The short answer

When you relocate, list everything that stops working when you leave — the NHS, employer life cover and sick pay, UK-only insurance — and replace it before you go. Put international health insurance in place for the whole family from the day you arrive. Check or arrange life cover that works in Thailand, sized to school fees, income and the home, and write it in trust. Consider income protection or critical illness cover for the main earner. Build an emergency fund of three to six months' spending, split between pounds and baht. Update wills, guardianship and beneficiaries for two countries. And never cancel old cover until new cover is confirmed. We take leads for insurance and introduce specialists; Lawrence will review it all, free.

What stops working when you move

The protections most families rely on in the UK are tied to living there, or to a UK job. When you relocate, many quietly end:

In Thailand, healthcare is private and paid for, and many UK, US and EU insurers won't cover people who live permanently abroad. If you're moving with a new employer, their package may include health and life cover — but check exactly what's included, for whom, and what happens if the job ends.

Health insurance for the whole family

Health cover is the first and most urgent protection for a relocating family. Thailand's private hospitals are excellent, but a single serious illness can be very expensive: a coronary bypass at a major Bangkok private hospital is published at around ฿1.17–1.44 million, and even a private doctor's visit typically costs ฿700–3,000 before tests and medicine. Medical costs have been rising at around 14–15% a year.

• Have cover starting the day you arrive — not after you've found a home and a school.
• Cover every family member, including a non-working partner and children.
• Check maternity cover if you're planning a family — it often has waiting periods.
• Declare existing conditions — they may be excluded or covered after a waiting period of around two years.
• Check where you're covered — Thailand only, Asia, or worldwide including the UK.
• Check evacuation and repatriation cover.

Employer schemes are a great start, but check whether cover continues if you change job, and whether it covers your whole family. Our guide to healthcare costs and insurance in Thailand explains local and international cover in detail.

Life cover that works abroad

If your family depends on your income, check whether your existing life cover still applies in Thailand — and whether it's enough for your new life. A move often increases your commitments: international school fees, a new home, a partner who may not be working. International life insurance is designed for expats, with cover in pounds, dollars or euros, beneficiaries anywhere and policies that follow you if you move again.

• Check existing policies cover you living abroad — and tell insurers you're moving.
• Recalculate how much you need, including school fees and your partner's position.
• Write policies in trust so payouts reach your family quickly, outside frozen accounts.
• Don't cancel old cover until new cover is confirmed.

Our guide to international life insurance for expat families explains how much cover you might need and how to arrange it.

Protecting your income

For many families, the bigger risk isn't death but illness or injury that stops the main earner working for months or years. In the UK, sick pay and state benefits provide a basic safety net; in Thailand, an expat may have little or nothing unless they've arranged it.

Income protection

Pays a regular income if you can't work because of illness or injury, usually after a waiting period, until you recover, return to work or the policy ends.

Critical illness cover

Pays a lump sum if you're diagnosed with a listed serious illness, such as cancer, heart attack or stroke — money to cover treatment, adapt your home or replace lost income.

Some employers include these; many don't. They're worth considering for the main earner, especially with school fees and rent to cover.

The protection a relocating family should consider

The main types of cover, what each protects against and when to arrange it.

A general guide. We take leads for insurance and introduce you to specialists who arrange cover for expats in Thailand.

Where to start

A free review of your family's protection before you move, and introductions to specialists who arrange cover for expats.

An emergency fund for the first year

The first year after a move is the most unpredictable. Deposits, school registration fees, furniture, visa costs and unexpected bills arrive together — often before your first Thai salary or before you've opened a Thai bank account. An emergency fund of three to six months' spending, split between pounds and baht, gives you breathing space.

• Keep it separate from relocation and school money.
• Hold some in pounds in a UK account you can reach, and some in baht once your Thai account is open.
• Use protected accounts — the FSCS covers up to £120,000 per person per banking licence in the UK; Thailand's Deposit Protection Agency covers up to ฿1 million per bank.
• Keep a fee-free credit card as a bridge for large bills.

Wills, guardianship and powers of attorney

A move abroad is the moment to update the legal arrangements that protect your family:

• Update your UK will for your new circumstances.
• Consider a Thai will once you have Thai assets — Thai bank accounts are frozen on death until a Thai court appoints an administrator, and a Thai will speeds that up.
• Name guardians for your children — who would care for them if both parents died, and in which country?
• Make lasting powers of attorney in the UK before you leave.
• Update beneficiaries on pensions and policies.
• Write down key information — accounts, policies, contacts — and tell someone where it is.

