Let's drive on a dirt track - we are covered! (World Nomads)

Member Name: sun-is-shining

Product:	World Nomads
Date:	02/06/09 (109 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: reasonable priced, good cover, easy to claim

Disadvantages: none

The first time I heard of the travel insurance from World Nomads was in Asia when my old insurance was about to run out and I couldn't extend it. Being stuck in the middle of Southeast Asia with a boyfriend who loves to drive motorbikes is not the best situation to loose your cover and we were both incredibly relieved when we filled out our insurance forms.
As it happens we had some claims afterwards and they were great about that. It was no problem that we waited with the claims till after our return and the whole process was quick and easy.

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For who is it?
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World Nomads offers a Travel Insurance aimed at active holidays. If you only spend two weeks at the beach in Spain you can get your insurance a lot cheaper from other sources. However, if you plan a more adventures holiday with risky' activities you're absolutely right here.

They have two different types of policies, one for single travellers, one for families - a family is two adults and "your financially dependent children/grandchildren under 21 in full time education, all normally resident with you listed as covered on your Certificate of Insurance."

People from over 150 countries are covered. The benefits and policies vary from country to country so if you are not a British Citizen but live here it might be useful to compare the policies for the UK and your country of origin.
They go by country of residence - I'm a German citizen but live permanently in the UK. Still, I'll get my cover for Germany as the benefits are better and it's less expensive.

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How much is it?
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That again depends on your chosen country of residence.
Here is the example for 1 month, worldwide, single traveller.

UK resident:
Age limit is 60
High values such as IPod and DigiCam are only covered for an extra fee and you have to tell them in advance exactly which items you want to cover.

The price without the High Value is: 67.29 Pound

German resident:
Age limit is 66
High Value products are automatically covered.
Cancellation is only covered with an extra fee.

The price without cancellation is: 73 Euro (With the current exchange rate that's 63 Pound)

Family, UK resident, worldwide, no High Value would be: 134.58 Pound
So you pay for two adults and kids are covered for free.

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What is covered?
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That, again, depends on your country of residence. Here are the basics that are covered for a single UK traveller.

Cancellation £5,000
Tuition / Course Fees £1,000
Curtailment £5,000
Emergency Medical Expenses £3 million
Emergency Dental Treatment £300
Funeral Expenses Abroad £5,000 (let's hope that it never comes to this!)
Loss of Passport / Travel Documents £600
Personal Baggage £1,250
Total Valuables Limit £400
Single Item Limit £100 £100
Delayed Baggage £100
Optional Extension for specified Items £1,250
Single item Limit £400
Personal Liability £2 million
Winter Sports Cover Included
Activities and sports: You find a list of activities that are covered. Please read this carefully before you agree to the policy. For example scuba diving is covered BUT not deeper than 40m, not in caves, not at night.
We had a quite adventurous trip but even so we did nothing that wasn't covered anyway.

This is pretty all-inclusive and has the highest cover I found so far.

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Where can I get it?
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Getting the Insurance is incredibly easy and takes two minuets even in a doggy Internet Point in Vientiane. You only need a credit card, a halfway reliable Internet connection and 5 min time. You go to www.worldnomads.com, select your country, for how long you want the cover and that's it. Took just a few clicks and I could enjoy the motorbike a (little) bit more.

You can, unlike as with many other companies, start the policy while you are away. I tried for ages to extend my old insurance and it didn't work because I wasn't in the UK anymore. Here, you don't have that problem.
Extending is simple, they'll write you an email a few days before your cover expires with the option to extant it - no extra extension fees are added just the normal price.

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How can I claim?
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Claims are easy to make. Just log in on the website, fill out the online claim and send off all the documents required. They ask for originals so please make sure that you keep copies of everything you send. I claimed medical expenses and didn't have any problem. The money was on my bank account within 1 week and they even gave me a really good exchange rate!
Same goes for electronic equipment. My IPod had a water damage and was beyond repair. I didn't have any receipt or warranty anymore so the told me to send them the IPod which was fine as it was broken anyway.
They accept receipts, packing, photos etc as prove that the item was yours - so even when you lost the receipt it's not a big problem.

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Advantages
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You can start the policy whenever you want, even when you are already abroad. One of the cheapest companies I found so far - yes, some are cheaper but they don't cover a lot, most of them cover only medical treatments and not baggage lost/damage.

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Disadvantages
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For UK residents: High Value products such as IPods and DigiCams are not automatically covered but you need an extra cover and of course you have to pay for that. It's around 15 Pound.

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I would book every time again with World Nomads and can highly recommend them! Quite a few people travel without any cover - me too at the beginning) but when you are in the middle of nowhere ans sick you feel so relieved when you don't have to worry about what you spend on Doctors and Medicine. In Cambodia I had the choice between free treatment in the local hospital (open-air, almost no English, dirty and over crowded) and seeing a English speaking doctor in a private clinic - guess which one I've chosen and who payed the expenses for it :-)

Have fun and save travels!

Summary: A highly advisable Travel Insurance!