Trips to Channel Islands require travel insurance

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Since 1976, the UK and the Channel Islands have shared an agreement that visitors from each country will be entitled to receive a certain degree of health care when travelling between the two. However, the Department of Health has now announced that this is all set to change from April 1st 2009, when the agreement will be scrapped.

It is therefore essential that anyone travelling to the Channel Islands after March has adequate travel insurance. Many people will already have taken out travel insurance in the past when making trips to the Channel Islands, but there will be a greater number of people who will get caught out by the decision to change the rules.

The Channel Islands have always been a popular holiday spot for British tourists. However, because the Islands use the pound as their currency, their popularity is set to increase this year as Brits avoid heading to the Eurozone but still want to get away from the country.

But travellers should be aware of the new rules before travelling, because even a small accident could set them back a fortune if they were to require medical attention. Travellers may think that they are in safe hands, but they should take the same precautions as they would if they were travelling to any other foreign country.

In fact, because the Channel Islands are not part of the EU, travellers will not be able to use their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) there, meaning that even more care should be taken to get travel insurance before heading over.

According to HolidayHypermarket.co.uk, in 2007 there were 295,040 visitors to Jersey and 279,000 to Guernsey, making them incredibly popular holiday destinations.


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#1 This is good to know! I went on a trip to Aldernay a while back and didn't give a thought to travel insurance. I hope that tourism providers are going to put some effort into letting travellers know about this change. Already, there are so many people who travel abroad with in parts of the EU assuming that they will have reciprocal health care who get caught out!
Posted by Charlotte on 14/05/2009 at 17:26
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