Silver Plan review: the cheapest Schengen certificate on our shelf, and the refund line its own contract disputes

The Neat Silver Plan is the entry tier of Neat's Schengen visa insurance. It pays emergency hospital costs abroad up to €30,000 per person per year, exactly the Schengen visa minimum, and arranges repatriation at actual costs. It costs €29 for a 30-day policy, the cheapest compliant certificate on our shelf.

We read both binding documents for this contract, the two-page insurance product information document and the 25 pages of general conditions, reference CGE23_070-07CD_2308_FAV1. Both are genuinely written in English, which is rarer than it should be on this shelf, and both cover the Silver and Gold tiers together. The guarantee table on the last page calls them Formula 1 and Formula 2. Formula 1 is Silver.

We score it 3 out of 5. It does the one job a visa applicant needs at the lowest price we can find, and the repatriation line has no ceiling at all. It loses points because its own three documents do not agree on whether Silver includes the visa-refusal refund, and because the €30,000 headline is capped by a reimbursement rule that most buyers will never read.

If you want the same insurer with a bigger ceiling and a refund the guarantee table actually grants, our review of the Neat Gold Plan covers the upper tier. If you want to see how Silver sits against the rest of the market, the travel insurance comparison prices every plan on your own dates.

They disagree, and this is the single most important thing to know before you pay for the lower tier. The binding guarantee table on page 25 of the general conditions prints one line for the visa-refusal refund and splits it by formula: not covered for Formula 1, actual costs for Formula 2. On that reading, Silver does not refund your premium when a consulate turns you down, and Gold does.

Two other documents say something different. Article 7.5 of the same general conditions describes the refund in full, with the conditions attached to it, and never mentions a formula. The termination article repeats it, again with no tier restriction. And the product information document, which covers Silver and Gold together, lists a refund in case of visa refusal among the things that are insured. Our own plan listing follows those three and shows the refund as included on Silver.

We are publishing both readings rather than picking the flattering one. If the refund matters to your decision, and for most applicants it does, treat it as unconfirmed on Silver and ask Neat to put the answer in writing before you buy. The Gold tier is the only version where the guarantee table itself grants it, and on a 30-day policy that certainty costs a modest step up in price.

Less than €30,000, in most of the countries this policy is sold for. The Schengen visa rules, set by the European visa code, require travel medical insurance of at least €30,000 covering urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment and repatriation for medical reasons, valid across the member states for the whole stay. Silver sits precisely on that floor, not a euro above it.

The general conditions then add a sentence that decides how much of the ceiling you can reach. Reimbursement bases for healthcare costs are those in force under French social security rates, those rates apply whatever the service, and no reimbursement may exceed them. A hospital in Zurich, Oslo or Reykjavik bills far above a French public tariff, and the gap stays with you even though you are nowhere near €30,000. The ceiling protects you against a catastrophic bill. It does not promise that an ordinary bill is paid in full.

The €80 excess deserves one line of arithmetic, because it is per procedure rather than per claim. A two-night admission billed at €900 that involves an X-ray, a consultation and a night on a ward can be treated as three procedures. Small bills are where this contract is weakest, and the dental line shows it plainly: a €150 cap minus an €80 excess leaves €70.

• ✕
  Outpatient and general practice care: The guarantee is emergency hospital medical expenses, and hospitalization is defined as an admission of more than 24 hours. A GP appointment, a pharmacy receipt, a walk-in X-ray and a physiotherapy session are outside the contract at any price.
• ✕
  Trip cancellation and baggage: Neither guarantee exists anywhere in this contract, on either tier. If your visa file needs cancellation coverage, this is the wrong product.
• ✕
  Anything treated in your country of residence: Medical and hospitalization costs at home are excluded, and the contract requires you to hold a return ticket to be insured at all.
• ✕
  Care that could wait until you get home: If the assistance doctors judge that treatment can be carried out in your country of residence after your return, it is excluded, and so is any repeat care after a first covered event.
• ✕
  Conditions diagnosed, treated or hospitalized in the last five years: The exclusions article strikes out claims linked to any pre-existing condition diagnosed, treated or requiring hospitalization in the five years before the trip, and any condition needing permanent treatment. Heart disease and cancer diagnosed before booking are named separately.

Yes, and this is the mechanic almost nobody expects. Silver is written as a second payer. Article 7.4 says it reimburses the portion of hospital costs that has not been covered by the insurance organizations you are affiliated to, and that it only steps in once those organizations have paid. If you belong to a health scheme at home, Neat waits for it, then covers the remainder up to the ceiling, and you have to supply the original proof of reimbursement.

