Living in Korea and insurance
What should you check before leaving Korea permanently?
Before leaving Korea permanently, review all your insurance contracts instead of cancelling everything at once or simply leaving the contracts unattended. The official 내보험찾아줌 service allows you to check life and non-life insurance enrollment and unclaimed benefits.
Sort the contracts you find into groups such as:
- contracts to keep after returning home;
- contracts whose value abroad needs to be reconsidered;
- contracts with benefits not yet claimed;
- contracts for which a premium suspension or refund arrangement should be checked;
- contracts whose surrender value and effect on future enrollment should be compared; and
- compulsory insurance connected with a vehicle you own.
Tell each insurer how your address, telephone number and email can be updated, and check whether identity verification and claims are possible from abroad. If you plan to close a Korean bank account, first arrange premium debits and the account used to receive claim payments. Obtain any medical documents needed for an outstanding claim before leaving.
For medical-expense insurance, check both overseas coverage and how premiums are handled during a long stay abroad. Some insurers say that a policyholder staying abroad beyond a specified period may apply for a temporary premium suspension, but the same rule does not apply automatically to every insurer and every generation of policy.
Take particular care if a vehicle will remain in Korea. A vehicle owner is generally required to maintain compulsory insurance. If the vehicle cannot be used for a long period because you are abroad, an exemption may be available only after approval by the competent authority under the statutory period and conditions and after depositing the vehicle-registration document and number plates. Do not cancel the motor insurance first merely because you have left Korea.
Checklist before departure
- Check all insurance enrollment through the official service.
- Check hospital expenses and accident benefits not yet claimed.
- Check coverage abroad for every contract.
- Arrange the premium-payment account and confirm payment from abroad.
- Update your address, phone number and email.
- Check documents and translations needed for a claim from abroad.
- Check the surrender value and effect on future enrollment.
- Check whether medical-expense premiums can be suspended or refunded during an overseas stay.
- If leaving a vehicle, check compulsory insurance and the approval procedure for long-term non-operation.
- Save each insurer’s official overseas contact details.
Example and limitation
One insurer allows an application to suspend medical-expense premiums temporarily for an overseas stay of at least three months. This is a useful example of what to ask about, not a common rule that applies automatically to every contract.