Very Confused!

frabol

Please help me! My daughter is going to live in France for a year as an au pair and already has the EHIC, but does she need to take out additional medical insurance? Websites I have looked at only seem to cover travellers or else huge amounts to pay, ie £500-£600. On an au pair's wage she won't be able to afford the up-front percentage using the EHIC if she visits a doctor, even though it'll be reimbursed via our health system. Can she risk not taking out additional medical insurance?

diamond_dave

Hi frabol, just seen your post- it is very confusing.My daughter is going to Spain to study at uni for a year.She will be home at xmas and easter, she also has a pec.The info on the card is very ambiguous, we have got travel insurance from a broker for about £120.00 and that covers her pec's. I would definitely get travel ins. because it will get her home if the worst happens.The policy my daughter has is an annual multi trip 120 days per trip no total limit. when you say "get reimbursed via our NHS" I thought that this was only for pensioners and people using an E120. Anyone out there help with this?

LittleVoice

What's an E120? There used to be an E111 but this has been replaced by the EHIC mentioned by frabol.

Frabol asked "Can she risk not taking out additional medical insurance?" To answer that question, I would look at where in France she would be living and the difficulty of getting her back to the UK in case of emergency. With that in mind, does the family have resources to cover potential calls for funding? If it does, then you could consider what is in effect self-insurance.

This is all a matter of your view of risk. From the fact that you have asked the question in the first place, maybe you would be best advised to further investigate multi-trip insurance (ensuring appropriate return visits to the UK).

(I assume the £500-£600 you mention is insurance by an English or French company of a longer period of residence.)

RibAd

E120 seems to be a food colouring.... and some press release dept of health issued in 2002 (according to top google results!)

EHIC will only cover similar to the country's own public medical to an equivalant system of NHS although it may be good/worse than NHS.

you can have a read up on the EHIC here:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Healthadvicefortravellers/index.htm

The EHIC is valid in the European Economic Area (see Note 1) and Switzerland. If you or any of your dependants are suddenly taken ill or have an accident during a visit to any of these countries, necessary medical treatment will be provided free or at reduced-cost - in most cases on production of a valid EHIC. Only state-provided treatment is covered, and you will be treated on the same terms as insured nationals of the country you are visiting. Private treatment is generally not covered, and state-provided treatment may not cover all of the things that you would expect to receive free of charge from the NHS. Some eligibility restrictions may apply due to your nationality. For detailed guidance, please check the section “Who is eligible for an EHIC?” in either the HAFT leaflet or on the DH website. Remember an EHIC does not cover you for all the medical costs that you can incur or for repatriation - it is not an alternative to travel insurance. You will still need appropriate insurance to ensure you are fully covered for all eventualities.


Note 1: The European Economic Area is made up of all 25 members of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

If you're still in doubt, have a look through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website on travel as there may be some relevant info on her working abroad too.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1099140544698