I have been looking for travel/long stay insurance for when I return to Thailand next month. I had been told that I would need to have been in the UK 3 months prior to travelling earlier in the year. After looking at the defination in the small print of policies you should be aware that most insurance companies are now stating that to comply with UK residency it is now 6 months, please take note and check it out before you purchase.

+1

As per usual you may think you can get away with non disclosure of your legal residential status however be aware that all insurance policies are covered by the concept of Uberimma Fides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uberrima_fides

Non disclosure of material facts will result in your claim not being paid and on some occasions will result in you being charged with fraud.

This may all seem obvious to you, however please remember when your sitting in a bar with a guy telling you his latest story about how he blah,blah,blahs the authorities and insurance companies etc.................everyone gets away with it until they're caught.

Travel insurance is much cheaper than health insurance. This is to partly to prevent people who live overseas using travel insurance as their main insurance policy.

If you are a genuine traveller and are the type of person that goes home for a couple of months then travels again, explain this to the insurance company with documentary evidence and they may waive the condition. If you are effectively living overseas then do not expect travel insurance to cover you.

Most people assume they are a UK resident reagrdless of where they choose to spend most of their time. They look at the price, dont read much of the small print and only come a cropper if they need to make a claim. Some of the insurers idea of a UK resident is very vague and its very easy to say that as "I see it" I am ok, trouble is its at the point of dispute that the insurer will tell you exactly what their position is," if you were not sure you could have rung for clarification."

You cant win with them, just make sure you are getting what you think you are.