Free European Health Insurance Card

Travelling without your EHIC?

Travelling in Europe without an insurance card? No bloody way! Trust me, this might be the biggest, stupidest and most expensive mistake you’ve ever made! I know from personal experience, because I was stupid enough to travel without having an insurance card…

So here is my story. Two years ago I went to Berlin for six days. I was so tight with money from the start, that I named it my ‘budget trip‘ and I tried my best to spend the least amount of money that I could. I booked extremely cheap air tickets about two months in advance, and I found a place to stay at a friend’s house. But, only two days after my arrival, while I was riding my friend’s bike, the wheel stuck inside the bloody tram’s rails and I smashed my face and broke my left arm (thank God I am right-handed). Nice? The best/worst thing was that I was unconscious and a lady that was passing by called the ambulance! To make the story short, do you know what happened? At the end I had to pay a total 1200 euros for the ambulance and the treatment. Why was that? Cause I didn’t have a European Insurance Card! That’s why..

So when I returned back to London first thing that I did was to apply for a free European Health Insurance Card. It was sooooo easy, you can’t imagine.  You just apply online and they send it to your door without spending a penny. Don’t even consider paying for getting an EHIC. I am saying this because there are websites that will charge you around £20 for getting you the card while you can do it on your own for free and without hustling.

The card is valid in all European Economic Area (EEA) countries and covers any necessary medical treatment during your trip, giving you access to reduced-cost or free medical treatment from state healthcare providers.You can apply for your Free European Health Insurance Card here.

p.s Remember that the telephone number for the emergency services in most European countries is 112!

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You may also want to check our post about House Sitting.