Travel health insurance 2026: when the Health Fund's form helps in 16 countries, when you need a policy, how much it covers and what it does not pay

People insured with Montenegro's Health Insurance Fund are entitled to emergency health care during a temporary stay in 16 countries with which Montenegro applies bilateral social security agreements. For this they need a bilingual form from the Fund's regional unit, obtained before departure, and in the United Kingdom and Poland a Fund certificate of insurance and proof of citizenship. The agreements cover emergency care only, so countries not on the list, such as Greece and Spain, and transport home need a private travel health insurance policy, which you take out before the trip. One insurer's packages cover necessary treatment costs up to 15,000, 30,000 or 50,000 euros, and another insurer's general terms exclude chronic illnesses treated in the last three months, claims under the influence of alcohol above 0.3 per mille and childbirth costs.

This guide explains when the Fund's form helps you, when you need a policy, how much policies cover, what they do not pay and what to do if you fall ill on a trip.

When does the Fund's form help you?

Montenegro applies bilateral social security agreements with these countries:

• Before departure you go to the Fund's regional unit or branch where you live and ask for the bilingual certificate or form on your right to health care.
• In the country of stay you take the form to the competent fund or health insurance office and get a health certificate.
• If you need emergency care, you do not pay for the service on the basis of the form and the health certificate, and the Fund and the foreign insurer settle the costs between them.
• If the institution asks you to pay and claim the costs from the Fund later, insist on the form and ask the institution to contact your Fund regional unit officially through the local insurer.
• In the United Kingdom and Poland you get emergency care with a Fund certificate that you are insured and proof that you are a citizen of Montenegro, which you take to the local health insurance office.
• All this applies only to emergency health care during a temporary stay, and planned treatment abroad has a separate procedure.

When do you need a private policy?

• When you travel to a country that is not on the list, for example Greece, Spain, France or outside Europe.
• When you want cover for transport home, hospital days, luggage, trip interruption or liability, which the agreements do not include.
• You take out the policy before the trip: the insurer Sava's general terms say contracts concluded after the trip has started are invalid.
• With that insurer, people up to 65 with residence in Montenegro can buy a policy, unless otherwise agreed with an extra premium.
• For several trips there is a multi-trip policy with at most 365 days of cover in total.

How much do the packages cover?

• The same insurer's travel packages add a hospital day abroad of 50 euros a day, at most 1,000 euros, accidental death cover of 10,000 euros, legal aid up to 3,500 euros and liability cover up to 25,000 euros, depending on the package.
• The sum insured is the insurer's maximum obligation per trip, so you pay any total costs above it yourself.

What does a policy not pay?

The insurer Sava's general terms for travel health insurance exclude, among other things:

• chronic illnesses known at the start of cover and treated in the last three months, except in an emergency due to an acute threat to life or severe pain;
• claims under the influence of alcohol above 0.3 per mille or drugs, and deliberately caused claims;
• pregnancy and childbirth costs, except emergency measures for acute complications in women under 38 before the end of the 30th week of pregnancy;
• cosmetic treatment, psychotherapy, rehabilitation, physiotherapy and prostheses;
• off-piste skiing and extreme sports, unless you have bought special cover;
• consequences of war, unrest, terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

What do you do if you fall ill on a trip?

• Call the assistance company whose number is on your policy at once and give your policy details and the name of the institution that admitted you.
• Get treatment at the institution or doctor the assistance company refers you to, and show the policy on admission to hospital.
• To claim back costs you paid, you submit original invoices and a doctor's report with your name, diagnosis, cost breakdown and date.
• The insurer Lovćen says you claim at its nearest branch, with the policy, original invoices and full medical records.
• If you disagree with the insurer's decision, complain to the insurer and then to the Insurance Supervision Agency.

Planned treatment outside Montenegro is covered in our guide to treatment abroad through the Fund, and taking medicines on a trip in our guide to bringing medicines. Rights when a flight is cancelled are covered in our guide to flight cancellations and compensation, and who is insured with the Fund in our guide to health insurance for foreigners.

Frequently asked questions

In which countries is the Fund's form valid? In Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Austria, Germany, Czechia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria and Slovakia, and in the United Kingdom and Poland with a Fund certificate and proof of citizenship.

Do I need travel insurance for Greece? Yes, Greece is not on the list of countries with which Montenegro applies a bilateral agreement, so only a private policy covers treatment costs there.

Does the Fund's form cover transport home? No, the agreements cover emergency health care, and transport home is paid by a policy that includes it.

Can I buy travel insurance when I am already abroad? Not with the insurer Sava, because contracts concluded after the trip has started are invalid.

Does travel insurance cover chronic illnesses? Under the insurer Sava's general terms it does not cover chronic illnesses treated in the three months before cover starts, except in an emergency due to an acute threat to life.

Up to what age can I buy travel insurance? With the insurer Sava up to 65, and older people by special agreement with an extra premium.

Sources

Emergency health care abroad, the list of 16 countries, the procedure with the form and the rules for the United Kingdom and Poland are described in the Health Insurance Fund's notice on international agreements of 20 March 2023, published on the Fund's page on rights under international agreements. Policy conditions, exclusions and claims are described in the insurer Sava's General terms for travel health insurance OU-PZO 04/22, and packages and sums on the insurer Lovćen's travel insurance page. The information was checked on 28 September 2026; check the list of countries at the Fund's regional unit before you travel. Fijaka is a classifieds platform; this text is not insurance advice.