Travel Insurance for Non-UK Resident Children

joanielooney

My partner and I live in the UK, but his children live in Lithuania with his ex, they regularly come to stay with us during school holidays. We are looking to take them to the USA with us later in the year but we are struggling with getting travel insurance. I had hoped we could add them to our family policy but the insurer (Chubb) has said no as they are non-uk residents. We don't want to take out a Lithuanian policy as in the event of repatriation etc we would want them repatriated with us back to the UK. They currently have a Lithuanian insurance policy with their Lithuanian family but it does not cover them travelling without the main policy holder, which is not us. I am sure there are many people that have children living abroad with an ex partner so wondered how anyone has dealt with the travel insurance situation.

Sandtree

I suspect most dont realise the issue... have to remember that 38% of people holiday without any insurance (the percentage is higher in the younger populations that are more likely to have young kids)  and of the 62% that do get insurance they may well just add the kids names & dob to the insurance and not think to mention they arent uk residents.

There are insurers out there that are much more flexible about cover, such as allowing insurance to be bought mid trip (useful if your planned return date changes) however all the ones I've seen werent offered by UK insurers but in jurisdictions with weaker consumer protection. This would mean if things went wrong there will be UK Financial Ombudsman to complain to and any local equivalent may or may not cover international sales. 

I did buy one such policy once, didnt make a claim and so cannot give any opinion on their service so wont post the name in case I was technically scammed and just never knew (plus its too long ago so cannot remember the name)

Voyager2002

joanielooney said:

We don't want to take out a Lithuanian policy as in the event of repatriation etc we would want them repatriated with us back to the UK.

In the event of medical repatriation, would they be treated by the NHS? Arguably if their issue was sufficiently serious to make repatriation necessary, it would be in their best interests to be taken to their usual doctor and the health system where their records are held.

Sandtree

Voyager2002 said:

joanielooney said:

We don't want to take out a Lithuanian policy as in the event of repatriation etc we would want them repatriated with us back to the UK.

In the event of medical repatriation, would they be treated by the NHS? Arguably if their issue was sufficiently serious to make repatriation necessary, it would be in their best interests to be taken to their usual doctor and the health system where their records are held.

Lithuania is in the EU and so there is the reciprocal heathcare agreement with the UK as long as they have a EHIC card

Unless its a pre-existing condition its probably unlikely that the kids have a cardiologist or orthopaedic surgeon etc to be able to be treated by "their doctor". Access to full medical history however could be useful though hopefully parent knows this even if they live remotely.

joanielooney

It is difficult because yes I guess in some scenarios yes it would be better if they a repatriated to Lithuania, but say I fell ill such that we have to curtail the holiday and I was being repatriated, I would want the children to travel back with with their father to the UK and be covered for that rather than for example them being put on a flight on their own back to Lithuania and my partner being put on a flight back to the UK. It might be a non issue and insurance allows you to return to wherever is needed, but I like to ensure that we are fully covered and at the moment I can't seem to find any insurance product that covers us as a family travelling together from the UK to the USA.

Sandtree

Insurance doesnt automatically cover you for the rest of your party extending their stay to be with you whilst you are ill; the default position is that if you are in hospital and not fit to fly that you partner and the kids return on their planned date and the insurer will deal with getting you back at the appropriate time.

A reasonable proportion of insurers have a discretionary term in there for potentially allowing one person to remain with you if it is deemed necessary, "necessary" is defined but its at the insurers consideration. Policies typically make no reference to your scenario where there is practicalities of only one person staying with you (depending on the age of the kids).

If you are particularly concerned then it would be one to search on the Financial Ombudsman's website on how it views complaints on cases where the insurer has declined to provide cover for someone to stay with the sick/injured party and if that person has kids etc. However as you are broadly blocked from UK policies it may be a fairly academic point as  overseas insurers may take a very different approach.

unforeseen

Voyager2002 said:

joanielooney said:

We don't want to take out a Lithuanian policy as in the event of repatriation etc we would want them repatriated with us back to the UK.

In the event of medical repatriation, would they be treated by the NHS? Arguably if their issue was sufficiently serious to make repatriation necessary, it would be in their best interests to be taken to their usual doctor and the health system where their records are held.

I'm not sure that they would be eligible for treatment on the NHS in the case of repatriation as they are non-UK residents being brought into the UK. It may well be looked upon as medical tourism. 
Repatriation is being transported to your home country.

CKhalvashi

unforeseen said:

Voyager2002 said:

joanielooney said:

We don't want to take out a Lithuanian policy as in the event of repatriation etc we would want them repatriated with us back to the UK.

In the event of medical repatriation, would they be treated by the NHS? Arguably if their issue was sufficiently serious to make repatriation necessary, it would be in their best interests to be taken to their usual doctor and the health system where their records are held.

I'm not sure that they would be eligible for treatment on the NHS in the case of repatriation as they are non-UK residents being brought into the UK. It may well be looked upon as medical tourism. 
Repatriation is being transported to your home country.

However the children would be covered under the withdrawal agreement.

With Vilnius being a Fintech hub, it may be worth looking at local insurers, as well as Privatbank's Baltic operations, which are based in Riga, but are present throughout the EU in this case. Privatbank have been one of the more liberal travel insurers in recent times regarding what they'll cover, however check any exclusions carefully, including the right for one of you to be taken to Lithuania with the children.