Travel insurance required for visits to the Channel Islands from 1 April 2009

UK travellers to the Channel Islands are strongly advised to ensure they have adequate travel insurance from April 1 2009.

The recommendation comes from the Department of Health as the healthcare arrangements for UK visitors to the Islands are due to change.

The current agreement, in place since May 1976, allowed UK travellers to get a limited number of medical treatments in the Channel Islands free of charge will end on March 31.

Anyone travelling to the Islands, which include Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark and Herm, will be required to pay for medical treatment should they become ill or injured there after this date. Visitors should therefore take out adequate insurance before they travel.

Visitors from the Channel Islands to the UK will also now have to pay for medical treatment when visiting the UK, so they should also have health insurance cover.

As the Channel Islands are outside the European Union, they are not covered by the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

Over half a million visitors are expected to visit the Islands from the UK this year.

This article was published on Mon 30 March 2009