Long-stay visa and medical insurance

Just to check - if I go to France as a visitor for less than 90 days with only my EHIC (GHIC) card, I would still potentially be liable for all the costs you mention. My guess is that most visitors do this rather than pay what is relatively a very large insurance cost. Do your visitors/relatives insure themselves when they come for a few days stay?

An EHIC gives you State equivalent cover, so liable for all excess over that - which can be pricey. Haven’t had that many UK visitors in last 2 years but generally all my friends and family carry annual travel insurance.

If you don’t want to take PHI, then up to you. Just wanted to explain possible consequences. So don’t shoot messenger! All insurance v no insurance is a gamble, so personal decision of which way you go.

2 Likes

It doesn’t have to be S1 or insurance. Separate out visa requirement - your S1 ticks that box. So your choice of insurance becomes wider and cheaper - a lot cheaper than the numbers you gave.

1 Like

I looked at the options for insurance. At my age (which is a real limitation), there aren’t many. The figures I quoted are the cheapest that I could find.

As the UK government site says…

It’s up to you if you wish to take the gamble.

and I have quoted higher up the thread… about the costs of repatriation… which was needed by someone visiting my commune…
Accidents do happen…
and the ongoing costs after the A&E and initial operation was likely to have bankrupted the family.

@fabien will help you get best value for your money.

I have annual travel insurance with a high limit. This is relatively cheap compared with PHI. But it depends on one having a UK address and, in principle, coming back to the UK again.

Hi santiago, maybe you can have a look (or another look) at our offers on https://www.fabfrenchinsurance.com/ as I’m quite sure our pricing are much lower. We have an exclusive offer (only available with us) that has been battle tested for VISA and residency applications and we’re more than happy to help on the phone or over email if you have any questions. I’m usually not that straightforward but it seems as if you’ve run a few quotations already so that would be a shame to not look at our pricing as it’s literally the core of our business so I’m pretty sure we’re super competitive. :wink:

3 Likes

Except can’t get a French based mutuelle without a social security number.

Isn’t this where Fabien comes into play… he has Medical Insurance offers which can change to Mutuelle once the client has the S1 registered etc…

and if I recall correctly… @santiago102 is moving here permanently… (or has this plan changed ??)

There are various insurance options that if taken out in the UK are actually quite cheap - they’re designed for 6-12 months long trips - including relocation. Its normally a weird condition you have to be in the UK/outside the country in question - when you start them. If they want basic cover during the transition - its an option.

Still planning to come, perhaps more than ever after the price increases in energy today!

Are they available for anyone over 75, though?

i dont think youll find that is accurate, nothing health wise is free in France and especially emergency treatment where you are obliged to get your carte vitale or credit card out on entry, and if you cant because your the victim youll be handed the bill on exit, this has been my experience with kids injuries vists to A&E, ski injuries , bla bla bla. it takes a good 12 months to get a Carte Vital and you still need to top up payments from 50% to the total, my mother is 80 and she gets some things now covered at 100% but she did not at 60.

worth a note to point out that if your receiving a uk state pension it will ultimately be taxable in France assuming you stay in Fr permanently and no longer are a uk tax resident, your uk pension will be taxed depending on the threshold and you will also be charged social security (NI) on it when you declare it all via your delightful French tax return. Not related to health directly but thought id mention it

We’ve ended up in A&E twice and never been asked for anything on entry, or given a bill on exit. We were sent a bill later for the journalier, but not required to pay it to get out of the hospital.

I agree that “free” is probably the wrong word as always to 50c forfaits, 1€ franchise, and the 20€ journalier for a night in hospital. However you do end up not paying very much at all for emergency treatment.

If you have a state pension you should be exonerated from french social charges and just pay the 7.5% prÊlèvement sociale.

@6greens I have no idea why you seem to have received such poor treatment at A&E.

Never had anything like that happen to me in all these years and in possibly more than 40 visits to A&E for myself and accompanying others.

Mind you, I’ve never been skiing… so perhaps that’s it. Is there some special requirement at ski resorts ???

When applying for an S1 they will not send the certificate to a UK address it will be sent to be your French address. So thinking insurance is needed, that can be cancelled at a month’s notice which will be replaced with your S1 and top-up insurance.

The UK gov site says that it will be sent to a UK address if you request it. This may be a relatively recent change because of the circular problem referred to earlier in this topic.

1 Like