IALC's Corporate Partners guard.me Celebrate 25 Years

25 апреля 2023

IALC's Corporate Partners guard.me Celebrate 25 Years

IALC sat down with Mark Sheerin, Managing Director of the European team for guard.me International Insurance, to learn more about their services and plans for 2023 as they celebrate their 25 year anniversary.

Info at a Glance

Provider name:                    guard.me International Insurance
Location:  Global, with offices in Canada, Ireland and the UK
Website:  www.guardme.eu
Name:  Mark Sheerin
Job title:   Managing Director

Q. Have you launched any new insurance products for international students or boosted student coverage in the last 12 months?

guard.me has recently added a new underwriter to our partnership portfolio in order to provide a higher level of service and extend the types of policies we can offer. We also have a wide number of new services including:

New Free “Digital Doctor” Telephone Support

  • We are delighted to announce a new free GP support assistance phone line. Students can call the assistance line listed on their Certificate of Insurance and access free GP support 24/7 in a variety of languages. This product offers a superior service, extra language support and easier accessibility without having to download apps or provide any access codes.

Covid Hospital/Accommodation Quarantine Cover

  • Our Covid-related coverage remains in place and part of all our policies with an extra new benefit which lets a student claim a per-night fee if they are quarantined in hospital or in their own accommodation.

Expanded List of Acceptable Medical Conditions for Pre-Existent Conditions

  • We have extended our list of exceptions for pre-existent medical conditions. This means students can now avail of cover in more instances that might previously have been considered a pre-existent condition.

New Missed Departure Benefit

  • We now include cover for missed departures that will provide up to €7,500. This will include coverage towards applicable lost expenses for being unable to commence the trip and costs towards reaching the booked destination and connecting flights outside of the destination country.

Coverage included for Internships

  • Our policies now include cover towards students travelling on internships and cultural programmes.

Q. What is your most popular plan for international students currently?

Multirisk with Cancellation has become our most popular plan given the high risk and uncertainties around travel in the pandemic aftermath.


Q. What have been the main challenges for you as an insurance provider in the last 12 months? How are you tackling these challenges?

We worked extremely hard to acquire regulatory licensing in Ireland since Brexit – this was no easy task! We are now one of the few industry providers with licensing in both the UK and EU in addition to Canada, which now allows us to offer exceptional flexibility and support to more customers, for example, allowing us to support study trips to any destination.

As you might expect, in recent years claims increased exponentially mainly due to Covid and flight cancellations, however we are proud to say that we have been managing the situation well and our new underwriter offers a more dynamic way to manage claims. Plus, our new operational setup strengthens our language support abilities, having partnered with one of the best-in-class assistance teams in the industry.

We also recognise clients are now looking for even greater flexibility in their needs to change bookings due to the constant uncertainty and flux in travel. Behind the scenes we have been investing in a best-in-class new customer portal which will empower clients to order and make unprecedented changes to their policies in real-time.


Q. Why have you started attending conferences/workshops again and what have you been keen to talk with partners about?

We started attending in-person events again in mid-2022. Our main interest is to understand agents’ and schools’ needs in order to be able to offer them products and services that can best support their students.


Q. Are there any priority areas you, as an insurance provider, will you be focussing on going forward?

Medical coverage for individual and groups is our priority, together with cancellation options on policies. Both offer peace of mind to our clients.

We will also be focussing on providing better language options for students so they can seek support in a language of their choice.

We continue to work hard to ensure we have a faster turnaround time on claims, as we understand that students very often require their reimbursement urgently.

From our headquarters in Canada, the guard.me Cares division has been providing award-winning mental health support for students via its Keep.Me.Safe service. guard.me has been a true pioneer in this regard, offering personalised, confidential, one-on-one mental health support 24/7 on tap for several years prior to the pandemic, but it was particularly appreciated even more during the height of Covid and continues to be a vital service today.


Q. What are the main areas of concern for international students booking a study trip abroad in 2023?

Students taking shorter trips continue to worry about getting sick, or needing to return home earlier than anticipated due to changing circumstances, so our Cancellation & Curtailment Policies are greatly appreciated by both students and parents alike.

We have also seen that for students travelling over longer time frames, our mental health support services are hugely valuable to help them adjust to their new environment, adapt to new study habits, or build their confidence.


To learn more about guard.me’ s services offered specifically in Europe, please visit: www.guardme.eu or contact them at sales@guardme.eu.

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