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How to Buy Good Travel Insurance

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travel insurance nomadic matt
Travel insurance is one of the most important things you’ll need for your trip. You wouldn’t have a car without car insurance, a home without home insurance, and you can’t have a trip without travel insurance.

Why? Because travel insurance is what will provide you with medical coverage when you get sick or injured, reimburse you when your camera breaks, your flight is canceled, a family member dies and you have to come home, if lose a bag, or something is stolen. It’s all-purpose emergency coverage and is the single most important thing you should get for your trip (but hope to never have to use). It’s the one thing I strongly, strongly advise travelers to never leave home without because I’ve seen it help so many – and so many others regret being cheap and not getting it! For only a few dollars a day, it’s a no brainer.

I used it for a doctor in Argentina, when my camera broke in Italy, my ear drum popped in Thailand, and my luggage was stolen in South Africa. Each time I was reimbursed my expenses and was made whole again.

Travel insurance was there when my friend had to be helicoptered out of the Amazon after he fell off a boat, when friend’s father died and she had to fly home, and another got her bag stolen. Travel insurance makes sure you don’t lose money and are always protected. (My favorite travel insurance provider is World Nomads. They always have my back when something like the above happens. I’ve been using them since 2003.)

Since most health programs don’t cover you overseas and credit cards offer really limited protection, travel insurance is something you definitely need to protect against the unknown. After all, you don’t want to end up like my friend who didn’t have insurance when her computer was stolen and had to pay out of pocket for a new one.

Since travel insurance is one of the most complex, important and confusing aspects of trip planning, I want to break it down for you, help you understand what it is about, and show you how to avoid getting a bad insurance plan:

What to look for in a great plan

There are a lot of options out there. Insurance is a billion-dollar business, and everyone wants their hand in the cookie jar, thus you face a mind-numbing number of choices that can be confusing and overwhelming. And, often, in the fine print, you’ll find that plans aren’t as good as you thought.

When looking for a plan, first make sure they have a high coverage limit on your medical expenses. A good company will provide up to $100,000 in coverage care, though more expensive policies will cover you for higher amounts. The maximum coverage limit you can find is around $1,000,000 USD, though I’m not sure why you would ever need a limit that large. High coverage limits are important because if you get sick, injured, or need serious attention and have to seek professional care, you want to make sure your high hospital bills are covered. The worst thing you can do is go cheap and get a policy with a $20,000 coverage limit, break a leg, and reach that limit before they are done taking care of you. Don’t be cheap with your health. Get minimum coverage of $100,000.

Second, you want to make sure your policy also covers emergency evacuation and care that is separate from your medical coverage. If you are hiking in the woods and you break your leg, your policy should cover your evacuation to the hospital. If a natural disaster occurs and you need to be evacuated to somewhere else, your plan should cover that as well. This protection should cover an expense of up to $300,000 USD.

Additionally, evacuation also should mean from the hospital to your home country. Standard emergency evacuation usually includes this provision, but it’s important you double-check a company will cover the cost of your flight back home if you need it.

A great policy will always include the following provisions:

  • Cover most countries in the world
  • Some coverage for your electronics (and have the option for a higher coverage limit)
  • Cover injury and sudden illnesses
  • Twenty-four hour emergency services and help (you don’t want to call to be told to call back later)
  • Cover lost, damaged or stolen possessions like jewelry, baggage, documents, cameras, etc.
  • Cover cancellations such as hotel bookings, flight, and other transportation bookings if you have a sudden illness, death in the family, or some other emergency
  • Cover emergencies, strife in the country visited, etc., that cause you to head home early
  • Have financial protection if any company you are using goes bankrupt and you are stuck in another country

A quick note on electronics: most companies only have a small limit, usually up to $500 USD, as part of their basic coverage. You can often buy supplemental insurance to get a higher amount of coverage. For instance, Clements Insurance offers special coverage for your electronics. Prices vary depending on the country you visit ($145-195 per plan). Moreover, many regular and home insurance companies such as State Farm offer plans that can help you cover your electronics. Be sure to check if you find a travel with a lot of gear! My camera was covered because it was cheap. If you have an expensive DSLR or lens, get supplemental insurance! It will be worth it!

