Medivac Alicante to Manchester

[Prettypaisleyslippers]

My relative is ill in Spain. Insurance are saying they won’t help. How much would a medical plane cost? Patient is not on life support and stable. Daytine, pre planned flight ok (ie not an emergency flight).

You might find info here, that's just one company if you Google you'll find others
www.iasmedical.com/help-support/family/

Why won't insurance help?

Loads of google ads showing companies but no prices. I’m hoping my budget covers it. They have insurance but apparently specific condition isn’t covered. I’m hoping for a poster with experience of similar situation that might give an estimate

@Prettypaisleyslippers I've given you a link to a page that has actual figures on, including Spain to UK

OP if you go to the link POTC posted, scroll down, there's an option for getting a quote.

but it also says Spain to UK £18,000 as a "typical" cost.

Incredibly expensive. A friend needed to use one for her baby who was born very prematurely and it was £10,000 and this was over a decade ago.

You would be more ch better flying there to support them and making sure they get support and the right sort of care locally. Spain has excellent medical care, if you can navigate any language barriers.

This. And it would be cheaper to hire a professional interpreter. Can possibly find a list of translators via the consulate page of contact directly. Interpreters and translators often have specialised areas so you don't, for instance, want one who isn't officially qualified or who focuses on translating novels.

Translators are written, interpreters do spoken work.

I think it can be up to 20k, insurance should surely pay ?

Not if it was a pre-existing, not covered condition.

OP, having been seriously ill in more than one other country myself, is there a reason medical care in Spain isn't a choice?

My Dad's step mum had to be evacuated back from Lanzarote about 15 years ago. She hadn't declared a medical condition and her insurance refused to pay up.

It was around £15k. There was also additional fees to be paid to the hospital as she'd been taken to a private one as she said she was insured - they seized her passport and refused to give it back until the bill was paid.

I’m not getting much information at the moment but insurance declined cover, I suspect due to pre existing condition. I will call them today.

private clinic is very expensive (obvs). He’s paid on credit card, I think they saved his life so no issues with them, only gratitude, however costs are unsustainable. I’m looking at healthcare options, not the clinic he’s in. I’m hoping that he has a ECIH (replacement for the E111).

ideally I will go fetch him home. Medivac not covered.

What a nightmare. Sorry to hear that. I'm hoping someone has some information.

My husband’s aunt sadly passed away on holiday in India, the British Consulate was fantastic and I can’t praise M&S travel insurance highly enough. They initially said they wouldn’t repatriate her body because of some element of her health that she hadn’t mentioned. They then said that if we paid the difference between what she had paid and what she should have paid with the condition covered they would fly her home. I think it was about £450.
I hope you find a resolution op.

Insurance have done a u turn and claim made. Thank you everyone, he’s still very ill but the clinic seem fantastic, I’m confident that he is being well cared for. I will fly out to see him if he’s not flown home

If mainland Spain, and flights are difficult, would a train be possible?
Insurance (and medics) were concerned about my brother being on a plane, but had no issue with Mum flying out to Germany, and getting him home on Eurostar.

Depends so much on the condition of the ill person. If he's stable enough it might be possible to fetch him by road taking the ferry - 2 days travelling but 1/10 of the price

So they've agreed to pay? That is fantastic news, it's always worth appealing with these companies

Glad you got that sorted. 14 years ago we had to medivac my father from Almería and it was £12,000. So imagine £18,000 is about right if not more.

I hadn’t considered a road trip but could do that. I was going to try to time my arrival with his discharge and then escort him home. Will see how the next few days pan out. Flights preferably as I haven’t got a lot of annual leave but will do anything.

Thank you again for your suggestions and sharing experiences. I’m so relieved that insurance look to be coming good on this.

We Medevac’d fil back from Costa del Sol in 2007 to Manchester via Heathrow at a cost of around £5k. He was ambulatory which helped and the firm sent a nurse out to travel with him (my DH was also there). They brought him the final leg of the journey by private ambulance. The whole thing was extremely stressful and we were advised against it by the consultant here, who said he didn’t expect FiL to survive more than a few days if he did survive the journey.
He lived a further 9 months, so it was worth it as it turned out.

Does he definitely need to come home almost immediately? The (nhs) hospital in Torrevieja (40 mins drive from Alicante) is outstanding. His basic health care EHIC? should cover it- could he travel on a normal flight after some recuperation?