Useful Info

Information about the European Health Insurance Card
Advice for Travellers
Useful Telephone Numbers
UK And Irish Embassies And Consulates In Europe
Can I Claim Insurance?
Sending Cash Abroad
Lost or Stolen Payment cards

The European Health Insurance Card "EHIC"

Whether or not you have travel insurance you need to get your free European Health Insurance Card ( “ EHIC” ). It entitles you to free or reduced cost medical treatment – for illness or accident – in all European countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein Norway and Switzerland.

According to “this is money” the card, which is free, replaced the old E111 form, which is defunct.. There are two major gaps in what EHIC covers, which means you still need travel insurance. Firstly the EHIC only entitles you to the countries state health-service treatments – so if you are taken to a private clinic, as often occurs, you will be liable for costs unless you have travel cover.

Secondly you are only covered for what a citizen of that country is entitled under their health service arrangements – so you might be asked to contribute to costs.

Don’t think that just because you have travel insurance, you don’t need EHIC. Some leading travel insurers will not pay out if you don’t have an EHIC. Also the EHIC covers any treatment you need for a chronic disease or pre-existing illness – which most travel insurance excludes, or charges a fortune for.

You can apply for you EHIC , free of charge, by logging on to www.ehic.org.uk or by telephoning 0845 606 2030 or ( outside the UK ) +44 191 203 5555 or by picking up a form from the Post Office.

You will need to give the NHS or National Insurance number, Surname/Family name, Forenames and date of birth of each applicant.

Lost or Stolen Payment Cards

We suggest you have a look at the UK Government website www.identitytheft.org.uk for more information about this related subject. The European Union has for some years been trying to get everyone to agree to a single EU wide telephone number for reporting lost or stolen payment cards, but this has not yet happened, so every country has its own rules.

These are the emergency contact numbers to call for lost or stolen UK plastic cards, including for banks and building societies.

Advice For Travellers

For up to date health advice there is really no better service than the department of health – log on to www.dh.gov.uk to get advice about such things as Bird Flu and epidemics, current threats and general advice. Health advice can also be obtained from the World health organization particularly about vaccinations you might need.

Also the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have a great website www.fco.gov.uk/travel which gives you lot’s advice from terrorism threats , health threats , passport and visa problems, and lots more including how the British Embassies and Consulates can help you.

Useful Telephone Numbers

Airlines - www.geocities.com/Thavery2000/
telephone numbers of all the airlines and links to their websites

Airports - www.airports-worldwide.com
telephone numbers and details of airports around the world Emergency Service Numbers in Europe

Yell - www.yell.com will give you digital maps and addresses and telephone numbers of service providers throughout the UK

NHS - www.nhsdirect.nh or telephone 08454647
These details will put you in touch with NHS call centres open 24/7 throughout the UK. They can direct you to the nearest 24 hour pharmacy,hospital, doctor,dentist etc.

The service is offered in most languages, so whatever language you speak you should be able to get help

UK And Irish Embassies And Consulates In Europe

You can see a list of UK and Irish embassies and consulates worldwide by clicking on
UK embassies & consulates
or
Irish embassies & consulates

Can I Claim?

If you have not taken out travel insurance and have an emergency abroad, it is worthwhile checking whether you can still get compensation. Many Home Insurance policies, for example, also provide cover against loss of cash and medical emergencies when you are travelling. Why not contact your home insurance company and find out whether you have this coverage ??

Again, if you used your credit or debit card to purchase travel you may often be entitled to claim if the flight is delayed or your baggage lost under the free insurance included with the card.

Very often these claims have time limits attached to them so it is important to take the time in advance to find out your entitlement. The insurance coverage by credit and debit card companies and some clubs and other organizations is relatively cheap for them to arrange – simply because most consumers either don’t know about their cover, or can’t be bothered to claim , or simply fail to claim within the time limits. Why not find out what you are entitled to and make a note in your data storage.

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, if you pay for goods and services in the UK or abroad using your UK credit card ( not your debit card ) and the price of the goods or services was between £100 and less than £30,000, then if the goods or services were defective, even if you only paid part with your credit card, you will usually have the same claim against the credit card company as you would have had against the original supplier.

Your claim is of course not limited to £30,000 – it might be for millions. Naturally it’s a lot easier to sue the credit card company than some fly by night offshore trader. As a spokesman for one of the banks said ” If someone went abroad for a face lift and paid only £1 on their credit card and they wanted to make a claim, we could be liable for the whole amount” – so the moral of this story is always pay by credit card !. We do not supply legal advice but we are sure that in this situation you will be able to find a lawyer to advise you.

Sending Cash Abroad

If you need to send cash urgently to someone abroad – or even from abroad to home try www.westernunion.co.uk. They have 245,000 agent locations worldwide, can arrange immediate transfer, so you can be standing in one of their agent locations and the person to who you are sending cash can collect it immediately from one of their other agent locations.

European Emergency Telephone Numbers