TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR YOUR AYIA NAPA HOLIDAY
Don't travel without Insurance!Travel insurance is essential for any trip abroad. It costs about the same as a few drinks but could save you having to pay out huge sums of money for medical bills, cancellation fees or other charges.
Insurance will cover you if you need to see a doctor or go to the hospital, including emergency treatment at private hospitals and doctors which you will find in Ayia Napa. Travel insurance also normally covers cancellation of your trip if at the last minute you are forced to cancel, if you need to cut short your trip for emergency reasons, (someone ill back home for example) medical expenses, including flying you home should something really nasty happen, loss or damage to your property or money and usually a few other things are included in the cover as well. Most insurance policies will have an excess which means you have to pay a certain amount yourself before the insurers pay out, for example with medical bills you might need to pay the first £75 / €75 and then the rest gets paid for you. You may be given the option to pay a little bit extra for an excess waiver which means that you won’t need to pay any excess on your insurance and the whole amount would be paid for you. There are often several different levels of cover available with different prices and all will have different limits (the amount you can claim up to), different excesses (the amount that you need to pay of each claim) and extra things you can choose to have cover for. Once you have your insurance make sure you read it so you know what you are covered for and bring the paperwork with you to Ayia Napa as it will contain all the emergency numbers should you need them as well as your policy number which proves that you are covered. The local clinic in Ayia Napa is a private hospital and there are several doctors in Ayia Napa who you can walk in and see 24 hours a day with no appointment for any medical condition. If you are unfortunate enough to have to spend an overnight stay in the Ayia Napa Clinic (Napa Olympic Polyclinic) then you will be facing a bill of around €500 per night. Stitches can cost around €50 per stitch and x-rays €500. You certainly don't want to be facing huge medical bills should anything happen to you, when you can purchase travel insurance for the price of a couple of drinks. As well as Medical cover, most policies would also cover you for things such as loss of luggage or property, and last minute cancellation.
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EHIC cards
These replaced the old E111 forms a few years ago. They entitle EU citizens to medical treatment in other European countries at very low costs in state run hospitals. They are essential thing to have for anyone travelling abroad but do not replace travel insurance as they only cover state hospitals.
The nearest state hospital to Ayia Napa is in Paralimni, about 20 minutes away. They have an Accident and Emergency department which is open 24 hours with an ambulance service. For serious conditions and anything requiring urgent medical attention, this is where to go.
Charges are currently €10 for the emergency department, €3 to see a general doctor, €6 to see a specialist doctor and 50 cents per item for prescriptions and lab tests. (costs may change)
You can apply for an EHIC card online, each European country will have its own application system though, the UK’s one is run by the NHS and information can be found on their site.
If you have an EHIC card you should still take out travel insurance so that you are fully protected.
The nearest state hospital to Ayia Napa is in Paralimni, about 20 minutes away. They have an Accident and Emergency department which is open 24 hours with an ambulance service. For serious conditions and anything requiring urgent medical attention, this is where to go.
Charges are currently €10 for the emergency department, €3 to see a general doctor, €6 to see a specialist doctor and 50 cents per item for prescriptions and lab tests. (costs may change)
You can apply for an EHIC card online, each European country will have its own application system though, the UK’s one is run by the NHS and information can be found on their site.
If you have an EHIC card you should still take out travel insurance so that you are fully protected.
