Insurance for Digital Nomads protects your health and finances while you roam the globe. It ensures you don't face unexpected costs due to emergency medical care, trip interruptions, or lost belongings. It allows you to keep your eye on the ball: work and adventure. And, with the right policy, you can do it all with a sense of confidence that if a medical emergency or travel mishap strikes, well, you'll be covered.
The importance of particular travel and medical insurance for digital nomads can hardly be overstated.
Why? Because you (likely) don't have the comprehensive cover that a traditional life or health insurance plan provides.
And if you don't have it, you really want (need!) these specific safeguarding options.
Here are those crucial provisions laid out:
Insurance for a wide range of pre-existing medical conditions
Health and travel contingency plans that allow you to work abroad
Portable life insurance that stays with you no matter where you roam
Travel policies that are the norm do not often meet the unique lifestyle needs of a nomad.
Remote work is covered by work materials, such as laptops and cameras.
Work performed in other countries is covered for the duration of the policy, even when that country has a different set of insurance requirements.
If a person is injured while working far from home, there are provisions that allow for medical evacuation back to a place where more comprehensive care can be provided.
What happens if, say, a person doing all these things gets waylaid and has to stop working totally for some reason? There's trip interruption protection. And if a laptop is left behind somewhere, there's lost baggage protection.
I met a coder in Bali who had his laptop stolen. But his nomad insurance covered replacement costs within hours. This is insurance that serves a very specific purpose. And this is a very specific kind of coder, too.
It protects you from the most common travel setbacks when you have the right coverage.
Medical emergencies and expenses (hospital visits, prescriptions)
Medical evacuation and repatriation
Trip cancellation and interruption
Loss of baggage; delay in baggage
Optional add-ons: adventure sports, valuable electronics
Have you ever found yourself stuck thousands of miles away from home, with no one to rely on? That's precisely the situation a bunch of my contemporaries found themselves in last summer. They didn't pick the ideal moment to travel and certainly didn't choose the best places to vacation.
It can be quite a task to compare different policies, but with a simple framework, it becomes manageable.
Establish your travel type: one-time journey or extended, multiple stops
Set your minimum amount of medical coverage (e.g., $100,000 minimum)
Look at what the policy does not cover (such as pre-existing conditions and high-risk activities)
Read what customers have to say about the company, especially regarding how they handle claims
Make sure you can buy and renew the insurance easily online.
(Pro tip: Seek out customer support that is available around the clock—because emergencies don't respect business hours.)
Claim tips: How to stay prepared when things go wrong
Reducing stress in a disaster by knowing claims process beforehand.
Maintain electronic versions of your insurance policy and receipts that detail your possessions.
When something occurs, document it promptly with photographs and the contact information of any witnesses.
For speedier service, use the insuring app or hotline.
Be persistent in following up until the insurance adjuster resolves your claim.
A friend received urgent dental treatment in Mexico; she sent the insurance company receipts through its app and was repaid in a fortnight.
The worry-free travel we all desire is built on the foundation of smart planning. The way to achieve that is to obtain travel and medical insurance for digital nomads. It keeps you protected, and allows you to focus on exploration and being productive. At Digital Nomad Coach, we help you find the ideal policy for your unique path. Ready to secure your adventure? Schedule a Consultation today.
