# Private Health Insurance help



## DCB40

Hi everyone, hope your well and looking forward to xmas ( or maybe not). This is my first post so go easy on me.
We are moving to france in February ( Haute Vienne) into a rental for 3-4 months, as we look for a house to buy. Our UK house is sold and we need to be out by end of February.
I have done all i think i needed to for the long stay Visa but have completely forgotten about the Health Insurance Cover needed to go with the Visa application. Having googled the life out of it i am pretty confused, as i want Health care insurance for the Schengen, but it keeps talking about travel insurance as well.
I have read a couple of posts on this forum but have had no recommendations of which companys to use or avoid. It seems to be one of those subjects nobody really posts about, is there a reason for this, am i missing something obvious, please comment if you can.
I need cover for 365 days, for myself and wife, neither of us have any issues ( luckily), no ongoing ailments, we are just into our 60s. I believe that we need to show cover for 365 days for the visa application, but will not enter France till February 2023, which is a little confusing.
Please could we have a recommendation or two of who to buy a policy from which is suitable for what we need. A company called AXA seems to crop up a lot, but again i cant seem to to fathom out if they provide what we need.
Sorry for the long post, not a very exciting one but i'm really stuck with this, many thanks Duncan.


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## suein56

More angled towards the UK expat :





Exclusive Healthcare







www.exclusive-healthcare.com




and perhaps April might be able to help ..








Your international travel and health insurance made easy | APRIL International


In just a few clicks, find Theinternational travel or health insurance solution you need. Request a quote or purchase your international insurance online. Got some questions? We can reply by phone, email or chat.




fr.april-international.com


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## Florabella

Have you tried Soficas? They are English speaking agents and we use them for our top up cover. If they can’t help maybe they can point you in the right direction.


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## DrChips

I use April - good price and good support.
Best of luck.


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## Greenfoot

If I remember correctly, we just searched online for 'international / European long term health insurance', and whilst we might have been able to find a cheaper policy if we'd searched and compared further, we went with AXA, basic policy which covers everything required.

Main points are your policy needs to include repatriation and minimum of £30,000 in cover (most actually give around £100,000).


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## Greenfoot

Just to add, you have to juggle dates a bit to make everything fit...if it ever does! Our experience was that we could only purchase insurance 8 weeks ahead of when it would start, but of course, you need proof you already have it by the time of your visa appointment. As long as you have your *insurance certificate* (which states the policy will begin when you are due to enter France) with you at your visa appointment, you're good. The period of cover doesn't have to have begun already. We arranged our cover on the phone, stressed the need to have our documents emailed to us asap and I think we got them later that same day.

Easiest solution is to have your visa appointment at about 7.5 weeks ahead of the date you're wanting to be in France. Of course, that risks you cutting it fine as you wait for your visa decision - that said, our visas took 15 days to get back to us (we paid for express courier service which was useless and we could have collected them in person 5 days earlier than we got them delivered. They were delivered by Royal Mail - don't think they're an express courier service?!? The delay was mostly because of mail strikes...sorry, I digress).

I hope that makes sense and is of some use. Good luck


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## Lancashire_Lass

DCB40 said:


> Hi everyone, hope your well and looking forward to xmas ( or maybe not). This is my first post so go easy on me.
> We are moving to france in February ( Haute Vienne) into a rental for 3-4 months, as we look for a house to buy. Our UK house is sold and we need to be out by end of February.
> I have done all i think i needed to for the long stay Visa but have completely forgotten about the Health Insurance Cover needed to go with the Visa application. Having googled the life out of it i am pretty confused, as i want Health care insurance for the Schengen, but it keeps talking about travel insurance as well.
> I have read a couple of posts on this forum but have had no recommendations of which companys to use or avoid. It seems to be one of those subjects nobody really posts about, is there a reason for this, am i missing something obvious, please comment if you can.
> I need cover for 365 days, for myself and wife, neither of us have any issues ( luckily), no ongoing ailments, we are just into our 60s. I believe that we need to show cover for 365 days for the visa application, but will not enter France till February 2023, which is a little confusing.
> Please could we have a recommendation or two of who to buy a policy from which is suitable for what we need. A company called AXA seems to crop up a lot, but again i cant seem to to fathom out if they provide what we need.
> Sorry for the long post, not a very exciting one but i'm really stuck with this, many thanks Duncan.


Hi. I just got mine from a company called Insubiy which I saw someone had used easily on this forum. They will provide a year (renewable if needed), $1,000,000 repatriation, COVID cover, and will reimburse what remains as far as I can see. I got the Patriot International Lite. 
Covers acute onset of pre-existing (don’t think this applies to you), and you get a visa letter instantly and your certificate. 
Good Luck! Such an adventure - March next year for me. If I might ask, how did you get your 3-4 month rental? I am looking at AirBnB long term rentals as it seems impossible to find an unfurnished rental ☹


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## DCB40

Thanks for all the prompt replies, and have now got this evening to sort out what we are going to do. Thanks Duncan.


