There’s a company called Clements (http://www.clements.com/) from the USA that allows you to insure specific items. You can do it using their expatriate professionals abroad coverage. It’s meant for expats moving abroad, but travellers can also use it. You may have to give them a call to get it worked out.

I hope this helps!

Best,
Matt

Can you give me the name of the theft insurance you ended up going with? I’m having the exact same issue 🙂

Cheers!
Brandy

I have exactly the same sort of issues that I had when looking for insurance for my RTW trip and am more or less in the same situation (except that I have left the UK for less than a year so I am still covered there for now)

I do not know what to do after the first year though.

There is a reason why you usually pay a relatively high part of your salary in social contributions in any country (and why you can benefit from social security, health insurance, etc.). If you want to get the same level of protection, I would expect to have to pay quite a lot too – otherwise you are not covered for all the “expensive stuff” hence the travel policies are cheap…

Let’s say you lose a leg in an adventure in an under-developed country (worst-case scenario – but, heh isn’t it why we take insurances). Local hospital might do a sh**tty job of trying to fix it. You get repatriated home and all the costs pertaining to hospital, operations to fix it, rehab, etc. fall onto you. Not an attractive proposition.

The main difference between the standard health coverage in a home country and while traveling on a long-term basis seems to be that in the latter case the contributions are “voluntary” making it somehow harder to “swallow” than in the former case where social contributions are automatically deducted from your income.

Thanks for posting this article anyway – good resource on the link to that broker.

Jezza

PS: I am actually going to be in Taiwan next month (and found your site looking for info on kitesurfing) – would you have any recommendations on good spots to learn on the East coast?

Hey Jezza,

I understand your reasoning about health care prices, but I have to disagree with your logic. In Canada full coverage under our Medical Services Plan would cost me $60 CAN per month–slightly more than I now pay for travel insurance.

It is true that that cost is subsidized by taxes. However, I would have no problem paying Canadian taxes on my income if I were eligible for health care there (I currently have non-resident status and don’t pay taxes, but even if I declared residency and paid taxes I would still not be eligible for health care). I looked into this option while in Canada last summer, and even petitioned to challenge the legislation that prevented me from being covered, but was unsuccessful.

So, I have definitely considered the full cost of national health care as compared to expatriate insurance and travel insurance. The truth is that expatriate insurance is simply more expensive. This is not surprising. Private insurance is nearly always more expensive that public because the former must operate with a profit margin while the latter is able to break even or even absorb regular losses.

Brokerfish is very useful, though, if you are looking for good expat health insurance. It was definitely the best resource that I found.

As for kitesurfing, I’m afraid that I don’t know of any place on the east coast with an English-speaking instructor. I’ve heard that there is a club in Taipei with a lot of members. It’s likely you could find lessons there.

The teacher mentioned in the article you read now lives in Taichung. I’m not sure if he’s currently teaching, but he’s a very helpful guy. His contact info should still be correct. I would recommend asking him.

Cheers!
Matt