Separately, I dealt with the general topic of health insurance, it came time to add information on Schengen insurance on the blog, because there is its nuances. Starting about the fact that it must be done, ending with the fact that it is often more profitable to do annual insurance, and not for specific dates, about which not everyone knows.
And such an important moment. Insurance can be done in Europe, and possible for Schengen visa. It seems to be the same, but below I will explain what is the difference.
The content of the article
- 1 Insurance for Schengen Visa
- 1.1 Why do I need medical insurance
- 1.2 Sum insured
- 1.3 Insurance for a year and for specific dates
- 1.4 Average cost of insurance
- 1.5 Where to buy insurance
- 1.6 Insurance not for travel, but for visa
- 2 What is Assistance?
Contents
Schengen visa insurance
Why do I need medical insurance
Next will be a long text and links to my complementary posts about all that concerns Schengen. Therefore, to start:
- I highly recommend the Cherehapa service, in which in one place You can compare the prices of 16 insurance at once, by filtering them by options are very convenient. Also the support is very friendly and will respond to any of your questions, I constantly appeal to them. Well, when buying a policy from them, it will be cheaper than the insurance company, since they have special conditions.
- If you are new to insurance, be sure to read my main post about insurance. From it you will learn why it is so important. asistens and what it is, how to choose the right insurance, how it use and avoid failure which options don’t make sense add.
My insurance rating →
The choice is always yours if you want to choose something. specifically for themselves, have to read, compare and analyze.
Medical insurance for a trip to Europe is obligatory, do it without it will fail for three reasons:
- First, insurance will be required for a Schengen visa. Requirements for different countries may vary, so before how to arrange insurance, it is better to clarify whether they will accept it at the consulate country specific.
- Secondly, insurance can be checked at the border. And those who “forgot” their home insurance can send for this insurance home. Well, or suggest to issue it immediately, on the border, if there is office insurance company.
- And finally, for reasons of purely mercantile: medicine in Europe is very expensive, cheap hospitals “in cash”, as in Asia, not. Insurance in Europe is relatively cheap, you can buy a policy for 300 rubles – it’s cheaper than to eat once in the same Europe.
Medical insurance for a Schengen visa
Sum Insured
According to the rules, for a Schengen visa you need insurance with coverage. at least 30 thousand EUR (not dollars). Just in case, I will write that it is. What is called “coating”, and it would be more correct call the “sum insured” – is the maximum amount of payments on insurance. That is, in which case the insurance will pay expenses until the total amount of payments reaches this figure. it in theory, in fact, everything is a little different.
Insurance for a year and for specific dates
Insurance can be purchased both for one trip and immediately for a few. In the first case, insurance is issued for specific dates, for example, 2 weeks from one to another. In In the second case, not only the insurance dates are indicated, but also the number of days of insurance, for example, insurance for a year from such and such for a certain number and number of days of safety 14. Now I will explain what is the difference.
In the first case, you will be insured exactly 2 weeks and all. Moreover, if for some reason you leave earlier and stay, let’s say in Europe only 1 week, then the rest of the insurance will burn. In the second case, you will be able to enter the Schengen several times, and insurance will end when the total the number of days of stay in Schengen will exceed 14 days. Annual insurance is convenient for those who often travel to Europe, you can buy immediately for a year, specify, for example, 90 days of insurance, and everything about insurance You can not think for a year. Naturally, you need to buy as much days in total you travel all year round. If these are two vacations for 14 days, then it is enough to buy an annual insurance with 28 days stay.
Directly for obtaining a Schengen visa, both annual and and five years old, it is enough to make insurance for the first trip, not be sure to do insurance for a year. Here everyone chooses for himself, what is more convenient and better for him. But! Annual may be cheaper, exactly so I write about it here.
What is the reason? Those who buy a whole year of insurance are rare use all days. Those who buy specific dates are almost always they are used. Here is simple arithmetic, we calculate probabilities – hence the cost of insurance.
Average insurance cost
In my post TOP 15 cheapest insurance in Schengen, I made a whole rating with prices. Be sure to check out interesting options.
- Insurance for specific dates. You can, or all these days spend abroad, or only part of this period, having entered earlier or later, but the insurance will still be valid only on announced dates. On average, the cost of such insurance is about 0.7-1.7 euros per day. On 10-14 days such insurance will cost 500-1500 rubles. But There are possible options for choosing an insurance company (almost everyone has This type of insurance) and, most importantly, assistance, however, the price can be already not the cheapest.