If you are affiliated to no insurance organization at all, the same article reverses: your hospital costs are reimbursed from the first euro, after the excess, within the ceiling. Most people buying a Schengen visa certificate are in exactly that position with respect to European systems, which is why this contract works better for them than for a traveller who already carries coverage.

The advance-of-costs line needs the same skepticism. Our comparison card shows advance of costs as included and the guarantee table does say yes, but the article defining it asks you, or somebody acting for you, to wire the equivalent sum to the assistance company before the advance is released, and a later article states the advance works only if you hold a health contract and is not carried out by the assistance company itself. Read it as a settlement mechanism between insurers, not as a promise that no hospital will ask for your card.

What the consulate receives is a contract subscription certificate naming each insured person and the exact dates of the stay. That document is the whole point of the product, and the figures a visa officer checks against the €30,000 rule are the ones we listed above. Silver meets the amount. Note that the visa code asks for urgent medical attention as well as emergency hospital treatment, while this contract starts at a hospital admission of more than 24 hours: the certificate satisfies the number, and the wording behind it is narrower than the rule it answers.

On timing, the documents are clear about the order of events and silent about the clock. The premium is payable in full at subscription, and the contract is void without it. The policy takes effect on the date printed on your certificate, and it has to be taken out before you leave. Our own quote form will not sell a policy starting the same day: the earliest start it accepts is tomorrow. If your appointment is imminent, buy with a day in hand rather than assuming instant issue.

1. Price the exact dates on your visa application, because the premium is set by duration band rather than by day, and pay in full at subscription.
2. Check the names. Everyone travelling has to appear on the subscription certificate, and each person is priced separately: there is no family rate.
3. File the certificate with your application, and keep the assistance number with you rather than in your luggage.
4. If anything happens abroad, telephone the assistance centre first, before you spend anything. Expenses incurred without their prior agreement are excluded, no support is provided without that first call, and a request made more than 48 hours after the event can be refused.
5. Keep the case number they give you on that first call. Every later exchange refers to it, and reimbursement is made only against original paid invoices.

Three companies appear on this paperwork and they do different jobs. Neat, in Bordeaux, sells the membership and handles anything to do with the refund. VYV International Assistance, in La Rochelle, is the company you telephone: its doctors decide on repatriation and its claims service reimburses you. The risk itself is carried by a third company, and that is where our own record is wrong.

Neat prices the two tiers in fixed proportion: Gold is exactly 1.2 times Silver in every duration band we could quote. That makes the decision unusually clean, because the extra you pay is always a fifth, and what it buys is always the same two things, a ceiling of €80,000 instead of €30,000 and a visa-refusal refund the guarantee table actually grants.

One detail changes more money than the tier does: the band edges. A 30-day policy costs €29.00 and a 31-day policy costs €39.00, so a single extra night adds ten euros, more than upgrading a 30-day policy to Gold twice over. If your dates are flexible by a day, look at where the band ends before you look at the tier.

• ✓
  You are under 60, travelling for a few weeks: The €30,000 envelope is generous against the risk you are actually carrying on a short trip, and Silver is the cheapest way to hold it.
• ✓
  You are insuring several people at once: Every person is priced separately, so the upgrade multiplies while the risk does not.
• ✓
  You want the lowest compliant price on the shelf: At €29.00 for thirty days, Silver undercuts five of the six rival plans that carry the same €30,000 ceiling.

• ✕
  The refund decides your purchase: The guarantee table refuses it on Formula 1. If getting your premium back after a refusal is part of why you are buying, the upper tier is the only version where the table grants it.
• ✕
  You are over 65, or staying longer than three months: Both raise the chance of a hospital admission that runs at foreign prices against a French tariff basis, and the ceiling is where that fight is won.
• ✕
  Your destination is Switzerland, Norway or Iceland: Hospital costs there sit furthest above the French rates this contract reimburses at, so headroom above the €30,000 floor is worth more than it looks.

Three clauses reduce coverage in ways the summary sheet cannot show, and one of them is a genuine trap. The sports rules work as a closed list: the general conditions open with the statement that where an activity is not on their list, no coverage is provided, then name around seventy that are. Everything else, including anything the list omits, is out.

Anything with a motor is treated separately and severely. Using or riding a motorized vehicle for sport or leisure, on land, in the air or on water, whether you drive or ride as a passenger, drops your hospital ceiling from €30,000 to €1,000 for that accident. A quad excursion, a jet ski hour or a pillion ride on a rented scooter all sit inside that rule, and €1,000 minus an €80 excess is not an evacuation budget.

