In these turbulent Covid days, many are worried about travelling to Madeira. Their usual travel Insurance seems to not cover travel to countries with negative advice on all but necessary travel. Now, one could question if a holiday to someplace safe and relax isn’t very necessary indeed in these stressful times. But the fact is that many travel insurances refuse to cover your trip anywhere if there is negative travel advice. That is when you could use a special Madeira travel Insurance. Or for Porto Santo, of course.
Turismo de Portugal
The official Portuguese Tourist Office ‘Turismo de Portugal’ has stepped up. It has tackled the problem caused by travel insurers who exclude covid-19 related stuff from their policy. They endorse and promote the new Portugal Travel Insurance. This has been launched by the Funchal Insurance agency Bónus Mediação. It was created in collaboration with the Insurance company RNA Assistência. The policy they created has been adapted to the covid-19 pandemic. It eliminates a number of problems created by the regular travel insurers refusal to cover travel to ‘orange’ or ‘red’ countries.
Regular health insurance for residents of the UK
For any UK resident travelling within the European Union, regular health issues that need immediate attention are covered by your regular health insurance. You are in possession of the European Health Insurance Card EHIC, that is issued by the NHS. Unfortunately, any UK EHIC will lose its validity on December 31st, 2020.
What happens after that is anyone’s guess. All thanks to the pigheaded UK government that seems to think the EU should wait on them hand and foot. You can take offence if you like, but it’s my website and I don’t hide my opinion. But here is some good news for any UK visitor who plans a stay for Christmas and New Year. If you arrive in Madeira before the EHIC expires, it will remain valid until your return to the UK. Again, what happens after that nobody knows. But the Portugal Travel Insurance may help you out here. Keep reading.
Travellers from the European Union
For citizens of countries other than the UK, it will probably not be very different. However, I have no easy access to all national rules of every country within or outside the European Union. You have to check if your regular health insurance continues to cover your medical expenses abroad. If the country you are travelling to is on the list of countries which carry negative travel advice (only necessary travel), that is. But I suspect it does cover, and you will need your EHIC to get free treatment. Mind, the treatment will never exceed the treatment you would get in your country of residence. Should your own health insurance not cover travel to Portugal the new Portugal Travel Insurance may be a solution. We are talking about a situation where Portugal and Madeira are taken off the list of safe countries.
Travellers from outside the EU
Travellers from outside the EU must also check if their regular health Insurance covers issues that need attention while abroad. As you are not in possession of an EHIC you are not automatically entitled to free treatment. You have to check your Health Insurance policy. Exactly like you would be doing if there would not be a covid-19 pandemic. Whatever it does or does not cover, the ‘Portugal Travel Insurance’ could solve your problem.
Portugal Travel Insurance: which problems does it solve?
The policy was created with an eye on the covid-19 pandemic, paralyzing a lot of travel. And robbing Portugal and therefore Madeira and the Azores from a substantial chunk of their much-needed tourism income. Where regular travel insurers no longer cover cancellations due to covid related stuff, they cover your complete trip including transfers. Also, booked excursions are included. All this only if you PCR-test positive on covid-19 withing 30 days before your trip.
exceptions
There are some exceptions (there would be, wouldn’t there) like border closures or flight cancellations. In practice, this would mean that you would have to go to your airline to get your flights refunded. And maybe get a refund from the accommodation you booked. Better even: only book if you know you are refunded in case of a ‘force Majeure’ situation like this. If you are quarantined in Madeira upon arrival, it would be because you get a positive result on your PCR test. In that case, you are covered by the Insurance for your accommodation. Even if you have to stay longer because you are not allowed to travel. On top of that, if you are quarantined in a dedicated hotel unit, the Madeiran government picks up the bill.
Repatriation
You are told to leave the country? Or you have to stay longer because you tested positive and needed to await your complete recovery? The expenses of your trip back home are covered.
Non-covid health issues
You have an accident while in Madeira? Or you catch another illness that needs treatment? Your treatment is also covered by Portugal Travel Insurance. However, if you miss your plane back home because of this, Insurance does not cover your repatriation. Repatriation expenses are only covered in a covid-19 related situation.
Limits
Portugal Travel Insurance does not offer unlimited coverage of your expenses. There is a maximum amount you are insured for. You can choose between two limits: €7,500, the basic coverage, or a substantial € 25,000 the premium coverage. Much will depend on what your regular Insurance covers when choosing between the two. The prices range from € 37,20 (10 days Insurance) to €106,20 (90 days) for the basic coverage of €7,500. For the premium coverage of €25,000, it ranges from € 80,90 (10 days insurance) to €308,60 (90 days Insurance).
You can access the Portugal Travel Insurance only online. Here is the link.
