Hello all,

A year ago I fell unwell whilst visiting Hamburg and required an Ambulance to take me to the hospital. At the time I provided my GHIC (I am from the UK) and my British passport to the Ambulance staff and the hospital and thought that it was the end of it.

Today I was given a copy of this letter (have moved since). I can't read German but believe that it is asking me for costs for the Ambulance ride to the hospital as I have already provided my GHIC to the hospital and they said that the matter is closed.

Please can you advise me on what I can do here? Could this invoice be a mistake? I believed that the GHIC meant that I would pay the same rate as resident Germans for an Ambulance, and that this would not be as much as 701 euros.

Does anyone else have experience (particularly as a UK citizen after Brexit) and can please advise me?

Do I need to pay the 701 euros and will I get into big trouble for not paying?

Thanks in advance for any help!

by DrawerRemarkable4083

7 comments

  1. Talk to your insurance if they pay it, otherwise you will have to pay it.

  3. Yes, that’s an invoice for one ambulance ride. Payable to an IBAN account number not on that picture, with that long number starting with 9743 in the description so they know it’s you.

    I would recommend you to ask the NHS (That’s the public health insurance everyone in the UK is in, right?) if they paid that bill for you. And if they didn’t, ask them to either pay it for you, or pay you back the money so you can pay it.

    What will happen if you don’t pay?

    You will receive some dunnings, and then your case will be transferred to debt collection. Will they come to you even though you are in the UK? Good question. Are you sure you want to find out the answer?

  4. Not an expert, but I looked into this recently for my own stay abroad.

    EHIC still works in Germany after Brexit, it means you should pay the same as a German *insured* patient. Germans with insurance only pay €10–20 for an ambulance, but without insurance the full city tariff (€700) applies.

    Likely the hospital billed the UK using your EHIC, but the ambulance service didn’t get those details and treated you as uninsured.

    Contact Hamburg’s ambulance service, send them a copy of your EHIC, and ask them to bill via the statutory insurance liaison. NHS Overseas Healthcare Services might be able to advice as well

  5. What makes you think Germans don’t pay the same? I’m quite sure we do, it’s just covered by mandatory insurance.

  6. The last sentence:

    “If you are not privately insured, please provide us with your health insurance provider and your insurance number, or in the case of an accident at work, your professional association and your employer.”

    So I would send them (maybe again) your UK-GHIC Details.

    Read more here https://www.eu-patienten.de/en/behandlung_deutschland/ungeplante_behandlung/wer_traegt_die_kosten_1/behandlung_wie_gesetzlich_krankenversicherte_3/krankentransport/krankentransporte_1.jsp

  7. was it a necessary call or could you have gone there by yourself?

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