Offshore Workers & Life Insurance

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Offshore WorkersWe understand that being an offshore worker can be a very rewarding and interesting job, but we also know that it means you are faced with unique risks and challenges on a daily basis. 

To find the best life insurance for you we will ask you:

  • What are your duties offshore?
  • How much of your year is spent offshore?
  • Which country are you based in?
  • What transport do you take to your destination?
  • Do you work at heights?

Your job is your livelihood and just because you are based offshore, doesn’t mean you should feel any more vulnerable heading out to work each day. We have expertise in this area and can help you to match your working life with an insurance to meet your needs, without it being too complicated.

As an offshore worker the life insurance you can get will be determined by the amount of risk involved in your job. So if your occupation is low risk, like an office administrator or a cook, then the chances are you’ll be able to get life insurance with standard terms.

But if your role involves more high risk duties, such as working at heights or with heavy machinery, insurance companies may be slightly more cautious.

This is not something to worry about. It just means that finding an insurer that supports your work, is really essential to getting you the best price for life insurance.

No matter what your role involves, you can rely on us to help simplify the process of applying for offshore workers life insurance.

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In this instance, an offshore worker means that your job is likely to be something similar to working in the oil rig industry, on a wind farm, as a fisherman or on the cruise ships. Your main duties are likely to include operating machinery, engineering, welding, plumbing, cooking or first aid.

We know that your job could be very challenging and we appreciate the possible risks you may face, including chemical exposure, lack of medical facilities, the travel requirements to get to work and the need to work at heights or depths.

All of these factors can have an influence on your insurance and our expertise can help to guide you through it.

If you are a member of the Armed Forces, please visit one of the following pages that are tailored specifically to your needs: ArmyNavy and Royal Air Force.

Critical illness cover pays out a cash lump sum of money, if you are diagnosed with a medical condition that is listed in the insurer’s claims set e.g. cancer, heart attack, stroke.

Applying for critical illness cover as an offshore worker means much of the same information will be considered as with life insurance.

The key factors are around the levels of risk involved in your specific job tasks and where you travel to. Some insurers will be able to offer your critical illness cover at standard rates, but not all will.

If you are employed in a higher risk occupation, you may find that some insurers place an occupational exclusion on the claims set, or an increased premium.

In cases where exclusions are in place they can come in a couple of different ways. One way is an exclusion for any claim whilst you are at work. The other way is an exclusion for certain conditions while you are at work e.g. as loss of limbs, traumatic head injury or paralysis. 

As an offshore worker it’s important to know that ‘Total Permanent Disability’ (TPD), could be unavailable with a critical illness policy. This is one condition on the policy and you are usually covered for at least 60 conditions in these policies. 

Our award winning advisers will speak with you and find the best critical illness policy to match your needs.

Income protection pays you a replacement of your monthly income, if you are unable to work due to ill health.

You should be able to get income protection as an offshore worker and for most white collar occupations, it will be available on standard terms.

If you are doing more high risk jobs then it will be really important to pick an insurer that can support your specific occupation.

Sometimes you can find that the policy have what’s known as a rotary aviation exclusion on the policy. This is most likely if you need to use a helicopter to get to the rig.

You may also find that your income protection comes with a retirement age limit which means you could be covered, for example, up to the age of 60. 

Our advisers will give you a clear explanation as to the right income protection policy for you.

It is often best to have travel insurance in place if you’re planning a trip. We work with a specialist travel broker, please visit our travel page here to find out more.

Hi. Today, I’m carrying on the CuraVision ABC Series and all focus is on Mr. O. Oscar came to us, 34 year old male, non-smoker, BMI in perfect range, health in perfect range. I’m mixing it up a little bit this week, and I am going on occupation as a special risk.

For Oscar, he was an offshore worker. He was inspecting the oil rigs and ships to make sure they were safe for people to work at. Oscar came to us. He didn’t know necessarily what insurance he needed or what he would be able to have. What we arranged for him was a level life and critical illness policy. We worked off a multiple of his salary, so roughly five times his salary took him to £500,000 for the life and critical illness cover. We did that over 20 years to his anticipated retirement age.

As well as that, we did some income protection. We did level income protection. This one, we worked more towards an affordability of budget for the whole package that we had put together, because we gave him multiple options, but Oscar ultimately felt the life and critical illness cover was what he wanted to focus on primarily. With the income protection, we put in place £3,000 worth of monthly income replacement. It covered his expenses, his outgoings for the month. Again, we did that for 20 years which was his anticipated retirement age.

Now, with the income protection side of things, there was a restriction on the claim period of the policy from the insurer. It was a two year claim period, and it kicked in after one month of being unable to work. Now, that whole package of the life insurance, the critical illness cover and the income protection came to an approximate monthly premium of £185. 

 

What is an Offshore Worker

Offshore workers are those individuals who work within the oil rig Industry and this page is focused towards people within this sector. If you are a member of Armed Forces please visit one of the following pages that are tailored specifically for your needs: ArmyNavyRAF.

Duties: Machine operator, engineering, welding, plumbing, cooking, first aid

  • Bell Divers
  • Boilermen
  • Cleaners
  • Cooks
  • Engineering Supervisors
  • Health and Safety Officers
  • Heavy Mechanical Engineers
  • Mechanics
  • Medical Personnel
  • Office-based Staff/Management
  • Operators (remote submersible)
  • Testers
  • Working in High Risk Countries

Some of the possible risks include:

    • Chemical exposure
    • Lack of medical facilities
    • Transport
    • Working at heights and/or depths

Common Questions

The first thing that we would advise is that you speak with a different insurer. The UK life insurance market can be inconsistent at times because some insurers will offer cover to offshore workers and some will not. But don’t worry, there should be options for you on the standard market, and if not, there are specialist insurers that will be able to offer you life insurance to suit your occupation..

Yes, you certainly can and depending on your specific job role, this may be sought on the standard market or via a specialist insurer. The insurer will want to know the exact location of where you work offshore and may also ask how long you stay in your stop over country before travelling to the rig.

There isn’t a definitive answer here because whilst insurers like to know the exact location that you will be travelling to for your work, they also understand that offshore jobs can be unpredictable. In addition, there are varying levels of danger in different countries which can change quickly, making it difficult to say that any one place is more acceptable to insurers than another.

So whilst your offshore location is important, the key thing for an insurer in deciding whether to provide you with cover is understanding the specific job that you do, for example, working at heights, using explosives or moving heavy machinery.

Client Reviews

Cura Financial Services has been rated 5 out of 5 based on 739 reviews.

Review by Simon on 29th January 2016

I was having a lot of trouble getting critical illness cover as I work on a rig. These guys really helped me and got cover sorted at a good price. - 5 

You can read more of our reviews here.

Offshore Workers

Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd

Author
This page was written by Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd, an award-winning insurance adviser. To read more about Kathryn please see her bio here

Offshore Workers

Client Reviews

Offshore Workers

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