HelloSafe

What HelloSafe is

HelloSafe is a travel insurance comparison site run by a registered insurance broker. It does not insure anyone itself. The footer on its about page states that "HelloSafe is an ORIAS-registered insurance broker (n° 21008038), subject to ACPR oversight." The about page says the company was "Founded in 2019," started with "Three founders, one frustration: nobody had a clear way to compare travel insurance," and later "Expanded to the UK, Canada, US, Mexico and Australia." It claims partnerships with "40+ insurers" and coverage of "180+ destinations."

Each plan in the comparison is shown with its own carrier. On the homepage's sample comparison, every row carries an "Underwritten by" line, naming carriers such as IMA Assurances, AIG, MGEN and Mutuaide. A buyer who picks a plan contracts with that carrier; HelloSafe is the broker in between.

How the comparison works

The homepage asks for trip type, destination, dates and travelers, and returns priced plans. Trip types include leisure, annual multi-trip, Schengen visa, trip cancellation only, working holiday visa, study and internship, humanitarian, au pair, group, expat and cruise. The homepage describes the quote as "Free, no obligation," with "Instant results" and a "Certificate in 2 min." The about page promises "Free cancellation 15 days, no signup required."

The site runs separate guides and quote tools by country rather than one translated site. The US guide says "We compare travel insurance across every country and currency, using the plans, prices and cover actually offered in your country, not a single guide translated." On independence, the about page says "We compare every plan available in your market, including those that pay us less. No paid placements, no preferred tier." The US guide describes its method as an annual audit of "each plan against its binding policy wording: coverage, limits and exclusions, cross-checked with real customer feedback and live market prices."

The homepage sample, for "1 adult · France → Canada · 7 days," shows medical limits from €2'500'000 down to €500'000 across the listed plans, most with direct billing included and evacuation and repatriation "Covered in full." That sample is a French departure priced in euros; a US shopper sees plans sold to US residents instead.

What the US medical guide shows

The page this listing points to is HelloSafe's US guide to travel medical insurance. It says US travelers need it because "your American health plan and Medicare rarely pay outside the country," and that "a dedicated policy starts at $5.16 a day and covers emergency hospital bills up to about $587,000." Those are figures from its own quotes for "a US resident aged 30, 7 days in France," captured in September 2026, in which the plans shown ran from per-day rates to a week of cover at $63.80 on one plan and $84.63 on its higher tier. The guide says four things move the price: age, destination, trip length and the size of the medical ceiling.

The guide explains what the product does: it "covers the cost of emergency medical care you need while traveling abroad: hospital treatment, doctor visits, emergency dental, ambulance transport and, crucially, medical evacuation or repatriation back home," and "pays for a new illness or injury on the trip, not for care you already knew you needed." It sets its own benchmark of at least $250,000 of medical cover for a standard trip and $500,000 or more for the United States, Canada or Japan, plus a separate evacuation limit of $500,000 upward.

It lists the exclusions it found in the wording behind its top pick: pre-existing conditions that are not stable, pregnancy and scheduled treatment, routine and preventive care, paid competitive sport, and care that could have been foreseen. On that same contract it reports a 5-day waiting period when cover is bought after arriving abroad, and an enrollment cutoff for travelers "over 65 for stays in the USA and Canada, and over 80 everywhere else." It says direct billing, where the insurer pays the hospital, applies on only two of the US plans it shows, for stays over 24 hours. The same wording pays "around $352 for emergency dental treatment per illness," more after an accident. Its checklist for any plan adds a 24/7 assistance line that works in English and a deductible the buyer can live with, warning that "a low headline price sometimes hides a high deductible."

Claims and help

The US guide's claims advice is to call the insurer's 24/7 assistance line before treatment, give the certificate number, keep every invoice, prescription and medical report, and submit the claim within the policy's deadline. Claims are decided by the carrier. HelloSafe's own role after the sale, per the about page, is that "Our agents intervene with insurers on your behalf, free, in your language, anytime." The homepage cites "2'800 claims handled" and the about page advertises multilingual support seven days a week.

The about page shows "4.6/5 Trustpilot" and the homepage counts "801 verified reviews." It also says it publishes its scoring and explains its commission model.

Other guides on the site

Beyond the US medical page, HelloSafe publishes plan reviews and country pages that deal with entry rules and mandatory insurance for destinations such as Cuba, Argentina, Qatar and Belarus. Its UK coverage guide is written for UK travelers in pounds, stating that "cover starts from £38.34 for eight days" on the plans it compares there. The US guide also points long-stay readers to a separate digital nomad guide, since it says emergency-only cover is "not enough" for someone abroad for months. HelloSafe also runs as an app inside ChatGPT.

Who it suits, and who it fits less well

HelloSafe fits a US traveler who wants short-trip travel medical plans sold to US residents compared in one place, with the carrier named on each result, published price examples tied to an age and a trip, and a broker who will step in with the insurer if a claim goes wrong. It also fits someone traveling from or between several countries, since each market has its own comparison.

It fits less well for a buyer who wants a US-licensed agency, since the only registration the site states is its ORIAS broker number, and for anyone who wants trip cancellation bundled into a medical plan: the US guide notes its top pick does not refund a canceled trip.