Imagine you’ve just arrived in your dream destination from where you will start traveling during many months, only to find out that the airport has lost your checked luggage. Your clothes, your gear, and everything you needed to travel and work has been lost, but you need to have client calls in just a few days.
For scenarios like that you need a comprehensive, long term and flexible travel insurance that covers remote working professionals traveling as a digital nomad, that is also cost-effective for you, which many traditional travel insurance providers might not cover, or if they do, it would be expensive.
Travel insurance fees, or “premiums”, can vary based on how long your trip is, your age, where you are traveling, and the activities you’ll be doing while you are there.
As a digital nomad, you need to consider not only things like emergency medical treatment, lost or stolen baggage, and delayed flights, but also lost or stolen gear, the cost and coverage of home visits, and any adventure activities you may participate in.
You need a policy that covers extended traveling, with more digital nomad travel insurance options, including multiple destinations for many months especially designed for long-term travelers.
Travel insurance is a way to protect yourself against anything unexpected that may come up as well as to give you peace of mind to avoid ending up with huge medical bills, saving yourself the cost of having to replace everything or pay for anything out of pocket: from trip delays to medical costs with comprehensive health insurance policies -since health expenses or dental expenses can be significant in the long run even if you’re traveling in non-expensive locations-.
The Difference Between Travel Insurance and Health Insurance
Travel insurance is meant to cover anything that may go wrong on your trip, but is not necessarily meant to substitute health insurance by default. Some travel insurances designed for digital nomads might include it -with a specific digital nomad health insurance-, but is important to understand the difference.
Travel insurance and health insurance have different types of coverage that deal with different circumstances, which is why is fundamental to verify what’s included. However, in general:
- Travel insurance typically focuses on issues you may encounter while traveling. This can include lost luggage, lost travel documents, being robbed, any accidents that occur while you are traveling, any emergency medical treatment you may need, and repatriation to your home country if you need to return there for medical treatments. Some plans will cover you for trip cancellations.
- Health insurance is focused on any medical issues and health-related needs you may have, in any country you are in, focusing on medical coverage. This includes a medical emergency or pre-existing conditions, compassionate visits, maternity and baby care, ongoing treatment for serious health conditions such as cancer and repatriation of remains. Health insurance does not cover lost luggage or stolen equipment. If you’re specifically looking for health insurance and what health insurance coverage includes, take a look at this comprehensive guide where we covered the top international health insurance plans for digital nomads.
What To Consider When Buying Travel Insurance as a Digital Nomad
Digital nomads have different needs than the average traveler, and therefore, when looking for a travel insurance coverage, it’s important to look at which of those not so common scenarios for the average traveler that digital nomads will tend to face are included, what are the coverage limits, yearly deductible, trip insurance policies, etc. and if it’s offered at a reasonable, affordable price.
Think about what you need to be covered if something goes wrong at a foreign country so you can continue with your day to day as well as professional life? Some common scenarios to take into consideration when deciding the best digital nomad insurance to choose from are:
- Loss of passport
- Dental emergencies
- Access to medical facility and routine check-ups
- Emergency care and coverage for medical or surgical procedures
- Emergency repatriation
- Trip cancellation or delays
- Missed departure
- Loss Baggage or baggage delay
- 24-hour assistance services
It’s fundamental to also understand what changes depending of your country of residence and extended periods of time.
Top Travel Insurance Plans For Digital Nomads
Now that you know what to look and be aware of, you’re ready to assess options. Thanks to the popularity of remote work and digital nomads, there are now many excellent alternatives to choose from. Here are some of the best travel insurance companies in the market offering insurance for nomads, featuring also remote health insurance:
1. World Nomads
World Nomads allows you to extend your policy for a maximum of 12 months. One of the main benefits of the World Nomads travel insurance policy for digital nomads is that gear is covered, and over 150 adventure activities are covered.
What’s Included
- Unexpected illness or injuries abroad, including hospital, doctor, prescriptions, or emergency dental treatment
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Missed and delayed flights
- Lost checked luggage
- Stolen or lost belongings, including camera, mobile phone, and laptop
- Adventure activities such as scuba diving, bungee jumping, mountain biking, and skiing
What’s Not Included
- Pre-existing conditions
- Items left unattended in a public place
- Gear damaged while in use
- Eyeglasses
- Cosmetic procedures
The price, terms, benefits, and limits for World Nomads insurance depends on where you are from, and where you are going.
2. Safety Wing
Safety Wing aims to “build a global safety net tailored to the needs of online freelancers and entrepreneurs” with their offer of travel medical insurance made for digital nomads, by digital nomads. It can be bought while traveling and there is no limit on how long you can travel.
What’s Included
- Unexpected illness or injury abroad, including hospitals, doctors, or prescriptions
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Travel delay
- Lost checked luggage
- Minimal health coverage in your home country: every 90 days, you are covered for 15 days in the US, or 30 days if your home country is not the US
What’s Not Included
- Routine checkups
- Preventative care
- Coverage for pre-existing conditions
- Equipment and belongings
Safety Wing travel medical insurance can cost as low as $37 for a four week period, depending on your age and if you will be traveling to the US. For many claims, there is no deductible at all, and they support direct billing to most hospitals and clinics.
