SafetyWing Review: A Good Health Insurance for Digital Nomads?

If you are looking for a comprehensive SafetyWing review, look no further: I’ve thoroughly reviewed SafetyWing health insurance and want to share my opinion about this new kid on the insurance block with you.

As a digital nomad or long-term traveler, it is not that easy to find an insurance provider that covers your unconventional lifestyle AND that doesn’t cost a fortune. SafetyWing promises just that. Let’s see who can profit from their service and who should maybe go for a different company. 

Do you need health insurance for Digital Nomads?

Short version: Yes, you definitely do!

I wrote an extensive post about why health insurance is so important for digital nomads so I won’t go into detail again now. But just as anywhere in the world, you should always be covered when it comes to your health.

You could get the flu and need medication, have an unexpected allergic reaction to something, hit your toe and get a bad infection, or have an accident and need emergency treatment at a hospital.

There are many things that can happen to you on the road and we all know how expensive medical treatments can be. Most of us won’t be able to pay thousands and thousands of dollars from our pocket money. So make sure you have an insurance policy wherever you are.  

What is SafetyWing?

Ok, now to the company. SafetyWing is an international travel medical insurance that is specifically made for digital nomads. This means if you are a remote worker, traveling freelancer, entrepreneur, or even if you are living abroad somewhere, this might be the perfect insurance for you.

It was founded by three Norwegian friends, all digital nomads themselves, who realized that there is no insurance out there, that covered the special needs of this target group. They decided that since the digital nomad lifestyle is constantly growing in popularity, it is about time to change that and so they founded SafetyWing.

What does SafetyWing cover?

Now to the most important facts: What is covered in your SafetyWing insurance policy?

Here are only some of the things that are covered:

• Emergency medical treatment
• Lost luggage
• Travel delay
• Evacuation in the event of terrorism, political disruption, or medical emergencies
• Accommodation in the event of natural disasters
• Transportation of a family member from your home country to you in case you have to stay in the hospital for an extended duration
• Personal liability for losses or injuries to third-parties

Let me jump in here by saying that this is already more than many other travel and/or health insurance provider cover.

To give you an overview of some of the benefits in detail, I’ve listed the ones I think are going to be most important to you and the limits to which they are covered:

Benefit	Limit
Acute onset of a pre-existing condition	Up to $250,000
Local ambulance	Usual, reasonable, and customary charges, when covered illness or injury results in hospitalization as an inpatient
Emergency dental	Up to $1,000
Intense care unit	Up to $250,000
Hospital room and board	The average semi-private room also includes nursing service
Outpatient physical therapy and chiropractic care	Up to $50 per day
Terrorism	Up to $50,000
Other eligible medical expenses	Up to $250,000
Emergency medical evacuation	Up to $100,000
Political evacuation	Up to $10,000
Replacement accommodation after a natural disaster	Up to $100 a day
Trip interruption	Up to $5,000
Lost checked luggage	Up to $3,000
Travel delay	Up to $100 a day after a 12-hour delay period requiring an unplanned overnight stay
Personal liability	Up to $10,000
Repatriation of remains	Up to $20,000
Accidental death & dismemberment	Up to $50,000

*There is a deductible of $250.

What does SafetyWing NOT cover?

I think it is also important that we talk about the things that SafetyWing doesn’t cover. As most travel and international health insurance provider, they don’t cover things like cancer treatment, routine check-ups, or pre-existing conditions. If you would want to cover that, it’s going to be super expensive and in most cases won’t be reasonable.

The only two things that they don’t cover and that might be important to some of you are:

• Trip cancellation and
• Adventure sports.

On the other side, if you travel relatively spontaneously as most digital nomads do, you won’t plan much ahead and therefore won’t have too many expenses for trip cancellations. So that one shouldn’t be too much of a deal.

And adventure sports: If you are really crazy about them and plan on doing a lot of adrenalin-pumping sports, this might indeed be a significant downside to you. In that case, you could still look for additional options to cover these events only.

How much does SafetyWing cost?

SafetyWing is so far the cheapest international health and travel insurance I’ve seen. They are only one-third of what you’d have to pay at their biggest competitor. Here are the main prices:

Age Range	Price per Month
18-39	$36.96
40-49	$59.92
50-59	$94.08
60-69	$127.68

These prices are excluding USA coverage. As with every insurance plan, you will have to pay more if you want to travel to the USA, simply because the medication is more expensive there. In case you do want to travel to the USA, no worries. You can simply book it on top of your plan for the weeks you want to go there.

Why is SafetyWing so cheap?

Now you are probably wondering why SafetyWing health insurance is so cheap in comparison to others. Here are the reasons:

1. First of all, they only have one policy for all of their customers. That makes it much easier both for their consumers and for their staff because they can focus their processes on this one policy only.
2. Second, there are no middlemen. SafetyWing sells directly to the consumer and therefore doesn’t have to pay for agents.
3. And last, they focus on the most important and basic coverages. For example, if they would cover cancer as well, they had humongous expenses for these affected patients. Since that money has to come from somewhere, they would have to increase their general prices for everyone. By not offering coverage for these particularly high treatments, they manage to keep their rates as low as possible.

How does the payment work?

