What to know about travel insurance for your working holiday abroad

Travel medical insurance is a type of insurance policy that individuals can buy when they travel abroad. It typically covers medical expenses incurred abroad resulting from illnesses or injuries.

It is an important consideration because, in most cases, the health insurance that you have in your home country does not cover medical expenses incurred abroad.

Conversely, when you are abroad as a visitor (or working holiday maker), you are usually not covered by the local public health insurance either.

Use our WHV destination search tool. Enter your nationality and age, select your intended destination, and read about its insurance requirements.

Many WHV destinations (such as South Korea and France) require you to submit proof of insurance as part of your application package. In these cases, you would need to pay for insurance for the duration of your planned stay even before getting your visa.

In case of visa denial, you can try to request a refund from your insurance provider. Refund policies do vary from insurer to insurer, so if this is an important consideration for you, make sure to ask the insurer first before buying.

If insurance is not a mandatory part of your application process but required for entry into the country (such as Canada), you can wait until after visa approval to buy it. Make sure to buy a policy meeting the requirements to avoid being denied entry into the country!

If possible, buy your travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked your flight. This means you’ll be covered from the point of booking for any issues (flight cancellations, sudden illness that stops you from travelling, etc.).

However, if your visa conditions mandate that the insurance policy covers the duration of your WHV, you will need to factor this into your planning. For example, you plan to start your WHV next year, so you buy a flight for 12 months’ time. To receive your visa, you need to have 12 months of insurance valid from the day you arrive. In this scenario, you won’t be able to buy a 12-month policy as soon as you book the flight.

If this is the case, you may wish to buy an extended policy or multiple policies back-to-back. That way, you are still covered, both in the lead up to the trip, and while you’re on the trip.

Refund policies for early returns vary from insurer to insurer. For the greatest flexibility, choose an insurance company that offers this kind of refund.

The answer can only be fully answered by reading your policy handbook in detail. In general, however, travel insurance is intended for injuries, illnesses, and medical emergencies, not routine or elective expenses. This means that things like annual checkups, vision exams, and teeth cleanings must be paid for out of pocket.

Even if insurance is not a mandatory requirement for your WHV destination, we always recommend you buy insurance. It may seem like an unnecessary expense, until the moment you need it! The cost of covering unexpected illness, hospital stays, or repatriation will be much higher than the cost of an insurance policy. You might think you’ll be fine without insurance, but you can’t predict what will happen during your trip.

Generally speaking, even if you already have an insurance plan elsewhere, it will not provide enough coverage for your needs. You will still need to take out a separate policy that specifically covers working holidays. Most credit cards only cover short trips (i.e. up to a maximum of 30 days’ away from home at a time), not long-term travel.

Any healthcare plans you have in your home country or that you qualify for in your new country won’t meet your specific needs, as you won’t have coverage for important (often mandatory) items like repatriation costs.

Most companies will only insure you if you have not yet departed your home country. You will need to look for an insurance company that offers “already travelling” policies, although be aware that these are often more expensive. As such, it is better to buy insurance before you leave home.

Having a pre-existing health condition will generally not stop you from being insured. However, you will need to check the specifics of your insurance policy, as it differs from company to company. For example, your insurance may exclude coverage for any medical care related to your pre-existing condition, or you may be charged a higher premium to have it covered. You may also need to provide evidence (e.g. a doctor’s note) that your condition is “stable” before your trip.

It depends on what your needs, finances, and risk tolerance look like. Generally speaking, cheaper policies offer less coverage and more expensive policies offer greater coverage. If something were to happen (knock on wood), the “cheapest” option might end up costing you more out of pocket.

Always compare reviews of insurance companies. Look at feedback about their customer service, especially when it comes to needing to make a claim. It’s not worth picking a cheaper company if they won’t support you when you need them most!

Read the next FAQ to learn how to pick the best insurance policy.

This is a complicated question requiring a nuanced answer. Check the requirements of your WHV destination first. Some countries will have a mandatory level of coverage (e.g. must cover hospitalisation and repatriation). If so, the policy you pick must meet the requirements of your WHV.

Otherwise, it’s up to you to decide the level of coverage you feel comfortable with. There are many options out there for WHV insurance, but we (as working holiday makers ourselves) recommend that you check at least these six important things (see the following FAQs for more info):

• Excess
• Coverage limit
• Coverage for travel outside of your WHV destination
• Coverage for visits back home
• Coverage for high-risk activities
• Premium

In case of injury or illness, the excess or deductible (interchangeable terms) is the amount that you have to pay out of pocket before your insurance starts covering costs for you. For example, if your policy has an excess of $90 but your qualifying medical claim totals $500, the insurance would only reimburse you $410. The excess threshold applies on every claim you file, not just the first claim. Insurance policies with zero excess provide the highest level of protection, so we highly recommend choosing a policy with zero excess.

Policies can have a coverage limit of anywhere from a couple hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars. There are also policies that don’t have a limit. It goes without saying that policies without a coverage limit provide the greatest level of protection.

These numbers might all seem very high, but don’t underestimate the true cost of medical care in serious accidents, long periods of hospitalisation, or repatriation. Hopefully, you will never come close to reaching your policy’s cap (if there is one).

This is an important factor to check when choosing an insurance policy. A working holiday is all about travel and exploration! If you have multiple destinations on your bucket list (for example, you want to visit Bali and New Zealand during your Australian WHV), check if the policy includes coverage outside of your WHV destination.

When you leave for a year or two on a working holiday, there is a good chance that you will lose any medical coverage in your home country, since you may no longer be considered a habitual resident. As such, check if the insurance policy covers any medical expenses incurred during short visits back home (for Christmas, a wedding, a vacation, etc.).

If you’re going to Canada or Japan, you might want to ski. In Australia, you might want to scuba dive. You might also be planning to undertake “dangerous” work during your WHV, such as farming or construction. These high-risk activities are not covered by all insurance policies, so check the T&Cs carefully. You may be required to purchase optional add-ons or a higher level of coverage.

In the insurance world, a premium refers to the price of the insurance policy (i.e. how much you need to pay per month or year). Consider whether the premium is reasonable for the level of coverage it provides. Is it within your budget? Don’t assume the premium is a perfect indicator of level of coverage; a higher premium can but doesn’t always mean better coverage.