Skiing needs a clarification, because our own comparison card can mislead here. The card shows no ski benefit, and narrowly that is right: there is no piste rescue, no lift pass refund and no equipment coverage anywhere in this contract, and search and rescue costs never appear in the guarantee table. But skiing and snowboarding on marked slopes, cross-country skiing, monoski on marked slopes and snowshoeing are all on the covered activities list, so a broken ankle on a marked run is an ordinary hospital claim. Only getting you off the mountain is on you.

• ✕
  Three eligibility boundaries where our quote form is more generous than the wording: Read them before you pay, because a policy sold to someone the contract excludes pays nothing.
• ✕
  Age, at or around 75: The general conditions say persons aged over 75 cannot subscribe, which lets a 75-year-old through. The product information document excludes people who took out the contract after their 75th birthday, which does not. Our form follows the generous reading. If you are exactly 75, get the age clause confirmed in writing.
• ✕
  Where you live: The contract excludes residents of its own definition of the Schengen area for a Schengen stay, and that definition adds the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Cyprus, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova and the French overseas territories. Our quote form will still price those residences. We have reported the mismatch.
• ✕
  How long the policy runs: One article allows a subscription of twelve consecutive months, and the definitions section caps the validity of the guarantees at 90 consecutive days. Our form sells up to 365. For any standard short-stay visa the question never arises, but a long-stay applicant should have it confirmed.
• ✕
  Thai retirement visas: The contract states twice that it cannot be taken out by anyone applying for a Thai OA or OX visa, and that no refund follows a refusal of one. Stays in Thailand are also capped at three months, with a three-month wait before a new policy.
• ✕
  Pregnancy: Only unforeseen complications are covered, and nothing at all from the thirty-sixth week. Childbirth, terminations and fertility treatment are excluded outright.

• Will a consulate accept a €30,000 Silver Plan certificate?

  Yes on the figure. The European visa code requires travel medical insurance of at least €30,000 covering urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment and repatriation, valid across the member states for the whole stay, and Silver Plan carries exactly €30,000 per person per year with repatriation at actual costs. The certificate names you and your exact dates. Be aware that the contract behind it starts at a hospital admission of more than 24 hours, which is narrower than the urgent medical attention the rule describes.

• The guarantee table says Formula 1 has no visa-refusal refund. Is that right?

  That is what the binding table on page 25 says, and Formula 1 is Silver. Three other places disagree: article 7.5 of the same general conditions, the termination article and the product information document all describe the refund without naming a formula, which is why our own listing shows it as included. We publish both readings. If the refund matters to your decision, treat it as unconfirmed on Silver and ask Neat to confirm in writing, or take the Gold tier where the table itself grants it.

• If my hospital bill is €200, how much do I actually get back?

  Possibly nothing. The €80 excess applies per person and per procedure, not once per claim, so a short admission involving several procedures can be reduced several times over. On top of that, reimbursement is based on French social security rates and cannot exceed them, and only admissions of more than 24 hours qualify at all. Silver is built for a serious admission, not for a small bill.

• Why does the policy reimburse at French social security rates?

  Because the contract says so, in two separate articles: the reimbursement bases for healthcare costs are those in force under French social security rates, those rates apply whatever the service, and no reimbursement may exceed them. In practice a bill from a Swiss, Norwegian or Icelandic hospital can sit well above the French tariff, and the difference stays with you even though the €30,000 ceiling is untouched.

• Do I have to pay the hospital myself?

  Sometimes. The guarantee table lists an advance of costs for emergency hospitalization, but the article defining it requires you, or someone acting for you, to transfer the equivalent amount to the assistance company before the advance is released, and another article says the advance works only if you hold a health contract and is not carried out by the assistance company itself. Treat it as a settlement route between insurers rather than a guarantee that you will never be asked to pay.

• I already have health insurance at home. Does Silver Plan still pay?

  It pays second. The contract reimburses the portion of hospital costs that your own insurance organizations have not covered, and only after they have settled, against the original proof of their reimbursement. If your insurer refuses the bill, Silver covers it up to €30,000 once you produce their written certificate of non-coverage. If you belong to no insurance organization at all, Silver reimburses from the first euro after the excess.

• How quickly do I get the certificate, and what is on it?

  The documents do not state a delivery time, so do not count on instant issue. What they do state is the order: the premium is payable in full at subscription, the policy is void without payment, and coverage begins on the date printed on your contract subscription certificate. That certificate names every insured person and the exact dates. Our quote form will not start a policy the same day, so allow at least one day before the date you need.

• Can I buy Silver Plan if I am 75?

  The two documents disagree, so get it in writing. The general conditions say persons aged over 75 cannot subscribe, which admits a 75-year-old. The product information document excludes people who took out the contract after their 75th birthday, which excludes one. Our quote form follows the more generous reading and will price a 75-year-old. Anyone exactly 75 should have the age clause confirmed by Neat before relying on the policy.

