Question: “We are British residents in Italy covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. This year we paid the new minimum annual healthcare fee of €2,000 in February. Then, in March, the UK government announced that we would not have to pay the fee as we’re covered by the WA. This is great news – but how do we, and there must be many of us, get our money back? Our local health office has been unable to help.”

Since the Italian government first announced plans last October to hike the minimum healthcare subscription fee to 2,000 euros a year, there has been particular confusion for British nationals covered by the post-Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA).

After the price increase was confirmed in January, many said they received letters telling them they were liable to pay 2,000 euros when renewing their annual subscription – or else they’d lose access to healthcare in Italy.

The UK government later clarified that the fee should not apply to British nationals who became resident in the country before January 1st, 2021, and are therefore covered by the post-Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA).

While this announcement was welcomed by Italy’s British residents, uncertainty remained as to how they would be able to prove these rights to healthcare – something which, for many, has been an ongoing battle due to local health authorities’ varying interpretations of the rules.

The British government’s update contained few details, and there have since been no further announcements from the Italian authorities detailing how exactly the rules will work, or how this will be communicated to local healthcare offices around Italy.

And for some, the clarification came too late. Several readers have been in touch to tell us they had already paid the charges for 2024 before this announcement was made.

If this is your situation, is there any hope that you may now be able to have the fees reimbursed?

The first step would be to appeal to the local health authority office (ASL or USL) at which you are registered. However, readers report that staff manning the counters at their local offices are usually unable to advise, and are often unaware of the rules for British nationals covered by the WA.

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If you wish to submit a refund request in writing, every local health authority in Italy should have its own procedure in place for handling complaints and queries related to payments. Though this varies from one authority to another, a look through your local ASL’s website should turn up a specific email address or web form.

However, it looks unlikely that there will be a solution available until the Italian government releases detailed guidance on how the rules confirmed in March should be applied.

It will likely be some time yet before local healthcare offices have the information available to be able to confirm or process any refunds for payments made in this situation.

Meanwhile, there was further confusion after some British nationals in Italy reported receiving letters in recent weeks asking them to pay the 2,000-euro fee, despite the British government’s announcement – and, in some cases, after they had already paid it.

The Local has requested information from the Italian health ministry and the British Embassy in Rome. We will continue to report any further updates.

Have you been affected by this issue? Please get in touch and share your experience in the comments section below.