Diane Rowe

Hello, I am moving back to the UK initially for 6 months then will tie things up in Canada if it is the
right decision. I have out of country medical coverage through Manulife via my exworkplace. I am wondering if I also need some kind of health insurance in the UK. Any suggestions. Thanks Diane

scot47

legal residents hae access to the NHS

Diane Rowe

I wont be a legal resident. I will still be a resident of Canada for the first 6 months. Then once I am sure I have made the right decision I will become a resident of the UK. Maybe my out of country coverage in Canada will be
sufficient.

morpeth

My understanding is that one needs to be a habitual resident, and usually 3 months residence meets that rule. Private insurance t0 supplement the NHS to get faster appointments for surgery etc can be surprisingly affordable, 60 a month for example. If you have out of country insurance of course that should solve matter.

I don't think in most cases whether Canada considers you a resident or not has much affect on NHS rules; or even HMRC rules for that matter unless you get a certificate of tax residence from Canada.

durham_lad

I expect your insurance company will cover you for any unexpected medical expenses, but best to first check the process of how it works in practice.

After retiring we continued to live in the USA for 7 years and did some extensive travel there and abroad. Our US health insurance policy covered us for travel abroad including 5 months in Canada, 5 months in Australia and 7 months in England. Before each of our long trips I would check out the private hospitals in the cities we would be staying, including in the UK, and confirm they were covered by our plan. If we needed treatment then we paid out of pocket and put in an insurance claim later. It worked great, in fact healthcare is so cheap outside of the USA I expect our insurance company preferred us to get treatment while we were overseas.