What isn’t covered is just as important as what is

Know what is also not covered by your plan. Most policies do not cover accidents sustained while participating in extreme adventure activities such as hang gliding, paragliding, or bungee jumping unless you pay extra. The majority of companies won’t cover you if you injure someone on the road (called third-party liability). Policies do not normally cover alcohol- or drug-related incidents, or carelessness in handling your possessions and baggage. You won’t get reimbursed if the problem happened because you were reckless (how “reckless” is defined is a matter up to each company). But simply: if a reasonable person wouldn’t partake in what caused your accident, you won’t be covered.

Moreover, you won’t be covered for pre-existing conditions or general check-ups. For example, if you have diabetes and need to buy more insulin, you won’t be covered. If you want to go see a doctor for a general check-up, you aren’t covered either.

Be Careful of Loopholes

Even the best travel insurance have their limits. Often, in the fine print, you’ll find that plans aren’t as good as you thought.

The medical portion of travel insurance is more about emergency care than being a replacement for your normal healthcare. A lot of people purchase insurance thinking it is, then get disappointed when they find out they can’t go get an annual physical with it. Travel insurance is accident insurance. It is there to protect you in case of emergency and, if need be, get you home in a hurry. If you want a global health plan (because you now live in Beijing), you need a completely different type of plan.

Your stolen goods coverage won’t pay you back for a lost wad of cash, your theft coverage won’t cover you if you left something in plain sight or unattended, and if civil unrest makes your destination unsafe but your government hasn’t called for an evacuation, you’re probably out of luck.

To summarize:

If you want:Include this in your travel insurance policy:
Payment for expenses if you get sick or injured on a tripTravel medical and accident coverage
To be taken to the nearest hospital or flown home if necessaryEmergency evacuation and repatriation
Reimbursement if you get sick and have to cancel or end your trip earlyTrip cancellation AND trip interruption
Payment for lost, stolen or damaged luggage or goodsTheft and lost coverage
Help finding a doctor abroad24-hour assistance
Payment for rental car damageCar collision insurance (CDW)

List of the Best Insurance Companies

The world is FILLED with insurance companies. You’re going to come across thousands in your searches for a good provider so I’m going to list my favorites. Below are the companies I would be OK with my mother using. If you’ve found a company and it’s not listed here, it’s because I wouldn’t use them. I’ve researched hundreds of policies over the last ten years and have found the following companies to be good:

  • Clements – Great for high-end electronics coverage.
  • IM Global – The closest thing to normal health insurance like you have back home. It’s expensive but if you’re going to live in a place, it’s the best bet.
  • MedJet Assist – A good company all around.
  • STA Travel – For cheap folks who just want a cheap plan with very limited coverage.

If you’re a senior and over 65, use Insure My Trip. Many insurance companies don’t cover seniors or, if they do, are bloody expensive! Insure My Trip offers the best coverage and prices for older travelers and I suggest you use them!

travel insurance nomadic mattMy favorite company is World Nomads. I’ve been using them since I started traveling in 2003. They are very reputable, and claims are quickly and fairly processed. This is a company built by an ex-nomad so he gets the traveler mindset. I enjoy World Nomads because I can purchase and renew my insurance policy online in a matter of minutes, they have a very friendly and responsive staff who answer questions and help solve problems via social media, they have great customer feedback, and most importantly, they provide a lot of coverage at a fair price. If there’s one company I would recommend, I would say go with them. They are also endorsed by Lonely Planet and National Geographic, which tells you how good they are!

Buy as Soon as Possible

Even though you can wait until you leave, it’s best to get your travel insurance as soon as possible. Every day you wait, there’s a chance something could happen and you can’t get a travel insurance after the fact. If a hurricane ruins your trip, your travel insurance would only cover you if you bought it before the hurricane formed. Buy a plan the day after you go to the doctor but before he tells you you’re sick? Your plan won’t cover you since your original visit happened BEFORE the plan!

