'OK to travel insurance' OK to use?

F_Bear

im goin away in 2 weeks and the other half is insisting i get holiday insurance and the E111 i keep waving at her isnt good enough!

i argee although the problem is ive a underlying medical condition that is rare. im only 31, strong and healthy, but had a narrowed aorta artery that was narrowed from birth but only diagnoised 8 years ok. i had a sucessful aorta bypass in 2006.

ive been looking for travel insurance and trying to explain my prodecure. mosy compaines put it as a cornary bypass graft, 1 st question is will i be covered if theyve mis diagnoised on their system what i had done?

2nd question, ASDA and Tesco both quoted £60 and from looking online ive found OK to travel that will cover me for £22. very cheap. ive tried ringing their number but no answer. anyone else used them or had problems?

thanks

rs65

Can't say I've heard of them but they've only been registered with the FSA since Dec 2011 so you won't find many reviews. Looks like their cover is underwritten by Mapfre.

They are a representative of Freedom Insure. Have a look at their website. They use AXA apparently.

hughboss

Hi,

Whatever you do - DO NOT USE Debenhams Travel Insurance. They use Travel Claims Services who are useless. Their post room lost claim papers, never e-mail or ring you - always the snail mail post. Everything is in 5/6 working days from when you ring them. They are 0844 numbers - always take ages to answer - get put on hold - then they are 'only' call centre operatives - with NO surnames!!

thenudeone

The E111 forms are not valid any more (even though they don't have an expiry date). They were replaced by EHICs, which you'll need.

These are free, but if you search on google, you'll see adverts for a lot of companies which charge you for "checking and vetting" when applying through their website.
The websites have very convincing names such as:
https://www.applyehic.org
https://www.nhs-services.org.uk/EHIC
https://www.e111-ehic.org.uk/
Most such companies are honest enough to state that the card is available free from the NHS, but it's easy to overlook the text and simply click "Apply Now"

So make sure you use the correct link http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx

There is still a need for medical/travel insurance, however
As stated:

It must be noted that the EHIC only entitles you to the level of state provided healthcare within the country you are visiting. You must not assume that this will be comparable to the treatment you would expect to receive from the NHS. In some cases, the healthcare provided in the EEA country you are visiting may incur a charge despite the same treatment being free within the NHS.

And the EHIC will never cover the costs of transport back to the UK, which could be astronomical if you need continuous specialist medical care en route.