Why Our Members Stick With Us & Why You Should Too

Purchasing expat insurance can be confusing. There are just so many providers and policies out there, each with different benefits, coverage options, insurance jargon, and service promises. At William Russell, we think our members deserve more. From prevention to cure, we’re here to give you a better insurance and claims experience.

Imagine how good you’d be at international insurance if you’d been doing it every day since 1992. What sets us apart is our personal touch. We believe in named account managers not impersonal call centres, and straight, honest communication rather than pages of small print. We are a boutique insurance provider, fully independent, and free from the demands of shareholders or investors. Our only obligation is to you. That’s the William Russell difference.

Why join William Russell?

1/ We’re your expat insurance partner for modern life

We take a different approach to expat insurance. By staying close to our members, we help them take charge of their own experience abroad. We’ll help you choose the right plan.

2/ Best hospitals & doctors

If you choose international health insurance with us, you’ll have access to top-rated hospitals and doctors within the area of cover you’ve selected. We also have over 40,000 hospitals in our worldwide medical network. If you’re admitted to a hospital in our network, we’ll settle your bills with the hospital directly, so you won’t be left out-of-pocket. With our membership card, you can benefit from fast-tracked everyday medical care across hospitals in Asia.

3/ Personal service

William Russell exists to give you a better expat experience, and we pride ourselves on the people who make that happen. From medical professionals to customer service experts, our teams are made of people who live and breathe better customer experience around the world.

4/ Benefits to keep you healthy

Our product teams keep an eye on global healthcare, looking out for breakthroughs in medical science and monitoring trends in the countries where our members live. We make a point of giving our members comprehensive benefits for cancer treatment (including genome testing and counselling), while we offer generous support for mental health treatment.

5/ International cover

The best thing about a plan from William Russell is that your cover need not stop when you travel abroad or return home. Our plans are international.

Why stay with William Russell?

1/ Fair and transparent renewals

No-one likes rising insurance premiums, but they’re a fact of life. But we help you understand exactly what’s happening with your premium.

• Comparison with your current premium
• You’ll have one of our team dedicated to your renewal
• We explain changes to your premium in full
• We make suggestions on how you can reduce your premium without greatly compromising your cover

2/ Single digit average premium inflation

From 2022 to 2023, the average premium inflation for members is 6.39%. In conjunction with our New Member Discount, which we’ve extended until the end of 2023, the single digit average premium inflation makes our pricing remain competitive over the next 12 months.

A reminder: the average premium inflation is an average. It doesn’t take into account age-related increases and, while some members will experience premium inflation, others will experience negative premium inflation.

3/ We get more personal

It seems almost everyone these days, from multinational corporations to tech and entertainment companies, sees the importance of more targeted, personal communications. With the notable exception of our industry.

Meanwhile insurance customers put up with generic renewal invoices, and no explanation of premium increases or product benefits, all issued automatically on ‘no-reply’ emails. We think insurance providers should do better, and start to catch up with other sectors.

William Russell has always had an excellent reputation for member satisfaction, and now we’re taking steps into the age of personalisation.

4/ We’re transparent

Over recent years, our pricing model has become increasingly sophisticated. Now, hundreds of factors contribute to the final premium that members see on their renewal invitations. Most importantly, we’re in an excellent place to explain to members how we arrive at their renewal premium and why it might have increased.

Perhaps the cost of private healthcare has surged in Southeast Asia, or we’ve updated a discount for a particular excess, or we’ve tweaked our pricing model for an age group.

We highlight every change, explaining the thinking behind it, and quantify its impact. And we put this information front and centre—not hidden in swathes of small print.

5/ We want to help you save money

It’s the empathy on top of this transparency that sets us apart from our competitors.

We don’t relentlessly upsell to our members. Instead, we show them ways in which they might reduce their premium without significantly reducing their insurance cover.

A classic example is a member choosing a Silver or Gold plan with a high excess, which would typically exclude them from many of the out-patient benefits. In such scenarios, a Bronze or SilverLite plan might be more appropriate, so we’ve even created a guide for members who are looking for realistic ways to reduce their premium.

Of course, COVID-19 changed everything. So, we took things a step further. If a member is experiencing financial difficulties, we will offer to downgrade their plan temporarily. When the member is in a better place, we will restore their original plan with nothing more than a short declaration. We don’t impose onerous forms and paperwork.

6/ We speak in clear English

Explaining renewal premiums to members in clear and intelligible English is vital. Not everyone is an insurance expert, and not everyone speaks English as their first language. We avoid insurance jargon that requires a dictionary or glossary, we adhere to our tone of voice guidance, and we pull apart every phrase and sentence in search of clarity.

The feedback we receive

Not only has the verbal feedback we’ve received from members and brokers on the changes we’ve made been overwhelmingly positive, but our account managers have enjoyed the increased responsibility and engagement at the point of renewal. After all, our account managers are real people, and they value real, frank interaction with the people and businesses they serve.

On the quantitative side, the improvements to our renewals process have significantly boosted our retentions figures. We’re incredibly proud of our 96% annual policy renewal rate. Our Feefo rating has also increased from 4.5 to 4.6 since the beginning of the year. Our renewals teams have been energised and invigorated by the results and feedback from members, reinforcing our belief that what’s right for our members is also right for William Russell.

We’re a healthcare partner, not just an insurance provider

Whether we’re dealing directly with our members or working with you, we believe in long-term relationships. That’s why we’re committed to providing successful outcomes to all parties in every aspect of the member experience, and why better, easier-to-understand renewals are so important to us.