Am I covered by travel insurance if I'm on a working holiday?

World Nomads travel insurance can provide coverage for working holidays and if you are travelling to volunteer. Coverage includes:

• Trip Cancellation
• Trip Interruption
• Emergency Medical
• Emergency Evacuation
• Baggage delay
• Theft of baggage and personal belongings

Working holidays are a great way to see the world because somebody else helps pay for your travel. If you choose volunteer work instead, you’ll find that doing good for others can be just as rewarding.

The types of activities for paid or volunteer work we cover include:

• Hospitality, retail or general farm work
• Ski, snowboarding or scuba instruction (with payment of an additional premium)
• Teaching or childcare

For a detailed list of the types of activities that we cover, check out our Activities, Sports and Adventures page. If you’re planning to teach skiing, snowboarding, or other covered activities, whether paid or volunteer, you’ll need to add those activities to your policy and pay an additional premium. If your job or volunteer activity isn't listed, contact us. We'll confirm if it can be covered or not.

How it works

At World Nomads, we’ve designed our insurance for unexpected problems that arise when you work or volunteer in another province, territory or country.
Submitting a claim if you’ve had an accident or medical emergency while working internationally is no different to any other claim that you would make through World Nomads. You can do it online while abroad or wait until you return home (though you’ll need to inform us about any medical emergencies). You’ll also need to see if you’re covered under your employer’s workplace insurance before submitting a claim to us.

For more information on how to make a claim, check out our How to make a claim page.

What’s not covered?

First up, if you’re doing anything illegal, we won’t cover you. Other things that we don’t cover include:

• Mountaineering or rock-climbing guides
• Working at a height of over 5 metres
• Jobs on offshore rigs, underground or in caves
• Operating machinery or working with dangerous animals and big game

All this applies to volunteer and paid jobs, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re being given money to stick your head in a lion’s mouth or doing it just for fun – you won’t be covered.

This is only a summary of coverage and does not include the full terms and conditions of the policy.  It is important you read and understand your policy as it contains benefits, conditions, exclusions and pre-existing condition exclusions.  If you do not understand your coverage or if you have questions, just ask us.


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Our contact details

We’re here to help if you have a question about travel insurance. We’re available:

  • Monday to Friday 7:00am - 7:00pm (CST)

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Phone

Within Canada & continental USA, toll free:
1 877 328 2528

International collect:
+1 416 646 3723