Actually in most of the EU you will not be charged if you do not have insurance. Its just if you are insured you get taken in the private heli and private ambulance to the private clinic. No insurance you go with the public services.

Hmm my uninsured friend had a seizure and was helicoptered to hospital, cost him several thousand pounds, and they did a good job of tracking him down in the UK seeking payment.

I was air lifted off a French alp into Switzerland for some pretty good bed baths (mmmm swiss nurses) and the flown home on a private jet to the cost of £40k, I never paid a penny and had some new kit waiting for when my broken back had healed. A friend messed up bouldering and is still paying it off today. Guess who had insurance?
Get travel/activity insurance!
Neil

“have not read it all but: public mountain rescue is free. It’s the helicopter from the resort that charges you money for the priviledge. As far as i am aware, the hospital only needs a certain paperwork from the nhs. And then you wont have to may anything”.

You clearly have not read it all then. Don’t listen to people who don’t know what they are talking about, anecdotes from idiots who were too cheap to get insurance are not to be trusted. And please don’t give advice if you don’t know either. It’s far too serious to cock up.

You need at least £2 million in insurance cover, I’d go for £5 million. And if you can’t pay, you’ll have to declare yourself bankrupt. Why so much? If you are running up bills at that price you are clearly very sick. You do not want your insurance company to insist on repatriating you because you’re running out of insurance if you’re that sick.

You would definately need cover for repatriation (cost of plane/heli, nurse, doc, full ICU equipment etc) let alone rescue, hotel bills. Your E111 may cover things but not everything, and even if they cover 90% the 10% can be a lot.

Health insurance is a total bargain compared to the actual cost. Because of the great NHS you have no idea how much things cost in real life.

Think I’d better get some insurance then.
For me, my wife and son, looks like it will cost £100 to £120 for the week. Not bad considering the cover you get and the piece of mind.

Bargain at £100. Enjoy. 😀

Sorry to dredge this up again.. it seems there are conflicting views on here. From what I can understand, if you have an EHIC card the only use for insurance is in case of an airlift or repatriation?

if you have an EHIC card the only use for insurance is in case of an airlift or repatriation?

Well I don’t know about the other alps but in France, if you going through the public sector yes you’ll only need an assurance for the repatriation.

If you’re going on a guided holiday most if not all guides won’t take you if you’re not insured.

Before you leave get your European Health Insurance Card – its free you just have to request it, French hospital is them free. To get airlifted off the mountain you need specialist insurance.

Not correct. The European heath insurance card will give you 60-70% off the hospital costs. Insurance picks up the rest if you have it.

I got insurance through Virgin and topped it up to include “Extreme” MTB cover. Might have to use it to claim after an accident a few weeks ago, but will depend on the excesses.

I had a fall climbing in the Chamonix area a few years back. Ambulance, x-rays, MRI scans. would have been expensive but had insurance with British Mountaineering Council. Cover was very good. Only paid an excess which was about £200. They may cover biking?

As soon as they know you’re insured you’ll be taken to a private clinic that may or may not have the same resources as the public hospital

In Western Europe you’ll almost certainly be better off in a public hospital

I crashed in Spain and ended up not claiming on the insurance as it wasn’t worth it.

Guiding company minibus got me off the mountain
E111 covered the public hospital

HOWEVER
If I’d been out of walking distance it would have been a helicopter job £££££

If I’d stumped up the £50 excess I’d not have had to spend 6 hours surrounded by vomiting kids, old people shitting themselves and drug addicts only to be told there was nothing they could do apart from stabilise it and wait for surger once I was back in the UK.

Apparently the private hospital phone’s the insurer’s once they’ve got you under anastetic and already opperating which would have knocked about a month of my recovery time!

Next time; stuff the excess I’m getting in the whirly bird and a spongebath off the nurse in the private hospital.

