When a death happens abroad and there is no obvious travel insurance policy, families sometimes assume there is no cover at all. That is not always true. Travel cover is often included, quietly, as a benefit of premium credit cards and packaged bank accounts, and it can sometimes help with repatriation. It is worth checking before concluding that no insurance applies.
Where this cover hides
Many premium or paid-for credit cards include travel insurance as one of their benefits, and the same is true of packaged bank accounts, the kind that charge a monthly fee in return for a bundle of extras. This travel cover can, depending on the terms, include cover for medical emergencies abroad and sometimes repatriation of remains.
The reason families miss it is that the cover is not described in the everyday account paperwork. It sits in a separate insurance benefits document, and people rarely read it unless they need to. So a person who died abroad with no standalone travel policy may still have had cover through a card or account they held for entirely unrelated reasons.
How to check
The practical step is to look at the credit cards and bank accounts the person held and find out whether any included travel cover. The benefits documentation will say, but if it cannot be found, the card or bank provider can confirm directly whether travel insurance was part of the product and how a claim is made.
It is worth checking every card and account, not just the obvious one, because the cover might sit with a card the person used rarely. Our guide to whether travel insurance covers repatriation of remains explains what to look for in the wording once you find a policy.
Conditions that decide whether it responds
Cover included with a card or account is usually conditional, and these conditions are what determine whether it actually pays. Common ones include a requirement that the trip was paid for using the card, age limits, limits on trip length, and pre-existing condition rules much like a standalone policy. Cover may also extend only to the account holder and specific family members.
These conditions are not unusual or unfair, but they have to be met for the cover to respond. This is why finding the benefit is only the first step; the next is checking whether its conditions were satisfied in this particular case.
Engage it the same way as any policy
If you find travel cover through a card or account, treat it like any other travel policy. There will be an emergency assistance line, and it should be contacted before arrangements are committed to, for the same reasons explained in our guide to how the insurer’s assistance company coordinates repatriation. Acting first and claiming later can reduce what is paid.
What this means for a family
Before concluding that there is no insurance, check the cards and accounts the person held. Travel cover bundled with a premium card or packaged account is easy to overlook and can sometimes make a real difference. Find the benefits document, check the conditions, and engage the assistance line properly.
If you are not sure whether any cover existed or how to check, contact us at any hour. We will help you look in the right places and engage any cover correctly, and we will keep the repatriation moving whatever the outcome.