Global Term Life Insurance for Expatriates Living Overseas

Protecting your loved ones when you live abroad is just as important when you are living abroad. International life insurance for expatriates is a fundamental part of any global financial security plan. Expat Financial is one of the few independent international life insurance brokerage sources in the world. We cater to individuals living outside the country that they hold a passport in, who want to buy life or accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) plans.

We offer the expat term life insurance and year-to-year life insurance plans that can provide coverage from a minimum of $250,000 to $5 Million for expatriates residing in most countries. You can obtain a 1 to 30-year level premium and coverage policy while you are living abroad so you can protect your family from life’s uncertainties. The plan is not available to current residents of the USA or Canada and you must be an expatriate living abroad to obtain a quote and apply. 

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Key Benefits of the Expat Term Life Plan

  • Comprehensive life insurance for death from illness or accidents
  • 1-30 year term options
  • Global protection once the plan is established
  • Premiums are guaranteed by the provider for the contract term – other plans are year to year.
  • Coverage is designed for expatriates and global nomads
  • The plan is available to residents of up to 170 countries

Choosing the Right Global Life Insurance Policies

life insurance for expats

TFG Global or our associates can search the marketplace to provide quotations on a no-charge and no-obligation basis from well-known, financially secure and reputable insurance companies. We can also potentially help expatriates decide on the right amount of protection based on their unique circumstances. Note that our expat life plans are not available to local nationals or expatriates currently living in some countries, including the USA, Canada, and the UAE – please contact us for more information. If you are about to move outside of one of these countries, you can make the effective date the day you move abroad. Check our blog for getting the insights on top reasons to buy international life insurance plans.

Who Buys International Life Insurance?

We find a wide assortment of global citizens those buy life insurance for expatriates. Here are some examples of people who buy global life insurance as expats:

  • Single expatriates who have family members who rely on them financially
  • Mortgages – Single or married expatriates who have mortgages on overseas or domestic properties and life insurance is a requirement of the loan
  • Expat couples who rely on their two incomes to meet financial needs or the needs of the surviving spouse
  • Expatriates with children – this is a big reason why expatriates buy global life insurance as they need a pool of capital there to pay off debts and provide an income should the income earners die prematurely. Allowing for life insurance to provide for the raising of children and their education is also critical
  • Companies with one expatriate employee – a group plans may not be available because of the small number of expatriate employees, so some expatriate employees will buy an individual expat life insurance plan.
  • Paying estate taxes – we have encountered expatriates who need international life insurance for expats to pay off government taxes that are due at the death
  • Key-Person expat life insurance – some overseas companies will purchase life insurance for expats to protect the company from the financial losses that are incurred by losing a key employee or to have money available to buy the shares of the deceased employee.

Expatriate Disability Coverage

You can also obtain a quote for an expatriate disability income insurance plan from the Expatriate Group by clicking HERE. This accident and illness insurance can provide you valuable protection against accidental death, permanent disablement and temporary disablement. The income protection policy pays you a monthly income from a total disability after a waiting period of 3 or 6 months. It is a great complement to global life coverage.

Expat Insurance Needs Analysis

We recommend that global citizens complete an online expat life insurance needs analysis online or contact us to complete one. Many advisors recommend that you have enough life cover to pay off your debts and final expenses and also a pool of money left over to replace your income to support your partner and children. There is an excellent life insurance calculator via the Sun Life website.

How do you Buy International Life Insurance?

You first need to complete our expat life insurance quote form noted above and we will examine and send it along to one of our insurance providers. They will then send back a quote if you are eligible. After some back and forth, you can then apply online or offline. The medical underwriters will then request some medical questions and forms to be answered and may require that you take some medical tests and even a doctor’s medical along with proof of your identity and residence abroad. The whole process can take a few weeks or months, so the earlier you get started the better.

Can I Cancel?

Most expat life insurance plans allow you to cancel the Policy at any time, and for any reason. Written notice of instruction to
cancel the Policy should be sent to the Company at its Head Office. We highly recommend you do not cancel any existing life insurance plans.

Common Expat Life Insurance Exclusions

Like any insurance plan, there will be a few common exclusions. Always remember to provide a full accounting of your health history when buying expat life insurance coverage as any commissions or misstatements could lead to your coverage being cancelled or a claim denied. Also, make sure you pay your international life insurance premium and update your credit card and email address as coverage will lapse otherwise. Most expat life plans have the following exclusions, but make sure you read you plan contract in full:

The Death Benefit for most individual life insurance plans for expats shall not be paid if the death of a Life Assured results directly or indirectly from any of the following events or circumstances:

  • Active participation by a Life Assured in any war whether declared or not, civil war, insurrection, riot, terrorist act, mutiny, piracy, civil commotion or other acts of violence originating from any political or civil unrest.
  • Committing or trying to commit an assault
  • Participation in any act which would be deemed a criminal offence, whether convicted or not.
  • Intentional self-inflicted injuries, including suicide, while sane or insane.

Will Domestic Plans Cover Expatriates

This can be a tricky question to answer as there are so many expatriates insurance services from numerous countries. Some countries you are moving to will cover new arriving expatriates or after you have set a permanent residence there. Other nations will simply not cover foreign nationals living in their country. For our clients living in less developed countries, there may simply be no domestic life insurance available or the options available may be financially unreliable and not portable should the global citizen move to a new country.

Some Excluded Countries & Nationalities for the Expatriate International Life Insurance Plans:

Afghanistan, Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, North Korea, Palestine, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Switzerland, Yemen. Additional exclusions could apply where high-risk nationalities are combined with high-risk territories. Additional countries or nationalities could also be restricted by the insurers we work with. We are not able to cover expatriates who will be living in the USA or Canada for expat life insurance – we encourage them to obtain a plan from a local insurer in their respective new countries.

The minimum life insurance amount that we can obtain quotes on is 250,000 or equivalent. Coverage available in GBP, Euro and USD.