AOC Insurance Broker

A licensed broker that works as a comparison service

AOC Insurance Broker is a broker, not an insurer. Its legal information page states that "AOC INSURANCE BROKER "AOC INTERNATIONAL EXPAT" is registered in the French insurance intermediaries (ORIAS) under the number 08 045 906," and that it has "a financial guarantee insurance and civil liability under Articles L 530-1 and L 530-2 of the Insurance Code." That is the regulatory footing of an intermediary: AOC advises on and places other companies' policies, and the insurer it places a client with carries the risk and pays the claims. The publisher is named as "AOC INSURANCE BROKER - RCS Nanterre 494 738 008" at 60 rue de Strasbourg, 92400 Courbevoie, France, with a Paris phone line and a Hong Kong one. The site is also published under the domains www.aoc-insurancebroker.fr, www.assurance-sante-expatrie.eu and www.aoc-expatcare.com. The legal page adds that the site's information is "subject to French law" and is "not contractual."

The homepage presents the business as "Your trustworthy online expat health insurance comparison site" and says the team will "advise you and help you tailor the medical insurance plan" to a client's needs. The corporate page describes the panel: "a comparison and a call tender from 30 selected Global Insurance companies such as Allianz, AXA, Cigna and other Global Insurance providers such as Now Health, Henner, MSH Intl." The French menu also lists pages for April International, Now Health International, Allianz Worldwide Care, Cigna Global Health, AXA and Allianz Expat Protect. These are the insurers whose plans AOC compares; the pages do not tie any one of them to a particular individual policy.

What it compares and arranges

The product list on the homepage is wide: "International Health Insurance Comparisons for expatriates, business travel insurance, Top-up expat health insurance, corporate international health insurance, expat health insurance, globe trotter insurance, international medical insurance in Asia, life insurance & income protection for expatriate, personal liability, student abroad insurance, annual travel insurance, visa Schengen insurance, wealth private management, working holiday insurance." The menu adds short-term international health insurance for travelers, cover for international and non-governmental organizations, student health insurance for the United States, and, on the French side, top-up cover alongside the French CFE scheme and pages on Obamacare plans for the United States.

For individuals the entry point is a quote form on the homepage. It asks for the insurance need (travel, student, training, working holiday, au pair, expatriate, globe trotter, Schengen visa, business travel, corporate health, life, income protection or wealth management), the destination and the applicant's nationality. The homepage also invites visitors to "Download the AOC Expatcare App," which it pitches with the line "Find the best premium, take your health in your hands and get discounts." The site carries no premium table of its own; prices come back through the quote process. Outside health cover, the site also sells wealth management built on what it calls the "Luxembourg Insurance Wrapper," a life insurance policy holding investment funds, securities, shares and bonds, which shows how far the business reaches beyond medical plans.

Group and corporate cover

Most of the detailed text is written for employers. The corporate health page addresses clients from "Small & Medium Enterprises to Large Corporations" and describes AOC as advisers "available through the digital interface for Expatriates Group Health Insurance," with group income protection, group life and medical insurance among the lines it arranges. The corporate IPMI page says AOC works on group plans for "corporate/association/NGO/IGO" clients' expatriate employees, covering "International Health insurance plans, extensions and renewals (including national in some countries) in USD and EUR," "International Medical Evacuation and Repatriation," personal liability and accident insurance, life insurance and income protection, "Insurance against ransom/kidnapping" and "Crisis insurance." Its stated method includes "Definition of benefit according to employees' needs and the group's budget," "Dealing directly with each insurance company to get competitive quotations and conditions," and giving HR and management a comparison "along with our own recommendations."

The corporate health page lists what AOC says the group plans it arranges provide: a "Direct billing settlement network of medical providers," "Access to a 24 hours multilingual helpline for your employees," "Disregard previous medical history (MHD)," "Effective, proven cost containment processes," online services for scheme managers and members, and the line "Members can select the medical provider of their choice." Among the in-patient items it names are hospital accommodation, intensive care and theater costs, surgery, second medical opinion, prescribed drugs, prostheses, diagnostic tests, oncology including radiotherapy and chemotherapy, kidney failure and physiotherapy. Out-patient items include specialists and general practitioner fees, emergency home visits, oncology, prescribed medicines, emergency ambulance, outpatient surgery, physiotherapy, "Aging illness (e.g. Parkinson)" and psychiatric treatment. These are examples of benefits across the panel's group plans, not a schedule for one policy, and the page gives no limits.

When helping a company choose, the page says AOC's consultants weigh "the benefits to be covered vs. the co-payment and premium terms in our comparison matrix" and the direct billing arrangements in the network of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. The same page notes that many developed countries make health insurance mandatory through employers or the state, and says the choice of product for expatriates depends on "their country of assignment vs. the country of origin." It says AOC covers international private medical insurance in Asia and South East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Canada, the UK, the USA and Australia. The page also mentions a wellness program with Garmin aimed at prevention, with negotiated discounts and quarterly health education events for clients.

How a tender runs

The corporate form asks for the country of the head office, the contract start date, the current renewal date, and the number of employees in bands from "3-50" up to large groups, along with which benefits the group wants: in-patient, out-patient, co-insurance or deductible, preventive care, maternity, dental and vision, and life and income protection. "After receiving it, the AOC Team will contact you over the phone and send you a corporate letter of appointment for your call tender." The corporate health page states that claims under the group plans are "processed in 2 to 5 working days." The pages give no premium, coverage limit, deductible, age limit or pre-existing condition rule for any individual plan, and they do not say which insurer's policy an individual applicant would end up holding before a quote is issued.

Who this fits

AOC fits an expatriate, student, working holiday traveler or employer who wants a French-registered broker to compare several international insurers and run the tender, rather than going to one insurer directly. Its corporate material, with the MHD underwriting line, direct billing and the 2 to 5 working day claims figure, is aimed at companies, associations, NGOs and IGOs with staff abroad. An individual buyer uses the quote form and gets the insurer's name, price and policy terms from AOC's reply.