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I am a British national but have been living abroad with my family for the last 6 years. I plan to travel back the the UK for a holiday next week, however, I have been having difficulty finding a travel insurance plan that will cover a British person having a holiday in the UK where the trip starts from outside the UK.

All the policies I look at say the trip must start and end in the UK. Most policies will only cover me if the trip is to a country other than the UK. Does anyone know of an insurance plan that will match with my travel?

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  • You should probably edit your question to specify your country of residence, since this makes a difference. (I was about to suggest europesuretravelinsurance.com until I checked your profile and saw you're outside the EEA.) – Pont Feb 28 '17 at 15:46
  • My country of residence wasn't relevant at the time of writing the question. The insurance company websites I was trying to use didn't ask where I resided. The restricting factor was not where I resided, but rather that the start country and end country of the trip must match my nationality. Things have moved on somewhat since this question was posted 5 years ago. Following the link you posted, I found a related website at www.imgeurope.co.uk which does provide insurance for such complex travel plans. – Rincewind42 Mar 2 '17 at 10:08
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I had similar insurance issues but within different countries (I work in one country and live in another) This seems to freak out insurers. I found a solution in American Express. In my case it was sufficient to take the Amex Gold Flying Blue credit card to get insured. The annual fee is quite high, but if you consider the additional "free" travel insurance, it is okay.

I explicitly asked the salesman if my status of a border work would make my insurance invalid, which is the case with many other competitors. His response was that American Express is an international brand, so they have experience with this.

You might also want to check other credit card companies, to see if they might have that addition in your country of residence.

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    Credit cards do often offer travel insurance, usually on the condition that you purchase the travel with that card. Since I've already bought my flights and hotel, it's to late for me. I think though I'd be sceptical of anything the salesman says. I doubt he's read the insurance policy small print. Plenty insurance company salesmen will happily take my money for policies on which I can never claim. – Rincewind42 Jul 4 '12 at 0:52
  • I share your skepticism regarding salesmen, that is why I double checked the small print. In their small print AMEX explicitly states: "Met de Flying Blue - American Express Gold Card gaat uw altijd volledig verzekerd op reis. Of u nu betaald heeft met de kaart of niet.", which is dutch for "With Amex you are always traveling insured, whether or not you paid with the card" – user141 Jul 4 '12 at 5:54
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The fact that you say "the trip must start and end in the UK" makes me think you are looking at British insurers. Instead you should look at insurers in your country of residence. I'm a British Citizen living in Canada and I have had no trouble finding insurance to go to Britain. Most insurers don't care about your citizenship, just your residence (unless your citizenship gets you coverage of course, which it doesn't in this case).

If you are living in the EEA then you may be covered, or you may be able to get it cheap. Anywhere else they will happily sell you insurance just like a local citizen.

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  • I wasn't particularly looking at UK insurers. I was using whatever websites came up when I Googled "travel insurance". As it happens, I live in China and, at that time, the local insurance companies refused point blank to have anything to do with a foreigner. Language barriers might also make it difficult to buy insurance policies, make a claim or receive assistance if needed. – Rincewind42 Mar 2 '17 at 10:28
  • Where are you getting insurance for your home, car etc in China? – DJClayworth Mar 2 '17 at 13:22
  • The house is in my wife's name. She is Chinese. The car, likewise, is in her name and is insured for any driver. Health insurance is through our employers. – Rincewind42 Mar 3 '17 at 1:03

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