Health Insurance

[diceman]

Hi everyone, I will be moving to Koh Samui next year with my wife, we're both UK citizens.

 

We have lived there before for several years, carefree and blase about health matters, but now we are older we feel some kind of health insurance would be a good idea, nothing too excessive, ( like dental, doctor checkup, non emergency things) but something that covers us when it would really matter and required a hospital visit.

 

I did search through for previous, similar posts, so apolgies if I missed an existing thread.

 

Any tips or advice would be welcomed, especially an obviously ballpark idea of yearly costs. After researching (googling) I'm in the dark of a general idea of such costs for two under sixty year olds with no underlying conditions who just want something basic, for piece of mind.

 

Thank you

 

 

[metisdead]

Moved to the Insurance in Thailand forum.

[KannikaP]

WRLife is cheap & cheerful, but reliable???

[MJCM]

Contact AAinsurance

 

https://www.aainsure.net/

 

They can give you accurate info.

 

Ps: They are not an Insurance company but a broker.

[nigelforbes]

A couple of things to look into when you're trying to decide:

 

If the company is not a well known global brand, who are the underwriters.

 

Even if using a global name, is your policy issued and governed in Thailand or back in the UK (much more preferable). 

[diceman]

ah, thats not something i'd thought about, very good point, thank you

[diceman]

10 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Contact AAinsurance

 

https://www.aainsure.net/

 

They can give you accurate info.

 

Ps: They are not an Insurance company but a broker.

thank you

[diceman]

9 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

A couple of things to look into when you're trying to decide:

 

If the company is not a well known global brand, who are the underwriters.

 

Even if using a global name, is your policy issued and governed in Thailand or back in the UK (much more preferable). 

thank you, thats a great point

[nigelforbes]

Just now, diceman said:

ah, thats not something i'd thought about, very good point, thank you

Thai insurance rules are very different from the West, policies can be cancelled just because you made a claim and premiums can be increased for the same reason. I get nervous about smaller health insurance companies, if you do some digging, as I have, you'll avoid most of them like the plague because it's almost impossible to claim on their policies. Your best bet is to get an international policy with a firm such as CIGNA or similar and restrict it just to Thailand. Also, out patient insurance costs make many policies very expensive so you may wish to just go with in patient only. Lastly, it's not clear to me whether insurance brokers here sell anything other than Thai based insurance company policies rather than international policies issued in the UK, it would be good to check. Lastly lastly, be prepared to have lots of insurance brokers contact you, there's a million of them here!

[diceman]

1 minute ago, nigelforbes said:

Thai insurance rules are very different from the West, policies can be cancelled just because you made a claim and premiums can be increased for the same reason. I get nervous about smaller health insurance companies, if you do some digging, as I have, you'll avoid most of them like the plague because it's almost impossible to claim on their policies. Your best bet is to get an international policy with a firm such as CIGNA or similar and restrict it just to Thailand. Also, out patient insurance costs make many policies very expensive so you may wish to just go with in patient only. Lastly, it's not clear to me whether insurance brokers here sell anything other than Thai based insurance company policies rather than international policies issued in the UK, it would be good to check. Lastly lastly, be prepared to have lots of insurance brokers contact you, there's a million of them here!

Thank you, CIGNA has jumped out at me several times during  my research, with lots of good feedback. 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

My suggestion would be to look into getting health insurance from a major multinational company's operation located in the UK or possibly in the EU. Coverage will likely be broader and claims-paying attitude will probably be more favorable than that of Thai insurers. They will also be subject to greater regulatory oversight and be subject to more comprehensive consumer protection laws.

 

Look at Cigna's and AXA's offerings from their UK or EU operations. There are probably other options for you in the UK market.

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

8 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

. Lastly, it's not clear to me whether insurance brokers here sell anything other than Thai based insurance company policies rather than international policies issued in the UK, it would be good to check. 

Insurance brokers licensed by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner are prohibited from obtaining insurance for their clients from offshore insurance companies. Loss of license is a possibility if they get caught. 

 

Some of them will offer offshore products, but you will be asked to pay directly to the offshore insurer so as not to leave a paper trail through the local broker. 

[diceman]

7 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

My suggestion would be to look into getting health insurance from a major multinational company's operation located in the UK or possibly in the EU. Coverage will likely be broader and claims-paying attitude will probably be more favorable than that of Thai insurers. They will also be subject to greater regulatory oversight and be subject to more comprehensive consumer protection laws.

 

Look at Cigna's and AXA's offerings from their UK or EU operations. There are probably other options for you in the UK market.