SafetyWing operates on a subscription basis, which comes in super handy for digital nomads.

You pay for the first 4 weeks of your trip and after that, the coverage automatically extends another 4 weeks until you cancel. Of course, you can cancel anytime and without any fees.

After 364 days of coverage, they will notify you that your policy is going to end now. If you are still traveling, you can renew your policy without any difficulties.

Since most of us don’t know how long we are going to travel, this is a great way that prevents us from accidentally running out of coverage (been there, done that…).

Extra Bonus: In contrast to many other travel and health insurance policies, you can start your coverage at SafetyWing anytime – even if you are already traveling. No need to be in your home country!

What countries does SafetyWing cover?

With SafetyWing you can travel to more than 180 countries worldwide, which is pretty much everywhere ;) Bear in mind that, as with any digital nomad health insurance, the monthly rate increases if you are traveling to the USA because medical care is so expensive there.

Am I covered while visiting my home country?

Yes, SafetyWing covers you even when you visit your home country. You can stay up to 30 days at home for every 90 days of coverage. If your home country is the USA, you are covered for 15 days for every 90 days of coverage.

That is much more than most other providers offer.

Do I need residency somewhere?

Another great advantage of SafetyWing is: You do not need a (registered) residence in your home country or anywhere else.

There are insurance companies out there that only cover you as long as you still have your residency. But as a digital nomad, you often cut all ties in your home countries and are constantly traveling.

This has been a huge problem for me at the beginning of my nomadic life because I couldn’t find a company that wanted to insure me without a constant address.

Not a requirement at SafetyWing though. All you need is a postal address where they can send you the last bill. But that can easily be a friend’s place or your parent’s address.

What do I do in case of an emergency?

1. First of all, don’t panic!
2. If necessary, call 911 (your phone should be able to convert it to the local emergency number automatically).
3. If it is not that urgent, find the next medical provider near you. To do so, you can simply log in to your SafetyWing profile and select “find a hospital or doctor”. You will get a list of qualified doctors, specialists, and hospitals worldwide.
4. Once you get there, show your SafetyWing ID card to the medical attendant. Some hospitals and doctors are able to submit the bill directly to SafetyWing, which is super handy. If not, you pay for your bills yourself before leaving.
5. Ask for proof of your payment (receipts or bills).
6. File your claim.

Bonus Tip: Make sure you always get a receipt or bill for what you have paid. May it be doctor’s bills or medication at the pharmacy. Take photos of these documents immediately. Those little papers get lost quicker than you might think and without proof, you obviously can’t file any claim.

How do I file a claim with SafetyWing?

The claim process is very similar to those of other insurance companies. Here are the basics:

1. Collect receipts of all of the expenses you’ve had (doctor’s treatment, pharmacy bill, etc.) and take a photo of them.
2. Fill out the claim form.
3. Send the claim form and the photo of your receipts to service@hccmis.com or print everything and send it to Tokio Marine HCC – MIS Group, Box No. 2005, Farmington Hills, MI 48333-2005.
4. You will receive a confirmation email and can track the process of your claim in your online profile. Please allow them up to 8 weeks to process your claim.

Bonus Tip: Please always make sure that you have an emergency fund to pay for your expenses until you receive your money back!

Extra feature: Community events

SafetyWing also wants to create a little community amongst its users. That’s why they have ambassadors in 20 cities worldwide. They also organize events and meetups for their users.

That’s a great way for you to connect with like-minded people and join a close-knit tribe of nomads worldwide.

Is SafetyWing a scam?

Due to the fact that SafetyWing is fairly new (and maybe because their website admittedly looks much different from the usual insurance websites), some people are not sure if they can trust them.

But rest assured SafetyWing is most certainly not a scam. They are legit and fantastic health insurance for digital nomads.

They have partnered with one of the world’s biggest insurance companies, Tokio Marine. That means that all of the claims are processed at this expert company directly.

So definitely no fraud.

Is SafetyWing the right international insurance for me?

Yes, SafetyWing is the right insurance for you…

• If you are older than 18 years.
• If you are a digital nomad who wants to travel abroad for more than 4 weeks.
• If you are already outside of your home country and need travel or international health insurance.
• If you are an expat or remote worker living abroad.
• If you don’t want to work remotely or live abroad but simply want to travel for more than 4 weeks.

In which cases should I NOT go for SafetyWing?

I can only think of two cases in which SafetyWing might not be the best choice for you:

1. If you are heavily into adventure sports and want to practice them quite often.
2. If you carry super expensive top-end equipment with you, e.g. camera equipment worth $4,000.

In these cases, I recommend other insurance providers, for instance, True Traveler. You can read more about their services and find other SafetyWing alternatives in this blog post: Best digital Nomad Insurance.

Conclusion SafetyWing review: Yes or No?

SafetyWing gets a big YES. The policy covers the most important aspects the average person needs when traveling. It even includes personal liability and travel delays. Processes are very simple and straightforward. The subscription concept comes in very handy for digital nomads. You can start the police when you are traveling already, don’t need to have a registered address anywhere, and can cancel anytime.

If you are looking for international health insurance, SafetyWing is definitely a fantastic choice. Head over to their website now to register for your next trip!