As full-time travelers we understand the importance of having travel insurance – and now we have been through the World Nomads travel insurance claims process a couple times.
Once for emergency medical coverage, and once for stolen property coverage.
On the whole we have had successful claims through our World Nomads travel insurance coverage and were paid exactly as spelled out in the terms of our coverage.
But we thought it would be helpful to share our real-life experiences with the Word Nomads Insurance claims process.
Table of contents
Our Travel Insurance Library
If you haven’t already, you can catch up on our thoughts and experiences with travel insurance as well as health insurance for travelers, especially frequent or full-time travelers:
- Travel Health Insurance for Americans – and Other Nationalities Too! where we explain in detail why we firmly believe that all travelers, but especially frequent or long-term travelers, should carry both health insurance AND travel medical insurance. And our experiences with selecting health and travel insurance.
- World Nomads Travel Medical Insurance where we describe in detail the costs and benefits of carrying World Nomads travel insurance.
- SafetyWing Travel Medical Insurance where we describe in detail the costs and benefits of carrying SafetyWing travel insurance.
- Self Insured Cash Option Travel Health Insurance for Americans – and Others where we describe the pros and cons of being self-insured and using cash for travel emergencies – and why we ultimately think it’s a bad idea.
- Choosing Between World Nomads or SafetyWing Travel Medical Insurance where we provide a side-by-side comparison of World Nomads and SafetyWing and explain why we ultimately went with World Nomads.
Lisa’s London Emergency Medical World Nomads Claim
Our first claim with World Nomads started in November 2019 when we were in London, England where we had invited a huge number of friends to come celebrate my birthday with us.
In the run-up to my birthday we visited the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour.
Lisa had been experiencing some pain in what she thought was her sinus. But halfway through the tour the pain became so intense she couldn’t carry on and had to sit.
Then her face became massively swollen.
Assuming she had some nasty infection she saw a maxillofacial specialist. And she was right. She had an abscess that required immediate surgery.
She was admitted to a hospital and had a successful surgery. So successful that she was better in time for my birthday celebration!
But the surgeon wanted her to have a couple of follow-up appointments to make sure she healed correctly…which meant extending our visit to London a few weeks and canceling our plans to move on to Venice.
Both of which incurred unexpected costs.
Once Lisa healed up we moved on from London to Sheffield to visit friends. So she started her World Nomads travel insurance claim.
She was instructed to follow this 2-step process:
1. Gather your documents
We require receipts, invoices or other proof of payment for the following expenses:
- Medical/Dental
- Medical provider visit and antibiotic
- Proof of Travel – Evidence of your departure and return dates to your country of residence (e.g. Itinerary, eTickets, Boarding passes)
- Credit Card Statement(s) – Relevant Credit Card Statement(s) if you used your credit card to purchase your travel arrangements (e.g. Flights, accommodation)
- Treating Practitioner’s Report – Medical Report from the practitioner who treated you. This is needed to confirm your diagnosis and treatment.
- Medical Certificate from GP – to be completed by regular/family GP of person who was unwell.
- Attending Physician’s Statement – Attending Physician’s Statement (APS)
2. Upload your documents
- Sign in to your World Nomads membership page to upload your documents and submit your claim.
- You can take photos of paper documents or send PDFs. You should keep all original documents, just in case the claims team needs to see them.
The Claims Process
Seemed simple enough! Or so we thought…
She gathered documentation and submitted them on December 4.
On January 7 they let her know that she had not submitted all the required documents. So she found and submitted those.
On February 13 they told us that there were still some documents required. Which we submitted immediately.
A month later the COVID pandemic and lockdowns hit. World Nomads let us know that claims processing would be delayed. Understandable under the circumstances. After all, the entire world screeched to a halt.
Finally, on April 9 we received $2,645.33 for the surgery. And then on May 20 we received $984.31 for the trip interruption (canceled flight, canceled rental car, and our Airbnbs in London during the surgery follow-up period).
So we eventually had a very successful emergency medical claims experience with World Nomads. But it took tenacity, attention to detail, as well as time and patience to get paid.
The Big Cyprus Burglary World Nomads Claim
In October of 2021 we attended a Nomadbase Live Event in Paphos, Cyprus.
It was an amazing week of connecting and re-connecting with other nomads from all over the world.
On our last night we packed our carry-on bags, locked up, and set our alarm for our onward journey. Our flat was on the ground floor and only had AC in the bedroom, so we closed the bedroom door, cranked the AC and slept soundly.
