Buying Travel Insurance whilst living in Spain

Hello All,

I've lived in Spain for a few years. When I was living in the UK I always had an annual travel insurance policy as they are pretty cheap. I took out travel insurance the past 2 years with 24drtravel, but now it seem syou need to be a UK resident, registered with a UK GP, so I don't waulify anymore. I got a policy with them for me and the missus, and I was paying £60 a year which is very reasonable. Now they only insure UK citizens, so does anyone know of a reasonably priced was to get travel insurance whilst living in Spain? I'm getting quotes, but they are €150+ which is significantly more than a UK based policy - any ideas please?!?

Thanks!

Try Safesure or Saga

When I lived in Spain I tried Saga and they said I had to be resident in the UK

I did use Staysure,who were reasonable, but as  my husband I have several medical conditions , I was a good hour on the phone going through everything in minute detail.

Now back in the UK, it's nice to have a good choice of insurers

Be aware that if you buy travel insurance in Spain for a flight to UK, and then as a separate booking a flight to somewhere else, most companies will only cover you for the flight to UK.    Thus, if the miss the connecting flight  tough, no cover. 

I know some here will not believe me but check with the company you book with if that applies to you, and get it in writing that you will be covered for the whole of your holiday and all the flights.

If you book a package deal with all the flights etc. included then you probably are covered.

Staysure give you an option on their form to fill in the countries to be visited So best to tick any countries where you might be stopping over or changing flights 

It is not only policies taken out in Spain where you are only covered for 1 flight. Another thing to look for if you are intending to use 2 or more flights is what is the minimum time allowance between flights. In other words all companies that I have looked at, they will state that the minimum time between flights is usually 3 hours or 2 hours between landing and closing of check-in.

There are several companies that offer travel insurance to European residents where the policy is in English and/or are based in the U.K. Amongst them  not already mentioned are Globelink (U.K. based), Dragon Insurance in Alicante, Ibex (Gibraltar based but underwritten by Lloyds) and many more. All have different underwiting criteria and also change from year to year. In other words a company that insured your ingrowing toenail last year will not accept it this year whereas a company that last year said no will say yes this year.

It is also very important to notify the insurer if anything changes in your medical conditions after taking out a policy and you travelling. I.e. if after taking out your policy you are diagnosed with diabetes you must inform the insurer because failure to do so might invalidate your policy.

Therefore whilst it is vital to have travel insurance you must obey all their terms and conditions or else they will not pay out your claim if you are unlucky enough to have one.

Thanks all. I was already aware of Staysure.

I actually called 24drtravel and they said they are willing to renew my policy for next year with a small price increase which is actually good news! But I don't think they would give out new policies for non UK based clients.

I have been looking on some Spanish sites, the prices are bonkers: €600+ for a couple quoted by AXA, I won't ask why the differences between here and UK are so big as there is probably no reason!