for Expats in the EU who voted remain, to be relly upset and angry at neighbours and 'friends' who have voted to leave?

However if the EHIC goes, then as far as I can see it might affect all of us as Third Country Nationals whether we are under the S1 or in PUMA.
But as we don't know until the negotiations are done, I am not going to worry about that for a year.

As for the absence of travel insurance, that may well have to be one of the disadvantages you have to take into account when you consider your future now that you are no longer responsible for elderly relatives and with family in the U.K.

I think Maw you’ve hit the nail firmly on the head, right there.

It’s about choices.

*Urmstongran" that is a total for three and a half years not per year.
Yes we did lose a lot in 2008/9 but it was a fairly brief period. We have all the data going back to our arrival here and the decline since the 2016 vote is very clear.

Obviously if the EHIC goes it affects everyone in the UK as well as UK migrants in Europe. Everyone will be looking at private insurance.

Mamie, as said in my post, you can get CEAM cover for EU/EEA travel in you are in the French system- but NOT if you are on S1. I do not know if there are Insurance products in France that could cover for this- in Switzerland there isn't as people are automatically covered- but NOT on S1.

Maw - price of property in our part of Swiitzerland is not high compared to many parts of UK. We do not live in Geneva or Zurich or on one of the Rivieras, but in a rural part. Prices are low, houses don't shift fast. But why should we hve the stress, after a big C scare, and OH mid 70s - to upsticks to France, or back to UK? If we drive to UK, how is our credit card going to cover us?

This thread was not about me/us - but it has veered in this direction as I was asked.

We have been here 10 years, but bought the house in 2008. The Pound was 2.50 - recently it dropped to 1.16 - and now back around 1.28. 50% of income loss is painful- and we have had to shelve renovations and many other plans. Not asking you to have any empathy- just saying...

Gorgeous day- so off swimming. Better for my health, mind and heart.

Ah I did realise it was lost over a 3.5 year period Mamie but it does still illustrate the differences between our incomes!!
?

Again, Mamie- looking to private insurance that does NOT exist - is pie in the sky. As it is at the moment, we will have pay full insurance, even though we have S1 and NHS cover- just to be able to travel to EU- including France less than a mile away- or become totally land-locked - in a beautiful country, yes - but ...

Jura We have been here 10 years, but bought the house in 2008. The Pound was 2.50 - recently it dropped to 1.16 - and now back around 1.28

We bought our little apartment in Spain in 2004 and at its very highest (then) using a commercial rate too to buy property - a pound sterling ‘only’ fetched 1.47 euro. The tourist rate was lower obviously at 1.38 euro.

I do not see where you get your stratospherically high figure of 2.50??

Also Mamie surely you agree that lately the exchange rate is creeping back up to pre Brexit levels? Many financial experts at the time considered 1.32 euro to the pound showed that sterling was over-valued. This bottoming out was predicted and away from those heady days, is considered more realistic!

Jura as you know, currently people on S1 get their EHIC from Newcastle. As I said before, if it goes, I am not sure that Third Country Nationals will continue to be eligible for CEAM, but we just don't know until the negotiations are done.
Do your rights as a Swiss national not give you access into the scheme as an EEA member?
Is the crazy cost of travel insurance just a Swiss thing?

Urmstongran I think Jura is talking about the Swiss franc.
We bought our house at 1.56€. The figure we use for calculation is the 1.24 just before the vote. At the beginning of 2016 it was 1.30+. Yes it has crept up a bit as uncertainty about no deal has passed, but we have yet to see the true financial impact of Brexit on the economy.

Urmstongran- I thought it was clear that we are not in the Euro zone- the values given are for the Swiss Franc, not the Euro!

Mamie- one of our issues, and perhaps the biggest one, is that we do not know of a single person in the same situation. Plenty of Brits retired in Switzerland- but all the ones we know are here because they worked here for many years, are in the health insurance system and get excellent Swiss pensions (as well as many who get other pensions from the UK and other countries they lived in!) - we are on UK pensions alone, and arrived after reirement (why oh why, some will say- to look after my very elderly parents, and because all our careful research and planning showed that it would work well for us). There are probably a handful of us - but I don't know of any.

