SafetyWing Travel Insurance: What it Covers (& what it Doesn’t)

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SafetyWing travel insurance is becoming a well-known brand in the travel community, and although they operate slightly differently from other insurance brands I’ve used before, I had a positive experience during my time using them.

But what exactly does SafetyWing cover in its policies for travel insurance to help keep users safe? After using them for the duration of my time in Japan, I want to share the coverage list and how some of their policies work to help you be best prepared when deciding if it’s right for you.

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What SafetyWing Actually Covers (and What it Doesn’t)

On paper, SafetyWing looks like it covers a lot. And to be fair, compared to many budget travel insurance options, it actually does.

But this is where most people go wrong: they skim the headline benefits and assume they’re fully covered for anything that could happen. That’s unfortunately not how this works.

SafetyWing is designed for unexpected emergencies while you’re travelling, not ongoing healthcare, long-term treatment, or anything routine. Once you understand that, everything else makes a lot more sense.

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SafetyWing Travel Insurance: Emergency Medical Coverage

SafetyWing covers unexpected illness and injury. That includes things like:

• Hospital treatment (inpatient and outpatient visits)
• Emergency care and getting a diagnosis
• Prescribed medication
• Medical evacuation (if needed)

This is the part of SafetyWing insurance polices that actually matters most on your end, as the traveller. If something goes wrong, you want to know you’re not stuck choosing between your health and your bank account.

From my own experience, this is exactly where SafetyWing did what it’s supposed to do. I had a torn tendon and a fractured foot (at the same time), needed multiple trips back to the hospital, lots of scans, and had a few months’ worth of weekly physiotherapy appointments that followed. The costs were 70% reimbursed (only due to a misunderstanding on my end, rather than the insurance company), and it was clearly explained to me what was and wasn’t paid for.

But it only worked because my situation clearly fell under “unexpected emergency treatment” as a broken foot and torn tendon, neither of which was ideal.

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Travel Coverage (What’s covered beyond medical)

This is the surprising extra layer that many people often overlook. SafetyWing also includes some basic travel-related coverage, although it isn’t the primary policy purpose. These include:

• Delayed transport
• Lost checked luggage
• Stolen passport or travel documents
• Emergency return home (trip interruption)
• Natural disaster evacuation

It’s not as extensive as premium travel insurance policies by any means, but it covers the kind of situations that actually happen to backpackers.

Please note: There is a lifetime limit of $100,000 USD that one individual can be reimbursed by SafetyWing in their lifetime

It’s not as comprehensive as premium providers, but it does cover the situations that realistically happen while travelling. The primary focus is medical coverage – don’t forget that. One way I like to think of it regarding the travel coverage is that the policy offers some backup protection, not the main reason for purchasing a policy.

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Where People Get Caught Out – This is Important

Although the health and medical aspect is the main reason people get SafetyWing travel insurance, I need to make a few things clear before you make your final decision:

SafetyWing does not offer a fully comprehensive travel insurance plan.

This isn’t designed for:

• Chronic conditions that you had before taking out a policy
• Long-term ongoing treatment
• Routine checkups (Dr’s, dentists, etc.)
• Preventative care

If you’re looking for long-term health coverage, this isn’t it.

Pre-existing conditions are not covered

At best, you may be fortunate enough if you get emergency stabilisation in a crisis, but anything relating to an ongoing or chronic condition is unfortunately not covered.

If you happen to have a condition that requires ongoing treatment, SafetyWing travel insurance likely isn’t the right option for you, and you’d be better off finding an insurer that does cover pre-existing conditions. They do exist, they’re often just more expensive and comprehensive.

The 72-Hour Rule

So this rule is actually pretty standard across the board, at least for various travel insurance companies that I have bought from. If something happens within the first 72-hours (3 days) of your policy starting, you won’t be covered.

So no, you can’t wait until you’re already injured or sick to buy travel insurance because SafetyWing will not approve any claims in this situation.

You Pay First, Then Claim Funds Back

In most cases, you’ll need to:

• Pay upfront all costs
• Submit your documents to the claims team
• Wait for reimbursement of the costs on invoices

This is exactly what I did, and it worked smoothly, but this can be challenging if you don’t have the disposable cash to begin with. This is why I always advocate for having a separate savings fund during your travels, away from your general spending, so you always have some accessible money in case something happens.

There’s a $100,000 USD lifetime limit

For most backpackers with the occasional sickness or injury, this is perfectly fine and more than enough.

However, if you are worried about extreme worst-case scenarios, it’s something to be aware of. The combined total of my 2 claims (same injury, but claims separated by the different treatment centres needed) came to 251,792 JPY, which was around £1,167 at the time. I was reimbursed the equivalent of £824.08.

