Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
SPONSORED BY ASN

Your step-by-step guide to getting the best expat health insurance plan

Health insurance policies are never one-size-fits-all and life circumstances have a habit of changing. The Local spoke to an expert from leading insurance broker ASN to help you get the best value bespoke insurance policy.

Published: 30 October 2019 00:00 CET
Your step-by-step guide to getting the best expat health insurance plan
Photo credit: Natasha Fedorova

Many factors affect whether your current health insurance plan is still right for you. Moving to a new country, for example, could mean that your policy is no longer compliant. Even things that seem insignificant, like joining a football team, may require you to renegotiate your coverage. 

We spoke to ASN’s Françoise Villoz to make sure you know the basics before taking out or renewing your health insurance policy.

Step 1: Take stock of yourself

Before negotiating your new policy, take note of any changes in your recent health status along with any other factors that might impact your insurance profile. These factors not only include illness or injuries but whether you’ve taken up a risky new hobby like bungee jumping or if you travel regularly to dangerous regions for work. Furthermore, if you have a medical condition for which you have been paying an extra fee as part of your insurance you might be able to get your health loading or medical exclusion dropped.

Click here to get a bespoke health insurance policy

“If you have recovered fully from a serious skiing accident that happened ten years ago and have not required any treatment since recovering, then your insurance company might be willing to take the loading out of your contract,” advises Françoise.

Photo: Deposit photos

It might go without saying, but before you get into the thick of the negotiation process, it is a useful exercise to ask yourself whether you are satisfied with your current provider. Delayed or partial (or too administratively complicated) reimbursement of claims, for example, might be reasons for you to consider looking for a new insurance provider partner. Similarly, if your premium has increased year on year, you may want to shop around.

Step 2: Research your options thoroughly

If you are satisfied with your current insurance provider (or don’t have time to trawl through all the other insurance providers out there), then the best way to renew your current plan is to call your current provider. If there’s been no change in your circumstances in the past year, then the renewal should be straightforward. However, if your current insurance provider doesn’t – or won’t – live up to your expectations, (or you simply want to find a better insurance provider for your specific situation), then you will need to do a little digging.

Click here to get a bespoke health insurance policy

Françoise points out that insurance companies usually have specialist areas and coverage expertise, and while your provider can usually not refuse you a renewal, it might not be able to update your insurance to cater to your new circumstances. For this reason, a rule of thumb in the research process is to first check whether a company offers comprehensive and favourable coverage for all of your needs in each area of your life. If not, then it’s time to jump ship.

“If you have taken up a sport such as football or tennis you need to make sure when you do your research that your chosen insurance provider covers not only sports in general but your sport in particular,” warns Françoise.

Lastly, even if you are a picture of health and your life circumstances have stayed roughly the same, if you have moved to a new country, you must acquaint yourself with the rules and regulations of your new home. If you don’t, you might find out the hard way that your insurance is not compliant, and that you need to get an additional local insurance.

Photo: Deposit photos

Step 3: Before you ring

Before you pick up the phone to start negotiating your new policy, there are a few things to be mindful of. No new provider will insure you if you’re pregnant (if you are, there is normally a ten- to twelve-month waiting period). Likewise, if you have cancer, you seldom have an option but to stay with your current insurance provider. Secondly, if you have a new medical condition, make sure to have all the details on the table in front of you, and be prepared to negotiate hard if you are looking to upgrade your policy. Before you begin browsing for a new insurance provider, be prepared that your options may be limited in certain countries – including the U.S. – and that, if you have relocated, your current provider might not have coverage in your new country of residence.

Click here to get a bespoke insurance policy

If your medical condition is severe – or if you have been refused an upgrade by both your current and prospective health insurance providers – you might want to consider consulting an insurance broker such as ASN International Insurance. Since brokers usually have strong partnerships with many of the major providers, in certain cases, this can mean the difference between getting a better bespoke policy or not.

“We have a big portfolio with many clients as well as strategic partnerships with many of the key insurance companies,” says Françoise. “Since it is in their best interest to maintain good relations with us, insurance companies are often more cooperative when clients with serious conditions are represented by one of ASN’s experts.”

Finally…

When you receive your insurance proposals, make sure to carefully read both the general conditions (do double-check the cancellation terms!) and the small print of your contract. No-one’s trying to pull the wool over your eyes but you always need to be cautious when changing providers.

“Even if you have found a new insurance provider and you are sure they will take you on, you should never cancel your current contract before you have received final confirmation that your new provider will cover you as per the agreement,” says Françoise.

If you’re short on time but want a bespoke health insurance policy at the best price, consider getting in touch with an insurance broker like Françoise at ASN International Insurance. ASN does all the heavy lifting for you and will send your custom-built top three policy offers within two weeks.

This article was produced by The Local Creative Studio and sponsored by ASN.

For members

DRIVING

What medical conditions can lose you your driving licence in Norway?

Certain medical conditions and disabilities can lead to your Norwegian driving licence being temporarily suspended or taken away. Here's how the system works.

Published: 17 September 2024 10:58 CEST
What medical conditions can lose you your driving licence in Norway?

What are your rights to a driving licence in Norway?