Not affiliated
I have to stress that I am in no way affiliated to Bónus Mediação or RNA Assistência. Nor did I try and give a complete set of terms and conditions. I just tried to roughly outline the possibilities this Insurance offers. So don’t consider any of this the small print you can sue me for. I just think this is useful information that you’d want to be aware of. If there are other insurers I have not heard of, who offer this kind of packages, please tell me. I will gladly highlight their possibilities as well.
I must say I admire Portugal’s diligence trying to convince travellers and holidaymakers of the safety of the Portuguese territory. Of course, we know that it’s not all well on the mainland. But Madeira continues to do an exemplary job trying to keep the situation under control – which it still is – going through a lot of effort to protect both the Madeirans and the visitors.
Madeira: Safe destination
I can and will only speak for myself if I tell you Madeira is a very safe destination, considering. People who arrive covid-19 positive are isolated. Over the three and a half months the tourists have been allowed back to Madeira, there was only a tiny amount of local transmissions of the virus. They have all been found and isolated. The vast majority of new corona cases come from abroad or from the Portuguese mainland.
There have been no deaths caused by corona. Since July 1st, 2020, only one patient had to be admitted to the covid-ward of the general hospital in Funchal. The island population as a whole respects the covid measures that are in place. Putting on your mask where you should has become as automatic as zipping up when you leave the loo. Madeira continues to feel welcoming, safe and relaxed. Just what you need in these stressful times, and certainly made more accessible with this dedicated travel Insurance scheme.
Questions?
I am by no means an expert on insurances. But if you have any questions the website of Portugal Travel Insurance does not answer, please ask in the comments below. I have made the director of Bónus Mediação aware of this article. I will ask him to monitor the questions and answer them, so anyone can benefit. Often, the questions and answers my articles trigger shed more light on the matter than the article itself. And if you think others could find this article interesting? use the share buttons below.
Hi Peter,
Another excellent article bringing to my attention something I may have otherwise missed. Good, well organised descriptions for a general overview for all of us to go and find out more for ourselves.
One minor suggestion: It could be as much as half of the general population who don’t have the lavatorial necessity of “Putting on your mask where you should has become as automatic as zipping up when you leave the loo.”
I try my best, Steve. However, I start to worry a bit about the efficiency of Bónus Seguros. I have now sent three emails in the last three days, which remained without a reply. I sent a text message to the director of Bónus to tell him this was not good, and I suggested he’d have a look here and answer the questions directly, which he has not yet done. I will watch this closely, but if this is the way they deal with customers, the idea can be brilliant, but the practice of it could turn out to be useless.
As for my zipping up comparison, I noticed many ladies wear pants nowadays. I can’t imagine they would leave the loo without zipping up, so I’d think that most of the ‘other half of the general population’ would be familiar with the procedure 😀
Maybe there is an exception where female orthodox Islamic people are concerned, but as they cover all of their faces in their daily outfit anyway, I don’t worry too much about them. Thanks for pointing it out though. In al all-male household it could have slipped my mind, but id hadn’t.
I’m still wiping my eyes to type this from your ‘I noticed many ladies wear pants nowadays’ line. Of course, you are right – pants is widely understood internationally to mean trousers. But in the tiny corner of the world I come from originally, pants still means underwear. My immature mind has imagined that there was a part of the Netherlands where ladies of years gone by didn’t bother with knickers. And that you knew this. And have compared to now. I am so sorry.
whahahahahahahahaha. Now, forgive me if I sometimes don’t get the British nuances of English quite right. The word ‘pants’ is derived from the French word ‘pantalon’ which means trousers. Apart from that, I always thought in Britain the word for ladies’ underwear would indeed be knickers, so it never crossed my mind you could misunderstand my ‘pants’. Whatever. My mind is probably no less immature (no. It’s very mature but the child is still extremely present, thankfully) than yours, but as you might have deducted from my remark about my all-male household, the thought of Dutch ladies bothering or not bothering with knickers never was cause for scrutiny on my part, let alone that it would in any way upset my hormones.
Of course in English “pants” can also mean no good in slang. 🙂
I never noticed that, Maurice. Could you give an example? I know it is off-topic, but as I pointed out to Steve B, it’s my website and I can do as I please 😀
One could say, Boris Johnson and his Cabinet are pants. Meaning they were terrible, rubbish, incapable, not very good, awful. If one thought they were really bad, then one could say, Boris Johnson and his Cabinet are total pants.
As Steve said pants means rubbish.
Indeed it does. But not in the context of ‘Steve, please could you take the pants out for me,’ meaning actual rubbish or trash to be taken out. More that it’s rubbish like Donald Trump is rubbish at talking sense.
