Insurance
Health, life, travel and property cover for people whose lives are not in one country.
Understand what to compare when residence, travel, family, property or business activity cross borders.
The important questions are rarely just price. Where the policy applies, who is insured, what is excluded, how claims are handled and whether the policy still works after a move can matter just as much.
Start with the risk you actually need to cover, then compare policy wording rather than product names.
International insurance is primarily a question of where you live, where you need cover, what type of risk you are insuring and whether the policy can continue when your circumstances change.
Start here
Choose the risk in front of you. A household move, a trip, a house and a company are different contracts. None of them is automatically required. Eligibility varies, and local rules differ.
Understand medical networks, territorial cover, underwriting and how international plans differ from travel insurance.
International health insuranceUnderstand life cover, beneficiaries, residence changes and how an existing policy may behave after a move.
Life insuranceUnderstand trip cancellation, medical emergencies, baggage and why travel cover is not long-term health insurance.
Travel insuranceUnderstand buildings, contents, occupancy, rental use and cross-border property cover.
Property insuranceUnderstand liability, people, property, cyber and operational risks when a business crosses borders.
Business insuranceUnderstand the landscape
The labels overlap in ordinary speech. In a contract they describe different events. Read the purpose, then the questions that usually decide whether that contract is even the right file to open.
| Policy | Purpose | Typical questions |
|---|---|---|
| International health insurance | Ongoing healthcare while living abroad. |
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| Life insurance | Financial protection after death or serious illness, where the wording covers it. |
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| Travel insurance | Temporary cover for trips. |
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| Property insurance | Buildings, contents and liability relating to a property. |
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| Business insurance | Commercial liabilities and operational risks. |
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Some risks overlap, but one policy should not be assumed to replace another.
Cross-border cover
A policy can be perfectly coherent in the country where it was bought and awkward the week you live somewhere else. These six questions are a way to read any of the contracts above.
01
Where does the policy actually apply?
02
Does your country of residence affect eligibility?
03
Are premiums, claims and limits denominated in the same currency?
04
Can you reach the hospitals, specialists or repair networks you need?
05
Which legal entity issues the policy, and which rules apply to it?
06
Does the policy continue if you move again?
Read the contract
Useful comparison starts with who and what is insured, the territory, the exclusions, the limits and any sub-limits, the deductible or excess, any waiting period the wording uses, renewal, cancellation, and how a claim must be notified. A waiting period, where one exists, is a number of days or months in that policy. This page does not state one.
A premium is easy to compare. Policy wording is where the real differences often sit.
01
The people, property or activity named in the contract, inside the territory, for the events the wording describes.
02
A benefit, a period, a sum or a network that is narrower than the headline. A sub-limit can sit inside a larger figure.
03
Conditions, countries, uses or activities the wording sets aside. The list is a policy fact. It is not the same on every contract.
Eligibility
Insurers may look at country of residence, nationality, age, occupation, medical history, where a property sits, and what a business does. Some will not offer cover connected to particular jurisdictions, including where sanctions or their own rules restrict them. This page does not list those places. Whether you are eligible is a decision by that insurer, on your facts.
Underwriting
Underwriting is the process of deciding whether to offer cover and on what terms. For health it may look at medical history. Other contracts may look at lifestyle, occupation, claims history, how a property is used, what a business does, and the countries involved. The questions differ. The idea is the same: the insurer is accepting a described risk.
Underwriting can affect price, exclusions, terms or whether cover is offered at all.
This page does not suggest how a particular history, property or business will be treated. That is the insurer’s decision, and a regulated adviser who can see the file may be appropriate when the answer matters.
Health history
Health policies deal with earlier conditions in more than one way. Full underwriting asks about history before cover starts. An exclusion can leave a condition outside the contract. Some wordings use a moratorium-style approach, under which a recent condition may sit outside cover for a time and then be reconsidered. A waiting period, where the policy uses one, delays a benefit. Chronic conditions and treatment already underway are often where these clauses matter. None of this is a medical opinion, and none of it says whether your condition will be covered.
Check the policy definition rather than relying on sales-language summaries.
Claims
A claim is a process: notification, evidence, and a decision against the wording. Evidence can include receipts, medical records, a police report or a repair estimate. Deadlines for telling the insurer are in the policy. Some arrangements pay a hospital or a repairer directly. Others reimburse you after you have paid. Which one applies can differ by country and by provider. Nothing here predicts the outcome of a claim.
