GHIC in 60 seconds

The UK Global Health Insurance Card: six facts to remember

✓GHIC is free, valid up to 5 years, and applied for only via the NHS website.
✓Replaced EHIC for new applicants in 2021; existing EHICs are still valid until expiry.
✓Covers state healthcare in all EEA countries and Switzerland at the same cost as a resident.
✗No repatriation, no private hospitals, no mountain rescue, no air ambulance.
✗No baggage, no cancellation, no delay, no missed-connection cover of any kind.
✗Not a substitute for travel insurance: it is a complement to it.

Quick answer if you only have 30 secondsCarry both. The GHIC pays for state hospital treatment in Europe at resident prices. Travel insurance pays for everything else: getting you home, the private hospital you may end up in, the trip you had to cancel and the bag the airline lost. They do different jobs and you need both.

Why "GHIC replaces travel insurance" is the cheapest claim refusal in Europe

Walk into any UK travel forum in summer and you will find the same advice: "I just take the GHIC, I do not bother with travel insurance for Europe." It is wrong in every direction. A GHIC is a free health card, not an insurance policy. It does one thing well, and stops there.

A GHIC gives you access to medically necessary state healthcare in any country of the European Economic Area and in Switzerland, at the same price a local resident pays. In some countries that price is zero. In others, residents pay a co-payment, and so will you. The card does not buy you a private hospital bed, a return flight when you are too unwell to fly home commercially, or a refund on the holiday you had to cancel because a relative died the week before departure. Those are jobs for a travel insurance policy.

The Association of British Insurers reports that UK insurers handled more than 500,000 travel claims in 2024 and paid out £472 million, with medical claims alone totalling £262 million and averaging £1,528 per case. Most of those costs sit firmly outside what a GHIC will pay for, even on a routine European trip. Travelling with only a GHIC means accepting that anything beyond a state hospital ward is out of pocket.

The non-obvious truthThe GHIC is genuinely valuable, but its value is at the lower end of the cost scale: the GP visit, the antibiotic, the public-hospital bed. The catastrophic costs (air ambulance, private hospital, repatriation of remains) sit in travel insurance territory, and those are the bills that hit five figures fast.

What the GHIC covers and what it does not

A simple side by side. Anything in the green column is paid for by GHIC in EEA countries and Switzerland, at the local resident cost. Anything in the red column needs a travel insurance policy, or you pay it yourself.

✓GHIC pays for

  • Emergency state hospital treatment.
  • State-funded GP visits when medically necessary.
  • Treatment for a pre-existing condition that flares up on the trip.
  • Maternity care (other than a planned birth abroad).
  • Routine state-funded care for a long-term condition like dialysis or oxygen therapy, if you book ahead.
  • Prescriptions filled through the state system at the local co-payment.

✗GHIC will not pay for

  • Repatriation home by air ambulance, scheduled medical flight or stretcher.
  • Private hospital treatment, even when there is no public bed available.
  • Mountain rescue, ski-piste rescue, sea rescue.
  • Cancelling or cutting short your trip for any reason.
  • Lost, stolen or damaged baggage.
  • Flight delays, missed connections, missed departures.
  • Treatment in any country outside the EEA and Switzerland.
  • Routine dental beyond emergency pain relief.

The split looks technical, but the practical lesson is straightforward. If something happens in a state hospital in mainland Europe, you are largely covered by the card. The moment anyone needs to fly you, recover something for you, refund something to you, or admit you to a private bed, you need a travel insurance policy.

GHIC vs travel insurance: the gap finder

Pick a real-world scenario below. The widget shows who pays — the GHIC, your travel insurer, both, or neither — and the one-line reason behind the answer.

Pick a scenario

Selected scenario

Does GHIC pay?

Does standard travel insurance pay?

Why

Scenario answers reflect standard UK policy wording in May 2026. Your own policy may include or exclude specific items; the schedule of benefits is the source of truth.

How to apply for a GHIC in 2026

The GHIC is free. The only official route is the NHS website. Any other site that asks for a fee is unofficial, and you should close the tab.

  • Apply at nhs.uk.
  • You will need your full name, date of birth, address and your National Insurance number (or CHI in Scotland, Health and Care number in Northern Ireland).
  • Each member of your family needs their own card. Parents can apply for under-16s on the same form.
  • Most cards arrive within 10 working days. Apply at least 2 weeks before you travel.
  • Cards are valid for up to 5 years. Check the expiry date on the back before you book a trip.
  • If your card has expired or you need it urgently and are already abroad, you can request a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) by calling NHS Overseas Healthcare Services.

Avoid the unofficial sitesSearches for "GHIC" still return third-party sites that charge £10 to £35 to "process" what the NHS does for free. They have no role in the application and the NHS still has to issue the card. If a site asks for payment, leave it. The card itself costs nothing.

Countries where the GHIC works (and where it does not)

The GHIC is valid in all 27 EU member states, the European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland. The full country list and any country-specific rules are kept up to date on the gov.uk healthcare-abroad page.

✓Works in

All EEA countries and Switzerland, including:

  • France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta.
  • Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg.
  • Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein.
  • Denmark, Sweden, Finland.
  • Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria.
  • Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.

✗Does NOT work in

  • USA, Canada, Mexico: no reciprocal agreement at all.
  • Caribbean islands: no agreement.
  • Australia: a separate, narrower agreement (Medicare RHCA) for emergency hospital care only.
  • New Zealand: a separate, narrower RHCA.
  • Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, the Middle East: no agreement.
  • India, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and most of Asia: no agreement.
  • Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Monaco, Vatican City: outside EEA, excluded.

