Child under 16 requiring a GHIC for school trip next year.

SydSnott

A friend has asked me to assist her with advice in regard to the above.
As her 12 year old son is going on a school trip to France next summer, but she's not having any luck with it. They told her he had to be added to her application, as he's under 16.
Having done as requested, the card they have sent is for her, not for her son.
She doesn't need a card as she has her own travel insurance cover.
This is from the ghicdirect web site:-

 The last para. seems at odds with her experience!
Anyone able to give lucid instructions to achieve the aim of getting this young man his own GHIC?
Help appreciated.

JGB1955

SydSnott said:

A friend has asked me to assist her with advice in regard to the above.
As her 12 year old son is going on a school trip to France next summer, but she's not having any luck with it. They told her he had to be added to her application, as he's under 16.
Having done as requested, the card they have sent is for her, not for her son.
She doesn't need a card as she has her own travel insurance cover.

 The last para. seems at odds with her experience!
Anyone able to give lucid instructions to achieve the aim of getting this young man his own GHIC?
Help appreciated.

Just as an aside - I'm not sure about the BIB.  I would imagine any insurance company won't pay out for treatment that would be covered by the GHIC.  I think insurance and GHIC go hand-in-hand.

eskbanker

SydSnott said:

A friend has asked me to assist her with advice in regard to the above.
As her 12 year old son is going on a school trip to France next summer, but she's not having any luck with it. They told her he had to be added to her application, as he's under 16.
Having done as requested, the card they have sent is for her, not for her son.

Who's the 'they' here?  That GHIC Direct website seems self-explanatory about children needing their own....

JGB1955

That extract doesn't appear to come from the OFFICIAL website.  
Applying for healthcare cover abroad (GHIC and EHIC) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)  indicates that 

Applying for family members

Every family member needs their own card. You can add a spouse, civil partner, durable partner and children to your application when you apply. You must enter your own details first and apply for any additional cards when prompted.

If you've already completed your application and wish to add additional family members you'll need to contact NHS Overseas Healthcare Services. You should provide us with your reference number, name, date of birth and address so we can access your record.

HampshireH

I had no problems ordering for adult and child. They arrived together stuck to one piece of paper.

The application was really straight forward too I'm not sure you could really go wrong with it.

Is your friend sure they were on the correct website (so many of these sites have immigration sites so could easily have been on the wrong one)

greyteam1959

My granddaughter forgot to order a GHIC card for her 4 year old daughter when she applied for her card.
She used the contact us form with all her details & received the card for her daughter in a few days time.
Make quite sure you are using the genuine GHIC website

SydSnott

Wow! thanks for all the responses.
@JGB1955
That is a good point, and should be considered, particularly in one so young, we all know what a mess kids can get into, despite being overseen by Teaching staff!

Re-your second post: This is where I got the screenshot from it was the first hit returned in my Google search for:- "how to obtain a separate GHIC card for an under child under 16" I think they have just lifted that information from a govt. website.
As far as I am aware, that information is correct regardless of its source.

@eskbanker
Good question, she only mentioned her trials and tribulations regarding her application in general terms, hence the use of "they" I presumed that she was "savvy" enough to use the correct site, since she is a teacher and should be aware of the pitfalls with these things.
I will give her a call later to try to get more explicit info.
She has since told me "I queried it, they told me to redo the application but then said they couldn't issue him one as there was already an open application".
This time she refers to having to call "The Helpline", so I think she is dealing with the correct Govt website, I'll ask because that doesn't seem right, there must be more I don't know about.
Seeking clarification.

I have only gotten involved because I have recently returned from Mallorca where I had the misfortune to contract a nasty chest infection which necessitated sleeping whilst sat at the dining table, head on hands; that was the only way I didn't cough!
Dragging myself up to the Centro Salud, my passport and GHIC were photocopied and forms filled out  and then I was informed there were "New Rules" since Covid and all UK GHIC holders were to be treated by the "Juaneda Urgencias Medicas" group, who are essentially a Private Medical services business.
Remonstrating, I was told again, these were the new rules.
I was treated (examined) free of charge, but the 4 prescriptions issued were "Private" ones and I had to pay over £100 for the medication without the "Local" discounts: 50% for working people or 90% for those in receipt of state pension.
I have harangued Steve Barclay, who has ignored my request for assistance and my local MP Graham Brady did offer up the prescribed web form for reclaiming costs on which it is noted at the top of the page "This form cannot be used to reclaim costs of privately issued medication" which is less than useful.
No further assistance has been forthcoming from any government source (small g intended)
So I do know that the GHIC is not infallible, it seems those charged with its supposed "cover" are not prepared to admit this. 

Before anyone mentions "Travel Insurance", that is a luxury which many of the over 75's are unlikely to be able to afford these days, and in any event, will not cover claims which SHOULD be within the jurisdiction of a GHIC Card.
The government are at pains to mention that GHIC is not for major medical emergencies, which is why one should have separate Travel Insurance. 

@HampshireH
What could go wrong? famous last words!
Answer is, I don't know yet but the last response she had was as stated above: "redo the application but then said they couldn't issue him one as there was already an open application".
Which begs the question, why is there an open application when she has already received a "joint" card after being told that:- he had to be added to my application, as he's under 16

I have to say it seems likely that she has done something wrong, but I'm afraid my confidence in the ability of this government to organise anything more complex than an under fives playgroup without messing it up, 9 months lead time to achieve the required outcome seems a trifle optimistic

SiliconChip

SydSnott said:

Re-your second post: This is where I got the screenshot from it was the first hit returned in my Google search for:- "how to obtain a separate GHIC card for an under child under 16" I think they have just lifted that information from a govt. website.
As far as I am aware, that information is correct regardless of its source.

I can't comment on how to get the card as I haven't been abroad since we left the EU, but it's very clear that that is not the government site, under the heading it states "An independent application service for the Global Health Insurance Card". As such I wouldn't trust a single word that it says. Had you scrolled a bit further down the Google results you would have seen the gov.uk site.

HampshireH

That's not the right website. You apply via NHS website. I hope she didn't pay for it and she did go through the correct link

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/

Ours arrived within 4 weeks.

SydSnott

SiliconChip said:

I can't comment on how to get the card as I haven't been abroad since we left the EU, but it's very clear that that is not the government site, under the heading it states "An independent application service for the Global Health Insurance Card". As such I wouldn't trust a single word that it says. Had you scrolled a bit further down the Google results you would have seen the gov.uk site.

You mean this site, which, regarding under 16's says:- 

The last paragraph of the Green framed screen shot has the same info for under 16's.
This is apparently what she did but only received a card in her own name, the requested child's card was not received or even acknowledged.
Do not be misled by my own use of the information gleaned from the "Independant site" that I used merely because it was more concise in its information regarding "under 16's" 
Further calls to the "NHS help line" resulted in  the statement:- "redo the application but then said they couldn't issue him one as there was already an open application".
This statement is unclear and could be taken to mean that either the application on behalf of her son was not processed, or that the reference to an already open application means that the application is being processed.
It is ambiguous at best.
Government departments should really be able to communicate in our native language with more clarity and without ambiguity. 

SydSnott

@HampshireH, as explained to "SiliconChip", I merely used the independent site's "Under 16's Info" as it was the most concise, correct and readily available information specifically contained in its last paragraph. 
I am not saying that she has used this site and as far as I currently know, her application was made through the NHS Site.
She has yet to confirm this to me but it seems from her later communication with the "Help Line", that it is most likely she was applying through the NHS Site.
Sorry I cannot be more explicit at the moment.