The term expatriate refers to people who work outside their country of origin often for an employer from within their own country. With increasing globalization, more and more people are tending to become expatriates or work overseas on extended term assignments. This can create insecurity both for the person concerned and the family as relocating thousands of miles away can raise concerns about the quality of living, the security considerations and healthcare. A key ingredient in providing reassurance is the appropriate expatriate insurance.

Since, in most of these cases, the employer bears the expenses, the right insurance package is key to recruiting and retaining the right kind of people. Employers should keep the following points in mind:

-the coverage must be designed to provide the maximum benefit in the country in which the employee will be working

-coverage such as war risk, political and medical repatriation is of great importance

-in countries with exchange control or foreign exchange problems, employers must be able to speedily transfer money in local currency to the employee

-since expatriates tend to be well paid, the insurance benefits must match without undue restrictions

Insurance will generally cover the following areas:

Health and dental care: this coverage is of the utmost importance in providing reassurance especially in developing countries where standards of medical infrastructure and healthcare may not be the best. The insurance carrier chosen must have a well established partnership with a worldwide supplier of medical assistance for both routine and emergency situations. The medical assistance provider is the predominant assistance for both employer and employee in health care situations. Very often, these providers will also provide relocation and evacuation assistance.

Life insurance: this is pretty much self explanatory and is designed to protect the family in the case of the death of the employee.

Long-term disability: when an employee is working on a project or in hazardous surroundings, there is always the chance that he can be incapacitated by injury or illness. This cover protects both the employee and the family against the loss of earnings caused by the injury or illness.