Insurance for expats

Written by tolumi

Friday, 05 December 2008 10:34

Insurance for expats

Would-be clients entering the site take five minutes or so to fill in the details of their personal circumstances and within 24 hours Medibroker will respond with an online quote.

If someone wants to follow it up, the group will do a detailed hard copy quote giving comparisons. Most of the group’s business is completed off-line but its site is a good place to do that initial research.

Insurance For Expats & Leslie Smith

The group’s Leslie Smith says: “The expat is realising that niche expertise on the net is very valuable. “If we were speaking to a HR director or manager it might be an analysis of comprehensive cover. We look at the term, life and critical illness position. And are they full-time employees or on contract? This is a fundamental point.

“With a lone rep, an entrepreneur, those retiring or on ‘walkabout’, there may be budget considerations. What we do is try to get a feel for what their budget is overall, design a product mix and then look for a company. It is very much an anti-product push.”

Insurance For Expats And Medibroker

There is another area in which intermediaries such as Medibroker can help. The rules covering medical expenses insurance differ from country to country and expert help is often needed to guide you through this regulatory minefield. For example, a number of insurers now understand the French rules to mean that anyone living or working there should take out a domestic medical expenses insurance policy and that international contracts are illegal without this cover.

Other insurers suggest the rules apply only to French citizens. Smith at Medibroker says: “It seems they [the French] may be using domestic law to supersede EU law. This is very confusing for expats and they can get into a lot of trouble.

Insurance For Expats - Library

“It’s important to have a library of in-depth information for different parts of the world.” Peter Rousseau at InterGlobal Insurance Services agrees the worldwide picture can be a fuzzy one. “If you think France is bad you should go to Switzerland where it differs from canton to canton,” he says.

Rousseau admits that it is unlikely that expats will get in-depth advice of this sort from insurers. “At the end of the day it is up to the adviser not the product provider. We can’t be all things to all men,” he says.
Debbie Purser at fellow medical insurer ExpaCare concurs.”It’s not a service we provide. But we use International SOS and they have a global network. They would have a good idea of the medical facilities available if someone is off the beaten track,” she says.

Insurance For Expats & Rousseau

Rousseau at InterGlobal believes that whatever the rules of a particular country, it is worth having extra cover. “You will never get an expat having a heart by-pass operation in the Middle East although the standard is excellent. They will take something on top even though there will be some overlap,” he says. Smith at Medibroker has used medical facilities in the Middle East but broadly agrees with Rousseau’s point.

“I used hospitals in Kuwait and my wife had an operation in Cairo. You can use out-patients facilities in these places but you need to get good catastrophe cover,” he says. What is surprising is the number of companies that send their employees abroad without adequate cover or even without PMI cover at all.

Leslie Smith says: “A good 50 per cent of companies don’t offer it. It is often ignorance. They don’t think about the implications of sending someone abroad.”

Insurance For Expats - PMI

If you are asked to work abroad check out your employee rights - which, as Smith points out, are different for contracted employees - and then find out what PMI cover is involved. If there isn’t any, give the offer serious consideration before accepting a move abroad. If you are in a position where you have to buy your own medical expenses insurance, try and get the best cover you can within your budget.

As we’ve suggested, the more exotic the location to which you are heading, the more urgent is the need for comprehensive cover to cope with all eventualities. Most would-be expatriates seem to be getting this message. InterGlobal offers three levels of cover: UltraCare Plus Plan (which is the most comprehensive), UltraCare Comprehensive and UltraCare Standard.

Insurance For Expats And Peter Rousseau

The group’s Peter Rousseau says the more basic Standard Plan - no outpatient treatment, for example - accounts for only 15 per cent of its sales, whereas the Comprehensive Plan accounts for 50 per cent. Some 35 per cent of InterGlobal’s customers opt for the top of the range Plus Plan that covers things such as psychiatric treatment. But - like buying a seat on a plane - the more comfort you want the more you will pay.

Plus Plan is 22.5 per cent more expensive than Comprehensive which is 30 per cent more expensive than Standard. The analogy Rousseau often uses for comprehensive cover is a compelling one. It’s like having a parachute, he suggests. You may never have to use it but if you need to you are very grateful it’s there.

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