south_bound

I'm just wondering what travel insurance provides than is not already covered by EHIC, apart from emergency repatriation and maybe help with lost documents? The thought of taking out extra insurance has never even crossed my mind and I have never found myself in a position to wish I had. Then again I have never taken out road side assistance for the car and only recently taken out annual car hire excess cover when I expect to do lots of rentals.

Anyway, a random google search brought this one which covers trips up to 120 days for 65 year olds - Annual Travel Insurance for EU and UK Residents at Globelink but I haven't read the small print.

EuroTrash

As regards medical costs, travel insurance would probably reimburse the 30% co-payment. In France the EHIC only covers you up to the amount of reimbursement that someone covered by the French healthcare would receive, ie around 70%. And repatriation is important because it can be seriously expensive, especially if it's remains that have to be repatriated, not that one wants to think of that. You can't deal with repatriation of a corpse yourself, you have to use professionals and they don't come cheap.
But as well as that, people get travel insurance to insure against holiday cancellation, travel disruption, lost baggage, and probably mostly so they have a helpline to call in case they get into a situation abroad that they can't cope with and need hand holding, eg victim of crime, stolen passports, bitten by a rabid dog, serious accident or illness etc etc etc - anything that could spoil a holiday. EHICs don't cover any of that.

south_bound

Fair enough, I guess it would become an expensive trip for me if/when something happens, paid from all the premiums I didn't pay to the insurance company over the years (I won't be too concerned about the corpse repatriation bit, that cost can be taken out of the inheritance I leave behind).

dmu

.... but your family might not appreciate it if they have to pay upfront, before they receive their inheritance!
Off-topic but à propos Assurance-Obsèques here, my elderly neighbour had paid into one for years until her daughter realised that she'd given the Company much more than what her funeral would cost. She cancelled the Contract and got a reimbursement, less a "fine" for not going the full course. If you think you'll die and will be disposed of in France, far better to put the amount (double if you're a couple) in a joint Savings Account until needed.

EuroTrash

Out of interest, what approximately would the amount be?

EuroTrash

Travel insurance is (or used to be) surprisingly cheap until you start hitting 60. I seem to recall paying £30 for annual insurance, and less than £20 a time for a single trip. Set against likely a few hundred for a routine incident or potentially £000,000s for a serious incident, it seemed worth it to me. Saying that, I used to always take put travel insurance but I seem to have got out of the habit in recent years!

dmu

Thankfully I haven't had personal experience yet, but

https://www.lassurance-obseques.fr/g...is-d-obseques/

gives ballpark figures (I love that expression!) and what the Undertakers do. And I learned elsewhere that the Undertakers can be paid directly from the deceased's bank account. If it's insufficient, the ascendants and descendants must pay the balance.