Don’t wait to get insurance because it will only cover you for things that happened AFTER you bought the plan. Don’t wait and get out of luck. I’ve seen it happen too often. The second you know you are going somewhere and have the dates, buy travel insurance!

There’s a 99.99% chance you will never need to use the policy you bought, but accidents happen and life on the road is uncertain. It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when you are in a different country, thousands of miles from home.

Don’t want to end up like my friend in Peru, who decided against coverage, only to break her arm and have to spend lots of money to get it fixed in Lima.

Be smart and get coverage.

You can use the widget below to find a plan for your trip:

STILL CONFUSED? READ NEXT —-> 10 common questions (and answers) about your travel insurance

P.S. –  If you’ve found this article helpful, please consider booking via the links here as it helps keep the website community supported and advertiser free. All the companies are ones I use myself in my own travels. If you have any questions, email me!

  1. I’ve gone to a couple of places without travel insurance then wished I had got some. In both situations it turned out lucky I didn’t but still. Never hurts to have some.

    The other way to hedge you bets is a proper emergency fund. You essentially can insure yourself to some extent (not serious injury or illness) but atleast it’s your money there if you need it.

  2. I’m also with World Nomads. They allow me to renew or purchase a new policy when not in Australia (this is a rare thing to find there). Made a claim with them last year and it all went smoothly. Although a tip to new travellers: keep ALL receipts of items you may want to claim such as camera, phone, laptop etc. If it’s worth more than $100 and you don’t have proof of purchase, they won’t cover it!

  3. Can you get travel insurance without medical? My medical insurance covers me internationally but I would like theft protection without paying for medical again.

  4. Our basic approach to insurance is to only cover expenses that could be potentially catastrophic. Health coverage (especially in the U.S.) fits that category, as does automobile liability (again in the U.S.), emergency evacuation services, and possibly some others. Everything else we self insure. Why?

    As Matt said, insurance companies are in business to make money. For them to do that they have to charge you more in premiums than the extremely talented actuaries at the insurance company calculate they’ll likely pay you in claims. If a policy cost $4 per day, the value to you is likely to be less than that. Instead, we’ll save that ~$1,500 per year and put that toward a self insurance fund.

  5. I just wrote a post on travel insurance and most of my readers don’t think it’s useful. To be honest, I haven’t purchased it before. Since doing that research, though, I will always purchase travel insurance for foreign travel. Thanks for the detailed info — passing it on to my readers.

  6. On a recent trip to Morocco my iPad got stolen from my backpack while I was exiting a train. I am glad my insurance paid me out a little for it (+-$210 for a 2.5yr old iPad 1)

  7. Some credit cards include travel insurance when you pay for all or part of your trip with that credit card. Check your credit card company or bank and see if you’re covered.

    • The medical coverage not substantial though but they do offer gear and trip cancellation protection though. AMEX cards are very good for that.

  8. Are there any policies that allow you to pick and choose what you want covered and not. Looks like STA and World Nomads only have packages. I already have insurance on all my gear and clothing. Would only need medical and automobile.

    • Erik, if you’re Aussie I just happened to be looking at QBE and they have comprehensive and what they call Elements. I think elements is just medical but you may be able to pick and choose what coverage you get.

  9. Hey Matt

    Quick question, so If you are doing a holiday abroad what type of insurance plan should you get? I thought world nomads covered hoildays abroad but when you said “say you now live in Beijing you need a completely different type of plan.” it got me wondering. Thanks

    • If you are living somewhere, you want expat insurance so you can get regular doctor visits, go to the dentist for a routine check up, etc. Holiday/travel insurance is meant to cover you if you get hurt or sick on the road and need emergency care.

  11. I have World Nomads as well, thank god I didn’t have to use it while I was just in South East Asia (in which I actually met up with Kristin above!), but it’s definitely peace of mind when you’re going to remote countries that you have some protection.

  12. I got a year’s worth of travel insurance before I left on my trip, and I had to file a claim more than once (medical and theft). What a good (although annoying) investment. For Canadians, travel cuts is a very affordable option, the best that I’ve come across.

