If you are searching for international health insurance for expats, the first decision is not about price. It is about what the cover is: a private medical policy that pays for treatment in a region of the world rather than in one country, bought because the UK policy and the NHS entitlement you have now stop at the border. This page sets out what that cover includes, what UK policies say in their own wording about treatment overseas, and how a claim is paid once you are abroad. It does not price anything. This site holds no premium data, and what moves an international premium has its own page. For a figure for your own move, fill in the form on this page and you will be put in touch with an FCA-authorised broker who can compare several international insurers in one conversation. It is free, and you can also go direct to an insurer.
What this page answers
What international cover is and who it is written for, including the people who do not quite fit, such as remote workers with no fixed country. What UK private medical insurance says about treatment outside the UK, quoted from the documents we hold. What an international plan includes, from the in-patient core to evacuation and repatriation, and which parts are usually options. And how a claim is paid, with the excess and co-payment mechanics in insurers' own words.
One caveat before any wording is quoted. Every clause on this page comes from a UK domestic policy. We hold no international policy wording, so where this page describes what an international plan typically includes, it is describing the shape of the market, not a named product, and the document to rely on is the one that arrives with your quote.
International health insurance for expats: what the cover is, and who it is for
A UK policy assumes the NHS is underneath it, and leaves emergencies, GP care and long-term conditions there. International health insurance is built without that assumption. It pays for private treatment in whichever countries fall inside its area of cover, at local prices, for as long as you live there, and on plans with an out-patient layer it pays for the GP and specialist visits a UK policy would have left to the NHS.
Three things follow. The contract is annual and renewable, so international health insurance for one year is the ordinary term, and long-term cover is the same policy renewed. It is written against a country of residence, because that is where most claims will be paid. And it covers a defined area of the world, chosen when you buy, which on most plans includes the UK for visits home, sometimes with a limit on the days a year you can spend there. Area of cover is also the choice that moves the premium most; the cost page explains why the United States is the switch that matters.
Who it is for: anyone whose home for the next year or more is outside the country whose health system they are entitled to use. The expat moving for a job or for retirement, the person working abroad for an employer who does not provide cover, and the family that goes with them. It is not for a holiday or a short business trip. That is travel insurance, trip-based and emergency-only, and the WPA clause below shows what trip-based cover looks like even when it is attached to a UK policy. Digital nomads and remote workers sit between the two, because a residence-based policy wants a country of residence and they may not have one. Some insurers will write for that case and others will not, so say at the start that you have no fixed base, and the quote will be for a policy that can actually pay. If you are not sure which side of that line you fall on, it is a quick question for a broker, and the form on this page is how you reach one.
What UK policies say about treatment overseas (compare the policy wording)
The first question most people ask is whether the policy they already have will do. These are the clauses we hold on it, one from each document, and they are from UK domestic policies: what UK private medical insurance says about you being abroad, not the wording of an international product.
| Insurer and document | Clause on treatment outside the UK | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (April 2025 issue) | "Overseas treatment We do not pay for treatment outside the UK." | 24 |
| AXA Health, Personal Health membership handbook (October 2024) | "We do not cover any costs for treatment you receive outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man. We do not cover any costs for treatment if you live outside the UK." | 30 |
| WPA, Complete Health Insurance Product Information Document (November 2025) | "Overseas Emergency Treatment – Choose from two levels: Up to 35 days per trip (maximum of 180 days and £250,000); Up to 70 days per trip (maximum of 180 days and £500,000). Excludes the USA and its dependencies and winter sports resorts" | 1 |
All three read 4 September 2026. We have not read the rest of these documents, so nothing here says what else an insurer does or does not offer.
