International Protection
Protection Insurance Guides
In-depth guides on international life assurance, critical illness, income protection and universal life insurance — covering how policies work, how underwriting differs for expats, tax treatment, and how to choose the right provider.
Underwriting & Medical
How international insurers assess risk — full medical underwriting, moratorium, CPME, and navigating pre-existing conditions.
Medical Underwriting at Renewal: Managing Increasing Premiums on Protection Policies
How reviewable protection policies work at renewal, why premiums increase, and the strategies available to manage premium escalation without losing cover.
Read guide →Medical Underwriting for Expat Insurance: What to Expect
Medical underwriting determines the terms on which an insurer will offer cover. Understanding the process — and what you need to disclose — is essential for expats applying for international life, critical illness or income protection policies.
Read guide →Medical Underwriting for Life and Protection Insurance: A Complete Guide
Understanding what happens during medical underwriting — from the non-medical limit to GP reports to specialist examinations — removes the anxiety from the process and helps you present your application in the best possible light.
Read guide →Moratorium vs Full Medical Underwriting: Which Should Expats Choose?
Moratorium and full medical underwriting are the two principal routes to international protection cover. Each suits different health profiles, and choosing the wrong approach can lead to unexpected claim exclusions or unnecessary declines.
Read guide →Non-Medical Limits and HNW Underwriting: What High-Value Applicants Need to Know
How non-medical underwriting limits work for large life insurance sums, what HNW simplification means, when full medical evidence is required, and how international clients with complex health histories can obtain significant cover.
Read guide →Pre-Existing Conditions and International Health Insurance
How pre-existing medical conditions affect IPMI underwriting, what options exist for those with complex medical histories, and how to navigate exclusions when buying international health insurance.
Read guide →Pre-Existing Conditions and Life Insurance: What You Need to Disclose
Failing to disclose a pre-existing condition can void a life or critical illness policy — even if the claim is for an unrelated condition. Understanding the disclosure duty and using specialist underwriters is essential for anyone with a health history.
Read guide →Protection Insurance for High-Risk Occupations and Activities
Working in a high-risk occupation or pursuing extreme activities does not make you uninsurable — but it changes how insurers price and structure your cover. Understanding how underwriters think is the first step to securing appropriate protection.
Read guide →Claims & Exclusions
Making a claim from abroad — documentation and apostilles, probate delays, policy exclusions, non-disclosure disputes and terminal illness benefit.
Claims Management for International Protection Policies: Navigating the Process
A practical guide to making claims on international life assurance, critical illness, and income protection policies — covering notification, evidence requirements, dispute resolution, and managing claims from abroad.
Read guide →Exclusions in International Life Policies: What to Watch For
A guide to the exclusions most commonly found in international life assurance policies, how they interact with expatriate circumstances, and how to identify them before taking out cover.
Read guide →Life Insurance Claims and the Probate Process: What to Expect
A life insurance claim made without a trust in place requires a Grant of Probate — adding months to the process at the worst possible time. This guide explains the claims process, the trust advantage, and how to claim from overseas.
Read guide →Making a Life Insurance Claim Abroad: A Practical Guide
Making a life insurance claim is always a difficult process — but making one abroad adds documentation, language, and logistical challenges that can significantly delay payment. This guide explains the claim process step by step, what documents are required, what can go wrong, and how to ensure the process goes smoothly.
Read guide →Making a Life Insurance Claim from Abroad: A Practical Guide
A step-by-step guide to making a life insurance claim when the policyholder or beneficiaries are overseas, covering documentation, apostilles, cross-border process, and common pitfalls.
Read guide →Mental Health and Income Protection Claims: What Policyholders Need to Know
Mental health conditions are the leading cause of income protection claims in the UK, yet they remain among the least understood at underwriting and claims stage. This guide explains how insurers assess mental health risk, what exclusions apply, and how to manage a claim sensitively and successfully.
Read guide →Non-Disclosure and Insurance Claims: What You Must Tell Your Insurer
Failing to disclose relevant information when applying for insurance can void your policy entirely — even if the undisclosed fact seems unrelated to your claim. Understanding your duty of disclosure is essential for anyone taking out life, critical illness, or income protection cover.
Read guide →Terminal Illness, Power of Attorney, and Financial Planning: Acting Before It Is Too Late
A terminal illness diagnosis brings an urgent window for financial and legal planning. This guide covers accelerated terminal illness benefits, when and how to trigger life insurance payouts, powers of attorney, trust management, and the financial decisions that need to be made while capacity is retained.
Read guide →Tax Treatment
IHT planning with offshore life assurance, trust wrappers, and the UK tax treatment of payouts from international policies.
Death Benefit Nominations: Pension and Life Insurance Expression of Wishes
Discretionary trusts, lump sum versus nominee drawdown, the post-April 2027 pension IHT changes, nomination for offshore life policies, and the importance of updating after major life events.
Read guide →IHT Planning with Life Insurance for Expats: Trust Structures Explained
A life assurance policy written in a properly constituted trust can be one of the most effective tools available to UK expats for inheritance tax planning — keeping significant sums outside the estate and out of probate.
Read guide →Insurance Trust Structures for Inheritance Tax Planning
How life assurance policies held in trust can reduce or eliminate inheritance tax liabilities, the main trust structures used, and the specific considerations for internationally mobile families.
Read guide →Life Assurance Trust Structuring: Why Your Policy Needs to Be Written in Trust
A life assurance policy not written in trust passes into your estate, attracting 40% inheritance tax and months of probate delay. Here is how trust structuring works and why it is essential for HNW policyholders.
Read guide →Life Assurance Trusts for International Families
How life assurance trusts work for internationally mobile families, covering trust types, jurisdiction selection, beneficiary planning, and the interaction with cross-border inheritance tax.
Read guide →Life Insurance in Trust: A Complete Guide for UK and Expat Policyholders
Writing life insurance in trust removes the payout from your estate, avoids inheritance tax on the proceeds, and bypasses probate. This guide covers every aspect of trust structures for protection policies — including HMRC registration, trustee changes, and international options.
Read guide →Placing International Life Insurance in Trust: A Complete Guide
Placing a life policy in trust keeps the proceeds outside your estate, avoids probate delay, and gives you control over who benefits — but requires careful ongoing management.
Read guide →Protection Insurance and Inheritance Tax: The Interplay Between Life Cover and Estate Planning
How life assurance interacts with inheritance tax — both as a problem (policies in the estate) and as a solution (trust-wrapped cover funding IHT) — with guidance for HNW and internationally mobile individuals.
Read guide →Free protection review
Our advisers compare the whole market to find the right international cover for your situation — life assurance, critical illness, income protection, or universal life.