For non-EU countries, the UK has a small number of reciprocal healthcare arrangements with much narrower scope than the GHIC. Australia, New Zealand and a handful of British Overseas Territories cover essential emergency treatment only, not GPs, prescriptions or ambulance. The complete list is published at gov.uk/guidance/uk-reciprocal-healthcare-agreements-with-non-eu-countries. Outside the EEA, full private travel insurance is essential.

GHIC plus travel insurance: the right combination

The two work together because they cover different risks at different cost levels.

Side-by-side comparison of what the GHIC and a standard UK travel insurance policy cover.
Cover area GHIC UK travel insurance
State hospital in EuropePays at resident costPays up to medical limit
Private hospital in EuropeNoYes, if private was the only option
Air-ambulance repatriationNoYes, within medical limit
Outside EEA (US, Asia, Australia)NoYes, full medical cover
Cancellation before travelNoYes, for covered reasons
Baggage, gadgets, moneyNoYes, within single-article limits
Mountain or sea rescueNoYes, with the right add-on
Flight delay or missed connectionNoYes, fixed benefit

How insurers use the GHICMany UK travel policies waive or reduce the excess on a medical claim if you used the GHIC and stayed within the state system. It is worth asking your insurer in advance: a £100 excess saving on a £200 claim can erase the cost of the claim entirely.

Insider insight: where things go wrong with a GHIC

Three traps catch UK travellers every year, and all three are avoidable.

  1. Paid third-party sites pretending to be the NHS. They charge for a free service, then either send the application themselves or do nothing. The card is always free at the NHS. If you see a £10 or £35 fee, you are on the wrong site.
  2. Treating the GHIC as repatriation cover. It is not. ABI cites cases where a single US hospitalisation plus air ambulance home has exceeded £1 million, and even inside Europe a medical flight can cost £15,000 to £40,000. The GHIC is silent on all of this. Which? recommends at least £5 million of medical cover worldwide, rising to £10 million for the USA.
  3. Assuming the GHIC works "anywhere in Europe". It works inside the EEA and Switzerland, full stop. Many UK travellers carry it to Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt or further afield and find out at the hospital desk that it is not accepted. The gov.uk non-EU reciprocal page lists where else any health agreement exists, and the list is short.

A useful habitPhotograph both sides of every GHIC in your household and store the image in your phone. If you lose the card on the trip, the photo plus your NHS number is usually enough for a Provisional Replacement Certificate by phone.

What you should actually do

Three steps, in order.

  1. Apply for a GHIC at nhs.uk, free, for every family member travelling. Allow 2 weeks before your trip. If you already have an EHIC, use it until it expires, then replace it with a GHIC.
  2. Buy a UK travel insurance policy sized to your trip. A minimum of £5 million medical cover, £2,500 cancellation, £1,500 baggage, with the geographic band that matches your destination. Read the schedule of benefits, not just the price.
  3. Save the emergency assistance phone number from the insurance policy in your phone before you fly. If you need treatment abroad, call that number before any non-emergency admission. Failing to call is one of the most common reasons UK insurers refuse a medical claim.

Compare UK travel insurance the right way

A GHIC is one half of the answer. Browse our independent UK travel insurance guides for the other half: medical limits, cancellation cover, single-trip versus annual, and policies for specific medical conditions.

See all UK travel insurance guides

GHIC and travel insurance FAQ

In practical terms, yes. The GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card) replaced the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) for new UK applicants in 2021 after Brexit. Both give UK residents access to medically necessary state healthcare in EEA countries and Switzerland at resident cost. Existing EHIC cards remain valid in the EEA and Switzerland until the printed expiry date, at which point you renew with a GHIC.

Yes. The card is free and the only official application route is the NHS website. Any third-party site asking for £10, £20 or £35 to "process" your application is unofficial — the NHS still issues the card, and the middleman adds no value. Apply directly at nhs.uk and you will never be asked to pay.

Yes. The GHIC pays for state healthcare in Europe at resident cost. Travel insurance pays for everything else: repatriation home if you cannot fly commercially, private hospital treatment when a public bed is not available, cancellation, baggage, delays and any treatment outside the EEA. The two together cost roughly the same as a single-trip insurance policy alone, because the card itself is free.

Yes, until the printed expiry date on the card. The UK continues to recognise existing EHICs as a transitional arrangement. When the card expires, you replace it with a free GHIC at nhs.uk. There is no need to switch early.

Yes. The current UK GHIC is valid in Switzerland for state-provided medically necessary care, alongside the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It does not extend to other non-EU countries, including the UK Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man).

The GHIC will not pay a penny. Private hospital treatment in any EEA country is outside the scope of the card, even if a public bed was unavailable at the time. This is one of the most important reasons to also hold a UK travel insurance policy with a high medical limit: a private hospital stay in mainland Europe can run well into five figures.

Only emergency dental treatment under the state system in some EEA countries, and only at the local resident cost. Routine dental care is not covered, even if it is offered through the state system. Anything else is out of pocket or, if your travel policy includes an emergency dental benefit (typically £200 to £500), through your insurer.

All material on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. GHIC rules and reciprocal healthcare agreements are confirmed against the NHS and gov.uk guidance as of May 2026. Always read the policy wording of any travel insurance product before purchase.