Travel Insurance for South America

nickspurs

I'm flying to South America through STA Travel in December and will be travelling around for about 3 months. Their insurance is fairly expensive and was wondering where the best place is to get a good deal?

Cheers

HXDave

What do you consider expensive? what have they quoted?

Chances are, they have quoted a single trip policy, which will be expensive as it is costed per day, and worldwide cover.

Check the web for annual policies, however check each one to ensure that the policy will cover for a single trip upto your duration (taking into account the number of days including the day you fly out, and the day you land back into the UK!). some have limits of 30 days, others 45 or 60 days, however i'm pretty sure you should be able to find one that covers for upto 90 days (approx guess at duration = 3 months). however don't be tempted into buying a policy that has a shorter maximum duration per single trip than what you need, as if you bought a policy with a maximum single trip of 30 days and you fell ill and needed to claim (even if it was actually within 30 days of departing the UK), then the insurance company would require all details, including travel details, and would probably refuse the claim.

Hope you find something, and have a great trip.

Bananabelly

I find www.worldnomads.com good for extended trips (it is aimed at backpackers). Also look at the insurance search engines, eg www.moneysupermarket.com

nickspurs

How does it work as far as this goes:

My country of residence is currently Australia (it has bene home for 2 years) but I will not be coming back, does this matter at all if I am finishing my trip in a different country?

Using worldnomads.com i get a quote of $325 for 4 months worldwide coverage inc. usa & canada (now going to NY for 7 days), is this a good price?

Bananabelly

It usually goes on place of permanent residence (I think the world nomads site explains it that way). Buy it based on the country you wish to be repatriated to should anything go awry (I am assuming probably UK?). You will get a different quote and will have to pay in the currency of your home country (ie pounds).

nickspurs

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expenses[/URL][URL="javascript:__doPostBack('ctrlCompareSearchResults$cancellationSort','')"]Cancellation
costs[/URL][URL="javascript:__doPostBack('ctrlCompareSearchResults$liabilitySort','')"]Personal
liability[/URL]

$0K and above

$0M and above

$0K and above

$0M and above
Classic
$453.25 125 n.a.$3K/person $5M/person $2.5K/person $2.5M/person More info
BRONZE
$466.00 $100 $516.00No cover Unlimited No cover $1M/person More info
Premier
$560.00 125 n.a.$4.25K/person $5M/person $5K/person $5M/person More info
SILVER
$562.00 $100 $612.00No cover Unlimited $10K/person $1M/person More info
Basics
$575.25 $100 $625.25no cover Unlimited no cover $5M/person More info
Essentials
$579.60 125 n.a.$3K/person $5M/person $2.5K/person $2.5M/person More info
GOLD
$656.00 $100 $706.00$5K/person Unlimited $15K/person $2M/person More info
Single Trip International
$710.00 $125-$250 n.a.$8750/person $10M/person $10K/person $5M/person More info
PLATINUM
$714.00 $100 $764.00$5K/person Unlimited Unlimited $2.5M/person More info
Excel
$716.40 125 n.a.$4.25K/person $5M/person $5K/person $5M/person More info
Deluxe
$731.50 125 n.a.$8.75K/person $10M/person $10K/person $5M/person More info
Single Trip
$741.60 $125-$250 n.a.$8750/person $12.5M/person $12.5K/person $5M/person More info
Essentials
$770.25 $100 $820.25$2K/person Unlimited n.a. $5M/person More info
Excel Plus
$860.40 125 n.a.$6K/person $5M/person $7.5K/person $5M/person More info
Comprehensive
$875.55 $100 $925.55$5K/person Unlimited Unlimited $5M/person More info
Duo
$1,129.05 $100 $1,179.05$5K/policy Unlimited Unlimited $5M/policy More info

nickspurs

That didn't exactly come out how I expected but has anyone ever used any of these before? These are prices for 2 adults....

Some of them don't cover a lot until you go up to the higher tier. I'll ask one more time for any other suggestions then I might go back to that world nomads quote as it seems not too bad....

alanrowell

As I recall STA require you to be living in the UK at the time you buy the insurance so you can't use their insurance.

This may seem like a stupid question though - but what insurance have you have for the past 2 years? Whilst Oz has a reciprocal medical agreement with the UK it doesn't cover things like ambulances nor would it have covered repatriation to the UK. And most working visas require medical insurance as a condition.

Bananabelly

alanrowell wrote: »

This may seem like a stupid question though - but what insurance have you have for the past 2 years? Whilst Oz has a reciprocal medical agreement with the UK it doesn't cover things like ambulances nor would it have covered repatriation to the UK. And most working visas require medical insurance as a condition.

I have had a number of working holiday visas for various countries and never had to have proof of insurance. It is quite possible the OP didn't have insurance whilst a temporary resident of another country, you can buy ambulance cover in oz for less than $100 a year. I have lived overseas for 7 out of the past 8 years, but those countries were my home. It would have been absurd to have repatriation. I had a mortgage in a different country!

OP - those quotes appear to be from Oz as they are in dollars - keep in mind it won't get you back to the UK (unless they are really flexible, when I had to claim on insurance they offered to repatriate me back to where I was living, or home to Oz. Don't count on them all doing that though)

nickspurs

I have had no insurance in the last 2 years. I have just been working, not really doing much.

But thought I'd better get some for my travels as i will be travelling a lot and doing god knows what...

I just need to find out a good insurance quote (anytihng under $300 aussie would be great) for an Englishman in Australia (but not coming back here)!

Bananabelly

nickspurs wrote: »

I have had no insurance in the last 2 years. I have just been working, not really doing much.

But thought I'd better get some for my travels as i will be travelling a lot and doing god knows what...

I just need to find out a good insurance quote (anytihng under $300 aussie would be great) for an Englishman in Australia (but not coming back here)!

OK firstly, if you are doing 'god knows what' make sure the insurance covers you doing that or there is no point getting it (ie activities like bungy jumping, white water rafting, whatever).

Secondly, as has been said a number of times, think about what you want to happen in an emergency. If you have a car accident for example and are unable to communicate, you probably want your family there, or want to be repatriated to the UK (Trust me, you want to minimise the medical attention you receive in Sth America). If you have insurance based in Australia that is extremely unlikely to happen (they will want to repatriate you to oz, however this will be a massive issue if your visa has expired). Also, you usually need to be a permanent resident of a country to get the insurance so you need to be looking at UK policies, not Australian ones (assuming you are a UK citizen). World nomads is probably better than most as they understand your situation more.