MrCanary Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 What are people's feelings/advice about having or not having travel insurance for travelling back and forth to a maison secondaire in France?With a European health card, is it really necessary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Probably not necessary from a health point of view.You might still consider it from the travel point of view - cancelled flights, lost bags, theft from your car etc.rgdsHagar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 The same arguments work for this as for top-up. Just remember, you only get the same cover as a French person, so any shortfall has to be paid by you. A friend of mine came over here without insurance, and 8 days in hospital brought a bill for 4k€ in spite of the EHIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Yearly, as opposed to per trip, insurance is very cheap and provides for most of the unexpected while the EHIC caters for the basics, imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanary Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 I posted this question because at the time, I was struggling to obtain travel insurance for my adult son who has epilepsy. For the last few years he had an annual policy with an insurance company linked to the charity Epilepsy Action (used to be the British Epilepsy Association). Then, for some unexplained reason, the policies were not renewed and the charity still currently has no partner insurance group.Epilepsy Action were able to supply me with contact details for a few companies that they thought would be sympathetic and I spent yesterday contacting them. They were actually very awkward to deal with and it was at this point that I posted my question above. Then, one of them offered me a policy for him at £108 per year which, although at last we had found cover, was a huge increase on last year's cost of £44 - which was perhaps being underwritten by the charity.Then, early evening, just as I was about to pull out the last few strands of my hair, I spoke to Norwich Union Direct. They asked me the identical medical questions about his epilepsy as the other companies and then came up with the quote for an annual policy of £51.17.Phew! What a relief! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuppence Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Does anyone take out travel insurance for going back to the UK periodically? Is it necessary for a French resident to do this? Come to think about it, what about Car Breakdown insurance (usually included in French Insurance Policies) are you covered with that when travelling in the UK?tuppence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 As somebody said above, Tuppence, although our CEAMs cover us in the UK, travel insurance is still worth it when going back to the UK for lost luggage/cancelled ferries etc. Mine costs around £70 a year so as I go to the UK for a few weeks a year it's essential for me. And my French car insurance policy includes breakdown cover (and recovery back to France) all over Europe. Personally, I think it's a must but like all insurace policies, it's up to the individual to make the risk assesment isn't it?Mel : Glad you sorted out something at a reasonable price for your son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanary Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 Thanks Deb... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 What gets me at the moment is the stuff about pre existing medical conditions they lay down as a condition of cover...You can feel as fit as a butchers dog and attend a gym every day ..but if your doctor has put you on a statin as advised by the governement these days as a preventative measure if your cholestral is up a bit .....and...If because of your age your blood pressure is slightly up and he also puts you somthing to keep it down ....( and as a result its been fine years .)... you are still in trouble getting full cover as these are medications you have to declare as prescribed you in the 2 years prior to your application for cover ....Then watch the premium shoot up ....if they will cover you.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Even worse if you are over eighty. AMEX gladly took annual premiums for travel insurance from my mother for more than thirty years. She made one claim - for a broken wrist. As soon as she turned eighty they said they would gladly continue with the policy BUT all medical expenses would be excluded.Anybody know of a company offering annual comprehensive travel insurance for someone 80+.? We have tried SAGA - they will only do it on a trip basis and it is very expensive.rgdshagar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
val douest Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 There is a 'silver surfer' website http://www.ssti.co.uk/travel-insurance-80.htm which suggests several insurance companies (including Marks and Sparks) who will insure people over 80 - I don't know whether any annual policies are included. There is also http://www.allcleartravel.co.uk which claims to offer insurance with no age limits. I've no idea if any of them actually offer what they say they do and whether the premiums are affordable but it might be worth a look.Val Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I know this sounds peculiar, but I got travel insurance for my 86 year old mother from the British Moutaineering Council. They were very co-operative and not expensive. She did have a couple of medical conditions - nothing serious- but they didn't seem to worry. I don't think they have any age limit. I presume that they consider all the older generation to be a better risk than a person doing extreme sports or, climbing moutains. Hope that helps.Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradford Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I recently went to see our Broker over here as we wanted travel insurance for a forthcoming trip to the USA with the children. I asked if we could buy an annual policy. It was going to be quite expensive. Our Broker then went to check our car insurance policy. He came back with it and a copy of our Assistance Cover. It transpires that not only are we covered anywhere in the world, we don't even have to have our car with us! He stated it even covered us for the times we go skiing and generally pay for the mountain recovery insurance. So, our €500.00 fully comprehensive policy, really is comprehensive and better value than we thought!Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanary Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 Hagar - Not sure if they will do it or not, but you really ought to try Norwich Union Direct (0800 015 9614). They came as a refreshing change after my afternoon of ringing a number of quite unhelpful and expensive other companies.Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Thanks very much guys.I will have a look at all the suggestions.rgdshagar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alane Posted August 17, 2008 Share Posted August 17, 2008 Does anyone know of a company that provides cover for medical costs following an accident while engaging in DIY on a second home in France? I am currently with Direct Travel. Their policies did provide cover for work not involving power tools or working at over 2m. As my main concern is falling off step ladders while painting this was fine. I've checked online and they now specify that cover for any manual work is excluded. They've also made some other changes that make them less attractive so I thought I'd search the market but I'm finding it hard to find any policy which mentions DIY specifically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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