Whether it’s insurance on your car, home, or cell phone – it is crucial that you best prepare yourself in life for the unexpected.
This concept also rings true if you fall within the remit of a ‘nomad’. In a nutshell, this means that you have a tendency to travel from place to place on a frequent basis, or you’re planning to do a reasonably long stint in a region such as South East Asia. Alternatively, you might be living the laptop lifestyle, meaning that you also have a desire to live life on the road.
As rewarding as such a nomad lifestyle can be, you need to put some safeguards in place in the event that you become injured or sick during your travels, as well as in the event that an unexpected travel-related issue occurs – such as lost luggage or a cancelled flight.
With that being said, the team at World Nomads have created a travel insurance package that is tailored specifically to the ‘traveler’.
If this sounds like something that you would like to explore further, be sure to read our fully comprehensive World Nomads Travel Insurance review.
Within it, we’ll cover everything that we think you should know – such as how the travel insurance works, who is eligible, how much it costs, and of course – what you are covered for.
Let’s start by getting a brief overview of what World Nomads actually is.
What is World Nomads?
Launched way back in 2002, World Nomads is an online travel insurance company that tailors its packages towards nomads.
A ‘nomad’ is a term typically used to describe someone that has no permanent abode, meaning that they travel from place and place – and more importantly – country to country.
This can cover a backpacker that finds casual work as and when they reach their next destination, to a fully-fledged freelancer that changes jurisdictions on a frequent basis.
Either way, a nomad is typically somebody that is based outside of their home country for long periods of time, as opposed to somebody that is simply taking a two-week package vacation overseas.
Nevertheless, the team at World Nomads – which describes itself as a group of “global citizens, customer advocates and creative storytellers”, launched their platform with the view of filling a huge gap in the market – travel insurance for nomads.
As we will discuss in much more detail further in our review, World Nomads Travel Insurance typically consist of two main branches.
- Firstly, you might be covered in the event that you require medical assistance – such as an injury or illness.
- Secondly, World Nomads Travel Insurance could also cover you in the event of a travel-related issue.
For example, this could include a travel agency cancelling your trip due to financial difficulties, or an airline that loses your suitcase. It is also important to note that World Nomads Travel Insurance could be suitable for you if you have a tendency to engage in physical activities when overseas. This could include anything from surfing, skiing, scuba diving, and even bungee jumping.
However – and as is the case with most travel insurance policies out there, whether or not you are covered for a particular accident will depend on a range of key factors. For example, one of the key metrics that will determine your ability to claim is your main country of residence.
Furthermore, the team at World Nomads actually offer two different plans. As we will discuss in just a moment, whether or not you are covered for a particular event is often determined by whether you opt for the Standard Plan or Explorer Plan.
So now that you have a better understanding of what World Nomads actually is, in the next section of our review we are going to explore what you are covered for.
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World Nomads Travel Insurance: What are you Covered for?
As we briefly noted in the above section, World Nomads offers two main travel insurance plans – the Standard Plan and the Explorer Plan. As the two plans are costed differently, it might be best to have a think about what type of nomad you are, and what you tend to get involved with when you travel.
To help you along the way, we have listed what a World Nomads Travel Insurance plan will typically cover, and in this respect, how the two plans differ.
Emergency Medical Insurance
In our view, if you are a nomad in its purest form – meaning that you often spend time visiting remote and third-world countries, then the overarching motivation of obtaining travel insurance should be to protect you in the event of a medical issue. As such, the first segment of World Nomad that we sought to unravel was that of its Emergency Medical Insurance.
First and foremost, this will cover you in the event that you get sick or injured. For example, you might find yourself getting food poisoning while travelling through Cambodia, or injuring your leg when trying to find your hotel during the late evening. Either way, you will want to know that you are covered financially, as it is likely that you will be required to pay the respective medical centre or hospital for the treatment you receive.
With that being said, both the Standard Plan and Explorer Plan will cover your medical expenses up to $100,000. Furthermore, it is also important to note that you should be covered in the event of a dental emergency. Both World Nomads plans come with emergency dental coverage of up to $750, which is likely to be more than sufficient – irrespective of where you are in the world.
