Introduction
Moving abroad is one of the most significant financial transitions an individual can make. Pensions, banking, tax residency, and investment accounts all require attention — but protection insurance is the area most likely to be overlooked until something goes wrong. A UK expat with no valid life, critical illness, or income protection cover is carrying an uninsured risk that could have severe consequences for their family.
This guide sets out exactly what to review before leaving the UK, what questions to ask your insurers, how to time any new policy arrangements, and what to do if you have already moved and currently have no suitable cover in place.
What to Audit Before You Leave
The first step is a complete inventory of your existing protection arrangements.
Life Assurance
List every life policy you hold, including:
- Term life (level or decreasing)
- Whole-of-life
- Mortgage protection (often decreasing term)
- Keyman or business protection (if you are a director or partner)
For each policy, note: the insurer, the sum assured, the policy term, whether it is written in trust, and whether the terms include any residency conditions.
Critical Illness Cover
Critical illness policies pay a lump sum on diagnosis of a specified condition (typically cancer, heart attack, stroke, and others). Check whether your policy requires you to be UK-resident to make a claim, and whether the policy remains valid if you are treated overseas.
Income Protection
Income protection (IP) replaces a proportion of your earned income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. IP policies are particularly residency-sensitive: many UK policies define "unable to work" by reference to UK employment, and overseas treatment or recovery may be excluded or require prior insurer approval. Review this carefully.
Employer-Provided Cover
Many employees are covered by their employer's group protection scheme: group life (death in service), group critical illness, and group income protection. These benefits are not portable. They cease entirely when you leave the employment or when you move outside the scheme's geographic scope. Do not assume these will continue.
What Happens to Existing UK Policies?
The position differs by policy type and by insurer. There is no universal rule.
Term life policies: Many UK insurers allow term life policies to continue after the policyholder moves abroad. However, some require notification and may apply restrictions on the countries where the policy remains valid. Moving to a country with elevated political risk, conflict, or unusual medical conditions may trigger exclusions or policy review. Always notify your insurer in writing.
Whole-of-life policies: Similar to term life. The key question is whether the insurer will continue to accept premium payments from a non-UK bank account and whether residency affects the terms of any investment element within the policy.
Critical illness policies: More restrictive than life assurance. Some UK critical illness policies have geographic limitations on diagnosis or treatment. A condition diagnosed and treated in Dubai or Bangkok may be treated differently than one diagnosed in a UK hospital. Check the policy wording carefully.
Investment-linked policies: These carry the additional complication of potential chargeable event gains if surrendered (see below). Do not surrender without tax advice.
The Chargeable Event Timing Question
If you hold a UK investment-linked policy — an endowment, investment bond, or universal life policy with a cash value — and you are considering surrendering it around the time of departure, the timing matters for tax purposes.
A surrender while you are UK-resident produces a chargeable event gain taxed at your UK marginal rate in that tax year. A surrender after you have established non-UK residency may result in the gain being outside the scope of UK income tax entirely, or subject to a reduced liability based on the proportion of non-resident years.
The correct approach is to take tax advice specific to your departure date, the tax year involved, and the policy's gain position before making any decision. This is not a matter to resolve informally.
Step-by-Step Checklist
Use this checklist in the months before your planned departure date.
Step 1: Audit All Existing Cover
Complete the inventory described above. Gather policy documents, not just summary letters. Note expiry dates, sum assured amounts, and residency conditions.
Step 2: Notify UK Insurers of Your Change of Residency
Write to each insurer (or instruct your adviser to do so) to notify them of your intended change of residency. Request written confirmation of whether the policy will continue and on what terms. Keep copies of all correspondence. Do this before you depart, not after.
Step 3: Calculate the Cover Gap
Compare your current cover against your actual needs as a non-resident:
- What income would your family need if you died abroad?
- Do you have outstanding mortgage or business debts that should be covered?
- Is your employer group life cover ceasing on departure?
- Do you have dependants who rely on your earned income?
Use this analysis to determine the sum assured required from new international cover.
Step 4: Arrange International Replacement Cover
Contact a specialist international protection adviser — ideally while you are still UK-resident, employed, and in good health. International life assurance is available through well-regulated providers in the Isle of Man, Guernsey, and other established centres. The underwriting process typically takes 4 to 8 weeks for standard cases, longer if medical evidence is required.
