A key trend emanating from the pandemic was the emergence of the digital nomad reflecting that in the third decade of the 21st century, talent is increasingly globally mobile.
And in order to win that war for talent, the international private medical insurance (IPMI) market has upped its game in order to meet the needs of these workers.
But what of international risk benefits? It follows that expats need protection cover just as much as IPMI should they fall out of work due to illness or to ensure their loved ones are taken care of should they pass away on international assignment.
Though while the need is clearly there, whether expats can get affordable cover, or can even secure cover at all, can depend on where in the world that expat is being sent.
Demand increasing
“Demand is rising for whole-programme international benefits, not just medical, but group life, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), long-term disability, business travel accident, and risk wrap solutions that coordinate with local statutory benefits and global policies,” Joe Cronin, president at International Citizens Insurance, tells Health & Protection, who adds more employers are formalising global minimum standards.
“This includes life cover and other core protections rather than letting benefits vary widely by country.
“One WTW global survey found that employers with a global minimum standard rose from 36% (2019) to 70%,” Cronin continues.
And the global mobility genie is not being put back into the bottle anytime soon.
“Mobility isn’t going away,” Cronin explains. “Even amid cost pressures and geopolitical uncertainty, 80%+ of employers plan to maintain or increase the number of international assignees over the next 12 months, keeping demand strong for group risk solutions that follow people across borders.”
War for talent
In terms of what is driving that demand, Cronin points to three key trends.
“Rising medical costs and uncertainty are forcing benefits leaders to tighten governance and manage people’s risk more deliberately,” Cronin explains.
“Duty of care and wellbeing expectations mean companies are balancing cost control with physical and mental wellness and duty of care for globally mobile employees.
“With the competition for talent, in tight talent markets, benefits are used to recruit and retain, especially for globally mobile and hard-to-hire roles.
“This ties directly to the push for global minimum standards.”
For Laurent Lacroix, head of international PMI partnership sales at Axa, protection benefits are proving critical differentiators in competitive global labour markets amid sustained cross-border workforce movement.
Regulatory complexity
But Lacroix adds regulatory complexity is also at play here.
“There’s a growing compliance burden across jurisdictions – employment law, tax, social security coordination – encouraging centralised oversight of group risk benefits,” he says.
“Amid economic uncertainty and risk awareness there are periods of volatility that reinforce employer focus on mortality and income protection solutions.”
Long-term disability demand
According to Lacroix, multinational employers are also increasingly moving away from fragmented local life policies towards globally coordinated frameworks with harmonised minimum standards and central governance.
“There is a growing emphasis on bundling core protection benefits, including group life, long-term disability (LTD) and personal accident, within structured multinational programmes,” he continues.
“Employers are seeking greater consistency in their employee-value proposition across geographies, particularly for internationally mobile and senior populations.
“The objective is less about systematically increasing benefit multiples and more about achieving global consistency, transparency and funding efficiency.”
Tax planning
A further concern for these more senior populations is the wealth transfer to the next generation.
Victor Ioannides, managing director at Nicos Rossos in Cyprus, tells Health & Protection: “We see demand for life insurance products, and lots of this demand comes from tax planning reasons.
“A lot of people use life insurance cover to transfer wealth to the next generation. We also see demand for life products stemming from the need for loans and mortgages, where banks tend to request term-life products for the period of the loan.
“We don’t have too much demand for income protection and critical illness at the moment.
“Much more for health products I would say, both in group and individual. Of course that might be due to our specialisation in this area and the type of clients we seem to attract.”
Seeking cover for dependants
But some expats want cover to take care of older generations, as Dr Sheun Oke, managing partner and CEO at Emergenzz Financial Services, explains.
“Another thing is an issue for expats, is some are here and have aged parents at home,” Oke says.
“There is not a lot of cover for parents if they don’t live in the UK,” Oke adds.
“There are not a lot of providers – only one or two providers I know who have stepped into the niche so you can pay for cover in case something happens to your parents back home.”
Cost concerns
But cost is equally of concern to these expats, Oke continues.
“I think a lot of expats want income protection,” Oke says.
“So a lot of people think, in my country I’ve got something, but I’m here now and it’s a different ball game.
“They need to be financially prepared for their family and aside from that, a lot of expats when they come to the UK, are still converting from their local currency in the first few months.
“So when they convert, say, £100 is 200,000 Nigerian Naira, and they say, I’ll be paying this every month.
“So a lot of the time they’re looking at the cost and they think this is expensive compared to where I have come from.”
Expensive overseas policies
But these costs can equally be an eye-opener for Brits taking on an international assignment.
Chantal Leprêtre, client adviser at SIP Medical Family Office, tells Health & Protection: “We’ve had some partners reach out to us to get quotes from clients leaving the UK and moving to Europe, but the international market, especially for clients looking for term assurance, the international policies are so much more expensive than domestic UK policies.
“And so for some of our partners and their clients who are used to the premiums etc and the cover on a UK life insurance, feel the international prices can be quite hard to swallow.”
Securing cover
Although securing cover can be difficult depending on where in the world expats are sent. Karla Edwards, owner of the Protection Parent, who has relocated to Dubai, maintains that securing protection cover has proven a “living nightmare”.
Edwards tells Health & Protection: “Even though the UK market is not where it should be, Dubai is stuck in the 1980s.
“The private medical side of things is a lot more advanced because that’s a massive market in Dubai and it’s more accessible.
Demand will keep growing
All this means providers have a challenge on their hands to meet the demand for this most valued cover which shows no signs of abating.
Lacroix says: “Based on economic outlooks and current trends, demand for group life and disability protection is expected to keep growing into 2026.
“Key influencing factors include global economic conditions, hiring activity, cost discipline, mobility trend and regulatory developments.
“While budget constraints may limit expansion in some sectors, structural drivers, talent competition, duty of care, and governance rationalisation are expected to sustain demand for internationally coordinated group risk solutions.”