Making sure your staff are fully protected when abroad is vital to successful business ventures and employee wellbeing. As we continue to face a new working trend where travel and work are becoming increasingly entwined, the need for international employee benefits and insurance policies have become even more necessary.
If you’re planning a business trip for your teams, ensuring staff are protected in case something doesn’t go to plan is not to be overlooked. A great starting point when looking into international protection is Business Travel Insurance, taking away unnecessary worry and allowing employees to focus on the job at hand!
We’ve provided an essential guide to Business Travel Insurance, providing everything you need to know to take out the right policies to protect employees and alleviate the strain on HR.
Need FREE no-obligation advice and support from an award-winning broker right now? Contact our team at +44 (0)1273 974419 or click on the bottom right chatbox.
What is Business Travel Insurance?
General group travel insurance provides cover for groups travelling overseas at the same time and offers varying levels of coverage e.g., financial safeguarding for accidents, lost possessions, illnesses, or cancellations. Group Business Travel Insurance offers the same package but can be tailored to meet specific business needs, offering more extensive levels of cover.
The top insurance policies and providers should be offering the following:
- A 24-hour medical helpline for emergencies/initial medical advice
- Ability to help employees find appropriate medical facilities local to them and work with that facility to provide Guarantee of Payment (or confirm with the employee that costs within the facility will be reimbursed)
- Ability to work with the employee, employer, and medical facility to reach the appropriate medical treatment/transportation quickly
How does it work?
Offering Group Business Travel Insurance provides peace-of-mind to everyone involved – employees, HR, and employers. It shows that, as an employer, you are considering every potential situation that could happen and covering it!
Business Travel covers any unexpected medical expense while staff are abroad but does not include pre-existing conditions. Other elements that are included in coverage are:
- Cancellations
- Lost/stolen money
- Medical emergencies
- Possessions/baggage
- Legal fees
To ensure the success of your policy, Business Travel needs to be designed to:
- Tackle potential financial risks
- Always ensure employee wellbeing
- Provide practical support to HR and management
As employee benefits and insurance brokers at Engage Health Group, we aim to help the successful running of international policies. We work with clients to source and manage medically led travel insurance plans. This ensures clients provide the best duty of care for their staff while on work assignments or any short business trips.
*Note: Available for UK domiciled clients only – must be based in the UK looking to travel overseas*
Are you looking to set up the perfect international employee benefits for your global and travelling teams? The team of experts at Engage Health Group are here to talk through your options and provide FREE quotes from across the market. Call +44 (0)1273 974419 or use the bottom right chatbox.
How much does Business Travel cost?
Like so many insurance policies, landing on an exact cost or estimate is virtually impossible! However, when diving into calculations the following factors are the top to look when estimating an overall cost.
- Location travelling to or through
- Time of year
- Scope of coverage
- Age/health profile of employees
- Any limits on claims
- Level of excess (the higher the excess, the lower the premium and visa-versa)
- Level of cancellation cover
- Number of employees included in the scheme (the more included, the lower the cost per-person)
- Cover for a single trip? Or annual multi-trip?
Most policies will also cover various activities, but additional premiums can be paid to include cover for the more hazardous/unusual activities that could be on the travel itinerary.
The benefits to both business and employees
Many employees fall ill or have accidents while overseas which inevitably impacts business without a good policy in place to protect those staff. It will also reduce the impact on HR, preventing them from scrambling to find and navigate local medical pathways, access the right medical treatments, and arrange any other necessary employee support.
Business Travel Insurance also brings many positives to the business and employees:
- Covers multiple employees under a single policy – more efficient to arrange than several individual insurance policies
- The more employees covered, the lower the costs per-person
- Offers free coverage for children under 18 – if younger family members are travelling with them
- More generous in added extras
- Businesses get a choice between single-trip and multi-trip annual coverage – allows businesses to select the best option for the best value
Get advice and support
An important point to remember when it comes to Group Business Travel Insurance is there is always the possibility that a claim will be rejected if it doesn’t meet the terms of agreement and understanding those details that are included in any policy can feel like a daunting task.
Receiving help from an independent and specialist international benefits consultant can easily help you avoid overspending and get you back on the right track towards the best international employee benefits. At Engage Health Group, we help to ensure there are no nasty surprises within the details of your policy and work on your behalf to get the best arrangement to suit the needs of your business and staff.
Our Engage International team have an expansive global reach consisting of partnerships across 50+ countries and territories, making our team of accredited staff ideal for any international insurance or benefits issue.
Call us at +44 (0)1273 974419 or use the contact form in the bottom right. We’ll help setup the best employee benefits and health insurance schemes completely FREE of charge.