  13. As someone who travels frequently, I like the one year plans….that way if an opportunity presents at last minute, I don’t have to worry about it – I already have the insurance. Proved to be a huge advantage recently. Spent 3 months in Europe, came home and was invited to go to Barbados with a friend. I bought the plane tick Friday and flew out Wednesday. I didn’t even have to think about it! Insurance is good for one year with as many trips as I want – I don’t even have to notify them!
    Be sure to know the plan first though – while I can travel repeatedly in that year, I believe that each trip must be 30 days or less! (I would need to double check if I went on another big trip but a week here, 2 weeks there…no problem!)

  14. World Nomads sounded great, but (at least for me as a Canadian resident) the age limit is 60. Any suggestions for good companies that will cover a 78 year old at reasonable cost?

    • Banks and Insurance companies all carry travel insurance. Most have on-line calculators. I just checked bank here in Oz and they will insure over 75s. I’m guessing Canadian banks would have similar policies. Not cheap though.

  15. Me too. We are 64 and will be travelling to lands afar again next year. What’s out there for us “grey nomads”. Don’t really need coverage for risky adventures as skydiving,scuba and bungee jumping, not our thing. However the missus wants to go zip-lining. Any suggestions on where to look for grey haired,no teeth people ?

  16. I used World Nomads for the first time during an eight week trip to South America last year. On my trip, I had some medical mishaps and while the out of pocket costs weren’t high separately, they added up. An eye doctor here, an allergic reaction there, an elbow that was gushing blood and more! Beore I knew it, I had seen doctors in four of the six countries. I saved all my receipts and World Nomads paid me back down to the last penny making my investment well worth it. Thankfully none of my medical visits were life-threatening, but it’s great to know that they have great customer service and they paid me back super fast.

  17. I have a couple of credit cards these days where I get travel insurance. World Nomads are pretty good, but my philosophy on travel insurance is get as many online quotes from as many different companies that you can. Then choose the best option that suits you. I use to find, particularly travelling from Australia overseas, is that there was a big disparity in price from travel insurance providers. Everytime I would look for travel insurance and get some quotes there would always be a different company that provided a better deal than the others. I guess travel insurance is one of those products where it pays to shop around.

    • Like I said in the post! Shop around but since people ask who my favorite is, I wrote about that too.

  18. I have a Mastercard that includes 31 days of travel medical coverage and as we are travelling for 4 months have bought a top up insurance with them for the remainder of our stay in Mexico.
    i had a bad shoulder injury upon arrival here and saw a Dr had an xray called the insurance company and they approved what I had done and also approved an apt that Dr made for me to see an orthapdic surgeon, as they thought I had a broken colar bone. As it turned out I had torn ligaments and mussels needless to say extremly painful. Dr said he would see me again in a few weeks, and prescribed pills. I called my m astercard insured company and they told me that I would not be covered any longer with them,as I only had a week of coverage left with them. They told me to call other company they set me up with for the top up portion. They completely washed their hands of it, as it happened with my 1st 31 day coverage, as a result my injury now was a pre existing so would not be covered with them for further xrays or Dr visits.
    I then proceded to call my Mastercard plan and they said that I was not covered ater the 31 days and that was that.
    They said that they were prepared to fly me back home, however would not be responsible to zpay for all of our prepaid accomodation for the next 3 months.
    All I can see in this, is do not get a credit card that offers travel insurance if you need to top up even if you do as I did, use their insurance for the top up…..How disapointing. What do you make of this. I will be 65 in April and my spouse is now 69 and we are both Canadians..any ideas anyone, our future travel plans will be long term..

  19. My bf and I considered using World Nomads, but they’re just so expensive. In the end we found insurance for half the price through Globelink International, who also provide more medical cover and lower excess costs than World Nomads. I’ve also heard that True Traveller do good policies for long term trips.

    • I looked up the company and while they are cheaper for a year policy, they offer less coverage. You get more medical (5 million GBP is excessive though) but there’s no emergency evacuation coverage listed, property coverage, and a very limited trip cancellation policy. Additionally, cheap insurance is not really good insurance. I looked over their site and it’s super shady. Their underwriter is some other company I couldn’t even find a website for. That’s probably not a good sign. While World Nomads is not the only game in town, don’t get insurance just because it is cheap. Do your research.