Now, I was actually quite lucky because healthcare costs in Japan are relatively low, and the treatment was fantastic, so for a torn tendon and a fractured foot, it only cost me a little over £1,100 for all treatment (this was while I was a tourist, before I moved onto a Japanese working holiday visa). I needed no surgeries or any specialist treatment beyond general physiotherapy.

Now, if I had had a more severe injury or sickness that required multiple nights as a patient staying in the hospital, or if I’d needed surgery of some kid, the cost could have mounted up much more quickly. Japan still likely wouldn’t have been astronomical cost-wise, but if you need ambulance rides, helicopter evacuations or any form of repatriation, these costs can climb, and you may end up using your entire cost limit on one situation.

The United States is Not Included By Default

It is well-known that the USA is significantly more expensive than any other country in the world when it comes to healthcare. So, understandably, the insurance plans that include the US are going to be much more expensive to cover people. In the case of SafetyWing, you CAN get coverage for the USA, it just isn’t included automatically.

If you are planning to travel to the United States:

• You’ll need to pay extra coverage premiums
• There will be additional deductibles

Although I agree it’s frustrating to add such a large difference to insurance plans simply due to adding one country to your itinerary, given how expensive healthcare is there, this isn’t something you’d want to overlook. Insurance (in 95% of cases) is still the best solution for sickness and injury in the USA.

Coverage in Your Home Country is Limited

Considering insurance plans through SafetyWing is to support long-term travellers and digital nomads; its goal is to protect you while you’re outside your home country. Whether constantly on the move or travelling slowly, their policy can help you. That being said, they are a “travel” insurance provider that takes into consideration that anything can happen – even while you’re away.

It allows some limited coverage when visiting home, including having to return home for emergencies, deaths or anything else of a serious nature. You can even get treatment yourself at home, but it’s very restricted, and if you stay too long, your coverage stops completely.

Brits are generally very fortunate that there are usually no costs related to treatment on the NHS, so although we may need insurance to help us GET home in an emergency, any personal treatment while AT home generally shouldn’t require insurance. Other nationalities may have different situations that I cannot speak to.

If this happens, it is easy to restart the 28-day rolling plan when you get ready to go overseas again.

Mental Health is Not Included

At all. I wish that weren’t the case, as many people assume it’s included, but it is one of the treatment types that isn’t covered, unfortunately.

If you are having any negative mental health situations, I’d advise talking to someone as soon as you can, loved ones, friends, or if all else fails, researching online for mental health services locally. You’ll have to pay out of pocket where applicable, but it’s better than not getting any help at all.

You Must Submit Claims on Time

You’ve got a 60-day window from the day your SafetyWing insurance coverage ends to submit claims. If you miss this deadline, even by one day, you are out of luck.

I’d always recommend getting your claims in as soon as possible.

If you are ever in doubt, the live chat feature or email contact is both quick at responding (within 2 business days), and the team should be able to advise when to submit.

In my situation, I had two claims relating to the same injury in Japan. I was going to submit it as one claim, but I was advised to split the invoices into the two locations where I had treatment (the initial hospital that diagnosed me, followed by the physiotherapy outpatient clinic). I wouldn’t have considered doing this had the team not instructed me.

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So, What Does This Actually Mean For Those Using SafetyWing Travel Insurance

By now, you’ve hopefully realised that SafetyWing travel insurance isn’t trying to be everything. It’s not fully comprehensive, and it’s definitely not designed for routine treatment, ongoing conditions, long-term health care, or every possible scenario that may or may not happen on a trip.

SafetyWing covers the things that are most likely to go wrong. But it’s not a safety net for everything. The key difference between a smooth claim and a denied one usually comes down to one thing:

Whether you understood the limits and coverage before you bought it, but that’s the same with most insurance companies, not just SafetyWing

So, if you’re travelling long-term and want something flexible, with low costs, that covers real emergencies, SafetyWing travel insurance is a sure contender that works quite well. It works properly when those using it fully understand what is included. It’s a real business just trying to fill the gap where long-term travellers have struggled in the past.

If you’d like to take a look at the policy wording in a little more detail before committing to purchasing global medical insurance plans for travel, you can check the SafetyWing policies on their site.

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Before You Buy, One Last Thing

Coverage is only part of the decision. The real question isn’t just: what does SafetyWing cover? It’s: Does this insurance policy work with my travel style?

For some people, including me and my trip to Japan, this was the perfect insurance policy for the way I was travelling, but for others, it’s not even close to being perfect.

It can be dependent on so many factors, the activities you plan on doing, the places you’re visiting and how long you plan to be in each place, that’s why it’s so hard to guarantee this policy is perfect for everyone.

So, if you’d like the full breakdown, you can check out the full breakdown of my SafetyWing experience in my review post. Or, if you’re ready to purchase your first month’s medical coverage, you can head straight to the SafetyWing homepage!