We have all probably heard the very sad story in the news over the last week or so, about the honeymooning couple.
Carrie-Anne Dudbridge broke her spine in three places after falling 20ft from a balcony while on her honeymoon in Corfu. The honeymoon was a surprise gift from wedding guests.
Unfortunately, the couple were then left stranded because they travelled without any travel insurance. They wrongly believed they were covered by the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), formally known as the E111.Thankfully, an appeal to raise the £16,000 required for a specially equipped air ambulance has reached its target. An appeal was also placed on the Millwall FC website, as the couple are fans.
Do you know what your EHIC card really means when you require treatment while on holiday abroad?
We are very pleased that the couple are now getting to go home, but this tragedy really does raise the important point of EHIC. Unfortunately, it is quite confusing what is, and is not covered, so I just wanted to open the forum for a bit of a discussion around this.
Basically the card guarantees the holder will “receive the same level of medical health care as a local resident”, but the important distinction is that it does not cover any travel costs to come back to the UK. Therefore, given the costs of medical transport back to the UK, it is clear that the EHIC is not a substitute for private travel insurance. – you need both.
So I just wondered what other people’s experiences were of the EHIC card? Have you ever used it when you were away? Has it helped? Or have you had problems trying to use it?
Tags: AllClear, AllClear Travel, EHIC, Travel Insurance
I wasn’t given the opportunity to flex my EHIC card when skiing in France. On 3 separate occasions when my family has had accidents nobody ever asked or suggested it. They check your insurance and start the treatment. I’ve had to pay for splits, pain killers, bandages, knee braces and so on – I think a ‘local’ would expect to get all of this from their Health Service. Luckily I had travel insurance so I could claim my expenses back!
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You gave great points here. I did some research on the subject and have found nearly all people agree with your blog.
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[...] and very importantly, as the poor Honeymooning couple in Greece discovered, the EHIC does not cover the cost of being transported back to the [...]