Generally our pattern of travel is my wife I and I visit our house 4 times a year.
Most of our visits are longer then 30 days but no more than 45.
Do I need to arrange insurance through a UK provider as I am still UK resident?
Is the standard offering of health cover in a travel policy adequate or do I need something more?I know I am not entitled to French healthcare except the reciprocal arrangements that exist. I am in good health but want to ensure any health cover is adequate if that makes sense?
I have a policy with Admiral which is due for renewal in next few weeks so looking for any recommendations from people in similar situation please.
Do get private insurance as @Stella mentioned but also get a UK GHIC card (if you don’t already have one) - that gives you the right to state health treatment in France on the same basis as a French resident, paid for by the UK.
Otherwise you would have to pay up front for the full cost of any treatment received (which could be considerable!) and then claim it back from your insurer later. Many people assume that having travel insurance means that the insurer will pick up the tab on the spot but that’s not the case.
You must buy travel insurance. Most policies cover just 30 days, but can be extended if arranged in advance and an extra premium paid. I think Admiral and Avanti do this, there will be others.
The other insurances to consider are for your UK home (most allow property house to be empty up to just 30 days) and French home (How long can it be unoccupied? Our AXA insurance allows for more than half the year empty)
It’s also worth looking at bank account premium accounts. We pay £18 per month now with Nationwide and that includes travel insurance, car breakdown insurance etc it’s worth it for us as compared to separate policies we are covered each so in effect £9 per month each.
Nationwide FlexPlus accounts require the medical cover to be assessed. Some pre-existing conditions and age can affect the additional premium considerably.
A bonus is fee free exchange at interbank rate with their card.
No sign of the medical cover being assessed, but then not reported any pre existing issues. Cover up to 70 I believe at which point they will assess. I sent in a letter as they changed to Aviva from the previous company, with the increase in account cost. I asked them as a mutual building society to find a mutual insurance company. No response, I shall put this forward again when it gets close to voting at the AGM.
I should have said “may require assessment” and it’s automatic after70. Very old age and non-serious (imv) pre-existing conditions have priced us out of their FlexPlus cover.
The increase from ÂŁ13 to ÂŁ18 was not surprising after such a long period at the earlier price. No doubt the change of provider was based on the quotes they obtained.
It seems ok, of course one never knows with insurance until to put in a claim. T&C’s seemed to be ok, the European breakdown cover was worth the cost on its own, they seem to use the same rescue service as the rest.
As Corona says, as you are resident in the UK so presumably have access to UK bank accounts, often a packaged bank account is working out far better than standalone travel insurance in both cost and conditions.
Moneysavingexpert com updated on 3 excellent packaged bank accounts for this purpose this week that have excellent promotional offers on them right now and also listed several others that aren’t bad but without promotional offers. I’d take a look asap if I were you.
Moat also include some other benefits at no extra cost. A favourite one being mobile phone insurance.