01
The policy names who to contact, and often how quickly.
02
Some treatments or repairs ask for agreement before they go ahead. Emergencies may be described differently.
03
Receipts, medical records, police reports or repair estimates, as the claim asks for them.
04
The claim is read against the wording. The result can be a payment, a reimbursement, a part payment or a refusal.
Health
An international health policy is built around treatment while you live away from a single home system. Wordings may describe inpatient care, outpatient care, emergencies, specialists, and, where the schedule includes them, maternity, dental or optical treatment. The provider network, the countries, and any evacuation or repatriation benefit are part of the same reading. Evacuation is a benefit with its own conditions. It is not a guarantee that a particular journey will be arranged.
An employer plan may cover you, and sometimes a family, while the job and the countries match that contract. It can end when the job ends. Ask what it includes before you cancel a policy of your own.
Travel insurance is generally designed for trips. International health insurance is designed around ongoing healthcare needs while living abroad.
Compare international health insurance
That page compares published plan design. It does not publish a premium. A longer reading is in the health insurance guide below.
Go further
The table above is the comparison. The detail — beneficiaries, trip length, occupancy, territorial limits — lives on the page for that contract. None of those pages names an insurer or states a premium.
Cover model
One is built for a place. The other is built to travel, within its own rules. People who move more than once sometimes hold both, because a local rule still has to be met. That is a possibility to ask about. It is not a recommendation to buy two of everything.
Can suit
Worth asking
Can suit
Worth asking
Sometimes the right solution is a combination of local and international policies.
Moving again
Portability is a question to the insurer, not a feature you can assume from the word “international”. A move can mean a notification, a new look at eligibility, a different price, further underwriting, a change in territory, a local rule you still have to meet, or a change in benefits. Ask before you travel.
Currency
The premium can be in one currency, the limit in that currency or another, and the hospital, repairer or family in a third. Your income may be in yet another. A movement in rates changes what the premium costs you and what a payment can buy. The FX cost comparison is a way to look at a transfer you already have figures for. It does not price a policy.
A policy can look adequate in one currency but provide different real value after exchange-rate changes.
Policy lifecycle
Renewal is when price, age, claims, location, benefits, the network and exclusions can be looked at again. Cancellation has its own notice and its own end date. Replacing a policy means the new one is confirmed and has started. Until that date, the old contract is the cover you have.
01
Review
02
Ask what changes
03
Confirm any replacement
04
Then cancel, if you still mean to
Do not cancel an existing policy until replacement cover is confirmed and effective.
Compare smarter
Use the same questions on each contract. This is a way to read wording. It is not a ranking, and it does not describe a real insurer.
| Question | Why it matters | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Who is insured? | Why it matters. Cover attaches to named people, a property or an activity. | What to check. Each person, dependant, company or address on the schedule. |
| Where does cover apply? | Why it matters. A wide description can still leave countries out. | What to check. The territorial clause, including any country you might move to. |
| What is excluded? | Why it matters. The exclusion can be the difference between two prices. | What to check. The exclusions that touch your health, property use or work. |
| What is the deductible or excess? | Why it matters. You may pay the first part of a claim. | What to check. The amount, what it applies to, and whether it resets. |
| What are the main limits? | Why it matters. A headline figure is the ceiling, not a promise of that payment. | What to check. The overall limit and the currency it is written in. |
| Are sub-limits present? | Why it matters. A smaller cap can apply to one benefit. | What to check. Outpatient care, baggage, evacuation or a particular illness, if those words appear. |
| How does underwriting work? | Why it matters. The terms can depend on what you disclose. | What to check. What is asked, when, and whether cover starts before a decision. |
| Can cover continue after relocation? | Why it matters. A move can change eligibility. | What to check. The new country, in writing, before you rely on the old schedule. |
| How are claims handled? | Why it matters. A policy you cannot use in the moment is a document. | What to check. Who answers, what they need, and whether a provider is paid directly. |
| Which legal entity provides the policy? | Why it matters. The brand and the insurer can be different companies. | What to check. The name on the contract and where that entity is established. |
| Which regulator supervises it? | Why it matters. Complaints and protections follow that regime. | What to check. The authority named in the documents, and the country. |
| What happens at renewal? | Why it matters. Price, terms and eligibility can change. | What to check. Notice, what may be repriced, and whether you must reapply. |
| What happens if I cancel? | Why it matters. A gap between two policies is a period with no cover. | What to check. Notice, any refund, and the date cover ends. |
Due diligence
Put these to the insurer or a regulated broker, about the contract in front of you. A regulated adviser may be appropriate when health, a move, a property or a company makes the wording hard to apply. This page does not introduce a firm.
