How a review works | Expat Savvy

Arranging international cover for the first time, or checking what you already hold — the process is the same, in this order. Nothing is placed, signed or quoted on the call.

Book a review

Free · 45 minutes · With Robert or Nicole

Not ready to book? Read what happens first

The process

What a first review actually looks like.

Four steps over about a week, most of the work happening before you speak to anyone.

The intake

Right after you book, we email you a short intake form. Where you are, where you're going, who's coming with you, anything you already hold. It takes a few minutes, and it means the 45 minutes start prepared — with your situation, not with paperwork.

We study your situation

Not products first. Your life first. We look at the country you're moving to and what it legally requires, the country after that if there is one, who depends on you, and where the real exposure sits. We don't quote anything at this stage.

The consultation

45 minutes, by video, in English. We review underwriting, renewal, exclusions and treatment geography against your situation. If there is a policy in force, we read the wording and personal endorsements. We identify what is clear and what needs an insurer’s written confirmation.

Your Private Client Report

One working day later, around twelve pages: what we found, what we weighed it against, available cost information, and the reasons for the recommendation. Missing documents or insurer answers are identified as open questions. Sometimes the report says keep what you have. It is yours either way.

Before we say anything

What we read, and in what order.

Your life first, products last. That ordering is the whole method, and it is why the recommendation at the end is usually shorter than people expect.

We start with what the country you are moving to legally requires — which is rarely what the relocation pack says, and changes more often than the guides that quote it. Then the country after that, if there is one, because cover bought for a single posting is the most common expensive mistake we see. Then who depends on you, and what happens to them if the worst of it lands.

Only then the policies. If you already hold cover, we read the wording rather than the brochure — the underwriting basis, how renewal is priced, what is excluded, and what the schedule says happens on the day a claim is filed. Those four are where a policy that looked generous turns out to fight.

Nothing is quoted at this stage. A quote before the reading is a guess with a number attached to it.

The deliverable

The advice is a document.

Not a call that evaporates, not a quote sheet with our margin hidden in it. A written report: what you hold, what it actually does, what we would change and why — with the reasoning shown, so you can check it or challenge it.

It arrives within one working day of the consultation. If a document or insurer answer is missing, the report identifies that open question and the next step. A provisional finding stays clearly provisional.

It is yours either way. Whether you act on it, take it to another adviser, or hand it to your company's finance team — the document belongs to you, and nothing in it is written to be unusable without us.

Read a fictional sample report

Afterwards

Nothing has to change.

The review is free and it ends with a document, not an obligation. If the report says keep what you have, that is the end of it — and that outcome is common enough that we write the sentence into the report rather than treat it as a failure.

If you do want something arranged, we arrange it, and your details reach an insurer only once you have said so. If you would rather take the report to someone else, it is written to be usable without us.

For clients whose cover we place, the review repeats every year, for as long as you are a client. That is the part that matters most in this category: cover bought correctly at 34 is not still correct at 47, and nobody re-reads it unless re-reading it is someone's job.

How we are paid

The arrangement, in plain words.

Expat Savvy is an advisory practice and holds no insurance licences of its own. International cover is placed through SIP Medical Family Office. Availability depends on your residence, the product and the relevant SIP entity; we check the placement route before arranging cover.

We hold no exclusive arrangement with any insurer, and no insurer owns part of this business. That does not mean every insurer or product is available to every client. The scope of a recommendation depends on the cover we can consider and arrange for your circumstances.

International cover is placed on a courtage basis: the insurer pays a percentage of the premium when a policy is placed. A higher premium can mean higher remuneration; this payment model does not remove that potential conflict. Our written report sets out the reasons for a recommendation, the alternatives considered and whether keeping existing cover is appropriate. There is no fee for the review or written report, whether or not you arrange cover through us.

Ask us to explain the remuneration attached to a proposed placement. You can read the reasoning before deciding, ask why an alternative was left out, or take the report to another adviser.

These register entries identify the relevant SIP companies, not Expat Savvy: FINMA intermediary register — Switzerland, SIP Switzerland AG registration F01111824 · FMA register — Liechtenstein, SIP Europe AG licence 10116 · FCA register — United Kingdom, SIP MFO Ltd firm reference 989310. The entities and their terms of business are on our about page.

Ready for a calm conversation about cover?

A first review is free — 45 minutes, in English, wherever in the world you happen to be. We'll listen first. Then you'll hear exactly what we would arrange if the situation were ours. What you do with that is yours to decide.