3. True Traveller
True Traveller is available for travelers in the UK and the EEA. They offer a variety of plans, such as a one-way trip, a multi-trip, already travelling and a gap year trip, so you can find the one that suits you best.
What’s Included
What’s included will depend on the plan you choose, but some of the options are:
- Free home visits
- Medical repatriation
- Adventure activities, such as rock climbing, safari tours, and trekking
- Delays due to natural disasters
- Delays due to civil unrest
What’s Not Included
- Private medical treatment, unless no public treatment is available
True Traveller travel insurance varies in cost depending on the type of trips you are taking.
4. IMG Global Expat Insurance
Patriot Travel Medical Insurance by IMG is another great option for travel insurance for digital nomads.
IMG offers a variety of global expat insurance plans designed to provide you with the coverage you need, no matter what part of the world you’re visiting. IMG’s plans also give you access to 24-7 care worldwide, and they’re easy to customize based on your unique travel needs.
What’s Included
- Emergency evacuations
- Political evacuations and repatriation (only available through the Platinum plan)
- Emergency Reunions
- Maternity benefits (only available through the Platinum plan)
- Return of mortal remains to your home country
- Coverage for pre-existing conditions
What’s Not Included
- Mental healthcare (for Bronze plan)
- Maternity benefits (for Bronze, Silver, and Gold plans)
- Podiatry care (for Bronze and Silver plans)
- Complementary care (for Bronze and Silver plans)
A variety of factors influence the final cost of your IMG Global Expat insurance premiums, but plans are generally quite affordable. For example, healthy young adults can get coverage for less than $100 per month. Because there are so many different plans, it’s also easy to find a coverage option that suits your budget regardless of your age or health status.
5. Seven Corners
Seven Corners has been providing impressive coverage to travelers for more than 25 years. Seven Corners travel insurance offers a wide range of insurance plans, but they all come with 24-hour assistance to help you with any issues that may arise during your travels.
What’s Included
- Trip cancellation and trip interruption reimbursements
- Cancel-for-any-reason (CFAR) coverage
- Emergency medical protection (including dental care and other accidents)
- Emergency evacuation coverage
What’s Not Included
- Coverage for pre-existing conditions
There are some exceptions to the pre-existing condition rule if you purchase specific plans (RoundTrip Choice and RoundTrip Elite). According to company policy, this rule can be waived if you buy coverage within 20 days of making your initial trip payment, insure non-refundable prepaid costs, insure subsequent travel arrangements, and were not disabled from travel when you purchased your plan.
6. Allianz Travel Insurance
Allianz Travel lnsurance also allows you access to 24-7 global support, whether you’re traveling domestically or overseas. They offer two main travel insurance options: Travel Easy and Travel Care.
What’s Included
- Accidental death and disability coverage
- Medical expenses (Up to $200,000 for Travel Easy and up to $350,000 for Travel Care)
- Emergency medical evacuation and/or repatriation
- Deposit and/or trip cancellation (up to $25,000)
- Personal luggage and/or personal effects coverage
- Travel document replacement
- Luggage and travel delays
- Sports activities and mountaineering
- High altitude mountaineering
What’s Not Included
- Sports coverage (including mountaineering and other activities) is not available for senior citizens
- Annual plan coverage not available in some countries for seniors and families
You can purchase Travel Easy insurance on your own at any time through Allianz’s online store. However, you must contact an authorized agent to purchase the Travel Care package. Because they have agents available 24-7, it’s still easy for you to get in touch and purchase the package if you prefer its additional coverage options.
Wrapping up!
Before booking your next digital nomad trip, make sure to purchase travel insurance that gives a comprehensive coverage for common digital nomad scenarios, to keep yourself protected against most of the unfortunate circumstances or unexpected expenses that may come up while you work and explore the world. With the different insurance company alternatives listed above along their specific nomad travel insurance options, you’ll have more than what traditional travel insurance plans have to offer.
If you found this post useful, take a look at
- The Best International Health Insurance Plans for Digital Nomads
- Best Virtual Mailboxes for Digital Nomads & Remote Professionals in 2019
- How to Keep Your Data Secure When Working Remotely
- Top Mobile Hotspots for Digital Nomads: Keep connected to work when traveling around the world
- The New Work From Home Worker Checklist: Must Do’s (& Dont’s) When you Start Working from Home
- Best Webcams and Microphones for Remote Workers Video Conferencing
- How to Recruit and Hire a Remote Based Team
- Top Cybersecurity Considerations When Working at Home
- Top Video-conference Software Free Versions Pros & Cons in 2020
- How to Effectively Lead a Remote Based Team
- Best Remote Based Working Companies Hiring Now
- The Best Countries to Incorporate a Remote Based Company for Digital Nomads
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