Looking for travel insurance targeted at global expats

Hi Globalbabe,

Your situation sounds like a challenge! World Nomads may be your best bet, but what about asking on Lightstalkers or other photog. websites? They might have some advice for you.

However, re. residency, I use a US based expat insurance with a US 'home' address, but haven't lived there for nearly 8 years, and that hasn't been a problem yet. Is there anything like that possible for NZ?

Best of luck, it sounds like you're working with some excellent projects.

Travel insurance and expat insurance are of course 2 different things. Travel insurance also breaks down into 2 components which can be bought under one policy or separately in some cases. The 2 components are medical care insurance and actual risks related to travel including lost/stolen baggage which is what you are interested in.

In your case your status us an 'expat' is irrelevant since you do not want expat insurance. You also do not appear to want medical insurance while travelling although I'm not sure if that makes sense unless your employer is providing travel health cover.

So you want simple travel insurance that covers things such as flight delays/cancellations, lost/stolen baggage, etc. That gets difficult since although it can be bought separately, most insurance companies assume you wan't that and medical cover and do not have separate policies. In many cases Googling for 'travel insurance' will in fact get you more offers for medical cover with no actual travel insurance component at all.

'What's in a name' (Shakespeare). A name is meaningless unless we all call something the same name and unfortunately that does not apply to the name 'travel insurance' or for that matter 'expat'.

To further complicate matters many insurance companies also differentiate between personal items and any item used for 'commercial' purposes which your equipment would fall under. WN has that same exclusion. Which means just about any 'travel insurance' you do find is likely to not cover you while on assignment. Nor do I believe WN provides medical cover for people who are working either. In other words I think they are for 'tourists' only, not you. Unless of course you intended to lie about your status in the event of a claim.

So now you are in a whole different ball game globalbabe. You may well need to look for a 'commercial inland marine policy'. Originally intended to insure cargo on ships the name has remained but coverage has changed. A professional photographer is someone who would use a commercial inland marine policy to cover his/her equipment. Diving equipment could also be covered.

Typically, while this type of insurance is offered to individuals, it is more often an addition to a business insurance policy. In other words if you have an employer who owns a business and has business insurance they should be able to get an add on to cover you while you are travelling under assignment for them. Since you mention having health cover through 'your job' I assume you mean an employer so you should talk to them about covering your equipment.

I'm still not sure whether you have travel medical cover or not though.

Hi travelinstyle46

Thanks so much for your detailed reply and many apologies for not coming back to you sooner as I have been away from the forum for a few months. Let me clarify a few of your queries:
- My employer provides comprehensive medical cover, which is why I do not need to duplicate it in a travel insurance program
- I am a humanitarian aid worker with a large, international aid organisation; I travel inside and beyond Pakistan for work, which is communications and advocacy, and this often usually involves the use of my own professional photography equipment. When I take my photography gear on vacation, it is as a tourist. Prior to coming to Pakistan, I was a working photographer, which is why I have all of my gear with me. The photography equipment insurance I had before is no longer valid as it was specific to the country I was living in.
- I dive during my R&R breaks, not for work. I take underwater photography equipment with me on those trips. My diving insurance (DAN) covers me for diving accidents (including chamber treatment and medical evacuations, etc)
- My employer does not provide options for me to add travel insurance on to their business insurance.
- Personal effects insurance in Pakistan is quite inadequate or non-existent (I recall in other countries that it would cover laptops and cameras taken outside the home), so that is not an option. I am resigned to not having that kind of insurance when I am at home.

So I am looking for travel insurance that covers luggage/personal effects, baggage/trip delay, flight cancellations, etc, for two different scenarios:
- Travel within Pakistan on mission to regions beyond my home base, so that I get cover for full professional photography equipment
- Travel outside Pakistan on vacation with personal computer, diving and camera equipment

Hope that makes it clearer. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on this.

PS. waxybrushes - No, I am not able to use addresses in NZ or Australia, as policies there make it clear that I am not eligible as a non-resident.

I'm in the same boat as you. Living in Japan with global "accident" (medical/evacuation insurance) but nothing for baggage/trip interruption etc during vacations. I was also looking at World Nomads, but it's kind of expensive considering I dont need medical/evac.

What someone wants and what they can have are not always the same thing.

If you get in touch with any major international insurance company they will provide you with coverage for anything you want, at a price. Trying to find exactly what you want at a cheap price may be what you want but it may not be what you can have.

Either you compromise with a standard package deal or you pay for a custom policy to meet your exact needs.

Lloys of London for example will insure against anything including some highly unusual possibilities. http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/9-odd-things-insured-by-lloyds-of-london.htm

Actually, I didn't say I'm looking for a cheap option - I'm looking for a company that will provide fairly substantial coverage for high value items. I have already contacted over 10 large insurers in four different countries. The response is the same: if you don't live here, we can't cover you. It is the custom package that I am looking for but have been unable to get to date, due to my country of residence.

Did you ask any of those 10 companies about 'commercial inland marine policies'?