When we woke the first thing we noticed was that our things had been rearranged. Our laptop backpacks, which had been packed and on the floor, were sitting open on the sofa.
Then we saw that a window and the wooden shutters, which had been closed and locked, were open. And broken.
We had been burglarized. While we slept in the next room!
It was the most traumatic experience of our travel lives thinking what might have happened if one of us woke up and confronted the burglars.
We called the police who came and dusted for fingerprints and DNA, took photos, and made a police report. They told us it was unlikely that the items would be recovered but they would contact us if they were.
What Was Taken
In all, the burglars got away with both our laptops, a bunch of cash, Matt’s Air Pods, and Lisa’s earrings, Louis Vuitton wallet, and scarf.
Luckily, they left Lisa’s passport and all her credit cards (by a massive stroke of luck, Matt’s travel wallet was in the bedroom with us!). Apparently they didn’t want anything that was identifiable back to their victims.
And of course our phones had been beside our beds charging so we still had those. In fact, one thing we learned from this terrible night is that all we REALLY need to travel is our phones and our passports.
By the time the police were done with their investigation we had to finish packing what the thieves had left and head to our next destination in North Cyprus. We spent the entire bus ride changing all the passwords stored on our laptops using our iPhones.
The Claims Process
We had to wait for the police report to file a claim. And Cyprus police wouldn’t provide us with a copy – the insurance would have to call them directly. So they suggested we wait a few weeks.
So we did.
Documentation
Once we went to file in early December, the claims process was similar to our medical emergency claim: lots of documentation.
- Gather your documents
We require receipts, invoices or other proof of payment for the following expenses:
- Luggage and Personal Effects
- Dell Inspiron laptop
- Dell Latitude laptop
- Chanel Sunglasses
- Burberry Sunglasses
- Louis Vuitton Wallet
- Apple Air Pods
- Cash
- 3 pair earrings
We also require the following documents regarding your trip:
- Proof of Travel – Evidence of your departure and return dates to your country of residence (e.g. Itinerary, eTickets, Boarding passes)
- Credit Card Statement(s) – Relevant Credit Card Statement(s) if you used your credit card to purchase your travel arrangements (e.g. Flights, accommodation)
Plus the following documents regarding your claim:
- Police Report – Police Report confirming the theft
- Report or event description from responsible party – Report or event description from responsible party
- Upload your documents
Sign in to your World Nomads membership page to upload your documents and submit your claim.
You can take photos of paper documents or send PDFs. You should keep all original documents, just in case the claims team needs to see them.
The Results
We were much better about getting all the right documents to them this time, filing the claim on December 11.
They sent a couple notifications over the next few weeks that they were processing the claim – but that it would possibly be delayed due to COVID.
On January 31 we received our explanation of benefits and benefit checks.
This was a good lesson to us about fully understanding travel insurance coverage.
Take a look at Lisa’s explanation of benefits:
We’ve highlighted several important provisions.
- There is a per item limit of $500 and a depreciation schedule. So they depreciated Lisa’s laptop 10% and then only covered up to $500 anyway.
- They exclude sunglasses and cash. So Lisa’s Chanel and Matt’s Burberry glasses were excluded, as was the cash that had been in Lisa’s travel wallet.
- There is a maximum benefit of $1,000 – which, after all the exclusions, Lisa’s losses did not meet anyway.
- They pay interest on the value of the benefit from the end of the promised processing period.
Here’s Matt’s EOB:
We realistically estimate that the burglars took about $3,000 worth of our stuff and cash. Our coverage paid us $1,376.81. So we recovered about 45% of the value.
How Much Does World Nomads Cost?
Wondering what it would cost you to buy World Nomads travel insurance? Find out using this quote generator:
Bottom Line – Our Experiences with World Nomads Travel Insurance Claims Process
Overall we are satisfied with our World Nomads travel insurance coverage and claims process.
It’s not perfect. Especially during COVID, the processing times were long – although interest is paid on benefits after the promised processing period is passed.
As with any insurance claim, there is a lot of documentation that has to be provided. And it has to be the right documentation in the correct format with all required information.
Of course, it’s critical that you read the policy terms so you understand exactly what is covered and for how much.
We continue to buy World Nomads insurance for our travels and happily recommend it to fellow travelers. But we do also encourage travelers to see if Safety Wing travel insurance is right for them, and often tell people to check out our side-by-side comparison.
Whichever you choose, we strongly believe that travel insurance is a great idea for extended or full time travelers. You just never know when things will go wrong.
Here’s a link where you can check out World Nomads travel insurance for yourself.
We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
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