The International Schools Review Forum

Can anyone recommend good travel health, accident, theft insurance? And where to buy it online? As international teachers and often big travellers I'm sure we all have good and bad experiences dealing with this kind of insurance coverage. I recently met a teacher travelling with her son who both became very ill on a trip and had to be airlifted to USA from South America for medical help. Total bill was just over $100,000 and she didn't pay a penny. Insurance was not too expensive and the insurance company did not put up any fuss and paid upfront for their expenses. She bought it online but unfortunately 10 years ago and can't remember the insurance company name!

Check your medical via school. At my school I have coverage and air coverage under my regular plan. Although I am not covered in the USA for regular medical, I am covered for accidents.

If school does not cover this, go to a reputable local travel agency and look into travel insurance with the features you want. You should be able to find a decent policy for a decent price.

My school has coverage but it's not straightforward, easy to understand, etc. Actually the coverage is bad enough in the country where we are teaching. I wouldn't trust it. I've known of four people who went travelling, (not necessarily teachers) and had a medical emergency costing between $25,000 and $250,000.

I like Sci Group, (www.scigroup.org), another option is STA Travel, (www.statravel.co.uk/travel-insurance.htm). Have used them, liked them, was easy to purchase, only had to use the policies twice and they were both for minor incidences, there wasnt any problems, but they were minor claims.

Best strategy is to get into a good school. Both of the "real" international schools I've worked at have provided comprehensive travel/accident/medical insurance that provided cover worldwide. The "wannabe" schools I've worked at (thankfully it's been awhile) only provided local cover and even that wasn't great.