Two of the three are exclusions, and AXA's has two limbs: treatment received abroad is out, and so is any cost at all once you live abroad. WPA's is the useful one for understanding what international cover is, because it is the opposite shape: an option, emergency treatment only, counted in days per trip with a ceiling on both days and money, and excluding the USA. That is trip cover, and it expects you back. International cover is residence cover. It pays for planned as well as emergency treatment in the country you now live in, with no trip to come back from. If you hold a UK policy and are leaving, ask the insurer in writing on what date cover stops and whether it offers an international product of its own; the AXA and Bupa groups do, through AXA Global Healthcare and Bupa Global, on separate terms from the policies quoted here.
What international cover includes: the layers
International plans are sold in layers: a core plus whichever options you add. The names vary by insurer. This is the common shape, and the wording to rely on is the plan's own benefit table.
In-patient and day-patient treatment is the core every plan has: hospital admission, surgery, the specialist's and anaesthetist's fees, tests done while you are admitted, and usually cancer treatment, though how much of a cancer pathway is covered and for how long varies and is worth reading in full. An in-patient-only plan is the cheapest shape of international cover because it pays when you are in a hospital bed and for little else.
Out-patient treatment is the next layer: specialist consultations, scans and tests, physiotherapy and, on many plans, GP visits. It is a higher tier on some plans and a module on others, and it almost always carries an annual limit. UK wording shows what a limit does and, less obviously, what else can move with it. WPA's Complete Health IPID (November 2025, page 1) caps "Out-patient Treatment Consultations with a Specialist – £250 (increase with the Extra Out-patient Consultations Optional Extra)". Aviva's Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (April 2025 issue, page 8) go further: "If you have chosen a reduced out-patient limit of £500 or £1,000 you are not covered as an in-patient, day-patient, or out-patient for treatment for: complications of pregnancy and childbirth, or surgical procedures on the teeth performed in a hospital". Both read 4 September 2026. The three questions they give you for an international plan: what is the out-patient limit, is it per year or per condition, and does choosing a lower one switch anything off elsewhere in the policy.
Evacuation and repatriation
People search for international health insurance with repatriation, and it is two benefits. Medical evacuation moves you to the nearest place that can treat you adequately when the local hospital cannot, which matters most where private healthcare is limited. Repatriation brings you home, to the UK or to your country of nationality, for treatment, and plans that include it usually cover repatriation of remains too. On some plans the pair is in the core, on others it is a module, and on the cheapest tiers it may not be available. Ask who decides that you are moved, whether the destination is the nearest adequate hospital or home, whether a companion's travel is paid, and whether you are returned to your country of residence afterwards.
The modules sit around that. Dental, maternity, routine health checks and wellness, and on some plans mental health and vision, are each sold as an option or as part of a higher tier, and dental and maternity commonly carry a waiting period before you can claim. Chronic conditions are where many international plans are more generous than a UK policy: a condition diagnosed after you join is often covered on an ongoing basis, where a UK policy would stop at the acute phase. A condition you already have goes through underwriting, which the cost page covers.
How a claim is paid: the excess and co-payment, in insurers' words
How international medical insurance works at the point of claim: most plans ask you to have in-patient treatment pre-authorised and then settle the hospital's bill directly, while out-patient costs are more often paid by you and claimed back in the policy's currency, which is why plans are written in sterling, dollars or euros. What you pay yourself is set by the excess, which international insurers tend to call a deductible, and by any co-payment. We hold no international wording on either, but the UK clauses we hold show the mechanics, and the mechanics transfer.
