Fewer than 8% of UK businesses know the necessity of health insurance for their overseas employees

Insurance is an ardent necessity to combat financial needs during extreme health as well as life threatening conditions. Whether you are working or own a business, the necessity of having an insurance policy cannot be avoided. If you are an employer then it is important to insure all your employees irrespective of their job location. However, just 8% of the UK businesses have the know-how on insurance policies for their overseas employees, says the international healthcare provider Expacare.

In a survey done by the company which covered 1000 UK business owners, it was discovered that only 7.8% of them knew the requirement of insurance for their overseas employees while 67.3% were not aware about it and 24.9% were not sure about it. This suggests that a big chunk of business owners do not know the details of a basic facility like insurance of the employees. Many of them feel that EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) is sufficient but, that is not the case.

In fact, to make things clear one should know that EHIC might be fine for employees who travel overseas frequently for shorter periods of time. However, for those who stay abroad for longer trips should have an international healthcare insurance policy. This will help them cover the medical expenses for accidents, work related illness or injuries of various kinds.

Another kind of policy called Employers’ Liability policies will cover staff that live overseas for an extended period of time. Expacare advised all employees to check on this with their employer by stating that “Speak to your Employer’s Liability insurer to find out whether your policy includes this or if you will need to take out an additional country-specific policy for liability insurance to cover employees who sustain injuries or work-related illnesses while working away.”

It advised the employers that “When planning relocation for your staff, do your research and check whether health insurance is mandatory in the country they will be working in. In non-European countries where documents such as visas or work permits are required, certain levels of health insurance may be required for them to be issued.”

This means that the EHIC card would not be enough for your health care if you are under the impression that it is especially when you are abroad. Moreover, it is the employer’s duty to keep their staff insured to deal with the financial aspects in the event of sudden sickness, accident or major injuries.

To conclude, an employer or an employee should know all the aspects of private medical insurance, especially when the staff is stationed away from their family. The policy would help them manage the financial aspect of any catastrophic event when they cannot find immediate financial help.