Healthcare - comprehensive sickness insurance

This page explains what comprehensive sickness insurance is, and what evidence you will need to provide if you wish to live in the UK as an EEA national.

Comprehensive sickness insurance is a policy that will cover the costs of the majority of medical treatment you may receive in the UK. You may have to show you have this insurance in order to be allowed to live in the UK as an EEA national or their family member.

Evidence of comprehensive sickness insurance

If you are an EEA national in the UK as a student or as a self-sufficient person, you and your sponsored family members must have comprehensive sickness insurance for the duration of your stay in the UK.

If you apply for a document confirming a right of residence for yourself or your family members, as a student or self-sufficient person, then you will need to demonstrate that you have comprehensive sickness insurance on the date we make a decision on your application.

If you apply for a document confirming a right of residence for you or your family members, as a student or self-sufficient person, then If you decide to apply for permanent residence in the UK, you will need to show that you, and any family members if applicable, have held comprehensive sickness insurance throughout the period during which you were residing in the UK as a student or self-sufficient person.

The documents that we accept as proof you have comprehensive sickness insurance are:

• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC);
• S1;
• S2;
• S3; or
• an original private health insurance policy document.

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)

If you are an EEA national and do not intend to remain in the UK on a permanent basis, you can provide an original, valid EHIC issued by an EU member state other than the UK.

You can provide a 'statement of intent' with your application to show that you are in the UK on a temporary basis. You must sign and date the statement, which may include:

• information about property or business interests in your home country to which you intend to return; and
• details of your family ties in your home country and evidence of visits home.

Statements of intent submitted in support of applications for a document confirming a right of residence are considered on a case by case basis.

You can still apply for a document confirming permanent residence if you have stated that you are in the UK on a temporary basis. This is because until a person has gained permanent residence, they will still be in the UK on a temporary basis. See the European Commission website for more information.

Form S1 (previously E109 or E121)

The S1 form is a certificate of entitlement to health care in another EEA country for a limited duration and may only be used in limited circumstances, such as state pensioners or dependents of an insured person working in another member state.

Form S2 (previously E112)

This form covers the actual cost of treatment, for example insured people who are referred for specific treatment in another EEA country or Switzerland.

Form S3

This will cover the cost of treatment, for example for retired frontier workers continuing treatment in the member state in which they previously worked.

A private health insurance policy document

A valid document confirming that you have private medical insurance which covers you for medical treatment in the majority of circumstances while are in the UK. This form of insurance reimburses all or some medical tests and treatment costs for some conditions. It is not designed to cover all illnesses and it normally does not cover conditions you had before taking out the insurance. It also does not normally cover visiting a general practitioner (GP) or ermergency treatment.

A private medical insurance policy which covers you for medical treatment in the majority of circumstances may still be acceptable where:

• it has a certain excess attached to it;
• there are exclusions in the policy for pre-existing conditions;
• it does not include cover for maternity or pregnancy arrangements; and
• it is an international private medical insurance policy.

Each case will be considered on an individual basis. You can find further information about private medical insurance policies on the Association of British Insurers (ABI) website.