Evacuation and Repatriation
On top of the costs associated with your treatment, World Nomads Travel Insurance can also cover the costs related to medical transportation or evacuation. Regarding the former, this could be the costs associated with an ambulance call-out. And the latter, this is likely to be something much more severe – such as requiring a helicopter to take you from a remote location to the nearest city hospital.
Alternatively, medical evacuation might require you to be transported back to your home country in the event that you need first-world medical attention. Either way, the terms and conditions surrounding medical evacuation are somewhat explicit on what you can and can’t claim for. First and foremost, if you are engaging in what is deemed as a high-risk activity – such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, then you will likely need to get this pre-authorized by the medical assistance team at World Nomads.
As such, if you end up requiring assistance but you failed to notify World Nomads of the activity, you likely won’t be covered. Furthermore, if the medical evacuation is linked to a pre-existing condition, then once again, you won’t be covered. Finally, it is important to note that if you do require medical evacuation back to your home country, any further medical costs encountered once you land will not be covered under your World Nomads policy.
Outside of a potential medical evacuation, World Nomads might also be able to cover the expenses linked to a non-medical evacuation. By this, we mean events linked to a serious political occurrence in your current location, or worse – an event linked to terrorism. Moreover, this could also include a serious natural disaster such as a typhoon or earthquake.
In terms of the fundamentals – and regardless of whether you are claiming for medical transportation, a medical evacuation, or a non-medical evacuation, the Standard Plan will cover you up to $300,000, while the Explorer Plan increases this amount to $500,000.
Trip Protection
While the most important segment of your World Nomads Travel Insurance plan is arguably related to medical assistance, your chosen plan will also come with trip protection.
Firstly, the Standard Plan comes with coverage of up to $2,500, while the Explorer Plan comes with coverage of up to $10,000.
In a nutshell, trip protection is anything related to a trip that you have already paid for that subsequently becomes cancelled or interrupted. For example, this could cover you in the event that your flight is cancelled because of extreme weather conditions, or because you became severely ill on the day of the flight.
Moreover, you might also be covered in the event that you are required to pay for accommodation due to a trip interruption that was out of your control. For example, if an airline goes bust on the day that you are required to fly and thus – you need to stay in the respective destination for an additional night, you should be able to claim the accommodation expenses back. If this is the case, your coverage is capped to $250 per day.
Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Goods
An additional area of insurance that World Nomads offers on both of its plans is related to lost, stolen, or damaged goods. The amount that you are able to claim will depend on the type of claim you are making, so let’s look at some of the key areas.
First and foremost, if your baggage is lost or stolen during a trip, you will be able to claim up to $1,000 on the Standard Plan, and $3,000 on the Explorer Plan. However, certain limitations and conditions will apply if you need to claim on your baggage. For example, World Nomads will only allow you to claim a maximum of $500 per item if you are on the Standard Plan. This is highly problematic, especially if you are travelling with valuable goods.
For example, if you have a $1,400 Nikon camera in your suitcase and it subsequently gets lost by the airline, you’ll only be able to claim $500 back. On the other hand, the Explorer Plan does increase this to $1,500 per item, which is much more reasonable.
When it comes to baggage delays – for example, if your airline forgets to load your bags on to the flight, both the Standard Plan and Explorer Plan will allow you to claim up to $750. Take note, the delay needs to amount to 12 hours or more, and the specific terms state that this needs to be with a “common carrier”.
This means that if you are using an unconventional flight company (for example a local aircraft to transport you between two islands), then you might not be covered. In cases such as this, it is also advisable to call World Nomads directly and check whether you are covered, as opposed to simply assuming that you will be.
Sporting Activities
If you’re a nomad that likes to engage in sporting activities when you travel, then it is crucial that you are covered in the event of an injury. This could include anything from snow biking, scuba diving, surfing, bungee jumping, skiing, or glacier walking. In fact, World Nomads covers more than 200 individual activities.
