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Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

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martincymru
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Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by martincymru » Tue, 03 May 2016 4:15 pm

It's clear that in an emergency you will be treated.

However, it is very vague as to what you will be charged and how they intend to make you pay. They cannot stop you leaving the UK.

Welcome your thoughts. ( Context: Filipino, 2 week holiday, limited means, no insurance ).

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Barnsley
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Re: Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by Barnsley » Tue, 03 May 2016 6:19 pm

martincymru wrote:It's clear that in an emergency you will be treated.

However, it is very vague as to what you will be charged and how they intend to make you pay. They cannot stop you leaving the UK.

Welcome your thoughts. ( Context: Filipino, 2 week holiday, limited means, no insurance ).
Why wouldn't you get travel insurance?

Seems a bit of an oversight.
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Re: Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by BBCWatcher » Tue, 03 May 2016 9:47 pm

martincymru wrote:However, it is very vague as to what you will be charged and how they intend to make you pay. They cannot stop you leaving the UK.
You can leave the United Kingdom with an unpaid medical bill, true -- assuming you're able to leave. (More on this point in a moment.) But then U.K. Visas and Immigration can stop you from ever reentering the United Kingdom. Starting on October 31, 2011, an unpaid medical debt of £1000 or more that's at least 3 months in arrears is reason enough to deny you reentry and deny future visas. It's possible in the future the U.K. unpaid medical debts travel ban will be extended to the entire European Union since the U.K. is (and probably will remain) a member of the EU.

A medical calamity might mean you can't physically leave the United Kingdom, i.e. that you're not medically fit for travel (at least not without special medical transport) or you're dead. The U.K. government is under no obligation to pay for special medical transport or for repatriating your remains. Adequate insurance covers such contingencies, too.

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Re: RE: Re: Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by ecureilx » Tue, 03 May 2016 9:54 pm

Barnsley wrote:
martincymru wrote:
Welcome your thoughts. ( Context: Filipino, 2 week holiday, limited means, no insurance ).
Why wouldn't you get travel insurance?

Seems a bit of an oversight.
I guess Martin in enquiring on behalf of somebody else !!

Martin, get the cheapest travel insurance, should be less than 60$, though with high excess.

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martincymru
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Re: Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by martincymru » Wed, 04 May 2016 8:48 am

Yes, better to get the necessary insurance.

It remains though a somewhat murky area.

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Re: RE: Re: Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by BBCWatcher » Wed, 04 May 2016 1:00 pm

ecureilx wrote:Martin, get the cheapest travel insurance, should be less than 60$, though with high excess.
For reference, Hong Leong Group's HL Assurance Basic policy costs S$53 for one adult visiting the United Kingdom from June 1, 2016, through June 15, 2016, purchased directly online. There's no excess with that policy (a common feature with travel insurance, actually), and the policy limit is $150,000 for overseas medical expenses (pretty reasonable for the NHS, much less reasonable in the U.S. for example) with no limit for repatriation expenses. There's also coverage for trip cancellation, postponement, lost baggage, lost travel documents, personal liability, etc.

Shop around, though. That's not necessarily the best offer, but it's not bad.

Sometimes if you have charged your full air fare to a credit card the credit card company tosses in some free travel insurance, although usually with lower limits than standalone travel insurance. Check your credit card agreement.

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Re: Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by nakatago » Thu, 05 May 2016 6:58 am

* Get medical travel insurance.
* Confirm with the UK embassy what's the cover amount required. E.g. Schengen visa requires 30K EUR and repatriation in case of emergency.
* For Filipinos applying for a visa, it's always better to have more than the minimum documents than they require, if only to build up a case.
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Re: RE: Re: Free Medical Help in UK for Tourists ?

Post by ecureilx » Thu, 05 May 2016 8:38 am

nakatago wrote: * For Filipinos applying for a visa, it's always better to have more than the minimum documents than they require, if only to build up a case.
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