IPMI Check-Up — How to Make Sure Your Policy Works When You Actually Need It
Smart people don’t wait until they’re lying in a hospital bed to check their insurance works — they do it beforehand.
And that’s not paranoia. It’s just common sense. Because in the moment of truth, even the best policy can turn into nothing more than a shiny plastic card if you don’t know how to use it.
Attached is my straightforward IPMI check-up. Do it today and you will certainly not only be few steps ahead of most people out there with these plans, but also have way smaller probability of the claim being delayed due to missing paperwork or something that you forgotten about.
1. CONTACT DETAILS
Direct number for your insurer’s claims centre (local + international if available)
Direct number for your broker (not just the office line — ideally their mobile so you can message right away)
Your policy number (saved in your phone, wallet, or app — doesn’t matter where, as long as it’s easy to find)
Why this matters:
In an emergency, you don’t have time to scroll through a year’s worth of emails or hunt for a PDF on the cloud.
Hospital staff may ask for your policy number immediately, not “when you get Wi-Fi.”
In some countries, they’ll let you call a local claims centre from the hospital phone — but not an international number.
Your broker’s mobile is your fast track to getting things sorted, bypassing call centre menus.
2. Know your insurer and your network
Some insurers have an official list of hospitals with direct billing, others don’t.
If there is a list, save the link to your phone. Better yet, take a screenshot and mark 3 clinics near home and 3 in the places you travel most often (Marbella, Dubai, Cyprus…).
If there’s no list — know the procedure on how to request payment confirmation or a guarantee letter in advance, or be ready to pay and then wait for reimbursement.
Why this matters: In an emergency, you don’t want to be searching maps. “Help” at the reception without direct billing often starts with: “First, a deposit.” Have a financial buffer just in case.
3. Pre-Auth and claim forms
Depending on your insurer, some requires you to complete the claim form, SO you should have this form to hand — not just one, but 7–10 copies spread across all your bags.
Save a template email for pre-authorisation requests: “Hello, please approve treatment/investigation under policy no. …”
Know exactly which documents to attach - doctor’s referral, invoices, etc.
Why this matters: Getting pre-authorisation and sorting paperwork in 2 hours is far better than hunting for a printer in a strange city or chasing a clinic to fill in your insurer’s forms after few days went back from your consultation.
4. Know your cover area and limits
If you’re my client, I cover this with you upfront anyway, but if you didn’t take your policy through me — check it yourself:
Exactly where you’re covered (and where you’re not) — “Europe” and “Worldwide” often don’t mean what you think.
Your main limits: inpatient, outpatient, cancer.
Whether limits reset annually or for the entire course of an illness.
Why this matters: You don’t want to discover mid-treatment that your destination is “Zone 2” and not covered, or that your treatment limit has already been used up.
5. Family members and trips without you
Check if your spouse, child, or another insured family member can use the policy without you present.
What documents they’ll need.
This is especially important for teenagers, students, and elderly parents who may end up in hospital while you’re abroad.
Why this matters: Half of families find out about these rules only from a hospital bed — then scramble to find someone in London to send authorisation or documents in the middle of the night.
Final note
Every insurer operates differently. Some have strict deadlines for submitting claims, others for pre-authorisation. Some have a huge hospital network, some have only three clinics in a whole region, and some don’t have such list at all.
That’s why your IPMI checklist should always be tailored to your insurer and your policy.
To make it easier, I’ve created a generic PDF checklist you can download, fill in, and keep.