However, whether or not your chosen sporting activity is covered will depend on the specific plan that you are on. For example, while bobsleighing, skiing, freestyle snowboarding, heli-skiing, and skiing with a miniwing are included within the Explorer Plan, these activities are not covered by the Standard Plan.
Once again, this is why it is crucial that you spend some time thinking about the types of activities you are likely to engage in prior to choosing your plan. If you end up going with the Standard Plan, but later ascertain that you want to engage in an activity that isn’t covered, then you are best off calling the team at World Nomads to see if you can upgrade to the Explorer Plan.
How Much Does World Nomad Cost?
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to how much a World Nomads Travel Insurance package is going to cost you, not least because this will be based on a number of key variables. For example, the platform will take your country of residence into account, as well as your age, which countries you plan to visit, and how long you want to be covered for.
Nevertheless, in order to give you a ball-park figure as to how much World Nomads is going to cost you, the following figures are based on a U.S citizen aged between 21 and 30, visiting six countries in Asia over the course of three months.
Standard Plan – $2.79 per day
We were quoted a daily figure of $2.79 on the standard plan, which, over the course of our three-month trip, amounted to a total cost of just over $251.
Explorer Plan – $3.96 per day
Sticking with the same credentials as listed above, we were quoted a total price of just over $356 for the Explorer Plan. This amounted to $3.96 per day over the course of our three-month trip.
Ultimately, the only way that you will be able to get a tailor-made quote on your specific circumstances is to visit the World Nomads website and enter your details. The system will give you a bespoke quote within less than a minute, so you’ve got nothing to lose by simply finding out how much you will need to pay for coverage.
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How do I Make a Claim with World Nomads?
If the unfortunate does happen and you need to make a claim on your World Nomads policy, there is a general step-by-step process that you will need to follow. While the process might vary slightly depending on the type of claim you are looking to make, check out the guidelines we have outlined below.
Step 1: Call the World Nomads One Call 24-Hour Number
First and foremost, as long as your medical situation isn’t critical, you are best advised to call the World Nomads One Call 24-Hour hotline. In doing so, you will have the chance to explain your medical concern to a World Nomads agent. The agent will then locate the nearest suitable medical location, such as a doctor’s surgery, hospital, or dentist.
This is also the number that you need to call if you require evacuation to be arranged. For example, if you need urgent medical transportation or there is severe political unrest in your respective location.
On the other hand, if your medical situation requires you to go straight to your nearest accident and emergency hospital, then don’t worry about calling the hotline. The most important thing is that you receive the required medical attention without delay.
Step 2: Covering the cost of payment
Here’s where things get a bit tricky. When it comes to paying for your required treatment, World Nomads might be able to cover these costs upfront, but this will depend on the type of assistance that is required. As per the World Nomads website, you can only request an upfront payment if you:
- have been admitted to hospital as an in-patient;
- get medical treatment or need ongoing treatment, where the cost of treatment is likely to exceed £500;
- are injured, are hospitalised or suffer psychological trauma in an assault; or
- need emergency transport, medical repatriation or a medical escort.
With that being said, you – or somebody close to you, will need to call the World Nomads hotline to arrange for the costs to be transferred over. If this is the case and World Nomads does pay for your medical costs upfront, then there is nothing more to do.
Step 3: Making a claim
If you do not meet the conditions outlined above with regards to getting your costs covered upfront by World Nomads, then you will need to make a claim. The easiest way to do this is via the World Nomads website. You will initially need to provide a clear and concise account of what you are claiming for, and for how much.
For example, if you are claiming for emergency dental treatment while you were travelling through Thailand, you’ll need to state the medical issue, why you required emergency treatment, where you received the treatment, and how much you paid. You will also be asked to provide supporting documentation.
This is likely to include a signed and stamped medical bill, which outlines the treatment that you undertook, as well as the cost. Moreover, it is absolutely fundamental that you provide a copy of the receipt that proves you made the payment. If you submit the application without the required supporting documentation, then you will likely receive a reply from World Nomads outlining what you need to provide.