Life insurance policies: what happens when you leave reside overseas?

Hello,

I am sorry but I can't help you with this question as I have not experienced this situation myself, but it would be good to know the answer to this.

Regards
Kathy

Hi Kathy,
Thanks for your reply. I was hoping for a little more comments to expand this conversation but oh well.
It really does vary from country to country and policy to policy. That is why I wanted to raise it with expats for them to review their policy to ensure that what they think they are covered for is what they are covered for.
I can't give advice on these websites (government rule - must have all circumstances to give advice) but I can raise questions for people to consider and research. Thus the question.

Hi Rachel,

I think life insurance policies will likely vary country to country even with life insurance companies. I currently know of someone that resides most of the year in another country but still continues to pay their life insurance policy in the US. They are retired and use one of their children's addresses as the main location while living in the US and stay with them. This is because they receive social security and still require a bank account to pay other bills. Although, there could be a bank setup in the current country they live in too.

If your client's life insurance policy specifically states what you typed below, then their policy will become invalid. But I don't think this is common for all countries. I live in the US and the main criteria for most life insurance companies are that the policy holder continue paying their insurance premium. I haven't heard of policy holder residing outside of the country being a concern. Usually the larger insurance companies that have been in business for a long time will follow this path. Otherwise, without people continuously paying their insurance premiums, the less money is available for insurance companies to pay out to their customers if someone dies,etc.

At least you are thorough in letting your client be aware about the life insurance policy. I think that health care insurance is a major concern for most expats compared to life insurance. Majority of the people in the US have life insurance through their employer. This is usually renewable every year. However, there are people who do get that additional life insurance policy that is not tied to their employer. So I would assume if an expat is going overseas and gets a job, one of the employee benefits could be life insurance.

Thanks JB09 for your very thoughtful response.You raised some good points for me to consider with my clients.

An interesting point about having a policy tied to your employer is what are the take over terms when you change employer? You would want to know that you can take that policy with you especially if you have health issues that prevent you from acquiring another policy. That is where 'an outside the employer' policy would be a very valuable asset. We don't know what is going to happen in the future and it is too late when the illness/injury strikes.

In Australia, some of the policies don't cover you if you are not an Australian resident. So if you go to live and work overseas for an extended period, you may think you are covered and are not. Also, many insurers expect to be told if you are living overseas and if you do not tell them that you are then the cover could not be valid.

Yes, many of the larger companies provide cover all over the world but if you travel to a region that is on the Australian government smart traveller site as 'do not travel' destinations, then again you may not be covered.

Regarding Health Insurance, you are right. It is of greater concern because it is the hear and now. Little medical expenses can become big without the right health cover. There are heaps of ins and outs with that.