To All UK residents - I would like advice regarding medical Insurance Asap

[thenimblethief]

Hi. My name is Malcolm, and my son Josh is leaving Heathrow for Xiamen on the 26th June 2009. He is going to study at Xiamen University. His mother and I hope we have got most things covered apart from medical cover. We have contacted PPP/AXA and it will cost £100 per month. Can anyone recommend a company to contact as his leaving date is looming and I have heard some nightmare accounts of students falling ill in China without suitable coc=ver (ie parents having to sell their homes). We will pay up if necessary for PPP/AXA but I am sure you guys can give some advice here. Thanks so much.

[roddy]

Very good, nice to see the rest of the family turning up.

Look at backpackers / gap year / study abroad insurance. Eg, Endsleigh have a study abroad product which works out at 255 for the cheaper option, for an 18 year old, for a full year, which might suit.

Check a bunch of sites, and do read the small print. There's probably no need to rush into anything though, you can pay online, they email you a copy of the policy documents, and you're done.

[yonglin]

STA Travel too, for up to 24 months (you can usually renew these if you take a vacation back to the UK after 2 years). They also start a bit over £200 per year for under-35s. You want to make sure the insurance includes medical emergencies and repatriation in medical emergencies. The other stuff you want/don't want it to cover is pretty much down to personal choice. I'd never worry about claiming stuff like flight delays, loss of luggage, etc., but that's just me.

[thenimblethief]

Thanks for the reply Roddy. I have just looked at Endsleigh and it seems ideal. So far we have avoided the really large outlays although medical assurance is something we should take seriously. Joshua managed to get his visa without having to pay out the extremely high cost of medical exams & tests over here. This site is excellent and Josh is the type of young guy that will want to help others interested in coming over to China, once he has settled in himself. Just like yourself.

Malcolm W

[thenimblethief]

Hi. I'll just go and check that one out. Thanks for the advice. I'll get back to you soon.

Thanks

Malcolm W

[adrianlondon]

I studied in Beijing for 6 months and turned up with no insurance at all. BNU sold me a policy to cover my 6 months there for 400 yuan as part of the registration process (around £40 at current rates).

[imron]

@adrianlondon, but how much did that RMB 400 cover you for in expenses and did it include things like repatriation etc.

[adrianlondon]

Expenses weren't really important to me when it was 16y = £1 although hospital stays were fully covered. I doubt it included repatriation. I'm a "self insurance" type person as I've never been really ill or had an accident. I'd take the chance and simply get a flight booked back to the UK.

For example I spent a while looking at insurance to cover my possessions (including laptop, mobile phone, palm pilot etc.) while at BNU and again decided just to take the loss on the chin if it happened. I think it makes me more careful of my stuff. And me.

[thenimblethief]

I think you could get away with that way of thinking when it comes to personal possessions etc but the healthcare side really worries me. If you are careful enough you can protect most possessions but there isn't much you can do about a drunk driver, a mugger, a dodgy piece of chicken etc. Are there any students out there with healthcare insurance arranged over here in the UK?

Malcolm

[anon6969]

I think I paid around £140 for an entire year medical insurance in China.

[thenimblethief]

That sounds really good. How did you get to find out about medical assurance being offered in China itself. What did it cover?

Malcolm

[worriedmum]

I just found this thread and I'm probably too late, but I arranged travel insurance for my son through Coe Connections International, Worldwide Study Abroad policy for 165 pounds for 11 months. I found this was the cheapest, and it includes cover for 4 return trips home, and course tuition fee. Hope this helps.

http://www.coeconnections.co.uk/index.php?p=schemes

[thenimblethief]

Hi. I arranged insurance with STA at just over £400 for 12 months. It coveres a lot They were very good and it was easy to set up. Thanks for the tip though. I hadn't heard about them before. I wish I had now ! So far, we haven' needed to use it though......hopefully not provoking providence here! Xiamen seems safe enough and he has kept out of hospital so far.....apart from being detained in quarantine for 36 hours with a high temperature when he arrived on the plane. Hope all is well with your young one. I hope he or she is enjoying China as much as my son is.