 

thank you, i'm definitely thinking along those lines now

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

59 minutes ago, diceman said:

thank you, i'm definitely thinking along those lines now

 

Be aware that some visas and extensions carry a health insurance requirement. While offshore insurance in most cases meets the coverage requirements of the visa, it will likely not be possible to obtain the necessary documentation from the insurer to satisfy the Immigration Department. You would then need to obtain insurance from a Thailand-based insurer. 

 

It is possible to obtain a visa that is suitable for retirees that does not carry a health insurance requirement. This should then free you to obtain health insurance from a UK or EU insurer.

 

Other posters more familiar with visa issues can probably provide better guidance with respect to specific visa options than I can. But keep in mind that visa and insurance can be an issue and therefore investigate and plan accordingly.

 

 

 

 

[diceman]

43 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Be aware that some visas and extensions carry a health insurance requirement. While offshore insurance in most cases meets the coverage requirements of the visa, it will likely not be possible to obtain the necessary documentation from the insurer to satisfy the Immigration Department. You would then need to obtain insurance from a Thailand-based insurer. 

 

It is possible to obtain a visa that is suitable for retirees that does not carry a health insurance requirement. This should then free you to obtain health insurance from a UK or EU insurer.

 

Other posters more familiar with visa issues can probably provide better guidance with respect to specific visa options than I can. But keep in mind that visa and insurance can be an issue and therefore investigate and plan accordingly.

 

 

 

 

yes, I've seen that there are certain non-o insurance requirements, ( we will be non-o with extension/permission to stay based on retirement)  I guess I have lots more research to do, to see what suits us best. Thank you Etaoin and everyone else for your input.

[topt]

On 11/9/2022 at 6:44 PM, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Insurance brokers licensed by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner are prohibited from obtaining insurance for their clients from offshore insurance companies. Loss of license is a possibility if they get caught. 

 

Some of them will offer offshore products, but you will be asked to pay directly to the offshore insurer so as not to leave a paper trail through the local broker. 

I have to say I wasn't aware of that reason so thanks. 

However it is actually preferable to me to pay the company direct as usually I can use the foreign accounts I have.

On 11/9/2022 at 6:31 PM, nigelforbes said:

Lastly, it's not clear to me whether insurance brokers here sell anything other than Thai based insurance company policies rather than international policies issued in the UK,

AA Insure brokers offer all sorts of International policies - UK/French/German/Israeli based that I am aware of as a minimum. I found that their spread sheet of companies/benefits/age costs are a great starting point for research. 

[xylophone]

On 11/9/2022 at 8:56 PM, diceman said:

yes, I've seen that there are certain non-o insurance requirements, ( we will be non-o with extension/permission to stay based on retirement)  I guess I have lots more research to do, to see what suits us best. Thank you Etaoin and everyone else for your input.

Good luck with your search, and when you are doing that research, make sure that you know the upper age limit for your insurance cover, because some policies will only cover you up to the age of 75 (for example) and this was particularly true with a policy I was looking at here in Thailand.

 

 Luckily enough I stuck with my original insurer, and because I had taken out the policy before I had turned 60 years old, they were prepared to insure me until I departed this mortal coil.

 

Food for thought.

[nigelforbes]

1 hour ago, topt said:

I have to say I wasn't aware of that reason so thanks. 

However it is actually preferable to me to pay the company direct as usually I can use the foreign accounts I have.

AA Insure brokers offer all sorts of International policies - UK/French/German/Israeli based that I am aware of as a minimum. I found that their spread sheet of companies/benefits/age costs are a great starting point for research. 

Aren't those two statements contradict each other, brokers not being allowed etc vs AA 's information spread sheet? Now I'm confused (which is easily done)

[topt]

1 hour ago, nigelforbes said:

Aren't those two statements contradict each other, brokers not being allowed etc vs AA 's information spread sheet? Now I'm confused (which is easily done)

As mentioned by the other poster I replied to - 

On 11/9/2022 at 6:44 PM, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Some of them will offer offshore products, but you will be asked to pay directly to the offshore insurer so as not to leave a paper trail through the local broker. 

Hopefully that makes it clear?

[ding]

I used AIA on Samui, my agent's name was Suvitwong on Hwy 4169 near Big C Chaweng area. He was helpful and polite.

 

I tried Pacific Cross and they used bad data to refuse coverage of coronary vascular disease and stroke.

Why would I pay for coverage that didn't cover the top 2 causes of death for man AND women planer-wide?

So...

Even though I'm under 65 years old, I went to a Thai hospital and got a comprehensive medical report.

AIA had no issue covering everything. BTW - My medical report showed no issues - which I knew to be the case.

 

AIA was polite and helpful, which was not my experience elsewhere.