E111 vs EHIC it's changed, Be warned!!!
So, as some of you know I currently work for a medical assistance company, we are employed by insurance companies to sort out people who have become sick or injured abroad and get them back to the UK.
Now today I discovered something I didn't know which really shocked me.
If you have an accident in Europe, and you don't have insurance, you will be billed for treatment if you don't have an EHIC, but the big new thing is, if you apply for an EHIC retrospectively, YOU WILL NOT GET THE MONEY REFUNDED like you used to.
If you aren't covered, you will pay, and you won't get it back.
And if you are really sick or badly injured, we're talking life changing, lose your house type amounts here, so, make sure you apply BEFORE you leave these shores.
Even then, in some countries you may be asked to contribute a percentage of the cost, and in some you have to pay for the ambulance. So, the gold standard is, get insurance.
In most even if you have insurance you may have to stump up a fair bit in advance, like several thousand, and the insurance won't set a guarantee of payment immediately, there is a process that has to be gone through first to make sure you have a valid policy, so make sure you have access to a decent amount of fundage for emergencies, say a credit card with a 5k limit.
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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014
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