• I live in the United Kingdom. Can I use this policy for a Schengen trip?

  The contract says no, even though our quote form will price it. The exclusions article removes residents of the contract’s own definition of the Schengen area when the stay is inside that area, and that definition adds the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Cyprus, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova and the French overseas territories. We have reported the mismatch. Until it is fixed, residents of those places should choose a plan whose wording does not exclude them.

• Does Silver Plan cover skiing, a jet ski or a quad excursion?

  Skiing and snowboarding on marked slopes are on the covered activities list, so a hospital admission after a fall is an ordinary claim, though there is no piste rescue, lift pass or equipment coverage anywhere in this contract. Anything with a motor is different: using or riding a motorized vehicle for sport or leisure drops your hospital ceiling from €30,000 to €1,000 for that accident, so a jet ski hour or a quad excursion leaves you very thinly covered.

• Is Silver Plan cheaper than the other €30,000 plans you compare?

  Yes, on the trip we priced. For a 34-year-old resident in India spending 30 days in France, Silver came back at €29.00 against €45.00, €51.00, €58.00 and €110.00 for four rival plans carrying the same €30,000 ceiling. Only Neat’s own Gold Plan, at €34.80, went above that ceiling. Run the comparison below on your real dates, because Neat prices in duration bands and one extra night can move you a band.

On the 30-day trip we priced for this review, seven plans came back and six of them carried the same €30,000 ceiling that Silver does. Silver was the cheapest of all seven. The plans charging more for the identical legal minimum are buying you other things, wider country lists, liability coverage or a direct settlement, and whether those are worth the difference depends on where you are going and what you are doing there.

Our reviews of the alternatives go through the same contract read: Go Schengen, Cap Schengen and Schengen Start. Your own premium changes the moment your dates do, so run the comparison below rather than reading ours as a price list.

Recommended for youA. Fruchard · Co-Founder & Travel Insurance Expert

Buy Silver for the price and the certificate, and settle the refund question first

Silver Plan does one job at the lowest price on this shelf. For a short trip, for a healthy applicant under sixty, or for a family buying four certificates at once, it is the rational choice: noticeably cheaper for thirty days than rival plans carrying the identical €30,000 ceiling, with repatriation at actual costs and no ceiling on it. The premium does not move an inch between a child and a seventy-five-year-old, which almost nothing else on this market does.

What I would not do is buy it for the visa-refusal refund without settling the question first. The binding guarantee table refuses that guarantee to Formula 1, while three other passages grant it, and our own card follows the generous reading. On a thirty-day policy the upper tier costs a little more and its table grants the refund outright, which is the cleanest way to buy certainty rather than argue for it later.

I would also step up, or step away, in three situations. Over sixty-five, or staying longer than three months, the €30,000 floor is where you feel the French tariff rule most. If your destination is Switzerland, Norway or Iceland, that rule bites hardest of all. And if you live in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the western Balkans, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Cyprus or a French overseas territory, the exclusions strike you out for a Schengen stay even though our form will quote you. Run the quotes below on your real dates before you decide.

Silver PlanUnderwritten by Vyv International Assistance

From€29.00

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses€30,000

Schengen area coverageIncluded

Compliant insurance certificateIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 12 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Gold PlanUnderwritten by Vyv International Assistance

From€34.80

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses€80,000

Schengen area coverageIncluded

Compliant insurance certificateIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 12 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Go SchengenUnderwritten by Mutuaide

From€45.00

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses€30,000

Schengen area coverageIncluded

Compliant insurance certificateIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 12 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Go Schengen +Underwritten by Mutuaide

From€51.00

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses€30,000

Schengen area coverageIncluded

Compliant insurance certificateIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 12 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Schengen StartUnderwritten by AIG

From€110.00

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses€30,000

Schengen area coverageIncluded

Compliant insurance certificateIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 12 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Schengen AnnualUnderwritten by AIG

From€749.00

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses€30,000

Schengen area coverageIncluded

Compliant insurance certificateIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 12 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Real quotes captured on 11 September 2026 on hellosafe.com: 1 traveller aged 34, 30 days in France (10 October to 8 November 2026), residence India, no cancellation option, in euros. Schengen visa policies are sold and paid in euros, so every plan here is priced in euros. Silver Plan is the cheapest of the seven and carries a 30,000 EUR emergency hospital ceiling, which is exactly the Schengen visa minimum; five of the six others carry the same ceiling for more money, and only Neat's own Gold Plan goes above it. Your own premium changes with your dates: Neat prices in duration bands, not per day. On the visa-refusal line, read our Formula 1 section above before relying on it for Silver.