When you’re planning to move abroad there are many concerns and considerations to fill your day – from securing housing and employment to sorting out visas and flight tickets. Once you arrive in your new nation there will also be plenty to keep you occupied – from settling in and making friends, to becoming familiar with your new environment and sorting out essential paperwork. What all this means is that you are likely to pay little attention to getting the most basic and fundamentally important insurances and assurances in place. Chances are, even now if you’ve been living abroad for a few months or even years as an expat, you have yet to sort out your life insurance cover. And yet, how would your family cope with day-to-day living, the mortgage, car finance costs, credit card bills and other basics if they were to lose you?
Whether you’re the main breadwinner or not, if you have children and/or a spouse and you have joint responsibilities, you absolutely owe it to your dependents and family to get life cover in place. A policy needn’t be expensive, it needn’t be complicated, yet it does need to be in place.
Expat Health Insurance Policies
It’s entirely possible to tailor a level of cover to suit your pocket or your personal health insurance needs – or your family’s complete medical related requirements for that matter. After all, there are multiple companies all offering international health insurance. When it comes to finding the right policy, you may prefer to select an international insurer who will cover you if you have to travel, relocate again or repatriate, or you may prefer to choose a local insurance company. Always make sure that you are comfortable with any restrictions or limitations of policies recommended to you, and any excess you may be liable for in the event of a claim.
Note that medical costs differ greatly around the world, as do the standards of treatment available. Find out what services are available in your country of residence, what your insurance covers you for, and always make sure that you have the option to repatriate in the event of an emergency.
Health Insurance for British Expats
British expatriates soon realise how blessed they were to have the services of the National Health Insurance once they move abroad! Few nations in the world allow free and almost unlimited access to medical services, unlike the UK, therefore one of the very first concerns for expats is getting the health insurances in place that they need for their family. In some countries health insurance is a legal requirement, in others it simply makes absolute sense.