Work & Witness leaders on the Asia-Pacific Region prepared the following information about travel insurance:

As you prepare to take your team on mission, we would like to remind you to consider the insurance issues. A quick review of almost any nightly news program will remind you of the importance of having a good travel insurance policy.  We have had a couple situations in the past few months where team leaders, who have been rightfully thinking ahead, have purchased travel insurance at the same time that they purchased their airline tickets, availing themselves of the convenience of covering the bases all at once with just a click.

Please read below before you click on that travel insurance!

Work & Witness and short-term missions experiences are a bit different from the typical overseas tourist travel itinerary. By nature of the work that you are doing and the countries in which you are doing this work, there is the potential for increased exposure. These are exposures that are often times not covered by the typical travel insurance policy, or if they are covered, not at a level we have deemed is appropriate based on past experiences.

We recently compared a popular travel insurance plan against the Church of the Nazarene’s negotiated Work & Witness insurance. Here are our findings:   

If you’ve visited a doctor or emergency room lately, you will recognize that the accident and sickness coverage of $5,000 is very minimal. This could easily be fully utilized in just one day/visit.

As a commercial pilot with several years in the industry, the emergency and medical evacuation amount of $15,000 is a good start, but if you’re having to charter an emergency flight from a foreign nation to your home nation, you might truly be wishing for more coverage.

The security evacuation is there to protect you in the event that political conditions change drastically in the country of your visit, requiring an early or unexpected departure — and is required for participation in international Work & Witness projects. The international liability is also a required component of international Work & Witness teams.

Teams purchasing insurance from outside organizations are responsible for all aspects of any claim and may find themselves having to deal with required upfront payments on their own, which can sometimes be substantial. When purchasing through the Global Mission Mobilization office, the team can be assured of assistance with upfront funding issues as well as advocacy for reimbursement of claims and related issues.

In recent cases, we have had to ask the teams that have already purchased travel insurance through a common travel provider to purchase an additional policy, which results in increased expenses.

Things are continually changing in today's world. Please contact the Work & Witness office to confirm the current insurance situation before you purchase any insurance.

--Todd Aebischer for Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific Region