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Question of the Week: EHIC Cards
MSE_Martin
Posts: 8,268 Money Saving Expert
Q. I followed your link, and got free EHIC cards for the family. Yet, when Googling EHIC, you get companies charging £9.95 to do the same thing. Is it an official rip off? Nigel Logan by email
Martin's Answer. This is a nasty trend of unofficial rip-offs breeding across the web. Companies pick up on popular free products, make their site look as legit as possible, then sneakily charge for 'processing' or 'aiding' your application.
They Google search optimise or use the paid for sponsored links to get them high up. These are scams, plain and simple. Unfortunately, it's the less aware who get caught out by them.
The two big ones I'm aware of, are:
EHIC Cards. These free govt. cards entitle you to free or discounted medical treatment in public hospitals in any EU country. Official Link: www.ehic.org.uk. More Info: Cheap Travel Insurance guide.
ESTA: This is the again completely free online form you need to fill in to get permission to go to the USA. Official Link: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov More info: ESTA guide
If you forget the link, come via MSE for them, and they're legit. Please report similar paid-for scams via this discussion thread.
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Martin's Answer. This is a nasty trend of unofficial rip-offs breeding across the web. Companies pick up on popular free products, make their site look as legit as possible, then sneakily charge for 'processing' or 'aiding' your application.
They Google search optimise or use the paid for sponsored links to get them high up. These are scams, plain and simple. Unfortunately, it's the less aware who get caught out by them.
The two big ones I'm aware of, are:
EHIC Cards. These free govt. cards entitle you to free or discounted medical treatment in public hospitals in any EU country. Official Link: www.ehic.org.uk. More Info: Cheap Travel Insurance guide.
ESTA: This is the again completely free online form you need to fill in to get permission to go to the USA. Official Link: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov More info: ESTA guide
If you forget the link, come via MSE for them, and they're legit. Please report similar paid-for scams via this discussion thread.
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Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert.
Please note, answers don't constitute financial advice, it is based on generalised journalistic research. Always ensure any decision is made with regards to your own individual circumstance.
Please note, answers don't constitute financial advice, it is based on generalised journalistic research. Always ensure any decision is made with regards to your own individual circumstance.
Don't miss out on urgent MoneySaving, get my weekly e-mail at www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips.
Debt-Free Wannabee Official Nerd Club: (Honorary) Members number 000
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Comments
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Maybe one thing to mention is when people google things like this is to ignore the "sponsored results"
a google of EHIC and ESTA bring up the right website in the number 1 spot, ignoring the sponsored results...0 -
i got my EHIC cards last year but cant seem to find them. Can i get replacements, does anyone know please.make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
and we will never, ever return.0 -
My husband paid £9.95 for these in april through a "google searched " site can we claim it back ? he thought it was an official site but obviously not.0
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all you need is your NHS number and if you don't have it ask your gp they will give to you, name and address ... i dont see how paying a company to"aid" your application will benefit you form this very simple things.
me too i ask mine and it arrives within 10 days and no money spent !BSC number 1830 -
cant believe people are charging for them..they have allways been free:eek:
i got ours for 2 adults and 5 kids off the official site no bother and all arrived within the week
***MSE...My.Special.Escape***0 -
When we were looking into the best way to renew a passort recently there were several site offering 'help' with high cost phone lines. we nearly got caught out, till we noticed the reassuring .gov.uk address further down the list.0
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