  20. I use World Nomads as well. Main reason is being able to do everything online. I found that buying the 6-month policy is the most cost-effective. Just renewed mine for the second time a few weeks ago.

    I haven’t had to submit any claim yet (fortunately), but it’s good to know they get processed pretty quickly!

  21. I contacted World Nomads about pre-existing medical conditions, specifically pregnancy, and at the moment pregnancy is not covered. Apparently that will be changing in a few weeks though, and some pregnancy related coverage will be available as a pre-existing medical condition. Conditions will apply.

  22. A timely and info-laden article on the type of nuts and bolts advice travelers need. We are planning an Eastern Europe trip this spring and I plan to be shopping around for insurance, thanks for all the good advice.

  23. This article was incredibly helpful, Matt! I’ve traveled extensively internationally but usually am covered through work or local insurance while living abroad, so I’ve never even thought about it. This is my first time to set out on an extended RTW journey, so travel insurance seems like a good idea–thanks again!

    • Keep in mind that even if you have your own health insurance that will cover medical issues, almost none include evacuation insurance, which could easily be the most expensive part of an accident.

      If nothing else just find the cheapest plan that would offer you that.

  24. You said you need to have all your reciepts but I have lost mine to my 700$ camera! Would my insurance cover this if something happened to it! How would I show them I lost it?

    • This is from World Nomads…

      I don’t have receipts for my personal items. Can I still make a claim?

      Yes. Please be aware though that you will still be asked to provide proof of ownership for the lost or stolen items. We understand that you might not be able to produce such receipts for each and every item, but you still have to ‘tip the balance’ and should be able to provide evidence of ownership where you could be reasonably expected to have such evidence.

      Proof of ownership can include photographic evidence in conjunction with warranty cards, manuals, receipts, bank or credit card statements. In the end, common sense prevails and you should ask yourself, “Does this conclusively prove that I owned this item?”

  25. Well done, your article is pretty good and helpful. Why Buy Travel Insurance? There are a number of reasons why you may want to purchase travel insurance. If you injured in abroad this insurance policy will cover medical and health related expensive. This plan will help to provide you 24 hours emergency service. In this insurance plan they provide travel coverage for cancellation & interruption, baggage coverage and many more. Thanks

  26. Try http://www.insuremytrip.com. You can buy all-inclusive or a-la-carte type polices. They give you quotes from many different insurance companies. If you insure shortly after booking your trip, the cost is less than if you wait. There are different limitations depending on the company you go with. I bought insurance through World Nomads for my trip to Africa, and I’m glad I didn’t have to file a claim. I paid a lot less for that policy than one I bought through Insure My Trip. In two years I will too old to be insured by World Nomads. Wish I’d heard of them before!

  27. I’ve been on the road for 2.5 years now, and have neither a country of residence nor any travel insurance. I would happily get something that covers financially catastrophic events, but don’t have any need for smaller things like stolen items or dentist appointments.

    Any tips?

  28. Matt – I am a strong believer of health, especially whilst traveling just like yourself and its certainly not worth the risk. On my travels I have witnessed some bad incidents (as you have) and the tipping point for myself to persist on making sure fellow travelers have insurance was from a shocking incident in Egypt, where my mate had been completely taken advantage of. Another way to be covered is by some banks/credit card companies who provide insurance under certain conditions (return tickets and ect.), but for other readers this is just another option. I use this method and have made claims finding it very easy (the credit card companies usually use sister companies as insurers), but of course everyone should look into the policy beforehand.

    Cheers for the blog Matt, really good

  29. Thanks for your post! I would not recommend World Nomads at all. I had their most expensive plan, I had to stop my trip because my mom had urgent surgery and they did not want to pay my trip back home, the reason? According to the dr my mom’s injury happened when she was a kid, eventhough she had never had a problem or noticed she had an injury before. For this reason they didn’t pay for my trip back home eventhough my mom was rushed into the emergency room… I have not worked with other companies but I would not recommend WorldNomads at all.