If you are arranging a new international policy alongside your departure, aim to have the policy active and confirmed before you leave. Provisional cover may be available from the date of application in some cases.
Step 5: Write New Policies in Trust
As discussed in our guide on IHT planning with life insurance for expats, a life assurance policy not written in trust forms part of your estate on death. Writing the policy in trust at inception costs nothing additional and removes the sum assured from your estate for IHT purposes. This is the correct approach for all new policies. Do not defer this.
Step 6: Nominate Beneficiaries Correctly
If you are not writing the policy in trust, a beneficiary nomination form should be completed at the time the policy is issued. Understand the legal effect of that nomination in your country of residence, and in the country where the policy is issued. See our guide on naming beneficiaries on an offshore life policy for a full discussion of the issues involved.
If You Have Already Left the UK Without Cover
Acting promptly remains the most important thing you can do. International providers underwrite cover for non-UK residents in most countries — the process requires completion of a personal and medical questionnaire, and for sums assured above certain thresholds (typically £500,000 or more), medical examinations or reports from your treating GP.
Key points if you are already abroad:
- Cover can still be arranged, but underwriting is on current health, not your health when you left the UK.
- If your health has changed since departure, some conditions may be excluded or may attract premium loadings.
- Older applicants may face higher premiums than if they had arranged cover before departing.
- There is no guaranteed-issue international life product for significant sums — avoid delay.
In the interim, some international group schemes and expatriate employers offer transitional cover, but this is not reliable or comprehensive. Personal cover should be arranged as the primary solution.
A Note on Health Insurance
This guide focuses on life, critical illness, and income protection. International health insurance — covering private medical treatment abroad — is a separate but equally important review. State healthcare entitlements from the UK cease to apply in most non-EEA countries immediately on departure, and even within the EEA the Global Health Insurance Card (formerly EHIC) provides limited emergency cover only. A comprehensive international private medical insurance policy should form part of the same review.
How Global Investments Can Help
Global Investments has worked with UK expats across international markets worldwide for more than 32 years. Our protection specialists can audit your existing UK cover, advise on which policies can continue and which need replacement, and arrange international life, critical illness, and income protection cover through regulated providers in the Isle of Man, Guernsey, and other well-supervised jurisdictions.
We coordinate across the protection, tax, and estate planning dimensions of your move so that nothing falls through the gaps.
This guide is for information only and does not constitute regulated financial advice. Protection insurance is a regulated activity in the UK; always seek advice from a qualified adviser. Policy terms and tax treatment vary by jurisdiction and individual circumstance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to my employer's death-in-service benefit when I move abroad?
Employer death-in-service cover — also called group life assurance — typically ceases when you leave UK employment. It is not portable, and it is almost never available to overseas employees or contractors. It should not be relied upon once you move abroad, and the gap it leaves must be replaced with personal cover.
Do I need to notify my UK insurer if I move abroad?
Yes. Most UK life and critical illness policies require you to notify the insurer of a change of address, particularly if that change is to another country. Failure to do so can, in some circumstances, give the insurer grounds to decline a claim. Some UK insurers will allow policies to continue for non-residents; others will not. You must check your policy terms and contact your insurer or adviser.
Is it better to arrange new cover before or after leaving the UK?
Almost always before. UK-based cover is typically underwritten on favourable terms if you are employed and in good health. International policies can be arranged after departure, but coverage may be more expensive or have exclusions if your health changes during the gap period. Arranging cover while still UK-resident and employed provides the most favourable starting position.
What if I have a UK investment-linked policy and want to surrender it before leaving?
If you surrender an investment-linked policy (such as an endowment or investment bond) while still UK-resident, any chargeable event gain will be taxed at your UK rate in the tax year of surrender. If you wait until you are non-resident, the gain may be partially or fully outside the scope of UK income tax. Seek advice before surrendering any investment-linked policy around the time of departure.
What emergency options exist if I've already left the UK with no cover?
International providers can arrange life and critical illness cover for non-residents, though the underwriting process requires a medical questionnaire and, for larger sums assured, medical evidence. Some providers offer provisional cover during underwriting. There is no guaranteed-issue option for significant sums, so the sooner you act, the better — particularly if you are older or have existing health conditions.
This guide is for general information only and does not constitute financial or insurance advice. Policy terms, premium rates, and insurer eligibility criteria change — always verify current terms with a qualified independent adviser before taking out any policy.