UK/Schengen Medical Insurance

[laolover88]

What's the current thinking on best medical insurance for a 35 year old Thai woman going to Europe UK for 3 months?

Thanks for any advice

[CiaranO]

Just google travel insurance Thailand - BUPA and AXA seem to offer reasonable travel policies. I bought AXA for my wife for all of Europe.

[theoldgit]

It is a requirement for Schengen that insurance is purchased from a company based in the EU, or a number of companies in Thailand.

My partner used Columbus Direct, based in the UK and purchased online, last year, good price and cover, with the added benefit that medical costs are paid directly, most Thai policies you have to pay and, try to, claim back.

VFS initially rejected the policy because "England is not in Schengen", after a complaint to the Italian Consulate they apologised and admitted their mistake.

[Donutz]

I would suggest finding a company that (also) operats in your home (EU) country. Don't know which ones are active in the UK but there should be plenty of choice, not? Might be slightly more expensive than one based in Thailand or elsewhere but atleast the chanches of getting into an argument about any bills or payment of bills etc. seems a lot less likely to me. You get what you pay for after all... Plus communication will be a lot easier if the company is only a city or so away and falls under national law incase things would take a turn for the worse.

@Git: An other reason not to use VFS Global's (or TLS Contact's) services, you aren't required to use their services for Schengen visa's. You know this but sadly embassies push people towards VFS and TLS... They are only a handling agency, the embassy has much more experience and knowledge and even those do mess up at times... I would in all cases never ever turn to TLS or VFS unless there would be a very obvious benefit to me for doing so (less costly, more swiftly etc.).