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* CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) UPDATE MARCH 17, 2020 FROM SAFETYWING:

If you are currently traveling or have plans to travel, Safetywing sent out an informative email today regarding their insurance coverage:

Does SafetyWing have a general exclusion for coverage of pandemics such as coronavirus?

No. Some travel medical plans exclude all coverage of treatments of pandemics globally, following WHO’s definition. SafetyWing does not have a general exclusion for pandemics. Instead, our coverage for coronavirus follows travel warnings issued by the CDC (The U.S. Centers for Disease Control).

You are eligible for coverage of coronavirus-related expenses unless either of the following applies to your situation:

• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a Warning Level 3 for your location, and you arrive there or purchased your policy after it was issued.

• The CDC issued a Warning Level 3 for your location while you were already there, and more than 10 days have passed since the warning went into effect.

For more information, SafetyWing has provided a Coronavirus landing page with information that is updated frequently, so it doesn’t become irrelevant.

One thing we purchase before our international travels is travel medical insurance. This is something we didn’t do when we were younger, but now that we are older it’s something that is on our travel to-do list. For the past couple of years, World Nomads has been our go-to insurance company, but on our most recent trip to London, we purchased our travel medical insurance from SafetyWing.

Both SafetyWing and World Nomads provide coverage for medical and trip insurance; however one of the biggest differences we came across was the cost of coverage. Candy purchased insurance from both companies (to compare costs) on our recent trip to London and SafetyWing’s total price for the 5-day trip was $6.60. In comparison, World Nomad’s price was $54.99. Yes, the difference is HUGE, but of course the coverage you receive is different. Depending on what you want covered will help you decide which insurance best suits you.

Everyone has different needs, so we highly encourage looking at the plans and to use the infographic below as a starting point. We want to point out three significant differences we noticed between the two insurance plans:

1. Plan Options

With World Nomads, you can pick from two different plans: Explorer and Standard. Whereas with SafetyWing, they keep it simple and there is only one plan option.

2. Electronics Coverage

With World Nomads, they offer coverage for personal effects (laptop, camera, phone, etc). SafetyWing does not cover electronics such as phones, laptops, and cameras. If you prefer to have your personal effects covered than it’s best to look into World Nomad’s different options. But if you don’t lug around a lot of these electronics with you, there is no need to have these items insured; therefore, SafetyWing might be a better plan.

• SafetyWing does not currently include electronics & valuables coverage, but this will be added as an option by the end of the year.

3. Trip Activities

This is the category you really want coverage for and it is probably why you are buying insurance in the first place. You want coverage for those unexpected mishaps where you might need to make a trip to the hospital. Of course both companies provide this; however, if you have high risk sports in your itinerary, you may want to look into World Nomad’s Explorer plan. Basically, if you have plans on participating in extreme sports on your trip, take a look at the list of activities that are covered. You might be surprised as to what is considered “extreme” sports.

• SafetyWing does not currently include comprehensive extreme sports coverage, but they are in the works to launch this by the end of the year.

We’re not insurance experts and only encourage you to look into getting coverage as you never know what can happen on your vacation. The last thing you want to worry about or regret is not having any insurance. Please do not simply rely on the infographic pictured above. Looking over that is a great starting point, but always make sure to read the fine print.

One more thing, both SafetyWing and World Nomads have very user-friendly websites and it’s so much easier to navigate and understand them compared to other insurance sites we have looked at. We also like that both companies were created by nomads themselves, so they know what us travelers want and need.

We have not been paid to endorse one insurance over another however we are an affiliate for both World Nomads and SafetyWing, and in that, we’re not partial to whichever you may choose. We just encourage you choose some sort of coverage wherever your travels take you.