I’ve been overlanding for a few years and i’ve never left home without a decent travel insurance so I’ve got some tips to find the best travel insurance to fit the overlanders needs.
What is the best overlanding travel insurance? The best overland travel insurance on the market today is SafetyWing. It covers nomads that travel full-time and they operate completely online so you can get service from wherever you are in the world. No small letters when it comes to traveling with your own vehicle which is important to overlanders.
Travel insurance is important and the fact that you googled it tells me I don’t have to convince you of that fact. So let’s discuss the top three insurance policies for overlanding and which one is the best for you.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Find out more about what that means at the bottom of the post. The opinions expressed in the blogpost are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. It is only intended to provide education about the insurance industry. The views reflected in the commentary are subject to change at any time without notice. It is not possible to contact me to acquire personal advice about any of these financial services.
What is long stay travel insurance?
Long stay Travel Insurance is coverage that covers an extended period of time of at least 180 days. Standard policies will allow for travel up to 90 days. Long Stay Travel Insurance allows you to stay abroad for 2 years. There are even companies who allow unlimited travel time for nomads.
Long stay travel insurance is also known as long term travel insurances or backpacker insurance. A new term that has been cropping up is digital nomad insurance. Use these terms when googling for the best deal for you.
How long can you get travel insurance for?
How long you can stay abroad depends on the policy you take. A long term travel insurance plan allows you to stay abroad anywhere between 180 days to 2 years. There are companies who even allow you to stay abroad indefinitely.
Can travel insurance be extended?
Yes, most travel insurances can be extended at additional costs. How long you can extend your policy for depend on the insurer but typically is up to 180 days. Check what the additional costs are to extend your policy or if it is cheaper to renew your policy.
What is the difference between medical travel insurance and travel insurance?
The difference is that medical travel insurance only covers costs related to emergency health care abroad. Travel insurance covers that too and in addition takes care of lost luggage and trip cancellation costs as well.
Which one you want to get depends on your wants and needs. We’ll dive into some considerations you can take into account when deciding now.
Check the coverage of your health insurance at home
Do you have a health insurance policy at home like NHS or krankenkasse? If yes, are you planning on keeping this or not? Depending on how long you are planning to stay abroad it might be a smart move to cancel your health insurance at home saving you hundreds of dollars, pounds or euros per month.
It also might be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done depending on the rules and regulations of your home country. For example, in the Netherlands it is mandatory to have a health insurance when you are registered on a dutch address. De-registering would allow you to cancel your health insurance but it also has consequences for your state regulated pension. Check what the regulations are in your home country before you take any drastic decisions.
Most health insurances actually cover emergency medical costs abroad, like going to the hospital to get stitches. Contact your local health insurance to find out what your policy covers and how long you are allowed to be abroad. Some companies void your policy if you don’t return home regularly. CHECK YOUR POLICY!
What kind of insurance do I need for overlanding?
Overlanding, long term travel usually with your own vehicle, comes with its own set of risk. You will spend a lot of your time participating in traffic increasing your risk of an accident on the road. Getting insurance for overland travel means having at least medical travel insurance to be able to receive the life saving care when something like an accident happens.
If you “need” travel insurance to cover emergency trips home and cover luggage damage is up to you.
A strategy to save on travel insurance
If you are planning on traveling on a tight budget then here is a strategy to cut costs on Travel Insurance. Get a policy that only covers global health insurance with a low maximum covered costs and a deductible as high as you are able to pay. At IMG you can pay as little as US8,44 per month (with a US$1000 deductible) on a yearly contract. Put the money you save by not paying for trip interruption and baggage claims on a savings account and be your own insurance for when this break or you need to visit family in case of emergency. You can put up to US$ 421,92 per year on your savings account. This can pay for your lost sweater or camera repair as well as saving on time and frustration having to deal with an insurer.
Comparing costs and how to save on travel Insurance in US$
What is important when looking for a travel insurance for overlanding?
Getting insurance for overland travellers, there are six important factors when looking for a (medical) travel insurance for overlanding.
Do they cover: Medical expenses, what is the maximum? Broken / lost luggage? Trip interruption in case of family emergency? Long trips? Vehicle based travel? (Especially motorcycle travel is possibly excluded) The countries you plan to travel through?
