Hello all. My daughter lives and works in London. She travels to the US for visits and now has no health insurance coverage when here. I want her to get travel insurance to be covered. Any recommendations from those living in the UK on either an annual plan or a trip by trip plan? When I try looking at companies from here they don’t take her as she isn't living in the US. Thanks for any insights.
Posted by
London
1509 posts
I have travel insurance through my bank- and it covers things like mobile phone as well. It's not very expensive- your daughter may want to check if her bank offers something similar.
Posted by
Lake District, England
11946 posts
As a general rule from the UK I would always go for an annual policy if travelling 3 or more times a year.
From reading other threads on the forum the annual cost is about what you seem to pay for a single trip to the UK- we seem to have very different markets.
I can't be specific as I'm over 50, so use Saga Travel Insurance. Clearly that doesn't apply to your daughter!!
While I have never had to claim (which is the acid test), they have a very good reputation.
One of the reasons I use Saga is little perks, like I get free use of an airport lounge anywhere in the world if delayed by 2 hours or more. Saga monitor my flights and message me if there is such a delay, and say go and use 'x' lounge. Now I know it won't be the best lounge in the airport, but still.
There is a company called Trailfinders- they organise independent trips worldwide, and have always had a high reputation. They do travel insurance- if I was what I assume is your daughters age again they would be an initial point of enquiry- https://www.trailfinders.com/
Before Saga I was with the Post Office on an annual policy, and they were always competitively priced- https://www.postoffice.co.uk/travel-insurance
Again I have never made an actual claim.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
8458 posts
Beth, very wise!
For all the talk about travel insurance, probably one of the most important places for health insurance is in the U.S., where costs are high for the uninsured. I tell people that I wouldn't even connect thru a U.S. city without health insurance. (You can get sick on a plane, trip in an airport, etc.)
I had a couple health care encounters in Australia. For the first, a doctor consult over the phone was about $20 USD. The prescription was about $7 USD. Then I got quite ill with a respiratory infection. I visited a pharmacy. Antibiotics about $5 USD, inhaler about $7. All less than what my copay would be in the U.S. Out of pocket in the U.S. for uninsured would be at least $300 for each of these encounters.
Posted by
London, UK
625 posts
I had a good experience with Direct Line when I had an accident and surgery in South Africa, and have also used NFU but not claimed with them. I think your daughter needs to do some comparisons for price and benefits and see whe suits her best.
Posted by
Angleterre
2857 posts
The Money Saving Expert website is a good place to start - it outlines what insurance covers, etc., and there's a comparison tool to find companies
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/travel-insurance/
Posted by
Bristol, UK
2167 posts
Annual travel insurance is not very expensive and gives far more cover than seems to be the case for American products. Standard medical cover is always in the millions of pounds, for example. We pay around £100 annually for the whole family. That’s Europe only and it will be a bit more expensive to cover the US but not that much more.
My current policy is with Aviva but I’ve never had to claim so can’t comment on that.
Posted by
London and Chester
396 posts
Get her to have a look at the Compare the Market comparison website. It has a good range of companies to investigate.
I have previously used Insure and Go and have always gone for an annual plan. They also didn’t charge that much more when I needed to declare a medical condition when renewing. I had been expecting the premium to sky rocket.
https://www.insureandgo.com/
Posted by
OP
Northern Colorado
114 posts
Thanks everyone, this helps to point her in a direction. She works for an F1 race team and they cover race travel but not personal travel, of course. One illness or accident when she is in the US could be awful. 😬
Posted by
Bristol, UK
2167 posts
She should definitely never travel without insurance. This message is rammed into us here. Money Saving Expert is an excellent website for any financial advice and one she might already know if she’s living in the U.K.
Posted by
London and Chester
396 posts
Sorry if I am stating the obvious, it’s important to be accurate when answering questions about health, previous doctors appointments etc.
Every once in a while there are horror stories in the press of people who found they weren’t covered because of a minor pre existing condition that they genuinely forgot to mention when applying.