- Annual insurance for a certain number of days. For example, in total for 30-60 days during the year. That is, the number of trips unlimited and are considered days for all trips. Usually, this is the most cheap insurance if a person travels several times a year abroad. Such insurance may cost 500-1500 rubles. Cheaper I recommend to do it all at the visa agency Eurotour, proven over the years and a bunch of people. The link will be special price for readers of my blog. Of insurance companies, however, such policies are suggests, for example, liberty.
- Annual insurance without limiting the number of trips, but with limiting the duration of each trip. Usually duration travel should not exceed 45-60 days. After the trip is necessary return to Russia (precisely to Russia, and not to go to the next country). So to say, reset the counter and go to the next trip (insurance begins to act again). Sometimes such insurance attached to travel cards, for example, to a card AllAirlines.
Please note that insurance for long continuous travel usually costs more. Therefore, if you think that there is no limit on the duration of one trip, and low cost insurance (less than 100 euros for 180 days), has sense to double-check everything.
In general, before buying insurance, call your bank. It is possible that you already have excellent insurance with a bunch additional bonuses, simply activate it and print out.
Where to buy insurance
I recommend the Cherehap service, where you can compare prices right away on 16 insurance. The service has been around for a long time and there are all the necessary ones in their list. insurance. Now there is no need to watch a dozen sites. insurance companies and compare prices, insurance conditions, assistants. Everything is in one place. In addition, they still carry out normal support (which can not be said about the insurance, where they sit managers who know nothing about insurance claims and can advise on various points related to insurance contract, the choice of insurance and so on. Funny, but some insurance until now, even buying a policy online is not—
See prices for insurance →
And such an important point – being mediators, they play very positive role, service customers are in more privileged position than other insurance customers. it fact, he checked himself when he got on the entire sum insured. If something is not clear, then I have detailed instructions on how to compare insurance on Cherehape.
Insurance is not for travel, but for visa
I specifically put it in a separate subtitle, because it important. As I wrote at the very beginning, you can make insurance for travel to Europe, and you can especially for a visa. The fact is that our Russian insurance companies work so-so, therefore, some travelers prefer not to make any insurance at all, but have a credit card in stock or cash. Option in my opinion doubtful, but having already had experience with insurance and often reading reviews about them, I can understand this position too, especially if the person has money.
So, if you are going to use insurance while traveling complete program and carefully approach this issue, then this paragraph is not for you. And here, if you rely more on credit card / cash, then read on. So as not to do at all insurance when traveling to Europe is impossible (just do not give a visa), then You can make the cheapest insurance just for a visa. There are different options, but I would recommend to do in the agency Eurotour worth penny. But I recommend, I do not have this insurance. only because of the price (although you still will not find cheaper), and therefore that she is also working! You will get your hands on insurance from Alfa insurance with Savitar, if taken directly from Alpha, then there will be a very different price and very bad GVA assistance.
What is assistance?
If you need not just to buy insurance for a visa, and you still If you expect to receive medical care, then you need a little sort out this issue. Especially, it concerns those who going to do extreme sports in Europe, for example, riding downhill skiing (need a package active recreation). Since I am not extreme, I usually apply for insurance when my child is high temperature (insurance experience in Poland).
The insurance company that sells you the policy and the company with which in the event of some kind of incident you will communicate by Telephone – these are two different organizations. Every insurance works with one or more assistance companies. When you buy policy, it marked an Assistance company, which will be to support your policy. Be sure to pay attention, what assistance is indicated exactly in your policy – often It happens that the information on the site is different from reality, and Operators from the call center do not rummage at all in this matter. Desirable learn assistance in advance.
It is the assistance that you will call if something happens. It will depend on assistance and its contracts with hospitals, which hospital will they send you to and how will the payment be made appeals. In the end, depending on the assistance, how polite and the operator will be adequate and in what language will be conducted support. If bad reviews about insurance work are related to such problems, then see who was the assistance and look for insurance, working with another assistance.
But problems with payment, refusal to pay for transport, speed reconciliation of any financial issues – these are the shoals of the insurance, and you can choose another insurance with the same Assistance.
And most importantly – remember that the insurance policy works on certain rules. Most negative reviews and claims to insurance based on ignorance and non-compliance with the rules of this insurance. Read carefully the rules written on your policy (not on the site – namely, on the copy sent to you by email, they may vary). And if something happened – first Call Assistance. Insurance may refuse to pay any medical expenses not agreed with them.
P.S. Read more about the nuances of choosing an insurance company, about the rating Assistants, on how to use insurance, read in my post – travel insurance.
Life hacking 1 – how to buy a good insurance
Choosing insurance is now unrealistically difficult, therefore, to help everyone travelers, I make a rating. To do this, constantly monitor forums, I study insurance contracts and use insurance by myself.
Insurance Rating
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