5 Best Travel Insurance Options (For Expats and Travelers) | Storyteller Travel (2024)

How do I choose good travel insurance? This is a question we get asked all the time. Which provider is best? How can I get coverage as an expat? In this post, you’ll learn about the best travel insurance for travelers and expats traveling abroad.

When we moved to Ecuador we lost eligibility to buy travel insurancefrom Canada.

The providers wecontacted all stipulated that we must be Canadian residents. In researching other providers, this seems to be pretty common. Like all expats, we lost residency in our home country when we settled in our new one.

In this post, we share providers that will insure expats living abroad.

Some insurance providers have an age restriction (there are maximum ages depending on the country of residence). This is an issue for many travelers and expats. So for the past two days, I’ve been researching travel insurance for expats.

Here’s what I discovered.

3 Best Options for ExpatTravel Insurance

If you want to save the time of reading the full post, you can check out these top three providers:

1. Atlas Travel Insurance
2. World Nomads
3. SafetyWing Valid for travelers from 15 days old to 69 years old. This insurer is different than the others – you don’t have to pre-purchase the full policy before traveling. Just set up the subscription – renewable in 4-week increments. This is popular with digital nomads who travel to multiple countries.

1. Atlas Travel Insurance

Open to residents of over 180 countries. This is agreat provider for expats.

Requirements:you must be at least14 days oldandtraveling outside of your home country.

What is your country of residence?If you are a US citizen, your home country is always the United States (regardless of residency issues). For all non-US citizens, your home country is where you principally reside and receive regular mail.

6 Benefits of Insuring withAtlas Travel

1. Adventure Sports:Most travel insurance policies exclude adventure and sport activities from coverage. Things like zip-lining and scuba diving aren’t covered with most policies. With Atlas Travel you are covered for a wide variety adventure sports. Find the list of excluded sports here.
2. Global Coverage:Receive medical care in a foreign country. This can reduce/eliminate paying out-of-pocket while abroad.
3. Emergency Medical Evacuation / Emergency Reunion:For return to your home country in the case of potential loss of life or limb. Emergency Reunion will bring an immediate family member to you – to either stay with you or help you return home.
4. Return of Minors:In case of your hospitalization, your children are covered to return back to your home country.
5. Common features such as:Accidental death and dismemberment, repatriation of remains, natural disaster, and terrorism coverage.
6. Online Account Management:Gone are the days of paper policies. Purchase your policy, manage your account and submit claims online.

Learn more about Atlas Travelinsurance

2. World Nomads

Things You Should Know About World Nomads

• World Nomads travel insurance has been designed by travelers for travelers. If you leave home without travel insurance or your policy runs out, you can buy or extend while on the road.
• Considering travel insurance for your trip? World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.

3. SafetyWing

SafetyWing is different than traditional travel insurance. It is an insurer created by digital nomads – for, you guessed it, other digital nomads.

Once you purchase your policy, you can auto-renew in 4-week increments while you travel.

Of course, you can also purchase for a specific number of days.

There is good coverage for medical and travel – including lost luggage, trip interruption and delay, emergency medical evacuation. Medical coverage includes hospital, ICU, ambulance, emergency dental, and more. See details below.

• Medical Coverage includes hospital, intensive care, ambulance, urgent care (with $50 co-payment), physical therapy and chiropractic care, and emergency dental. Other eligible medical expenses are covered to the overall maximum limit. With SafetyWing, you pay just $250 deductible with a $250,000 maximum limit. Of course, any of these details are subject to change. Please check directly with SafetyWing to confirm their current coverage and limitations.
• Travel Coverage includes trip interruption, trip delay, lost checked luggage, emergency medical evacuation (up to $100,000 lifetime), political evacuation, natural disaster coverage, and more. Please check directly with SafetyWing to confirm their current coverage and limitations.

As with most travel insurance, they exclude high-risk sports, pre-existing disease and injury, and cancer treatment.

Get a quote with SafetyWing

I haven’t traveled with them yet, but I’m planning to give them a try on my next trip. I like the subscription model. And it looks less expensive than other companies I’ve gotten quotes from.

So there you have it. Some travel insurance options. When you are traveling abroad there is an increased risk of a fall or another easy injury. Without insurance, you could be looking at a very large bill.

Please note: This post is not an offer to sell insurance but a listing of the possible options. Please confirm all details with the insurance company before making any purchase or travel decisions. Details and specifics can (and do) change quickly and without notice. If you notice an error in this post, please comment below and I’ll update it.

Your Turn

What insurance provider have you used? What company/policy do you recommend?