You don’t have an absolute right to a driving licence in Norway. In the eyes of the authorities, traffic safety always comes first.

This means that if you already have or develop a health condition that affects your ability to drive safely, you could end up losing your licence, having it suspended for a period, or only being granted a temporary licence valid for one, two or five years rather than the usual 15. 

When getting your licence

When you apply for or renew a licence to drive a car or motorbike in Norway or apply to swap an international licence for a Norwegian one, you need to fill in a form declaring that you do not suffer from any health complications that might affect your ability to drive.

Those with such a condition, will need to get a health certificate from a doctor, psychologist, optician or other specialist before they can be issued with a new licence. 

If you want a licence to drive a heavy vehicle such as a bus or truck, you must have a doctor’s certificate declaring that you do not have a health condition making you unfit to drive. 

If you develop a condition after getting a Norwegian licence

Suppose you, yourself, suspect that you have or are developing a health condition that affects your ability to drive safely. In that case, you have a duty in Norway to visit a doctor, psychologist or optician to have an assessment.

What is most likely to happen, however, is that your doctor, psychologist or optician, while treating you, will themselves take action to have your licence suspended or revoked if they suspect you are no longer safe on the roads.  

They will start by issuing a verbal ban, telling you not to drive until your condition is assessed or until your licence is formally revoked. These can be issued for up to six months, and you have a duty to obey. If police stop you and they learn of the verbal ban, you risk being charged as if you were driving without a licence.

Should you be are involved in an accident, your insurance company will also treat you as driving without a licence. If you disagree with the verbal ban, you can get a second opinion from another doctor who can lift it. But you must still respect it until that examination takes place. 

When a doctor, psychologist, or optician suspects your impairment will last longer than six months, they will contact the local County Governor, or Statsforvalteren, advising them either to revoke, suspend, or limit your driving licence. You can find a Q&A in Norwegian on how County Governors handle driving licence cases here.

In cases where the doctor is not sure how badly the health condition affects driving, they may request a driving assessment by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. 

If the County Governor judges that you are not safe, they then contact the police calling for your licence to be revoked in full, limited to certain vehicles, or limited in time. 

If you have a temporary licence 

For many health conditions, the guidelines mean you will not be issued a normal 15-year driving licence and instead will be issued with one valid for six months, a year, three years, or five years, after which you will need to have a new health assessment by your doctor, psychologist or optician, or even undergo another driving assessment by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.  

What health conditions might lead to you losing your licence? 

On the website of the Norwegian Health Services, there is a long list of conditions which could conceivably make you unsafe behind the wheel. Still, they include deteriorating eyesight, cognitive or neurological disorders, strokes, multiple sclerosis, meningitis or encephalitis, brain injuries, brain diseases or tumours, epilepsy, sleep disorders, heart conditions, diabetes, psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, the use of some medicines, particularly painkillers such as opioids, respiratory failure, and kidney failure. 

In many conditions, such as strokes, acute meningitis, being fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator or pacemaker, epilepsy, schizophrenia or manic episodes, or alcohol or drug abuse, doctors will automatically give you a verbal ban of one week, three months, or six months, depending on the condition, before you can be issued with a health certificate recommending you be given a temporary or permanent driving licence. 

With progressive, degenerative conditions, such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or chronic renal failure, you may not get an immediate driving ban but instead have your permanent 15-year licence replaced with a temporary one valid only for two, three, or five years, depending on the condition. 

Psychiatric conditions

Diagnosis with schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders, a manic episode, or a succession of manic episodes, is not in itself enough to prevent you from having a driving licence, but for the first three, you need to be in a stable condition for three months and show good compliance with your treatment before a psychiatrist can give you a health certificate recommending you be granted a driving licence for up to two years.

If you have had a succession of manic episodes, you may have to wait six months before you are allowed to drive. After two years, you can apply for a driving licence with the standard 15-year duration.

Drivers with conditions such as ADHD or ADD who don’t have a conduct disorder diagnosis can get a health certificate immediately recommending a driving licence for up to two years, so long as you have “good cognitive functioning”, after which you can have a normal licence. If you have an ADHD diagnosis and do have contact disorder, you need to show that you are being treated and that the treatment makes you a safe driver, after which you can get a driving licence for two years at a time. 

Those with autism, a personality disorder, or an intellectual disability can get a certificate allowing them to get a normal 15-year driving licence for a car if a doctor or psychologist rules that their functional level is “compatible with the safe driving of a motor vehicle”.

Alcoholic or drug addict 

Substance abuse problems can affect your right to a driving licence. If your licence is taken away because of problem use, you can fulfil the health requirements after six months if a monthly follow-up indicates that you are currently sober, you can then be recommended a driving licence for one year at a time for three years, after which you can have a licence for five years, after which you will be eligible for a 15-year licence. 

Use of medicines that affect driving 

Some medicines can affect your ability to drive, with some treatments leading to a short-term verbal ban. If you are taking opioids for long-term pain management, you can drive, however, so long as the daily dose is less than the equivalent of 300 mg of morphine and it is more than a week since your last dose increase. 

SHOW COMMENTS