JoHo Insurances

What JoHo Insurances is

JoHo Insurances is a broker, not an insurer. Its about page says JoHo Insurances Foundation is part of the JoHo Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports people and organizations preparing and realizing stays abroad, and that JoHo has spent over 30 years helping travelers, expats, emigrants, volunteers and organizations. The same page says the group offers its insurance services through five domains, expatverzekering.nl, expatinsurances.org, joho.org, johoinsurances.nl and aupairverzekeringen.nl, and that it specializes in insurance for anyone staying abroad for an extended period, privately or for work. It says JoHo advises and mediates insurance from various international and national insurers, which is a broker's role: the risk and the claim decision sit with the insurer whose policy the buyer ends up holding.

The page also says JoHo Insurances operates without a profit motive, with its proceeds supporting the projects of the JoHo Foundation, among them information on living abroad, the WorldSupporter study platform, safety projects in Manila and a tree project in Curaçao. Its footer calls it an AFM-approved broker, and the details section lists AFM number 12043929, Kifid number 300.016306 and Chamber of Commerce number 63421860 at an address in Leiden. It adds other registrations, as a selection: FSMA in Belgium, DIHK in Germany, ORIAS in France, IFSRA in Ireland, the Commissariat aux Assurances in Luxembourg, DGSFP in Spain and the FCA in the United Kingdom, plus registrations in Denmark, Finland and Iceland. The site's menu lists plans from ACS, Allianz Care, Cigna, Expatriate Group, Henner, IMG, William Russell, MSH, SafetyWing and World Nomads among others; the plan pages read here cover IMG, APRIL International and William Russell.

The plans it mediates and what they cover

Global Prima Medical Insurance, from IMG, is described as a plan for expats and their families, digital nomads and locals, available to all nationalities. It has five levels, and the plan page gives each an annual maximum benefit: Bronze €1,000,000, Bronze Plus €2,000,000, Silver €3,000,000, Gold €4,000,000 and Platinum €5,000,000. All five cover inpatient and outpatient care and evacuation and repatriation, with routine pregnancy and childbirth (10-month waiting period) and dental treatment (6-month waiting period) sold as add-ons. The page lists diagnostic tests including CT, PET and MRI, prescription drugs, cancer treatment and nursing at home, and says emergency treatment outside the area of cover is limited and applies to trips of under 30 days. Areas of cover are Europe, worldwide excluding the USA, and worldwide.

The maternity terms carry a warning in JoHo's own words. If a baby is born before 37 weeks of gestation, newborn care is limited to €20,000 for the first 30 days, after which all existing conditions are excluded. The page calls this "a significant uninsured risk" and says JoHo therefore does not recommend GlobalPrima for people planning to have a child. It also says congenital anomalies are generally excluded, apart from those diagnosed within 12 months of birth, which fall under a congenital benefit with a lifetime limit.

On pre-existing conditions, the GPMI page offers a choice. Under moratorium cover, IMG does not cover conditions that existed in the five years before the policy starts, though eligible ones may be considered after two continuous years free of treatment, medication, symptoms and check-ups; the page warns some ongoing conditions will never be covered. Under full medical underwriting, IMG reviews the full medical history and states its terms and exclusions on the certificate.

IMG's WorldStudy plan for students, scholars and educators has two maximum policy limits, £750,000/€1,000,000/$1,250,000 or £1,500,000/€2,000,000/$2,500,000 per insured person per period, both with nil excess, and covers mental and nervous treatment, chemotherapy and dental injury. Organized sports are an add-on up to £3,000/€4,000/$5,000 per illness or injury.

IMG's GlobeHopper short-term plans come in three versions. Standard GlobeHopper offers maximum limits of £100,000, £250,000, £500,000 or £1,000,000 (the lowest only for Areas 1 and 2) and excess options from £0 to £500. GlobeHopper Platinum offers £2,000,000, £3,000,000 or £5,000,000 with excess options up to £1,000 and includes adventure sports and personal liability as standard. GlobeHopper Multi-Trip carries a £1,000,000 limit with trip lengths of 30 or 45 days. The page says the same amounts are available in US dollars and euros, and that the plans pay a hospital cash benefit of up to £100, €100 or $100, up to a maximum of 14 nights.

Prices, eligibility and buying

APRIL International's MyHealth International page is the one plan page here that prints premiums. Its table of monthly premiums for basic inpatient cover with a €500 deductible, in Zone 3, runs from €52 at age 25 and €92 at age 45 to €204 at age 65; with repatriation added, the same ages show €81, €115 and €227. The plan has five levels, from an Emergency plan that excludes cancer treatment upward, with add-ons for outpatient care, repatriation, maternity, dental and optics. Maternity is included in the Comfort and Premium plans with a €6,000 limit and a 10-month waiting period. Buyers can take a deductible of up to €5,000 a year on inpatient care or a 10% or 20% co-payment on outpatient costs to lower the premium. The maximum enrollment age is 64 in Zone 0, Mexico and Thailand, 70 in Zones 1 and 2, and 74 in Zones 3, 4 and 5, with lifetime renewal and cancellation at the annual renewal date on 60 days' notice by email. The page excludes offshore and oil rig workers, pilots, divers and professional athletes, and says maritime cover reaches 200 nautical miles from shore but excludes rescue or repatriation at sea.

The IMG pages set their own rules. GPMI says there is no maximum age to apply, and its age section says adults are accepted up to 73 at the time of application, with renewal offered for as long as coverage stays continuous and children insurable from birth up to 25. GlobeHopper is open from 15 days old to under 75, and runs 30 days to 12 months, extendable to 24 months for the standard plan and 36 months for Platinum. WorldStudy takes participants and spouses under 60 and children from 15 days to 18 years, for 30 days up to 12 months, renewable up to five years, with up to 90 days of continued treatment after expiry. Each IMG page says premiums depend on age, plan, add-ons and deductible, and sends buyers to a quote form or IMG's quote platform.

William Russell's International Income Protection, also on the site, pays up to 80% of annual income (75% in some regions), capped at US$144,000, after a 3- or 6-month wait, with benefits rising 2% a year. It renews to age 65, the maximum age to apply is 60, and applicants cannot apply from the UK, USA, Iran, Libya, North Korea, South Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Israel or the Palestinian territories.

How claims and support work

Claims go to the insurer, not to JoHo. The IMG pages describe 24/7 multilingual support by phone, email, chat, Messenger and WhatsApp, paperless claims through the MyIMG portal, direct billing of hospital charges, a claims team operating from Cardiff, and a US network through First Health and United Health Care. GPMI requires pre-authorization for planned inpatient, day-patient and psychiatric treatment, requested 5 working days ahead. APRIL's page describes an Easy Claim app for bills up to €/$1,000, claims often processed within 48 hours, and service teams in Mexico City, Paris and Bangkok. JoHo's part is advice before the sale, help with applications, including an emailed PDF route for APRIL, and help switching existing international cover. The about page does not say how JoHo is paid by the insurers.

Who it suits

JoHo fits a buyer who wants an intermediary to compare several named international plans at once, across expat health, student cover, short-term travel cover and income protection, and who values a registered broker whose proceeds fund a foundation. Families expecting a child have the site's own warning about GPMI's newborn terms to weigh, and APRIL's plan page is where printed prices can be seen before a quote. Anyone who wants to deal directly with an insurer will find JoHo sits between them and IMG, APRIL or William Russell.