In Spain, there are primarily three insurances regularly taken out by foreigners. These are House and contents, car and medical. Nowhere near as popular are burial insurance and life insurance, the latter if in existence usually being paid to a company in the UK.
It is likely that current pressure on insurance companies will reverse their thinking on this matter and changes are expected in the not too distant future. If this point worries you, full insurance covering ground movement can be obtained from UK insurers, subject to their very careful assessment of the situation and study of the geophysics survey and building plans..
If you buy a new home in Spain you will need to insure it. Insurance should be in place before the handover of the keys, when the responsibility for the property reverts to the buyer. When you first insure the property it will be empty and many at this time insure for the property value only, intending to take out contents cover when the property has been furnished. This is probably not the best way of doing things. You should ensure that from the word go, a nominal figure for property contents is in place. If the first thing you buy is a flat screen television, which happened to be stolen the day after it was purchased, then quite simply both your television and money are lost. You need cover during the week or two it may take to furnish and curtain your property.
On the subject of insurance, you are required by law to carry all of your documents at all times. This includes the circulation certificate, ITV or MOT, car tax and insurance. Failure to do so is deemed a very serious offence and dealt with by over the top fines.
For those requiring medical insurance the news is again very good. If you are with B.U.P.A. or another UK medical insurance company you may well be able to continue your policy with them as many also trade in Spain. However, you may wish to look at what's on offer from the Spanish insurance companies. For example, a policy with B.U.P.A. costing 2500 Euros per annum can be obtained from Adeslas for 750 Euros per annum. Both policies offer identical benefits. (based on a 55 year old man) As with all medical insurance policies, they are fine until you "start reporting sick" when premiums immediately rise in an attempt to claw back what has been spent on you. In some ways, this is quite understandable as medical insurance takes a serious beating in Spain. The writer can recall a visit to a Consultant at a private hospital in regard to a shoulder complaint and was quite surprised when the Consultant called for 18 x-rays and an MRI scan. The costs to insurers must have been quite horrible. However, they paid up without problem and the condition was effectively treated and dealt with in no time at all.
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When it comes to medical insurance in Spain it really does pay to look around and do be careful about taking out any policy until you understand any limitations there may be. Some offer really spectacular premiums at remarkable prices but the small print may exclude oncology (cancer). As to who is going to suffer what and when can never be known but its probably safe to say that if you have not insured against it then it will probably visit. You need comprehensive insurance with no limitations. |
You will have to fill in the usual forms which consist of your medical history and be aware that omissions of essential information will void your policy. Spain is 1500 km from the UK but your medical history is only a telephone call or an email away.
Insurance in Spain is now much more acceptable than it was and there is nowhere near the squirming and wriggling by insurers which used to be part of any claim. When it comes to claims under car insurance it really does help to ensure that you have sketches, drawings, photographs as well as detailed notes taken at the time of any accident. If possible, obtain the names and addresses of any witnesses. It is estimated that over 20 per cent of vehicles on Spanish roads are being driven without insurance. When caught the fines cause the cost of any insurance to pale into insignificance so you must ensure that your policy is renewed each year. Renewal is not dealt with by sending you a cover note or similar but simply by debiting your bank account. Your bank then will, or should, send you a mini statement which shows that your insurance premium has been paid and you then attach this to your policy which as mentioned above is kept at all times in your vehicle.
Finally, whilst this will not apply to you, a significant number of your fellow countrymen arrive in Spain each year, disembark the aircraft and then promptly report to the police that everything they own, including their caravan and car have been stolen on the flight from the UK and can they please have a form for their insurance company. Further, it is not unknown for those having purchased properties to claim from their insurers the loss of everything they have purchased by way of furnishing following a burglary 30 minutes before any of it had arrived!!.
