How to Use Your Expat Health Insurance when traveling outside of Spain?
Traveling this summer? Learn how expat health insurance works in Spain and abroad. Step-by-step guide + Asisa reimbursement walkthrough.
How to Use Your Expat Health Insurance in Spain — and What Happens When You Travel
Summer in Spain means weekend trips to Portugal, long weekends in Morocco, an Interrail pass across Europe. What it rarely means — until something goes wrong — is thinking about what your health insurance actually does once you cross the border.
If you've spent a summer here, you know the drill inside Spain: show your card, see a doctor. Simple. But the moment you leave Spanish territory, the rules change entirely. A different part of your policy activates. The billing logic flips. And if you don't know that going in, you could end up fronting a hospital bill in a foreign country with no idea whether you'll see that money again.
This summer, know your coverage before you need it.
Not sure your current plan covers you abroad? Compare expat insurance plans with Innoinsure here.
This is where many expats are caught off guard — especially in summer, when travel picks up and people assume their coverage works the same way it does at home.
Once you cross out of Spain, your standard medical insurance coverage no longer applies in the same way. What activates instead is a separate part of your policy: the asistencia de viaje, or travel assistance coverage. It's included in most expat insurance plans, but it operates on a fundamentally different logic.
The key differences:
In Spain: Show your card, see a doctor, receive care. The insurer settles directly with the provider.
Outside Spain: Coverage is limited to genuine medical emergencies. Routine or non-urgent care abroad is generally not covered. If you're in an emergency — a serious accident, an acute illness requiring immediate hospital care — you are covered. But a summer cold or a sprained ankle that can wait until you're back in Spain typically falls outside the scope of travel assistance.
There's also a critical difference in how payment works. Abroad, you typically pay first and claim reimbursement later. The insurer doesn't bill the foreign hospital directly. That means keeping every receipt, invoice, and piece of documentation from the moment you walk into that emergency room.
A Real-World Example: When It Works
One of our clients found themselves in a medical emergency while traveling outside Spain during the summer. They went to the nearest emergency room, received treatment, and were discharged with a full invoice and supporting clinical documentation.
They submitted a reimbursement claim to their insurer with the complete paperwork — itemised invoice, medical report, and proof of payment. The claim was approved and reimbursed in full.
It's not a complicated process, but it requires knowing what to do in the moment: go to the emergency room, not a private clinic; keep everything; and start the claim as soon as you can. Here's exactly how.
How to Submit a Travel Assistance Claim: Asisa as an Example
Different insurers have their own portals and forms, but the overall structure is similar. Here's how the process works using Asisa's claims system. Please note that the insurer reserves the right of doing any necessary change of this process and this can use as a reference to the newest version.
Phase 1: Log In and Locate Your Policy
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Go to the Europ Assistance (Asisa client portal), create an account and enter your policy number to log in.
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From your policy overview page, select Open New Claim from the quick actions menu.
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Under claim type, select Medical Expenses.
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From the dropdown, choose the reason that matches your situation — for example, Illness of the traveler. The system will prompt you to have your original invoices ready before proceeding.
Phase 2: Fill in the Claim Form
Once inside the medical expenses form, work through the six sections:
Step 1 — Patient information: Enter the name, date of birth, email address, and contact phone number of the person who received treatment.
Step 2 — What happened: Provide the date and country of the incident, and a brief description of what occurred. Keep this factual and concise.
Step 3 — Amount to claim: Enter a description of the expense, the name of the medical facility or provider, the date of treatment, and the exact amount with currency.
Step 4 — Payment information: Select your preferred reimbursement method (typically bank transfer) and provide the account holder name and bank details.
Step 5 — Document upload: Attach your medical invoices, receipts, and any clinical documentation from the treatment. Incomplete paperwork is the most common cause of delays or rejections — upload everything you have.
Step 6 — Review and submit: Check all information against your physical documents, then submit.
Once submitted, your claim enters the insurer's review queue.
Thinking about getting your coverage before your next trip? Get a free quote from Innoinsure here.
What to Do While You Wait
After submission, keep a copy of everything you've uploaded. If the insurer requests additional documentation, respond promptly — delayed responses extend the timeline.
Travel assistance coverage has specific exclusions: high risk sports or professional trainnings, pre-existing conditions, elective procedures, and non-emergency care are generally not covered. Knowing your policy's boundaries by reading the coverage details before you travel is always the better position to be in.
At Innoinsure, we specialise in expat health insurance in Spain — helping people from all over the world find DGS-compliant plans that meet visa requirements and work when it matters. We write regularly about the real-life situations as an expat in spain: visa requirements, coverage comparisons, or any practical details that can help you navigate your time in Spain!
Get your free expat insurance quote here.