Having just discussed that, in our opinion anyway, one of the perks about being an expatriate is your access to unadulterated international travel options – see our article ‘The Best Bits About Being an Expat’ – it’s time to talk about travel insurance for expats.
Did you know that if you live in certain parts of Canada or America for example, and you have common health insurance cover for the state you reside it, you’re not necessarily covered if you just travel to another province or state within the same nation? Ridiculous isn’t it? But it’s well worth knowing because many an expat has been undone simply by not having the right level of travel insurance in place.
I know from first hand experience that moving abroad and misunderstanding your insurance obligations can have dire consequences – as I learned when I accidentally flooded my downstairs neighbour’s apartment when I lived in Germany without any knowledge of the existence of – let alone my requirement to have – haftlichversicherung! Anyway, if you want to avoid any nasty situations when you’re living abroad and travelling about, here’s the Shelter Offshore guide to travel insurance for expats!
Travel Insurance to Cover Your Relocation
When you pack up and ship out on your new adventure abroad you will be encouraged by your removal company to have insurance in place to cover the replacement value of your goods whilst they are in transit. Whether you decide to take out the type of cover offered is up to you – and again, I know people who have and who haven’t and who have suffered by either decision. (As an aside for your amusement or edification – I have a friend who shipped a whole host of goods overseas and decided not to insure and who was horrified when the boat their container was on sank in the Med a few years ago. Yet I have another friend who was more than a little disappointed to learn that despite having insurance in place, when a whole host of electrical items were fried in the heat of their container when it was sat dockside in Hamburg one summer, they were not covered for such an occurrence).
But when it comes to covering you and your family and your hand-held personal possessions in transit abroad, it is well worth beginning to think carefully about your immediate and longer-term travel insurance needs.
Whenever you go on holiday from your home in the UK you probably take out travel insurance – perhaps you have it included when you buy flights or a package holiday, although that’s seldom the cheapest way to go about it, or perhaps you buy a year’s travel policy for the whole family. This will cover you for lost baggage, cancelled flights and for a certain amount of health related cover if you fall ill when abroad. And this is exactly the type of policy you can get when you relocate overseas – it will just cover you in transit however. I.e., it will just cover you whilst you physically move abroad, it will not cover you once you’re living abroad.
Why Traditional Travel Insurance May Not be Worth it
Because a traditional travel insurance policy, as detailed above, stops being valid once you begin living abroad and are resident in a new nation, it may very well not be worth even contemplating taking out such a policy. Whilst we may only be talking a few pounds to have such a policy in place to cover your flight to your new life, you may be better off looking more long-term at your travel insurance needs as an expatriate and getting a more appropriate policy in place right away.
Your options are basically as follows: -
1) get a basic travel insurance policy in place to cover your relocation overseas – this then is invalid once you’re living abroad
2) get a more expatriate friendly travel insurance policy in place at this point or instead of the above
3) leave additional cover until you decide to travel again…
The trouble with the last option is that before you know it you’ll be off on an adventure cross country or to a neighbouring country, or you’ll need to fly back to the UK and you’ll again need to get a travel insurance policy in place that is valid for your travel from your new home in your new nation of residence. Basically you could find you end up paying for two policies when you only really need one.
Why Expatriate Travel Insurance Policies May Make More Sense
A dedicated expatriate travel insurance policy is more internationally orientated, it covers the expatriate for multiple ‘home’ addresses, it can cover in the US, inter-state or province travel in the US, Australia and Canada, more focus is placed on the medical level of cover required and the good news is that there is plenty of competition in the market, therefore you can haggle hard and hop on the internet to find the best deal to suit your own personal requirements.
The last thing you want is to be living in a stunning location abroad, and to be restricted on exploration of the nation you’re in and its neighbouring countries simply because your travel insurance policy is not up to expat standards!
By getting a properly targeted and focused insurance policy from day one, you actually save yourself money potentially – you avoid having to buy more than one policy, you can insure your entire family, and you can insure for a year or more. A more internationally focused policy for expats allows for more trips to be covered – but do watch out for the maximum duration of vacations, that you’re covered if you return to the UK for a holiday, and you do need to make sure you heed any governmental advice about travelling to given areas. Finally, you should also make sure you’re kept well aware about any risks – medical or otherwise – about travelling to or from a given country. You do not want to be in the position where you’ve got your all singing all dancing expat travel insurance policy in place, and you go and invalidate it accidentally!
