Heymondo is the travel insurer I’ve been using continuously since 2020. Because I’ve had good first-hand experiences with them, it’s the insurance provider I’ve been recommending at Indie Traveller.
In this Heymondo review, I will firstly discuss the different Heymondo plans. Based on your trip length or needs, you can save quite a bit of money by choosing a different package.
I will also discuss Heymondo’s claims procedure. This is really the litmus test of any travel insurer, but it’s not usually something reviews discuss at all (for understandable reasons). Since I’ve had to actually make a large claim with Heymondo, I can tell you more about this process.
I’m happy to report that Heymondo was very responsive and honored their obligations fully. However, there are a couple of important things to be aware of about travel insurance in general, which I’ll explain below.
Instead of blindly signing up for just any travel insurance, it’s essential to know what you are actually getting (and what is expected of you in the case of incidents) so you can avoid any possible disappointments.
Here’s a screenshot from my Heymondo app just to show that I’ve been a customer for many years.
Heymondo’s different plans
I won’t just repeat every detail of the coverage here since you can find them easily on the Heymondo website. It is more useful to look at the different plans they offer, since this could be a little confusing at first.
Heymondo offers three different types of insurance:
- Single Trip Insurance
They just call this “Travel Insurance” on their site, but this policy is for just one trip with a specific beginning and end date. The cost is based on the total number of travel days. You can choose from three coverage levels: Normal, Premium, and Medical. - Long-Stay Insurance
This includes 3 months of coverage (renewable). Ideal for digital nomads or for long ongoing trips. - Annual Multi-Trip Insurance
This lets you insure all of your trips for a whole year, with a maximum individual trip length of 60 days.
These plans differ somewhat in terms of coverage for medical, theft, cancellation, and so on. You can check by requesting quotes on the Heymondo site. Your results will depend on a few things, such as your home country and where you intend to travel.
Keep in mind that if your destinations include the USA, your premium will go up a lot. This is normal with any travel insurance due to the high cost of medical treatment there. Always select ‘World except USA’ if you have no plans of going there.
Single Trip
If you don’t travel often and just have a specific trip in mind, then Single Trip Insurance is what you need. I recommend this for shorter trips but also for backpacking trips lasting over 60 days, which wouldn’t be covered under the Annual Multi-Trip plan.
There are three levels of coverage: Normal, Medical, and Premium. Heymondo Premium costs only 15-20% more than the Top and Medical policies but the coverage is much more comprehensive, so it’s worth comparing these plans to see which one offers the best value for you.
Coverage
Normal
Premium
Emergency Medical Assistance
$5,000,000 USD
$10,000,000 USD
Baggage
$1,700 USD
$2,500 USD
Travel Disruption
$450 USD
$1,500 USD
Trip Cancellation Coverage
$3,500 USD
$7,000 USD
Other Assistance Coverage
$1,250 USD
$10,000 USD
Personal Liability
$60,000 USD
$60,000 USD
Accidental Death or Disability
$10,000 USD
$60,000 USD
Electronic
Optional
Optional
Adventure Sports
Optional
Optional
Cruise
Not covered
Optional
Rental Car Excess
Not covered
$500 USD
Keep in mind that these amounts are in line with a 30-day quote and may increase or decrease accordingly.
Multi Trip
However, as a frequent traveller, I’m a big fan of the Annual Multi-Trip Insurance (this is what I’ve been using all this time). I usually do about two big trips per year (about 4-6 weeks each) plus lots of shorter ones, so this plan ends up being a very attractive option for me.
Last year, I paid about €200 for a whole year’s coverage including an add-on for covering my electronics against theft. Considering how much I travel, this is an absolute steal (accidental pun definitely intended).
Long Stay
If you’re a digital nomad travelling without an end date, then Long Stay Insurance is more tailored to your needs. Note this is a much beefier insurance than the typical ‘nomad insurance’ from providers such as Safetywing. For instance, you get up to $2,500,000 USD of emergency medical coverage with Heymondo vs. about $100,000 with Safetywing.