  30. Great article… I’ve been devouring everything on this site – love it!

    We’re planning to leave in about 18 months for an open-ended trip (ie. 2 years minimum, and hopefully forever), starting off in Malaysia. From what I can tell, travel insurance won’t be suitable for us due to the prolonged nature of our trip, so we’ll need to get some kind of expat health insurance coverage… there are so many companies to choose from, and so much to read (in terms of exclusions etc)… if anyone has a short list of good companies to look at, I’d love to hear your suggestions! 🙂

  31. I’m planning on heading to Canada in July for 9-12 months.
    If I want to go snowboarding etc during winter, is it better the upgrade the adventure sports option when i’m actually going to be partaking in those activities, or just get it to cover the entire time i’m there?
    Am I able to make those kinds of changes with World Nomads while i’m already overseas?

  32. I find they never pay out. I don’t have reciepts for my items anyway. I’d rather just get health insurance – where can the global nomad get cover for that?

  33. Hey Matt! Just wanted to take a quick opportunity to thank you for this post. Because of it, I bought travel insurance that night before my trip to Panama.

    2 weeks later, I had to receive an emergency appendectomy while still in Panama and luckily had insurance. Also, I thought your readers would like to know that Panama offers up to $7,000 for 30 days to tourists visiting Panama if anything happens while there (no preexisting medical conditions are covered). So with that and travel insurance, I was completely covered.

  34. Hey Matt! Thanks for the useful post (and comments!).

    My “little” problem is that I´m preparing a RTW on my motorbike, and I haven´t been able to find a single company that will cover me if the bike gets stolen (Including Worldnomads et al), which is a HUGE problem as you can imagine.

    I guess you must have met lots of travellers using their own vehicles, do you happen to know how did they deal with the possibility of waking up one day not having their vehicle any more? (And no, praying is not an option… 😉

    THANKS!

  35. I’m an American, already abroad (with student health insurance in my current country).

    When I leave this country I plan to travel to 3 or 4 other countries for at least 6 months.

    I looked at World Nomads, and they said no “multi-trips” — what does this mean? Does it mean it only covers people for one country per trip? I am so confused?

    • They cover you for a set time period. So you buy insurance for say 6 months at a time.

  36. I’m not convinced comprehensive travel insurance is a necessarily a good deal – with one exception: medical/evacuation insurance. You buy any type of insurance because you have a risk that you cannot afford to take. This is true for all types of insurance: life, health, travel, etc. I personally don’t find trip cancelation insurance to be a good deal in most situations since it’s simply very unlikely you will have to cancel for a reason covered by the insurance and the insurance is relatively expensive. Of course, you have to determine your own risks and make informed decisions. If your travel company has a poor performance record, if it’s tropical storm season, etc. that could make it worthwhile. For me, the cost of trip cancelation insurance is usually higher than the risk justifies. On the other hand, when I’m traveling in a part of the world where medical care is sketchy I always purchase medical/evacuation insurance. The risk of illness or injury (and the consequences of illness or injury) is much greater, in my judgment, than any other possible circumstance. This insurance is relatively cheap and often comes bundled with lost baggage and trip delay coverage. My favorite company is Travelex. The coverage and cost are very good and I know firsthand they pay without hassle.

  37. ok my hubby and I have always got insurance with each trip when we leave Canada which is about $200 or more for EACH part of our cruise,flights and hotels. Found this site we are 52 and 51yrs old prebooked our cruise for Jan/14 but didn’t buy insurance because we still need to book airfare and hotels and we maybe also taking another vacation in the us before then. We figured what we pay for each leg of our trip why not buy by the year. So my question is this insurance primary or secondary to our work plans for medical(no pre-existing problems thankful). And if we buy for the year it covers us on all our trips and flights. Insurance is important to us because in jan up here snowstorms are the hazard.

  38. Hey everyone! Due to the age of this post and the difficulty in moderating lots of posts spam, comments here have been turned off. If you would like to continue the discussion, head over to the forums at http://forums.nomadicmatt.com and chat there! I post frequently and reply to threads on the boards! See ya there! Thanks! – Matt