Expert: Private travel insurance is a risk

A doctor is taking on the travel insurance industry claiming their cover is a false economy and his newly-launched policy based on the EHIC card is a far better option

Many would view travel insurance as a must-have, but you could be putting your family at risk if you actually purchase private cover before jetting off abroad for a white Christmas.

Families covered by private travel insurance are moved to private hospitals with plush surroundings, but limited ability to provide specialist care, such as qualified pediatricians, according to an eminent medic who has worked in the travel industry for 15 years.

Most patients would receive better care in one of the country's state hospitals by relying on their EHIC card, formerly known as the E111 card, according to Dr Samy Masoud, who has worked on repatriating sick Britons on holiday for over a decade.

He is also a former chairman of the Medical Assistance Medical Directors Form, a body formed to address medical issues affecting British holidaymakers abroad.

The EHIC card is free and entitles the holder to free or vastly reduced medical care in state hospitals in Europe. Although the standard of comfort would not be as high as a private hospital, the level of medical care is much higher, Dr Masoud claims.

However just relying on your EHIC card has its downsides: it does not cover the costs of emergency medical care, though these are relatively small, or the cost of repatriation back to the UK if you miss your return flights.

Dr Masoud has tried to address this by launching insurance to meet these needs, the EHICPlus Travel Insurance, though his company The Medical Screening Company Ltd, launched in the UK five years ago and is 100% underwritten at Lloyd's.

In a scathing attack on the private healthcare industry in Europe, he said that he originally launched the company after regularly seeing inadequate care of British tourists in private care.

He said: 'I was frustrated by the fact that private patients on holiday in Europe were not being treated properly. For example, if someone falls ill in a hotel, the first question they are asked is, 'Do you have private travel insurance?' We believe they get commission, a kick-back from private hospitals for doing so, especially in majorly tourist areas like Spain, Cyprus and Turkey.'

His warning comes at a time of the year when private insurance providers are warning families of the dangers of traveling abroad without adequate cover. Recent research from Sainsbury's Travel Insurance shows one in 10 people relied on their EHIC while traveling in Europe over the past year.

Of those, just under half paid nothing, but the others paid a total of £386 on average for incidentals. Although they could have claimed this back on return to the UK, the research found only half of these did so.

Sam Marrs, Sainsbury's Travel Insurance manager, said: 'Many people wrongly overlook travel insurance because they think their EHIC will cover them when they are abroad, but it will not cover you for private medical care, nor will it pay for you to be airlifted off a ski slope or repatriated to the UK. By not having travel insurance, many people are taking on a great risk when they travel in Europe.'