How long are you planning to stay away from home?
This questions and your answer will have a big impact on the type of insurance you should get.
- For shorter overland trips, anything between 3 months and a year a travel medical insurance or travel insurance will be the best option.
- For longer overland trips between 1 and 2 years a travel medical insurance or global health insurance.
- For the overland nomads the best option is to get global health insurance.
The advantage of travel medical insurance is that it covers trip interruption in case of emergency, but the conditions are usually quite strict so to qualify for the reimbursement usually a close family member must be on their deathbed. For a shorter trip this can be such a big part of your budget that insuring it might be wise, but for long term travellers a trip home for Christmas or a special birthday will fit more easily into the plan.
The advantage of global heath insurance for long term travel insurance is that it is you can get it for an unlimited amount of time and can save quite some cash when going for a high deductible. When you are young and not too worried about getting ill this might be a good option for you.
What is the best long term travel insurance?
Look for an unlimited travel insurance like SafetyWing Nomad Insurance. It is a good option which covers Medical Travel costs and a few basic Travel costs. You can take out a policy whenever, wherever and cancel each month. There is no limit on how long you can stay abroad.
This policy is designed for nomads like you!
Read the policy!
Whichever company and policy you choose, make sure you read the agreement thoroughly. There are some companies out there who will exclude motorcycle travel or limit the amount of cc to 250. If you do happen to break your leg and need to be airlifted to the nearest hospital only to find out you are not covered….. ouch, that will be more painful then the initial impact. I did double check for you if SafetyWing will cover you in a motorcycle accident and they said hell yeah! But don't trust me and triple check yourself before setting off.
“The biggest amount of complaints are from consumers having a misconception and not knowing and understanding what they purchased. ”
Do I really need travel insurance?
You need to have at least Medical Travel Insurance to cover emergency health care and repatriation because a lot can go wrong while traveling the world? And you do not want to be in the situation where you need to ask for money from anyone to be able to afford the healthcare you need.
We have been overlanding for 1,5 years and somehow managed to get injured in accidents, contracted dengue and suffered from a severe lung infection. None of which could have been avoided, it was just a case of bad luck.
Nora recovering from Dengue in Pokhara, Nepal
Bills can quickly add up, even though it might not be the right medication for your condition…. Luckily this was in Nepalese Rupees, not US Dollar.
Jojo ended up in hospital for 5 days after waking up in the middle of the night unable to breath. Smoking, working out in the early morning and the bad air quality of Kathmandu was too much for his lungs to handle. The hostel manager called him an ambulance and transferred him to an international hospital. I call it luck that we were in the neighbourhood of one and not in the middle of nowhere. For 5 days he received oxygen and the antibiotics needed to nurse him back to health. Happy to have survived this ordeal he immediately quit smoking, but the most important thing for this article. He could leave the hospital without paying a cent. His insurance paid the full €6000 medical bill. Otherwise that would have meant game over for the rest of his trip.
A helicopter ride can be quite expensive, about $1600 per hour. Although this one was for free :)
Travel insurance that covers covid
Is there a travel insurer who will cover me during this COVID pandemic? Yes! SafetyWing does not exclude any countries or medical cover related to COVID or a particular travel advice. Wether your government has advised against traveling to a certain country, put it on orange or whatever other reason insurers find to not cover you, SafetyWing is there to take care of all your medical expenses abroad.
You can choose between two different packages. The Nomad insurance is there for travellers who still have a home base and do not work on their trip. The Remote Health package is there for the nomads who gave up everything at home and work and live on the road indefinitely.
Remote Health
Get comprehensive health insurance that works in any country. Meant for full-time nomads, it’s all you need to stay safe abroad — no matter how long you stay or where you go.
Nomad Insurance
A travel and medical incident insurance built specifically for digital nomads. It can be purchased while already abroad, covers home trip visits and operates like a monthly subscription.
Top 3 Heatlh Insurance for Overlanding
1. SafetyWing - Best Travel Medical Insurance
Still called the new kid on the block because the brand was launched in 2018 so has only been around for 2 years. Backed by one of the biggest insurers worldwide, Tokyo Marine they have two insurance packages specifically designed for nomads.
