Make sure you bring and carry all your ID cards

Every ID card is important, for different reasons
It's common sense, but needs to be emphasised, that when you are travelling abroad you should be insured against accident or ill health. You will obviously have car insurance if travelling by car, and other travel insurance for flights or ferries.

And most important, before you set off on your holidays in France, or other European countries, you should have the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This is the new card that replaced the E111 Form.

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)

The EHIC covers treatment needed during a trip due to either illness or accident. This includes treatment for chronic conditions, pre-existing conditions and routine maternity care, although some conditions apply and you should check with the Department of Health. The card gives access to free or low-cost emergency medical treatment, which will be delivered under the state health system in the country that you are visiting.

You can apply for a card (or renew an expired card) online at the NHS choices website by clicking here >

https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do

Always carry your insurance papers with you - you never know when you might need them! And always carry your identity papers, including driving license; in many countries it's required by law.

This reminds me that in the UK the debate rumbles on about identity cards. So much time given in Parliament and the newspapers debating what is seen in other countries as a non-issue. In France you must carry your ID card and Driving Permit ALL the time. The Gendarmerie carry out random roads checks all the time and if they stop you they will ask to see your driving licence.

The Gendarmerie carry out many random roadside checks

In France no one feels in doing so that they have surrendered their liberty. It's just another card to carry, like the Visa Card or MasterCard when you do the shopping. I'm sure that people in the UK must feel the same when they leave home to do the shopping - they take the same cards with them - why not an ID card also, like we do?

My husband David is more than happy to take all his cards with him when he leaves the house. Especially now, as he has just received his new version of a very important ID card - the new Carte Vitale. This important ID card guarantees immediate and superb health treatment when produced. It is shown all the time when visiting doctors, pharmacies, hospitals etc. In addition to the computer chip that contains important personal and medical data (as did his old card), his new one now has a passport style photo embedded, so people can easily recognise the card holder. Although, "comme habitude", David says the photo makes him look like an escaped criminal.

Some of David's ID cards - carried ALL the time, no problem!

The UK should introduce this system - no one in France would dream of being without this valuable card and carry it with all their other ID cards - and no one feels that their liberties are at risk by carrying them.

Surely, at times like this there are much more important matters to discuss than whether ID cards violate personal freedoms - such as when do we go to France for our next holiday?