Friend crashed heavily a couple of years back, big bang on head, coma for two weeks etc, just about ok now thank god, touch and go for a while.
Anyway he wasn’t insured, heli’d off mountain to hospital, bill was getting expensive at £1500 odd per day in hospital.
E111/European card covered 80% of costs, his family paid for repatriation by private jet with nurses, that was expensive! approx £10k

The balance 20% was eventually paid/ignored/netted off against the French running up bills in UK hospitals

Tried to use insurance and an EU health card, the doc said Cash Please

Good luck finding the right/free medical centre in an alpine village.

columbus direct, voucher code rt20. i got my weeks insurance with the helicopter rescue and all that malarkey for £26 i think. and they pay for everything, instead of having to pay and claim it back.

Wow – just got 5 weeks insurance for the two of us for £31. Covers MTB and kitesurfing too…

Next time; stuff the excess I’m getting in the whirly bird and a spongebath off the nurse in the private hospital.

Except in Spain if the injury is serious enough you’ll be taken to a public hospital anyway, they’re a lot bigger and better equipped.

Good luck finding the right/free medical centre in an alpine village.

this. When youre bundled semi conscious into the back of a (private) ambulance who take you to a (private) hospital, who’s negotiating to get you into a public hospital for free treatment?

Not sure TJ has the personal experience to extol The Truth. I was carried off le Pleney in Morzine by pompiers with a broken knee, and put into a private ambulance, who took me to a private clinic in Thonon le Bains. I discovered on leaving 5 days later we’d driven past the public hospital on route. I was in no position to argue haggle or negotiate in English let alone french, I was sick and semi conscious with pain. I had surgery out there, was driven onto the runway in an ambulance, carried onto the plane by paramedics where I had the entire front row of the plane to stretch my braced leg out, and met by a MPV taxi at Luton and driven home.

I’m sure* TJ will list how all of this can be obtained free, but I’d have paid someone more than my £60 annual fee just to deal with the hassle whilst I coped with the pain.

Posted before, but my only 2 pics from Morzine 2009 (thats 2 pics of the same leg I wasnt that unlucky…

*not really

I run my insure & go policy all the time and cover the family, I like it in case of a crash at home or abroad.

Insurance costs seem to have gone up, but as said, still a bargain to give you total peace of mind, rather than trying to skimp while still buying that new mech you don’t need. £50 or so for the Wife and I for ten days in the alps with Dog Tag and their top scale insurance.

Except in Spain if the injury is serious enough you’ll be taken to a public hospital anyway, they’re a lot bigger and better equipped.

Probably true, I was taken tot he local medical center/hospital, then transfered by ambulance down to the big one in Malaga. Apparenlty the private center next to the public one does oppertions there without having to ship you off elswhere.

A more subtle question – I have travel insurance with my bank account (Co-Op – ‘privilege’ – costs c£8 a month for our joint account). It definitely covers on-piste skiing. Pretty sure it covers ‘cycling’.

At what point is cycling no longer just ‘cycling’? Lift assisted? What if you ride to the top of the hill? What if you’re on ‘paths’ rather than purpose built trails? What about riding TDF cols on a road bike?

Some years i’ve got extra cover, some years I just rely on the co-op policy (and E111). Any thoughts?

Any thoughts?

Phone them and ask.

I was carried off le Pleney in Morzine by pompiers with a broken knee

I am not sure that is very legal. Firemen have IIRC a duty to take you to the PUBLIC hospital. If you want to go private you have to specify it to them.

One of the problem is that as far as I understand it, there is a very profitable business of private doctor, hospitals and companies in ski resort. Most of them relying on the brits having insurances.

A more subtle question – I have travel insurance with my bank account (Co-Op – ‘privilege’ – costs c£8 a month for our joint account). It definitely covers on-piste skiing. Pretty sure it covers ‘cycling’.

At what point is cycling no longer just ‘cycling’? Lift assisted? What if you ride to the top of the hill? What if you’re on ‘paths’ rather than purpose built trails? What about riding TDF cols on a road bike?

Different companies will be different, but with Virgin they cover “Mountain Biking, not including extreme terrain or racing” as standard.

I questioned them what it meant and they said anything off-road would be classed as “extreme terrain”. So be very careful as your definition will almost certainly be different to theirs. Given they have just said “cycling” I would say anything off road won’t be covered.