Ask for the company named on the contract and the country where it is established. A brand and the insurer can differ.
Ask which authority supervises that entity, and where. This page does not name regulators or describe a protection scheme.
Ask for the territorial wording, including any area described broadly. Breadth on a summary is not the clause.
Ask for exclusions of place, and what happens if you travel to one or become resident in one.
Ask before the move. Continuation can depend on the new country and may come with different terms.
Ask for each person, including dependants, and whether a company or a property is the thing insured.
Ask for the exclusions that meet your health, the way a property is used, or the work you do. A summary can leave them out.
Ask the amount, what it applies to, and whether it starts again. No figure is stated here.
Ask for the main limit and any smaller cap inside it. A sub-limit can matter more than the headline.
Ask how the policy defines them. The method might be underwriting, an exclusion, or another approach described in the wording. A sales summary is not that definition.
Ask what must be disclosed and when a decision is given. An application is not cover.
Ask who receives a claim, by which channel, and which documents are usually asked for.
Ask which treatments or repairs need agreement first, and how an emergency is described.
Ask whether assistance exists, when it answers, and what it is able to arrange. Availability is not a promise about a particular claim.
Ask the currency of premiums, limits and payments, and who carries a difference if the bill is in another currency.
Ask whether renewal is offered, what can change, and how much notice you are given.
Ask which terms can move at renewal, after a claim, or after you change country.
Ask the notice, any refund, and the day cover ends. Keep the existing policy until a replacement is in force.
Ask whether each person is named, and whether they are underwritten on their own.
Ask for the process in the policy and any external body it names. This page does not describe one.
Watch for
These are reasons to read further. They are not, by themselves, a verdict on a policy.
A warning sign is not automatically a reason to reject a policy. It is a reason to investigate further.
Common situations
Health for the household, whether life cover still fits, the days between leaving and any new arrangement, and a home left behind or taken on ahead.
Healthcare where they will live, an existing life policy, travel back to see family, and property in one country or in both.
Health that has to last longer than a holiday, travel for the journeys themselves, and liability or equipment if the work is a business. Permission to stay is a separate question.
How often the property is occupied, whether it is let, vacant periods, the trips to reach it, and liability if someone is injured there.
Where the company trades and employs people, cyber and directors’ exposures, and personal health, which a company policy may leave to one side.
Trip length, activities and countries, and the point at which a travel policy is being asked to carry ordinary healthcare.
Before relocation
Read the policies you already hold before you travel, including if a visa application asks for evidence of cover. Moving country is the wider sequence. Insurance is one file inside it.
After relocation
Compare international insurance providers
Compare international insurance providers by health, life, travel, property and business cover, as well as whether they operate as a broker, direct insurer or multi-carrier comparison service.
A broker may compare several insurers. A direct insurer offers its own policies. The distinction matters when you compare choice, advice, servicing and portability.
Start with the cover
What to compare
01
Which types of insurance are actually offered?
02
Where can the provider insure residents?
03
Does the provider compare the market or sell its own policies?
04
Can several insurers be compared?
05
What happens when the customer moves country?
06
Who handles claims, renewals and policy changes?
07
Can quotes, applications and claims be handled online?
08
Which entity provides the insurance or advice?
6 providers listed for comparison.
Allianz Partners
Global insurer / international health and benefits provider
Global insurer for international health and benefits, including employer and multinational group cover.
Best aligned with
Individuals · families · employers
Cover available
Service model
Important to confirm
Product availability and the issuing entity vary by client location. A public intermediary page does not mean WiT Access has an agreement.
Independent international insurance broker
Independent broker comparing international health and life plans, with travel, selected-market property and business cover.
Best aligned with
Expats · digital nomads · global families
Cover available
Service model
Important to confirm
Insurance availability and advice depend on licensing, client residence and insurer permissions. A public page does not mean WiT Access has an agreement.
International travel medical and global insurance provider
Travel-medical and international insurance provider, with international medical and group products available.
Best aligned with
Travelers · expats · international students
Cover available
Service model
Important to confirm
The provider’s public affiliate terms say participants should not give insurance advice or share a customer’s personal information. A public affiliate page does not mean WiT Access has an agreement.