Yes, we have EHIC from Newcastle- and it will be valid until the end of the transition period, Dec 2020. After that ...

And I am sorry, but you do not seem to understand. The insurance product 'holiday insurance' does NOT exist in Switzerland. Well it does, covers for loss of luggage, cancellation, etc, and any cost over and above the 'double' value explained above. If a Swiss person has treatment abroad, the insurance will pay up to double the estimated cost of same treatment in Switzerland. Holiday insurance would cover that excess. But as everyone has compulsory insurance, that covers them in EU and anywhere in the world- Holiday Insurance as we know it in the UK just does not exist. It is not relevant here.
I am probably not expressing myself well- as no-one seems to understand what I am saying.

Our rights in Switzerland used to give us the same, but not nowhere we have been told that it will no longer. We have S1 for Switzerland, NHS for UK - and then zilch, nothing, for the EU.

As it is at the moment, we will have pay full insurance, even though we have S1 and NHS cover- just to be able to travel to EU- including France less than a mile away- or become totally land-locked - in a beautiful country, yes - but

If France is less than a mile away, surely you could live dangerously, take that risk and hazard a trip to the supermarché?
I appreciate that you had your reasons for moving to Switzerland, which from your description of your lifestyle has clear attractions , but when you consider there are those (including many on GN) who, living without benefit of private or public sector pensions may not even be able to travel abroad at all, whether for economic or health reasons, is holiday insurance really a major issue in the consequences of Brexit?

My apologies jura and mamie I didn’t realise anything really about Switzerland and that they had their own currency. Sorry to be dim. I’ve never visited nor has anyone in my family or friends group hence it was not on my radar.

Thank you for pointing it out.

Now then, it beggars the question from me - why has the Swiss currency tanked so badly? I thought the Swiss had a reputation for fiscal probity?

Actually this might derail the thread. Sorry. I shall Google it myself (and try to educate myself - I am a bear of little brain at times).

The voice of intelligent reason (again) Maw. A fair point you make.

Thanks for the clarification Jura, I didn't know that about Switzerland and travel insurance. What a pain.
Urmstongran I think it is the pound that has tanked against the Swiss franc.
I guess MawB that if the EHIC scheme does go then we will know how much of a big deal it is from people who live in the UK and holiday in Europe.
We only go to the UK and Spain to see our children and their families, but I guess if you live on a border then it is a big deal if you are not insured.

As I said Mamie we have always taken out travel insurance as the EHIC would not have covered repatriation etc
It’s a question of choices isn’t it?
If you live a short drive from another mainland European country you presumably take your chance, for longer distances eg holidays you factor it into the total cost.
Horses for courses.
I think Brexit will have rather farther-reaching effects than travel insurance.

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Urmstongran !

I agree MawB. As I said upthread I am far more worried about the impact of Brexit on the economy of the UK and our grandchildren's future. We will manage and will continue to enjoy living in the country of our choice.
Nevertheless, I do have a lot of sympathy for my fellow UK migrants, especially those in difficult circumstances. It is hard to convey the cumulative effect of the uncertainty under which we have been living for the past four years.

Oh goodness that disclaimer didn’t show when I clicked on the image! I hope I’m not in trouble.

Surely they would want the publicity?

At this very moment Gransnetters might be saying 'oh, that was interesting, must put the FT on my shopping list!'

Good sense from Maw, and Chestnut’s post at 16.50 yesterday (Sunday.)
Very little in life lasts forever, change is a fact of life.

It happened, it's happening. Move on !
As far as driving licenses - I think that if you intend to be resident in any overseas country for any length of time, that you should have to have that country's own driving license after 6 months anyway.
Different countries have different rules from driving on a different side of the road to who gets priority at roundabouts, turning off the highway etc . Recent events like the death of a young man and subsequent reports of near misses, have highlighted that the lack of knowledge of local road regulations can have horrendous results.

Callistemon

The Tower awaits Urmston ?

Seriously, are there people on here who actually go abroad to Europe and don’t buy travel insurance? How foolish!