked, or even mentioned at any point. I flew from Stansted to Carcassonne, and was expecting the EES things at Carcassonne, but they weren't implemented, nor was there any sign of them being implemented. It happens that I decided (at the last minute!) to take out medical insurance, but I certainly couldn't have provided proof of a place to stay. Stansted is a fairly important airport, even if Carcassonne isn't! Carcassonne still used the manual passport checks, and if I was going to be asked for medical insurance or proof of a place to stay, it would have happened then.
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Boathook said:
The GHIC doesn't cover repatriation unless they have altered it.
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And does EES explicitly ask for that? My question was in direct reply to someone saying medical insurance is required in the new EES system. Whether it’s sufficient is another question entirely. Almost all “travel insurance” is limited to shorter trips than GHIC is so options for extended cruisers are very limited. Most just ignore it and hope, but if entry is restricted then cruising may become extremely expensive as full EU medical insurance will be the only option.
 
lustyd said:
And does EES explicitly ask for that? My question was in direct reply to someone saying medical insurance is required in the new EES system. Whether it’s sufficient is another question entirely. Almost all “travel insurance” is limited to shorter trips than GHIC is so options for extended cruisers are very limited. Most just ignore it and hope, but if entry is restricted then cruising may become extremely expensive as full EU medical insurance will be the only option.
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It asks for cover of all potential costs (which the GHIC doesn't cover in France) and repatriation plus asks if you have booked accommodation. It's only when entering France though. Germany and Switzerland don't have these questions.
 
That’s interesting as we never “book accommodation” either.
I’m struggling to find any medical cover that will actually cover us this year (about a year in France…ish). Everything is time limited and assumes holiday type travel.
 
lustyd said:
That’s interesting as we never “book accommodation” either.
I’m struggling to find any medical cover that will actually cover us this year (about a year in France…ish). Everything is time limited and assumes holiday type travel.
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I have much the same problem with insurance for staying in Hong Kong during the winter, exacerbated by age and pre-existing conditions. Saga were the best deal for my situation!
 
AntarcticPilot said:
I have much the same problem with insurance for staying in Hong Kong during the winter, exacerbated by age and pre-existing conditions. Saga were the best deal for my situation!
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Unfortunately Saga aren’t interested in people my age, something I’m increasingly finding problematic with early retirement is I don’t fit in anyone’s expected bucket so everything is harder than it should be.
 
lustyd said:
That’s interesting as we never “book accommodation” either.
I’m struggling to find any medical cover that will actually cover us this year (about a year in France…ish). Everything is time limited and assumes holiday type travel.
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I think France is special. If you have hotel accommodation booked, the funds required are pretty sane. No hotels booked and you need significant funds.
 
Funds aren’t an issue, we had to show that for our visas, but if they insist on having accommodation booked we can’t and won’t do that.
In theory by the time we check in we will have a marina berth though so I guess not an issue
 
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