Travel Insurance for Working Abroad

If you are travelling abroad and intend to find work overseas, it is very important to make sure that your travel insurance policy will cover you in the workplace. Many policies do not, they are only intended to cover leisure travel and will not pay if you have an accident whilst working.

It is relatively easy to find cover for office and clerical work or working in bars and restaurants and many insurance policies will cover light farm or agricultural work such as fruit and vegetable picking on a casual basis.

It is much more difficult to find working abroad travel insurance that covers manual labour or construction work, working with machinery or tools, agricultural farm labour with tractors, combine harvesters and other machinery or working with animals.

For instance, our Silver, Gold & Diamond policies are only really suitable for clerical work, bar and restaurant work, fruit/vegetable picking, light farm work, voluntary and charitable work using hand tools etc. They will also cover working with small domestic animals in a supervised environment.

If you need cover for more potentially hazardous work, such as working with machinery, larger animals including wild animals in an animal sanctuary or refuge, using power tools and other manual labour, you would be better choosing our Standard Longstay or Navigator Plus policies. These have a few specific things that they don’t cover, such as working above two storeys on ladders/scaffolding, lifting weights in excess of 25kg and working underground, but other than these, they cover a remarkable range of employment, including working with agricultural machinery, wild animals in sanctuaries/refuges etc.

There are always conditions attached, such as insurance cover being dependant on you wearing any recommended safety clothing and equipment and rigidly following all recommended safety advice and precautions on site.

It must also be emphasised that none of these policies will cover Personal Liability claims arising in the workplace. So, if you cause injury to someone else or damage property whilst working, these policies will NOT cover any claim against you that might arise. Similarly, you cannot usually claim additional compensation for Death, Loss of Sight/Limb or Disablement for work-related accidents. Benefits such as Income Protection in the event of injury are also NOT provided on these policies.  Please note that the baggage cover on travel insurance will not adequately cover expensive tools and equipment, these should be covered separately. Travel insurance cover is only your medical costs for ambulance, hospitals, doctors, air ambulance and repatriation etc, rather than additional compensation. These exclusions apply to all types of working, whether paid, unpaid, volunteering or charitable work.

When looking for travel insurance for working overseas, remember that not all policies for extended trips allow you to return home mid-term and remember to check what cover can be offered for claims arising from pre-existing medical conditions.

Navigator Travel Insurance Services Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.