European Health Insurance Card

Over the last few weeks there has been much comment about travel insurance, and I have written a blog on the same subject, follow this link. If you go back a few years you used to be able to get an E111 card if travelling in Europe to get access to state provided health care, and that was replaced in 2006 with the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which allows you to access state-provided health care in all European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland at a reduced cost or sometimes free of charge.


Everyone who is resident in the UK should have the EHIC and carry it with them when they travel abroad. Please remember to check your EHIC is still valid before you travel. Applying for the card directly from the NHS is free and it is valid for up to five years.

Now I've heard that some of the travel insurance providers are expecting people to use this first in Europe before they make a claim, but more worryingly it is the fact that most people aren't aware that the cards have an expiry date!

I missed that when I ordered mine and as I am off to Europe in the next few weeks I am glad I checked yesterday as my card expired on the 1st January this year! It is easy to renew on the NHS website, so the moral of the story is to make sure you have applied and that you remember to renew when its due!