We often secure our homes, lives and health insurance from the comfort of our own homes but how do they apply when we take a jaunt overseas?

Here are a couple of highlights that you can ensure are covered in your polices, ahead of travelling to warmer climes this summer.

Building & Contents Insurance
Your building policy will obviously still cover you while you’re away, but there are ways you can keep it safe while you’re absent.

• Make your house look lived in:
  • Ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your post piling up, if it’s clear that there’s a lot of post at your property, its also clear you’re not home.
  • Park your car inside the garage, if you have one
  • Ask a neighbour to park in your driveway occasionally so there’s activity at your house 
  • Put at least one light in your house on a timer
  • Install a motion-activated sensor on an outdoor floodlight. (Burglars hate outdoor lighting – and that’s why we love it)
• General home preparation
  • Make sure your smoke detectors are working properly 
  • Leave your emergency contact information with a neighbour 
  • Dispose of any food that could go bad before you return
  • Take out the kitchen waste – especially anything that might start to stink 

Life Insurance

The vast majority of life cover policies will pay out while your overseas, however there are some caveats.
Just like any other legal agreement, make sure to read the fine print on your life insurance policy. An insurance company might reject a claim for a foreign death if:

• The beneficiaries can’t provide sufficient proof of death
• The policyholder’s cause of death is suspicious
• The policyholder died by suicide
• The policyholder died in a country that’s considered unsafe for travellers
• The policyholder didn’t disclose before a trip that they were going to engage in risky activities, such as rock climbing or skydiving
• The policyholder died as a result of an act of war that’s excluded by the policy

Health Insurance
It is important to recognise that the cover will vary depending on your insurer and the type of plan you opted for. Most UK personal Health Insurance policies have little if any overseas cover – those that do are likely to limit the cover to emergency treatment for a set number of days per policy year.

• Short trips and business cover…
• International health insurance for truly global cover

For short trips abroad on holiday or for business many often turn to a travel insurance policy. However, if you are spending considerable amounts of time abroad and are looking to ensure you are covered for any medical treatment then you may want to consider an international health insurance plan. International Health Insurance tends to provide a much greater level of cover as not all countries have a public health service like the NHS. In addition to the cover, you can expect on a UK only private medical insurance plan, international plans can often cover emergency treatment, chronic conditions and routine dental cover to name a few, in many cases removing the need to use any state funded services.

Naturally, given the additional cover provided the premiums for the international cover can be considerably more.
Given the complexities involved in choosing the most appropriate cover it is often worth discussing the options with a health insurance specialist to ensure you are aware of what is and what is not covered on both the UK only and the international cover to ensure you are able to make an informed decision when choosing a plan.

To discuss any of your insurance needs, get in touch with our team today.