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EHIC post Brexit


nomoss
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There must be other pensioners in a similar situation to my wife's and mine.

We received our European Health Insurance Cards from the UK when the rules changed in 2015 and they were no longer issued by our CPAM.

I just noticed an article in an information bulletin we receive regularly, which suggested that Brits living in France should check the expiry date of their EHIC's, and renew them via their CPAM if necessary.

On checking, I saw that both ours expired on January 15th, so I attempted to renew them via www.ehic.org.uk

After receiving the account activation email, I continued with my application, but the form is designed only for UK residents. By clicking on the "?" button beside the box for my EHIC PIN number, I found this statement "If you are a UK State pensioner or a UK-issued S1 form holder living in

the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you must apply for your EHIC

by calling +44 191 218 1999"

I tried the number, and after a long conversation with a machine, was told that I would have to speak to a real person, but that the information centre is closed [:(] I'll try again on Monday.

I then 'phoned the gentleman who publishes the information bulletin.

He told me several people had contacted him on the subject, and said that his information is that EHIC's for pensioners and others covered by UK S1's will in future be issued by their CPAM. It seems they may be reverting to the pre-2015 system.

He said that people who had contacted the NHS had been told that new cards could not be issued yet, and those who had contacted their CPAM had been told something similar.

I tried applying via my Ameli espace, but got a message to try again later.

Has anyone on here successfully recently renewed a "UK pensioner" EHIC?

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I may seem to be muddying the waters, since my card is in fact issued by France, just a couple of pieces of information.
The French equivalent is called a CEAM card so that might help when you are talking to them and want to explain what you are talking about.

I renewed mine last year when  Brexit was looming and it now seems to be for two years rather than the one year it was previously.

I would  not be  at all surprised if the French are not yet ready to issue something different given the uncertainties and confusion and incompetence that have that have bedevilled  the British end..

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Sorry folks. I should have mentioned it is a CEAM in France.

Depending on the information I may get by 'phoning the NHS next week, I may try calling my CPAM to see what they say, or make a rdv via my espace to visit their office if necessary.

EDIT. Incidentally, the validity of our cards issued in 2015 was 5 years, but the article I read said it is now 2 years, as you say.

The fact that the procedure for applying for the CEAM is not available, at least from my espace, suggests that a old one may be in the process of being revised. [8-)]

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We renewed ours least year (2019). Initially at the CPAM Loire Atlantique main office, they told us that, as we had an S1 our health care was being paid by the UK so we had to apply to the UK for it. After several telephone calls we eventually got ours.
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As our UK ehic cards run out in February (next month) I telephoned the UK and asked what was happening. Two new cards are on their way and I am told that are usable up until 31.12.20 or perhaps longer if a deal is reached about this.
The lady I spoke to said they are all very stressed about constantly having to talk about it!
Although we live in France (so ehic is based on S1) we are holidaying in Germany in April so needed to know the position.

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[quote user="Hereford"]
As our UK ehic cards run out in February (next month) I telephoned the UK and asked what was happening. Two new cards are on their way and I am told that are usable up until 31.12.20 or perhaps longer if a deal is reached about this.
The lady I spoke to said they are all very stressed about constantly having to talk about it!
Although we live in France (so ehic is based on S1) we are holidaying in Germany in April so needed to know the position.
[/quote]

I can imagine that, the large number of people who got their cards from the UK when the system changed, which I now think was 2010, are all finding them about to expire at the same time.

I have been going back through my archived emails, and found the following:

When we applied in January 2015 for our current cards, which seem to have been our second 5-year ones,we each completed and emailed a template, which I think was on their web site:-

**By submitting this template you are declaring that you have a valid

S1/E121 which was issued to you for the country you currently reside in, due you

receiving an exportable UK benefit**

Name:

Current address:

Previous address (if different to current address):

UK PIN Number

(shown on your current EHIC):

Are your circumstances still the same as when you last

applied for your EHIC? (Yes/No)

If not

please tell us about your change in circumstances:

Name of

spouse/partner (if applicable):

Name(s) of dependent children living at your address

(if applicable):

 

If you do not wish to renew your EHIC via email /

telephone you can renew by the following methods:

Fax: 0191 279 0798

Post:

EHIC applications

Bridge House

152 Pilgrim Street

Newcastle Upon

Tyne

NE1 6SN

If applying by post, please send a letter that includes all

of the information asked for above.

Subsequently we were asked for birth dates, as the template did not include these.

So, if they want to reduce their workload, they could put the template back up on the web site[;-)]

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[quote user="Laurier"]My EHIC card due to expire mid Feb. Phoned this morning to renew it.  New card arriving in 15 days.

[/quote]

Thank you. It seems the information in the bulletin was a red herring. I think he gets his information from The Connexion [:(]

Just in case, I sent off the email template yesterday, to see if it would still work.

This morning received a reply saying I should telephone them [:)]

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[quote user="nomoss"][quote user="Laurier"]My EHIC card due to expire mid Feb. Phoned this morning to renew it.  New card arriving in 15 days.

[/quote]

Thank you. It seems the information in the bulletin was a red herring. I think he gets his information from The Connexion [:(]

Just in case, I sent off the email template yesterday, to see if it would still work.

This morning received a reply saying I should telephone them [:)]

[/quote]

Just phoned, card on the way in 15 days, as above.

NOTE: When calling, you can skip all the other steps by entering "5" to jump to the correct dep't.

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Thanks for the timely reminder nomoss. Our EHIC cards issued by UK are due to expire this month. Phoned UK and the new cards (valid 5 years) arrived in 3 days! As with others the nice lady on the phone said they would remain valid until the end of this year and then for the period depending on outcome of negotiations.

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  • 2 months later...
I've just gone through the rigmarole to renew our EHICs. Initially I got through to a "foreign sounding" woman who hung up on me as soon as I mentioned living in France. Infuriating, so I tried again... with the same result! Apart from swearing at the phone there's not a lot you can do. The various menus that you plough through lead you to believe you are about to get the renewal and then there is a statement you have to agree to which says you are a UK resident ! The whole point of the phone service being that you are NOT a UK resident.

I left it a few days and tried again, but this time I pressed the button to say I was UK resident and got through to a real person and I explained why I had arrived at her extension, and how contradictory the website and phone menus are!

Then there was a conversation about our EHICs no longer being valid ! She even wanted me to send ours back. I had to argue with her about this, and she suddenly realised that S1 might be relevant, and she checked on her system to see if there was a registered S1 (which there is, 10 years ago when I became eligible for state pension) and suddenly everything was fine, "Yes, I can renew your EHICs". Phew ! Our S1s were issued by DWP whereas the EHIC is NHS, so this may be an issue with some of you.

The EHICs arrived today, only a week since this conversation. The phone call lasted 29 minutes, so be warned!
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