| Mechanism | What a UK policy's wording says (all read 4 September 2026) | The question for an international plan |
|---|---|---|
| Excess levels | "Excess options £100 Benefits covered under this policy will be subject to an excess payable for each member every policy year. £200 £500 £1,000 £3,000 £5,000" — Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (April 2025 issue), page 11 | Which deductible levels are offered, and is it per member? |
| Once a year, not once a claim | "Helen has some physiotherapy which costs £250. We pay Helen's physiotherapist £150 and we'll let Helen know that she needs to pay the physiotherapist £100 (which is the policy excess). If Helen needs other treatment during the policy year, she doesn't need to pay another excess." — Bupa, Bupa By You policy guide (BINS 14718, 2024), page 10 | Is the deductible per policy year or per claim? |
| Who you pay | "If this policy does have an excess, we will deduct this amount from the first valid invoice we receive and from any subsequent valid invoices until the excess has been fully applied. We will tell you when we have done this and you will then need to pay the excess amount to the relevant provider." — Freedom Health Insurance, Freedom Elite Policyholder's Guide to Cover (April 2025), page 31 | Do I pay the hospital or the insurer, and in which currency? |
| What the excess does not touch | "If you have a Direct Access phone or video assessment you won't need to pay an excess for it and the cost won't be subtracted from your outpatient benefit allowance (if either of these apply to your policy)." — Bupa, Bupa By You policy guide (BINS 14718, 2024), page 7 | Which services, such as a remote GP, sit outside the deductible and the out-patient limit? |
| Co-payment | "Where an excess is chosen, you must pay your excess for eligible treatment up to your chosen level per Policy year before we provide benefit. Where Shared Responsibility (co-payment) has been selected, you must pay 25% of claims for eligible treatment up to your chosen level of Shared Responsibility." — WPA, Complete Health Insurance Product Information Document (November 2025), page 2 | Is there co-insurance, at what percentage, and with what ceiling? |
The last column is the point. A deductible charged once a policy year and a co-payment with a ceiling are survivable in a bad year. A deductible charged per claim, or a percentage with no ceiling in a country where a hospital bill is large, are not, and a benefit table will not always say which you are looking at. Ask in writing, then take the answers to a broker: the form on this page reaches one who can set the same deductible and co-payment across several international insurers and show you the plans side by side, at no cost to you.
Common questions
Can I get international health insurance?
If you are moving abroad or already live abroad, usually yes. Insurers ask for a country of residence and the area you want covered, some set an upper age for new members, and an existing condition goes through underwriting, which more often means an exclusion than a refusal.
Does international health insurance cover me in the UK?
On most plans the UK sits inside the area of cover, so you can be treated here privately on a visit home, but some plans limit the days a year you can spend in your home country, so ask rather than assume. Whether the NHS will still treat you is a separate matter, and the cost page deals with it.
Is there international health insurance for digital nomads and remote workers?
There are plans written for people with no fixed country, and there are ordinary international plans that will not be written without a country of residence. Which you are offered depends on how you describe your situation, so say plainly that you move between countries, and check how the plan treats time back in the UK.
Can I get international health insurance for Europe only?
Yes. Europe is one of the regional areas of cover most international insurers offer, and it is a smaller area than worldwide. Check what happens on a trip outside the area, because some plans give limited emergency cover elsewhere and some give none.
How much is Bupa, AXA or Aviva international health insurance?
We hold no premium data for any insurer and will not invent a figure. The documents quoted on this page are UK domestic policies, and the Aviva one says it does not pay for treatment outside the UK at all; Bupa Global and AXA Global Healthcare sell international cover as separate businesses on terms we have not read, as does MSH International, an international specialist that also appears in the searches behind this page. The reliable price is a quote for your own circumstances.
Is there an international health insurance calculator?
Not one worth trusting. The price depends on your country of residence, the area of cover, the layers you choose, the deductible and your medical history, and a calculator that does not ask for all of those is guessing. Insurers' online quote tools ask for them one insurer at a time; a broker asks once and prices several.
What does a cheap international health insurance plan leave out?
Usually everything except the in-patient core: no out-patient consultations or scans, no evacuation or repatriation, no dental or maternity, a large deductible and often a regional rather than worldwide area. Whether that is enough depends on where you will live and what local healthcare costs there, and the gap usually shows up at the first out-patient referral.
The next step is a quote for your own move. Fill in the form on this page, say where you are going and which layers you want, and a broker will come back to you with cover compared across several international insurers. It takes a few minutes and costs nothing to ask.