I am considering PJ Hayman’s Expat Plus scheme (securehealth.co.uk/ep.phtml
Does anyone currently have insurance provided by a UK company that they would recommend ? I am looking for full coverage in Taiwan, and on holiday (including possessions, curtailment etc.), with around a
You need to delete the final dot from that web address as I have done above. I know it was your full stop but my browser read it as part of the link.
Are you quite sure about wanting a UK policy? I think it could well be more expensive than similar coverage from a Taiwanese company. I’m sorry I don’t have the exact details but my own personal insurance is very much cheaper for what I considered to be reasonable coverage. I have to arrange extra when I go on holiday though.
I wouldn’t trust a Taiwanese insurance company as far as I could throw it. English ones are bad enough, but at least there’s a credible regulatory framework that I, as a British citizen, can avail myself of if necessary.
Xinlong for one is a big, reputable company that one would hope would pay up when it came to it. I don’t have any data though and a UK company should certainly be safe, as you say.
How about using Prudential here? Or is that not what you are looking for? I found that buying life insurance and stuff from my local Pru guy much easier than dealing with insurance companies back home and cheaper too. If you want a name of my (English speaking) agent let me know.
For specifically health insurance Expat Invstor ran a series of comparison pieces on that a few months ago. Will see if I can find them still and post back here. PPP Worldwide ame out OK.
r
Do insurance comapnies do life/health insurance for people in my situation, which is that we really don’t know what country we’ll end up spending the rest of our lives in yet?
Sorry, I know nothing about insurance.
Brian
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]Do insurance comapnies do life/health insurance for people in my situation, which is that we really don’t know what country we’ll end up spending the rest of our lives in yet?
Sorry, I know nothing about insurance.
Brian[/quote]I don’t know about life insurance, but surely for health insurance it doesn’t matter. I mean you just pay each year for that year’s coverage, and then you start over again, don’t you? Unless they offer some kind of no-claims or loyalty bonus.
My life insurance (term) arranged in the UK through Legal & General is valid wherever I am. The scheme from PJ Hayman I am interested in is valid wherever you are resident provided it is within their geographical blocks. The US and Japan are more expensive for example, and if you want to exclude those areas to reduce the premium, you can. It also covers you on holiday (up to 90 days) including your home country for an extra 50 quid. And if you’re laid up because of an accident or whatever it’ll pay you for loss of earnings up to 1000 pounds a month.
I used columbus direct.
columbusdirect.net/index.asp
It’s much cheaper, only 150 pounds a year.
I haven’t had to make a claim so I can’t comment on their service. The only problem is if SARS breaks out again or any other epidemic, you’re not covered at all. I don’t know if other insurance companies have the same rules or not.
I would be happy with Prudential. This is not just because I used to work for them.
Although I’d probably use them for retirement plans and the like before using them for general kinds of plans.
I had been recommended this one, you can get a quote online:
These two are UK companies that do Health insurance for expat Brits.
AXA PPP Healthcare International
axappphealthcare.com/
Bupa International
bupa-intl.com/
For expat Irish - VHI
vhi.ie/global/index.jsp
Some health-related questions from a newbie :
(1) Will I actually need health insurance once I (hopefully) get a job and a health card ? Maybe people use it as an extra precaution ?
(2) Anyone know of a company that does short-term policies (ie. until I get a job) ? I wondered about getting a 2 month travel policy.
Thanks in anticipation,
BV
BritishVick,
I wouldn’t bother about expat health insurance. If you work here, you have to sign up with the national health insurance. It’s dirt cheap; the government and the employer have to pick up the bulk of the cost. If, for whatever reason, you are not covered, full health costs are still low.
Thanks AJ, that’s what I wanted to hear ! I’ll just feed my Dad a white lie to keep him from having a fit.
BV
That PJ Hayman insurance was multi-trip travel insurance not expat medical insurance.
I found Interglobal’s policies to be the best and that’s what I went with. www.interglobalpmi.com
I just signed in with www.ihi.com
[quote=“almas john”]BritishVick,
I wouldn’t bother about expat health insurance. If you work here, you have to sign up with the national health insurance. It’s dirt cheap; the government and the employer have to pick up the bulk of the cost. If, for whatever reason, you are not covered, full health costs are still low.[/quote]
The reason you get it is so that you can get an appointment with a English-speaking doctor, instead of trying to figure out how to navigate the appointment system at a Taiwanese hospital.
I know HSBC gives it’s expat managers BUPA International coverage, which gives them access to the English-speaking VIP clinic at Seventh Day Adventist in Taipei.
[quote=“answerer”]
I know HSBC gives it’s expat managers BUPA International coverage, which gives them access to the English-speaking VIP clinic at Seventh Day Adventist in Taipei.[/quote]
I know, my boyfriend is an International Contracts Consultant, employed by a UK company, and he gets BUPA too.
However, I will be a lowly English teacher earning a quarter of his salary, and BUPA rates are pretty steep. I will either have to rely on the government-provided services, or convince him to marry me so I can live in luxury as an ex pat wife. 
Answerer wrote:
Almost all doctors speak English; you’d have to be damn unlucky to meet a doctor who can’t speak some English.
Going to a clinic is easy - you don’t really need any Chinese. Yes, the registration process in hospitals is very hard. However, in the unlikely event that you need to go to a hospital you can ask your boss/a co-worker/a friend/ a student to go with you. Taiwanese are very kind when it comes to helping out with things like this.