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## DCB40

Lancashire_Lass said:


> Hi. I just got mine from a company called Insubiy which I saw someone had used easily on this forum. They will provide a year (renewable if needed), $1,000,000 repatriation, COVID cover, and will reimburse what remains as far as I can see. I got the Patriot International Lite.
> Covers acute onset of pre-existing (don’t think this applies to you), and you get a visa letter instantly and your certificate.
> Good Luck! Such an adventure - March next year for me. If I might ask, how did you get your 3-4 month rental? I am looking at AirBnB long term rentals as it seems impossible to find an unfurnished rental ☹


Hi there, we were fortunate to have some friends of friends who have been renovating a house and Gite for years, but we have visited France 6 times this year and when looking about we always try to go in many cafes etc and talk to the locals, and there’s always someone who knows someone who has property to rent/sale. It’s very difficult to do from off the internet. We saw property’s from a few locals, but nothing that was suitable for us, but the experience was positive, and gave us the confidence to keep on going. Best advice is to be in France if possible, but easier said than done. Good luck.


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## Lancashire_Lass

DCB40 said:


> Hi there, we were fortunate to have some friends of friends who have been renovating a house and Gite for years, but we have visited France 6 times this year and when looking about we always try to go in many cafes etc and talk to the locals, and there’s always someone who knows someone who has property to rent/sale. It’s very difficult to do from off the internet. We saw property’s from a few locals, but nothing that was suitable for us, but the experience was positive, and gave us the confidence to keep on going. Best advice is to be in France if possible, but easier said than done. Good luck.


Thanks for the tip! I haven’t been lucky enough to be able to take time off work to visit, so am going to wing it once there. Just hope that the reports of AirBnB for the first few months will be enough 🤞
Good luck with your visa.


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## jweihl

The April policy we had was convertible into a mutuelle once we got our French social security numbers and were enrolled in Assurance Maladie. That meant we didn't "waste" several months of unnecessary cover. We never actually needed to make a claim on our initial policy, but April works very well as our mutuelle. They pay quickly and without fuss.


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## DCB40

Thanks to everyone who pitched in with help, so I thought it only right to give a update of what happened today, also for people in the future looking for threads on this subject.
So I rang Axa first and after giving my details 3 times and talking to 3 different people I eventually spoke to someone who understood what I wanted. The quotes for me and my wife ( early 60s no health issues) for a 365 cover Schengen zone etc etc were,
no excess £693 month 
and with a max excess of £2000 it was £342 month. Obviously these are the 2 extremes, and there are other prices in between.
Then I called April Healthcare, talked to a great chap who knew exactly what I wanted, and there prices were cheaper for the no excess £675 month, and much more than Axa at £472 with a £2500 excess per month.
Having had no previous experience I don’t know if it’s cheap/expensive/outrageous money or not, I’ve never seen anyone put out figures on this subject, and am not sure why it’s all a bit of a secret.
What do you folks think of these prices, or do I need to try some more companies.
Thanks Duncan.


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## Lancashire_Lass

DCB40 said:


> Thanks to everyone who pitched in with help, so I thought it only right to give a update of what happened today, also for people in the future looking for threads on this subject.
> So I rang Axa first and after giving my details 3 times and talking to 3 different people I eventually spoke to someone who understood what I wanted. The quotes for me and my wife ( early 60s no health issues) for a 365 cover Schengen zone etc etc were,
> no excess £693 month
> and with a max excess of £2000 it was £342 month. Obviously these are the 2 extremes, and there are other prices in between.
> Then I called April Healthcare, talked to a great chap who knew exactly what I wanted, and there prices were cheaper for the no excess £675 month, and much more than Axa at £472 with a £2500 excess per month.
> Having had no previous experience I don’t know if it’s cheap/expensive/outrageous money or not, I’ve never seen anyone put out figures on this subject, and am not sure why it’s all a bit of a secret.
> What do you folks think of these prices, or do I need to try some more companies.
> Thanks Duncan.


Hi. I only have the pricing for mine:
Patriot Lite: available from UK also but not sure of price. For a Brit in USA for 12 months March 2022- 2023. $250 excess, and total annual charge $1683 ($140 per month). Have to put claims in although major can be paid with doctor. Not sure how the T&C compare though but gives another price point.


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## BackinFrance

One of you is talking about the cost for 2 people and one of you is talking about the cost for a single person.


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## FrMSM

Hello Duncan, 

Thank you for this thread it is very helpful. (for background I am looking to move to France as a spouse of a French national early 2023)

I tried, Allianz, AXA, April and some comparison websites and April seemed to be the cheapest for me (single person no ailments and different age) with the cheapest at... €43 p/m for 12 months, I will probably go with this just wanting to see if I can cancel following my residency (after 3 months) and being on the French health care system 

It might be different for your visa type but I read that a 'schengen zone' insurance would not be accepted for a long stay visitor visa at least, more of a note for anyone else that is looking into this - good luck!


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