The Nomad Insurance and the Remote Health Insurance are both great options but have a different focus. The Nomad insurance is there for travellers who still have a home base and do not work on their trip. The Remote Health package is there for the nomads who gave up everything at home and work and live on the road indefinitely.
For the Nomad insurance a great feature is that you can get coverage at any time and cancel at any time. Because you pay per month and not per trip it is easy to cancel whenever you need to, for example when your trip has been cut short due to COVID.
CONs
- Does not cover all the countries in the world, excluded are Cuba, Iran, and North Korea.
PROs
- Covers during the COVID pandemic
- Transparent pricing structure
- No unnecessary travel package
- Paid per month, cancel anytime
- Unlimited time abroad allowed
2. World Nomads - Best Adventure Activities Coverage
If I’m honest, I think most blogs on the internet promote World Nomads because they get such a good commission off any sale they make. 10 years ago their coverage might have been innovative, but these days they have been taken over by the new kids on the block and have been slowly chipping away at their policy coverage.
What can be said for the World Nomads Insurance is that it has a decent coverage for extreme sports under their explorer package like bungy jumping, caving or kite surfing.
The thing with World Nomads is that their pricing structure is a true mystery. To get a quote you have to fill out some information about your trip and where you live and based on that information you receive a quote.
I pretended to live in the USA instead of the Netherlands and the difference in what both packages cost and what is covered is staggering. For example, for USA residents the maximum for medical emergencies covered is $100,000 under both packages where as for Dutch (I think this applies to all EU citizens) the Explorer package is unlimited.
Also the difference between both packages is €6 which is about US$ 7 whereas the difference between packages for USA residents is more than US$91!
This makes it hard for me to write a comparative article because it really depends on where you are from and where you plan to travel. So World Nomads might be an excellent option for you. Get a quote to find out exactly how much your trip will cost.
CONs
- Mysterious pricing structure
- No coverage in countries with a “do not travel” warning
- UK residents must triple check the coverage when riding a motorcycle
- Maximum 24 months abroad
PROs
- Covers most extreme sports under their extended package
- Available for all citizens around the world
“Your policy will provide cover for your chosen countries and regions of travel unless there’s a warning issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland advising Do Not Travel to a particular country or part of a country and you choose to go there anyway. ”
3. IMG - Cheapest Medical Travel Insurance
When you are on a budget but still want to get some medical travel insurance, IMG is your choice. They do have a reputation for slow claims handling and sticking to the letter of the policy wording beyond what some people would find reasonable so be warned. Take this policy if you want a safety net but don’t expect anything else from it.
CONs
- No coverage in countries with a “do not travel” warning
- Maximum 24 months abroad
- Strict with interpretation of the policy rules
PROs
- Budget friendly
- Ability to adjust the deductible
Other companies worth mentioning
- NL - Allianz Globetrotter
- DE - ADAC Auslandskrankenversicherung
- DE - Allianz
- UK - Alpha’s Multi-Trip Policy
- UK - World First
- Europe - True Traveler DOES NOT COVER MOTORCYCLE TOURING!
- Australia / NZ - Columbus Direct Insurance
- World - Seven Corners
- World - Atlas Travel Medical Insurance another Tokyo Marine Brand
Coverage you need to check and questions you need to ask before purchasing
- Does this policy cover trips home or does going home cancel my policy?
- What extreme sports am I really planning to do and are those covered?
- Does this policy cover driving a car / motorcycling / riding a bicycle abroad?
Related questions that might interest you
Why is travel insurance to USA so expensive?
There is a big difference in premiums when you want to included traveling to the USA on your policy. Why is that? Well, the answer is simple. Healthcare costs or just extraordinary high. Compared to most developed countries, the USA has often double or triple the costs compared to the GDP as you can see in this graph of the OECD.
Health spending measured as a share of GDP, as a share of total health spending and in USD per capita
A tip to keep your costs for insurance low, is to split your insurance into two parts. The one where you are traveling in the USA and the rest. Get two separate policies for each leg of the trip. This way you don’t have to pay the high premium for the time you are not even in the USA.
Do I need travel insurance for overland travel?
You need to have at least Medical Travel Insurance to cover emergency health care and repatriation for any overland trip. A lot can go wrong while traveling overland and you do not want to be in the situation where you need to ask for money from anyone to be able to afford the healthcare you need.
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