When was the last time you looked at your EHIC card? Most of us who are aware of the reciprocal European Health Insurance scheme know that you have to apply for your card, which you can then use when on holiday or business in many European countries to access the state healthcare on the same basis as a local. The problem is, most of us receive our cards in the post and file them in a safe place or put them in the wallet, and forget about them. Most people are completely unaware that EHIC comes with an expiry date which is 5 years from the date of issue, and only discover this when they’re about to jet off on holiday, or even worse, when they pull it out of their wallet in a foreign A&E department. So what can be done?

Renewing Your EHIC

If you have applied for your EHIC through the NHS, there is no mechanism to remind you to renew your EHIC cover when the expiry date is approaching. You have to remember yourself, or set reminders on a calendar to prompt you to do the renewal. If you have used a third party company to help you apply for your card in the first place, then often they will either help you renew automatically, or send you an email or text to tell you that it is time to log onto the website and start the renewal process.

Soon To Expire

You can also renew your EHIC card before its expiry date. If there is less than six months to run on your current card, you can apply for a renewal and the next five years will be added on to the end of the expiry date of the current card. If you apply for a renewal of an EHIC with more than six months validity remaining, the new card will be issued for five years, without the extra time added on. You might have to apply for a new card before the expiry date if yours is lost, or if you have changed your name or other details.

Provisional Replacement Certificate

The worst case scenario is that you only realise that your EHIC has expired when someone has an accident or gets ill on holiday overseas and needs to get medical treatment. In these circumstances, the foreign hospital or doctor is well within their rights to refuse treatment. You can however get a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) which confirms you have the right to free EU Health Insurance cover. The only way of getting this is by calling the NHS Overseas Healthcare team, who are available during office hours. They will fax or email the hospital where you are being treated to confirm your entitlement. This process can be time consuming and difficult, and if you fall ill on a Friday evening, you might have to wait until Monday morning to get confirmation that your treatment will be funded. Avoid the hassle: make sure that you know when your EHIC is expiring, and take steps to renew in plenty of time.