Fantastic. We can only hope that the director of the Bonus Seguros appreciates our humour. And anyone else coming here for what is otherwise credible and serious information. My apologies to all.
But I can’t promise it won’t happen again.
No worries, Steve. This is my website and I can write what I want. And allow others to do so – or not, if I choose. Anyone who does not appreciate the humour – or my views on Brexit and British politics for that matter – just will have to suck it up or go somewhere else. Only a little bit of brains will suffice to separate the serious stuff from the fun we are entitled to have (just because I say so, lovely to be the boss somewhere). Keep it coming!
By the way, full respect to you for your command of the English language and indeed your fluency in several languages. Some humour is universal.
😀
I have usually found most people in Nederland and in the Flemish speaking area of België speak pretty good English
correct, but ‘pretty good’ is not good enough here. If I want people to enjoy reading my articles it should be grammatically correct, and it should be pleasant reading. I used to be a copywriter, so I know what I’m doing, but obviously in my native language. Whenever I needed to write in a different language, a had a native speaker check my text. No such luxury now, I’m on my own there, anyway, proofreading by someone else would slow everything down far too much.
For extra confusion, some wearers might prefer the word panties to knickers. Panties suggests knickers which are less substantial, particularly in material.
I have stopped caring. Too much information. I hope everyone zips up whatever can be zipped up. And wear their masks obviously. 😉
this insurance does not provide cover if the traveller has a heart attack whilst in Madeira.
as far as I could check this, it does
.
Please read the small print. It specifically excludes heart attacks.
Yes, you are correct, I checked and found it. It is not even in the small print but in the list of excluded items. I suggest anyone travelling to Portugal – or Madeira of course – checks his regular health insurance. Normally, there should be no travel restrictions apart from clauses that exclude covid-19 related treatments. That is where this insurance should come in. It was specifically designed to cover the covid-19 effects.
Avanti Travel insurance in the UK are offering insurance with Covid cover. This only applies to people resident within the UK.
Thanks, Maurice. Noud has tried to get a quote from them. He found he had to fill out a ridiculously long form where they almost needed to know the colour of his undies. So he bowed out and told their customer service that we would not be able to highlight them if they were reluctant to give us a quick quote. The lady persisted in her ‘company policy’ and said this was common practice with many insurance companies. How pigheaded can you be? Politics before business. Whatever. But maybe you can shed some light on the pricing question. We did notice that they only cover covid-related stuff when you are not travelling to countries with negative travel advice. That is, they do, but you have to pay more. Problem is, obviously, that a country may be in the yellow code when you book and take your insurance, and it changes to orange or – god forbid – red just before you leave.
I still want to give a little bit broader advice than just the one, but Avanti are not very approachable and are not doing themselves any favours here. What is your opinion?
Actually I did not have any major problems with the online form. I filled in details for both of us and got a quote. I then spoke to them on the phone and went through all the details and found a mistake I had made which did bump up the cost but I am happy with what we got. When you get to 70 and one of you has some health problems is does cost more.
They may well provide an adequate service, Maurice. But it is very irritating they were unwilling to give us some global figures as we did not request insurance. Which we obviously couldn’t even do, as we are residents of the Netherlands and Tax residents of Madeira. So I am unable to give an idea of their pricing and coverage. Their loss.
Great information! I had wanted to purchase 120 days and tI was unable to book more than the 90 days. This is what they said…..
Dear Ms Sandy Twiddy
Unfortunately, at this time the insurance company is not accepting travel insurance for more than 90 days. We apologize for the inconvenience, there may be changes in the future, and you can try to make a simulation on the site closer to the trip, if this option is already possible. (https://portugaltravelinsurance.com/).
Best regards
will they allow you to do 90 days and then another insurance for an additional 30 days, Sandy? I have brought this article and the comments to the attention of the director of the Bonus Seguros, who markets the insurance, and I hope he will read it and the comments. Maybe he can shed some new light on this.
Yes you are right, I could purchase the 90 days and hope that they would eventually allow another month “add on: but I would be a little uneasy not knowing. Manulife Canada has announced they will sell Covid insurance to Canadians starting Oct 16th so I will see how much that extra month with them would be!
Have you been able to communicate with them? I have been waiting now for four days to get my main answered. I sent them to the personal mail address of the director, who had called me after the first email got lost in the spam folder I believe. That first time, they took over a week to answer. I have urged the director to answer my questions and to have a look the questions here. After all, I am making a sort of free publicity for him. But no, no reply. I sent a text message which I am sure he has seen yesterday, no reply. I sent another text this morning informing him that if he communicates like this with his (potential) customers, it does not look very promising. Very irritating. I hope they answered you quicker than that.