What do I do if I get sick or injured in Georgia with travel insurance?

Step by step

• Life-threatening: call 112. Ambulance, police and fire are reached through the same number. Tell the operator your location; hotels and taxi drivers can help with the address.
• Not an emergency: call the assistance number on your certificate before you go anywhere. Have your certificate number and passport ready. The assistance service directs you to a clinic the insurer works with.
• At the clinic: show the certificate and your passport. If the insurer has authorised direct billing, the clinic invoices the insurer; otherwise you pay and claim back.
• Afterwards: collect the medical report with the diagnosis, itemised invoices, receipts and prescriptions. Send them to the insurer the way the certificate or assistance service instructs.

Direct billing or reimbursement

Whether a clinic bills the insurer directly depends on the insurer's agreement with that clinic and on prior authorisation from the assistance service — which is why the call comes first. If you go to a clinic on your own, expect to pay and be reimbursed later against documents. The policy wording decides what is covered, what deductible applies and how claims are paid; it overrides anything a website says.

What travel medical insurance is for — and what it is not

• For: sudden illness and accidents during the trip, emergency treatment, the costs the policy lists up to the insured sum.
• Not for: planned treatment, routine check-ups, or conditions the policy excludes. Read the exclusions before you rely on the cover.
• Not for the car: an accident with a foreign-registered vehicle involves the compulsory car insurance for other people's damage, which is a separate policy and a separate process.