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Your work as a volunteer is important, and you deserve protection while doing it. Our volunteer insurance coverage can help safeguard you from unexpected disruptions during your service trip.

How our volunteer travel insurance can help you

When you volunteer, you’re stepping into new environments, new communities, and new responsibilities. That can feel both meaningful and overwhelming. Whether you’re serving abroad or supporting a project closer to home, our travel insurance for volunteering trips is here to help protect you so you can stay focused on the work that matters.
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If you’re volunteering in a remote village …

Our volunteer travel insurance can help you access emergency medical treatment and evacuation support when local resources are limited.

See our medical benefits
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If you’re traveling with supplies or equipment …

Our baggage benefits can help reimburse you for lost, damaged, or delayed items — whether it’s personal gear or essentials you need for your service project.

Help protect your bags
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If you’re volunteering after a natural disaster …

Unexpected situations can escalate quickly. Our plans include 24/7 emergency assistance to help you find safe routes, shelter, or medical facilities when conditions change.

Get emergency help fast
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If you’re volunteering for several months …

Our Ultimate plan can cover trips up to 180 days, offering long-term volunteers extended protection for medical needs, interruptions, and emergencies far from home.

See our Ultimate plan

Here's what you get with our comprehensive volunteer travel insurance

Whether you’re traveling to support a community project or joining a volunteer program overseas, you deserve reliable protection every step of the way. Our comprehensive travel insurance for volunteer work offers medical coverage, trip cancellation benefits, round-the-clock assistance, and more so you can stay focused on your mission. Review the benefits below to find the right fit for your trip.

Before you buy: If you’re volunteering abroad for several months, our Essential and Advantage plans won’t be the right fit. They only offer coverage for trips up to 30 days. Instead, choose the Ultimate plan. It offers protection for trips up to 180 days.*

*90 days for residents of WA

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Ultimate

For travelers who want maximum protection.
  • Up to $50,000 trip cancellation
  • Up to $75,000 trip interruption
  • Up to $2,000 travel delay
  • Up to $250,000 emergency medical*
  • Up to $1,000,000 emergency evacuation and repatriation

Advantage

For travelers who want a step up from basic coverage.
  • Up to $10,000 trip cancellation
  • Up to $12,500 trip interruption
  • Up to $1,000 travel delay
  • Up to $50,000 emergency medical
  • Up to $250,000 emergency evacuation and repatriation

Essential

For travelers who want reliable coverage at a lower cost.
  • Up to $10,000 trip cancellation
  • Up to $10,000 trip interruption
  • Up to $600 travel delay
  • Up to $25,000 emergency medical
  • Up to $200,000 emergency evacuation and repatriation

Important:

* This coverage only applies to emergency medical expenses that first arise during your trip. You’ll have a $50 deductible if your primary residence is in Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Vermont, or Washington. Residents of New Hampshire are eligible for up to $50,000 emergency medical and dental coverage with the Ultimate plan.

 

Why vacation with our volunteer travel insurance?

You can match your coverage to your trip and move forward with a team that understands the ups, downs, and surprises of travel.

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Personalize your policy

Volunteer travel comes in all shapes and sizes, from teaching and conservation work to disaster relief and community projects. With up to nine optional upgrades, including cancel for any reason, adventure sports coverage, and rental car damage, you can customize your plan to fit the unique demands of your service work.

Unlock our upgrades
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25+ years’ experience 

For more than 25 years, we’ve helped travelers protect their trips, including volunteers heading into new communities, remote regions, and high-impact service environments. Our award-winning technology and decades of expertise help support you wherever your volunteer work takes you, from urban centers to off-grid placements.

Meet our team
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24/7 travel support

Volunteer work often means stepping into unfamiliar places where things don’t always go as planned. That’s why our 24/7 assistance provider is always here to help, from finding medical care in remote areas to assisting with lost documents or unexpected travel issues during your assignment.

See our assistance benefit

Get to know our coverage a little bit more

Kick off your service trip fully supported with our benefits and upgrades.

Two people with volunteer travel insurance planting small trees in the forest
Two people with volunteer travel insurance planting small trees in the forest
Two people with volunteer travel insurance planting small trees in the forest

Unpack our benefits

When it comes to volunteer travel insurance, having solid backup lets you focus on the work that matters. Our benefits offer trip cancellation coverage, emergency medical help, 24/7 assistance, and additional protection designed for meaningful travel.

Older man with volunteer travel insurance tutoring a young man in a classroom
Older man with volunteer travel insurance tutoring a young man in a classroom
Older man with volunteer travel insurance tutoring a young man in a classroom

Discover our upgrades

Service work abroad comes in many forms, which is why we offer optional upgrades like adventure activities coverage, cancel for any reason, rental car damage, and more. You can tailor your plan to match the kind of work you’re doing and where you’re going.

Pack our Travel On app

Keep your policy in your pocket — and more. Travel safer with our app’s tap-to-call 24/7 assistance, destination information, and real-time safety alerts. 