International insurance broker and comparison service
Broker and comparison service for international health and travel cover, including organisation solutions.
Best aligned with
Expats · international families · travelers
Cover available
Service model
Important to confirm
Insurance questions and regulated advice stay with appropriately licensed parties. A public affiliate page does not mean WiT Access has an agreement.
Independent expat insurance broker
Independent broker for health and life cover, with stated access to 50+ providers and a published Asia focus.
Best aligned with
Globally mobile individuals · families · Asia-connected expats
Cover available
Service model
Important to confirm
Confirm the licensed entity and the geography in which a referral is permitted. A public referral page does not mean WiT Access has an agreement.
International health, life and income-protection provider
International health, life and group provider with in-house member servicing. Not a multi-carrier broker.
Best aligned with
Expats · remote workers · globally mobile families
Cover available
Service model
Important to confirm
Availability varies by residence, nationality, underwriting and local insurance rules. Confirm the underwriting insurer and the regulated entity. A public broker page does not mean WiT Access has an agreement.
Short published facts only. Use the cards and provider profile pages for more detail.
Provider models are not interchangeable.
| Provider | Provider type | Best aligned with | Health | Life | Travel | Other cover | Service model | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global insurer | Individuals · families · employers | Core | Available | Available | Group cover | Own policies · Global servicing | View |
| Independent broker | Expats · digital nomads · global families | Core | Core | Available | Property + business | 65+ options · Broker support | View |
| Travel medical provider | Travelers · expats · international students | Available | Not core | Core | Business / group | Own policies · International servicing | View |
| Comparison broker | Expats · international families · travelers | Core | Not core | Core | Business / group | Strong · Broker support | View |
| Expat broker | Globally mobile individuals · families · Asia-connected expats | Core | Core | Not core | Business / group | 50+ providers · Broker support | View |
 | Health and life provider | Expats · remote workers · globally mobile families | Core | Core | Not core | Group cover | Own policies · In-house servicing | View |
| Provider | Provider type | Best aligned with | Health | Life | Service model | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global insurer | Individuals · families · employers | Core | Available | Own policies · Global servicing | View |
| Independent broker | Expats · digital nomads · global families | Core | Core | 65+ options · Broker support | View |
| Travel medical provider | Travelers · expats · international students | Available | Not core | Own policies · International servicing | View |
| Comparison broker | Expats · international families · travelers | Core | Not core | Strong · Broker support | View |
| Expat broker | Globally mobile individuals · families · Asia-connected expats | Core | Core | 50+ providers · Broker support | View |
| Health and life provider | Expats · remote workers · globally mobile families | Core | Core | Own policies · In-house servicing | View |
Global insurer
Independent broker
Travel medical provider
Comparison broker
Expat broker
Health and life provider
Understand the provider model
Can compare or arrange cover from insurers within its panel.
Provides its own insurance policies.
A broker may offer more choice. A direct insurer may offer deeper access to its own policy servicing and products.
Choose the right scope
Designed mainly for treatment, risks or residence within one country.
Designed for people whose life or risk crosses borders.
International insurance can be useful where treatment, travel, work, family or property spans more than one country.
Portability
Can the provider continue to insure you?
Does the geographic scope change?
Does residence affect the price?
Would a replacement policy require new medical underwriting?
Will another insurer, branch or issuing entity take over?
Will the claims process change?
Common scenarios
Guides
These are readings, not rankings. The health guide compares how to read a plan. It does not name a best insurer.
Compare options
WiT Access publishes one insurance comparison, and it lists no insurers and no premiums. Life, travel, property and business each have their own page. There is no directory of firms behind them.
Tools
These help with the move around the policy. None of them prices cover, checks eligibility with an insurer, or estimates a claim.
Explore related topics
Get clear on where cover applies, what is excluded, how claims work and whether the policy can move with you.
WiT Access provides general information and comparison resources. Insurance products, eligibility, benefits, exclusions, underwriting, pricing and geographic availability vary by insurer, product and individual circumstances. Nothing on this page constitutes insurance, medical, financial, legal or tax advice.
WiT Access does not determine whether an insurer will accept an application, provide cover or pay a claim.
Read the full policy wording and obtain appropriately regulated insurance advice where required before purchasing cover.
Policy eligibility, underwriting, exclusions, limits, premiums, claims handling and regulatory protections vary by provider, jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