It is also actual travel insurance and not only medical insurance, so you’re covered for things like baggage loss or many adventure activities like hiking, balloon riding, kayaking, and so on. In my opinion, Heymondo Long Stay Insurance is ideal if you’re a nomad and a pretty active traveller, whereas Genki or Safetywing may be more suited to a more stationary nomad just needing basic medical coverage.
The initial policy period is for 3 months, but after that you can renew in increments of 30, 120, 180 or 275 days.
What I look for in insurance
As a backpacker and adventure traveller, coverage for outdoor activities is always very important to me. With Heymondo, you’ll be in good hands, with default coverage that includes numerous activities such as kayaking, sailing, SUP, offroading, snorkelling, camping, and so on.
For more adventurous or extreme activities, you’ll need to get an add-on. Activities like canyoning, rafting, caving, or trekking at altitudes over 3,000 meters are only covered if you get this. I’ve had a few situations where I needed the add-on, such as when I went trekking high up in the Himalayas. I like that it’s an option so that you’re not paying for it if you don’t need it.
A trip where I needed the extra coverage
My main reason to get insurance is not theft coverage, even though this is usually the first thing people think about. I think getting some gear stolen is still a recoverable setback — it’s unfortunate for sure but also not the end of the world. However, needing a medical evacuation or hospital treatment could potentially bankrupt you.
For me, medical and liability coverage are the reasons to get travel insurance — all the rest of it is just icing on the cake. For more thought on this, read my post Why should you get travel insurance?
That said, theft coverage is always nice to have. By default, Heymondo will cover your belongings, though only 50% of the value of the electronic equipment (laptop, tablet, camera, etc.). An optional add-on lets you raise this to 100%.
Finally, I look for an insurer I can trust. I originally ended up with Heymondo because my previous insurer kept raising prices. This company then also made some really unfair decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic — meanwhile, Heymondo was one of the few companies that kept insuring its customers despite the global health crisis. This made me think highly of them and I’ve stuck with them ever since.
Besides their comprehensive policies, I also like that they have an app and a 24/7 medical chat function, which can be of enormous help when you’re in a country where people don’t speak your language or when you need a quick second opinion.
My claims process
Anyway, the part you’re probably most curious about is whether Heymondo actually does what they promise! So let me share what happened to me when I had to make a claim.
In my 12 years of travel blogging, I’ve only ever had to claim for small things here and there. That is… until I left my rental car parked by a beach during a road trip in Portugal in 2024. When I got back a few hours later, I found my car had been broken into and all of my gear (that was hidden in the trunk) had been stolen via the back seat access.
This included my precious Macbook Air, two tripods, a DJI wireless microphone system, and more — all in all, over 1200 Euros worth of stuff!
I was shocked, of course. I had thought that it would be reasonably safe to hide stuff in the trunk or boot, especially when I hadn’t opened it at any point. What I didn’t know is that thieves can apparently use WiFi signal detectors to see if there’s anything worth stealing inside. Lesson learned…
Step 1: Get a police report
In cases of theft, it’s essential to get an official police report. Without this, an insurer will never pay anything out. Of course, it’s also just a good idea to report a crime. You need to file a police report no later than 48 hours after the incident.
I had to visit the local police station and then fill out a bunch of forms. There, I met a campervanning couple who’d parked in the same area and who were now without their laptop and professional-grade drone. It seems like those thieves had a good day.
(The couple had lost almost 4000 Euros of gear but were uninsured… and this happened on their first day in Portugal!)
Step 2: Get receipts
For theft claims, you also need the original receipts of the stolen items. Luckily, most of the items I’d bought online, so I just needed to go into my order history for the receipts. If you buy any of your travel gear in a brick-and-mortar store, be sure to keep the paper receipts in case you ever need them for a claim.
(In the case of a medical issue, your first step will be to use Heymondo’s 24/7 assistance platform so they can help you make an appointment at the nearest medical center or hospital. If you do this, then you won’t need to worry about receipts, because the hospital and insurer will sort it out between them. However, you should still keep any receipts or paperwork if you get medical help without such a referral.)