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Thoughtful travel tips for volunteers around the world

Before you begin your next volunteer assignment, pause to explore our guides. They offer practical tips and insights to help you navigate your service trip with confidence.
a father and son enjoying a fire while camping, practicing the wildfire safety tips they researched ahead of time

Helping with wildfire recovery efforts?

Disaster-relief volunteering is incredibly meaningful, but smoke exposure can be dangerous. If you notice wildfire smoke or flames while you’re working, follow these steps.

Wildfire tips for travelers
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Planning volunteer work in a region with political tension?

Before your trip, take a moment to learn what our travel insurance for volunteers covers in situations involving unrest, war, or terrorism ... and what falls outside of coverage.

Travelex coverage limitations
Father holding hands with his daughter and running in the ocean on vacation during hurricane season

Planning volunteer work abroad during hurricane season?

Communities still face major challenges long after a hurricane passes, and so do travelers. Here’s what to know and how to stay safe.

See hurricane travel tips

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Want to know more about our volunteer travel insurance?

These FAQs dive into the details of our coverage, how benefits work for service trips, and how to choose the right protection for your time abroad. Explore the answers below.

There are a lot of ways you can volunteer around the world, from helping at an orphanage and teaching English in another country to building homes and cleaning beaches. But no matter how you’re volunteering, you may be at risk of illness, injury, or crime that you’re unlikely to experience while sitting on the couch at home, especially if you’re in a remote area.

Travel mishaps can be expensive, and without travel insurance, you could be paying for unexpected costs on your own. If something goes wrong during your trip, our volunteer insurance coverage can reimburse your unexpected costs from travel issues like medical emergencies and lost, damaged, or delayed luggage. Plus, our 24/7 travel assistance team can help you sort out next steps so you can get back to serving others sooner.

All our plans offer travel insurance for volunteering trips, but the plan you choose should depend on your travel needs. When you compare plans, think about whether you need trip cancellation coverage, how long you’re traveling for, and what you’ll be doing while you’re away.

Our top choice for people looking for travel insurance for volunteer work is our Ultimate plan. It has our most inclusive coverage and highest benefit limits, so you can feel more comfortable whether you’re helping build homes a few states away or teaching children in a faraway country. Our Ultimate plan can provide coverage for emergency medical expenses, delayed baggage, lost or stolen personal items, and more. And it’s our most customizable plan, with up to nine optional upgrades like adventure activities, additional medical, and cancel for any reason.*

Worried you’ll get sick or injured and won’t have the treatment you need in your destination? With our Ultimate plan, you’ll have our highest level of coverage for emergency medical evacuations, plus 24/7 travel assistance. So, if you become severely ill or suffer a serious injury while volunteering, our assistance provider can arrange and help pay for your emergency medical evacuation to a hospital with the care you need.

*Cancel for any fortuitous reason for NY residents.

It depends how long your trip is. With our Ultimate plan, you’ll have coverage for up to 180 days.* The maximum trip length our Advantage and Essential plans can offer coverage for is 30 days.

Anything can happen at any time when you’re traveling (whether you’re volunteering or not), so it’s important to protect your entire trip. This way, whether you're building communities or conserving nature, you can focus on your mission rather than potential trip mishaps. And, if something does go wrong while you’re away, our 24/7 assistance provider can be there to help.

*90 days for residents of WA.

It’s free and simple to get a quote. Just hit the “Get quote” button below, then enter your destination. Once you’ve told us about your trip and travelers, we’ll show you your volunteer insurance coverage options.

Prefer to speak to us before you buy? You can also reach our award-winning customer service team for questions or a quote at 1-800-228-9792.

Our travel insurance for volunteer trips offers coverage for many common volunteer activities, including construction support, teaching, community outreach, animal care, and agricultural work. These activities are not automatically excluded as “work” or “manual labor.”

However, if your volunteer role involves higher-risk tasks, you may need to add our adventure activities upgrade for those activities to be eligible for coverage. This upgrade is required for things like:

  • Mountain climbing
  • Bungee jumping
  • Snow skiing
  • Skydiving
  • Parachuting
  • Free falling
  • Cliff diving
  • B.A.S.E. jumping
  • Hang gliding
  • Parasailing
  • Any air-supported device other than a scheduled airline or charter
  • Mountaineering or free climbing
  • Scuba diving deeper than 75 feet

Here are two examples of when a volunteer would want to add the adventure activities upgrade:

  1. Marine conservation diving: If you’re assisting with ocean cleanup and plan to scuba dive below 75 feet (even with a certification), the adventure activities upgrade is needed for coverage.
  2. Wildfire relief transportation: If you’re traveling by helicopter to access remote disaster areas during wildfire relief efforts, this also counts as an air-supported activity and requires the adventure activities upgrade.

Yes. While volunteer work can sometimes lead travelers into higher-risk destinations, there are certain places where we cannot offer coverage. If your volunteer trip takes you to a blocked destination or a country that is sanctioned by OFAC, we are unable to provide travel insurance for that trip.

Before finalizing your plans, be sure to check current restrictions so you know whether your destination is eligible for coverage.

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