Hi,

I'm moving from the UK to a country within the EU. Should I get medical
insurance or is my E111 enough? The Post Office says I need insurance
but I can't see why since my E111 covers medical treatment, surely?

"halfanorange" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de
news:[email protected] ups.com...
    > Hi,
    > I'm moving from the UK to a country within the EU. Should I get medical
    > insurance or is my E111 enough? The Post Office says I need insurance
    > but I can't see why since my E111 covers medical treatment, surely?
According to eg:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/guides...e/index2.shtml
it is advisable to supplement the E111 by travel insurance which covers the
non-medical aspects of possible accidents or illness abroad. And if by
'moving' you mean that you will become resident abroad, you should find out
asap what the local equivalent to the UK's National Insurance scheme is, and
what options you have for both mandatory and 'supplementary' protection.
Note that in at least some cases, such protection doesn't come into effect
immediately you join the scheme, so separate transitional arrangements may
be needed. And you should also consider paying voluntary NI contributions
while outside the UK.

Regards,

- Alan (in Brussels)

"halfanorange" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ups.com...
    > Hi,
    > I'm moving from the UK to a country within the EU. Should I get medical
    > insurance or is my E111 enough? The Post Office says I need insurance
    > but I can't see why since my E111 covers medical treatment, surely?
If you're moving not just going on hols, the E111 won't work (in fact you're
supposed to surrender any UK issued E111 before you go). You need to
organise health insurance in the country you're moving to unless you have
retired in the UK (eg are receiving state old-age pension) - I think it's
form E121 for this.

Hope it works out for you - good luck.

In message <[email protected]. com>,
halfanorange <[email protected]> writes
    >Hi,
    >I'm moving from the UK to a country within the EU. Should I get medical
    >insurance or is my E111 enough? The Post Office says I need insurance
    >but I can't see why since my E111 covers medical treatment, surely?

E111 only covers /visits/ to other EEA countries, not if you're moving
your residence there. From the UK Dept of Health website:

"Who is covered and in which countries

Persons ordinarily resident in the UK and registered with the NHS who
are:

* EU and Swiss nationals going to EU countries or Switzerland.
Note: nationals of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia, resident in the
UK and travelling to Switzerland, are not covered at present;
* EEA nationals travelling to EEA countries;
* non-EEA nationals: the E111 arrangements apply, except in Denmark,
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, where private insurance
should be obtained. However, non-EEA nationals visiting Iceland are
covered for emergency treatment only under a reciprocal health care
agreement between the UK and Iceland. You will need to produce your NHS
medical card to get treatment;
* stateless persons and refugees travelling to EEA countries and
Switzerland.

If you are working in the UK, but paying social security contributions
to another EEA country or Switzerland, you should obtain your E111 from
the institution to which you pay your contributions."

Also note that the E111 is only valid until 31 December 2005. If you
have an E111 issued before 19 August 2004, it's no longer valid (it
doesn't have an expiry date on it). The UK will start issuing the
European Health Insurance Card in September.

--
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/

Arwel Parry wrote:
    > In message <[email protected]. com>,
    > halfanorange <[email protected]> writes
    > >Hi,
    > >
    > >I'm moving from the UK to a country within the EU. Should I get medical
    > >insurance or is my E111 enough? The Post Office says I need insurance
    > >but I can't see why since my E111 covers medical treatment, surely?
    > E111 only covers /visits/ to other EEA countries, not if you're moving
    > your residence there. From the UK Dept of Health website:

I should have explained a bit more, I'm actually only moving there for
about three months or so, not permanently. I've decided to be safe and
get a months travel insurance and sort something else out once I know
more.

"halfanorange" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > Arwel Parry wrote:
    > > In message <[email protected]. com>,
    > > halfanorange <[email protected]> writes
    > > >Hi,
    > > >
    > > >I'm moving from the UK to a country within the EU. Should I get medical
    > > >insurance or is my E111 enough? The Post Office says I need insurance
    > > >but I can't see why since my E111 covers medical treatment, surely?
    > >
    > > E111 only covers /visits/ to other EEA countries, not if you're moving
    > > your residence there. From the UK Dept of Health website:
    > I should have explained a bit more, I'm actually only moving there for
    > about three months or so, not permanently. I've decided to be safe and
    > get a months travel insurance and sort something else out once I know
    > more.
On the medical side, E111 only covers treatment, main problem seems to be if
you have to be flown back to the UK (Air Ambulance type thing) which is
where the travel insurance comes in. Obviously you also get cover for
belongings, excessive flight delays etc - may be worth covering the first
and last weeks..? Have you looked into annual policies - can be quite cheap
these days although I think most only cover 30 or 60 days 'hols', may be
some covering 90 days ('backpacker' insurance).

It only covers whatever a citizen of the country concerned is entitled
to. That won't necessarily be the same as the NHS in the UK ( e.g., in
some countries you pay for an ambulance), and it won't cover, e.g.,
emergency repatriation if you have a really serious accident. You need
to read the Health Advice for Travellers booklet to see what you're
covered for in the country you're moving to.
www.dh.gov.uk/travellers

On 22 Jun 2005 08:46:05 -0700, "halfanorange" <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >Hi,
    >I'm moving from the UK to a country within the EU. Should I get medical
    >insurance or is my E111 enough? The Post Office says I need insurance
    >but I can't see why since my E111 covers medical treatment, surely?