Working with Animals
Working with animals away from the UK can be a very rewarding and altruistic experience.
It offers you the chance to make a real difference to the quality of animals' lives, many of whom, have a very tough or endangered existence.
Of course, there are obvious risks involved, as animals aren’t always predictable, and you could be travelling to some of the less-developed parts of the world, where working environments can potentially be more primitive and challenging.
Getting the right cover
It makes sense to ensure that your travel insurance will cover you in both your leisure and work time (whether this is paid or voluntary), so that you have the peace of mind that you have comprehensive travel insurance cover in place, with the essential benefit that your medical costs are covered, plus the costs of repatriation back to the UK, if this is deemed appropriate.
Working with animals varies a great deal, in terms of the types of animals that you will be in contact with, and your role in relation to them. With this in mind, a wide variety of roles have been put into one of four Work Packs, which you apply to your quote, as appropriate.
Here’s a handy guide to what Work Pack you’ll need to add when getting a quote:
Pack 1 – Animal sanctuary/refuge work with domestic or farm animals, ecologist, zoo curator/director
Pack 2 – Animal welfare inspector, elephant sanctuary work, a vet or veterinary nurse working with domestic or farm animals, marine biologist, park ranger
Pack 3 – Horse riding instructor, zoo-keeper
Pack 4 – Animal sanctuary work with wild animals, veterinary work with wild animals including horses and donkeys
Our working holiday policy requirements
Please note that we are only able to offer cover to travellers who are resident with their main home in the UK and who are registered with a UK GP. We are unable to offer a policy if you have spent more than 6 months outside of the UK during the last 12 months.
If you have any questions about the Working Holiday policy, please don’t hesitate to find out more. You can call us on 01424 223964 or submit a working holiday travel insurance quote request.
Once we have received this, we will be able to confirm if cover can be offered, and how much it will cost. We usually respond to quote enquiries on the same working day, or the morning of the next working day.
Take a look at our Working Holiday policy-holder Ben, who made a real, practical difference to dogs’ lives, working as a vet in Tanzania, in this inspiring Case Study.
If you are working with livestock on a farm, please see our Farm Work page.