Step 3: File the claim
Next, I had to contact Heymondo. It’s important to note that while they handle customer support, the actual claims processing is done by a third party. This is standard for travel insurers, as the policies are typically underwritten by a larger company.
Heymondo responded quickly to my inquiry and helped me understand what is or isn’t covered under my policy. In my case, I could claim for the items lost and part of the damage to the car, but not for any stolen money. I’d read my policy when I bought it so this was in line with my expectations.
They also confirmed what information would be needed for the claim. In my case, I had to submit it to IRIS Global, but this depends on your home country and which Heymondo plan you have, as they work with more than one underwriter.
They asked me to allow 20-30 days to process the claim. It took them 18 days to reply to me with confirmation and a request for my bank details. The payment covered almost all of what I’d expected to receive.
Overall, I was very happy with the claims process. Heymondo Customer Support was very helpful and responsive, and my correspondence with the claims processors was entirely straightforward. I received the money in my bank account about four weeks after the incident occurred.
Understanding your insurance
Whether it’s with Heymondo or any other travel insurance, I do recommend reading the policy details to understand what is and isn’t covered.
I know, ain’t nobody got time to read a bunch of legalese. However, it’s highly worth taking a moment to read the fine print. Insurance is not a free money printer and there are often specific conditions involved.
I believe negative insurance reviews often come from people who just didn’t know the limitations of their policy coverage. Insurance is a well-regulated industry and insurers have to comply with their obligations. However, not knowing about certain exceptions can sometimes lead to unfortunate surprises, so it’s important to have the right expectations going in.
Examples of potential issues:
- Your plan may cover theft but not include coverage for electronics or valuables unless you buy this as an add-on.
- Trip cancellation never covers just cancelling a trip because you changed your mind! It only applies in serious situations, like a death in your family. Even an airline delay might not be within the scope of ‘trip cancellation’ insurance. It’s usually for serious situations where you have to abandon your entire trip.
- Medical coverage typically does not apply to preexisting conditions, chronic diseases, routine checkups, etc. It’s for medical emergencies abroad only.
- Insurance plans often have an ‘excess’ or ‘deductible’, meaning you need to pay a part first before the insurance covers the rest. (There is no deductible on Heymondo’s single-trip insurance, but the other plans do have a $250 deductable.)
Overall, think of travel insurance as something that will cover you financially for the worst-case scenarios. There can still be situations where you have to pay for some things yourself.
In my case of theft, the claims processor deducted 20% from the value for every year — this meant the stolen tripod I bought several years ago was now officially worth only a few Euros. The 20% deduction is made even if the item was bought in the same year, so my brand-new DJI microphones were covered for only 80% of their original value. While this is standard practice it’s something I had honestly forgotten about. I’m still happy the majority was covered so my financial loss ended up being fairly minimal.
In conclusion, Heymondo is 100% legit and they pay out what is due. Just know that insurance always comes with specific conditions to be aware of.
If you are on your trip and are ever unsure if a situation is covered, you can use the app to contact the customer support, as they can easily re-confirm this for you.
Overall I’m happy with my Heymondo travel insurance as it gives me peace of mind when I’m on the road, knowing that I won’t have to worry about the worst-case situations. I’ve travelled with full annual insurance since I became a travel blogger in 2012 and have relied on it several times now (initially I was with Columbus, then World Nomads, now with Heymondo.) I wouldn’t ever travel internationally without it.
Based on my experiences with Heymondo I can easily recommend them. Their plans cover all the things I need and I found their claims process to be fair and smooth. Just be sure to have a look at their Annual, Single Trip, and Long Stay plans as one may be better for you than the other based on the type of trip you’re planning.
P.S. The links in this post are affiliate links (not sponsored!), meaning I can earn a small commission if you buy. When you click a link you’ll also see a 5% discount; this is something that Heymondo throws in as a referral offer, which of course I wanted to pass on to you. I hope that by sharing my own experiences you’ll have a better picture of what you’ll get with Heymondo.
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Source: indietraveller.co