Our guide to estate and beneficiary planning for expats explains wills in two countries.

Visas, dependants and what happens if things go wrong

Family members' right to stay in Thailand often depends on one person's visa or work permit. If the main earner loses their job, falls seriously ill or dies, a partner and children who hold dependant visas may need a new visa route quickly. That is one of the least discussed risks of relocating, and it is exactly where good protection planning earns its keep.

Some routes come with financial tests. Marriage extensions for those married to a Thai national need ฿400,000 in a Thai bank or ฿40,000 a month of income; retirement extensions need ฿800,000 or ฿65,000 a month. A family whose only source of money was the main earner's salary can suddenly find it hard to meet any of these, just when it needs certainty most.

Three questions to answer before you go

• If the visa holder died, how would the family stay — or would they return home, and what would that move cost?
• Is there money in the partner's own name, in an account they can reach without probate or a death certificate?
• Would a life insurance payout arrive fast enough — and in a currency and country the family can use?

A lump sum from life cover, written in trust so it pays out quickly, plus an emergency fund the partner can access alone, turns a potential crisis into a hard but manageable decision. Children's school places matter too: many international schools ask for a term's notice or a term's fees in lieu, so a sudden move can come with a bill on top of flights and shipping.

Home, vehicle and travel cover

Home contents

Your landlord's insurance covers the building, not your belongings. Contents cover protects against theft, fire and damage, and can include liability.

Car and motorbike

Compulsory basic insurance in Thailand is limited. Many expats add voluntary cover for damage, theft and greater liability — especially important on Thai roads. Check that your licence is valid and that any policy covers the vehicle type and your usage.

Travel insurance

Travel insurance is designed for trips, not for living abroad, so it doesn't replace health cover in Thailand. But you'll still want it for holidays and trips back to the UK — check your health policy first, as some include cover abroad.

We take leads for all these types of insurance and introduce you to specialists.

Your protection timeline

1. Three months before — list every policy and protection you have, and what stops when you leave. Get a protection review.
2. Two months before — arrange international health insurance from the day you arrive; check or arrange life cover; make lasting powers of attorney.
3. One month before — update your UK will and beneficiaries; name guardians; build your emergency fund; tell insurers you're moving.
4. On arrival — carry insurance details; register with a hospital; keep emergency money accessible.
5. First three months — open a Thai bank account; arrange home and vehicle cover; move some of the emergency fund into baht.
6. First year — consider a Thai will; review income protection; review everything once you're settled.

If your employer is moving you

An employer relocation package can include health insurance, life cover, school fees and housing — valuable benefits, but ones that usually end when the job does. Before you rely on them, ask:

• Who is covered — you only, or your partner and children too?
• How much life cover, and is it enough for your family's new commitments?
• Does health cover include maternity, dental, evacuation and existing conditions?
• Is there income protection or long-term sick pay?
• What happens if the job ends — can cover be continued individually?
• Is the package fixed in one currency while your costs are in baht?

Many families top up employer cover with personal policies they own, so protection doesn't disappear with a job change.

Protecting a non-working partner

Relocation often means one partner gives up work — to settle the family, because a visa doesn't allow work, or by choice. That partner can become the most financially vulnerable person in the family. They may have stopped building their own pension, lost employer life cover and have no income of their own in Thailand.

Make sure they have their own access to money, their own health cover, life cover on the earning partner payable to them, and a clear understanding of the family's finances: where the accounts are, which policies exist, who the advisers are and how to reach them. A simple one-page family "if something happens" sheet, kept somewhere both partners can find it, is one of the most valuable documents a relocating family can create.

Consider cover on the non-working partner's life too. If they died, the earning partner might need to pay for full-time childcare, a nanny, school transport or reduce their hours — costs that can easily run to hundreds of thousands of baht a year. This kind of cover is often surprisingly affordable, because the amount needed is usually lower than for the main earner.

Finally, think about the non-working partner's long-term position. If they paid UK National Insurance before leaving, voluntary contributions may help keep their State Pension record on track — the GOV.UK guidance on paying voluntary contributions from abroad explains who qualifies. Lawrence can include this in a family review so neither partner is left behind.

How much protection does a relocating family need?

There is no single right figure, but there is a sensible way to work it out. Start with what your family would need if the main earner were no longer there, then subtract what already exists.

Add up the needs

• Debts — any mortgage left in the UK, loans and credit cards.
• Living costs — rent, food, transport and bills for the years until the children are independent.
• Education — remaining international school fees and any university plans. Fees at many Thai international schools run to several hundred thousand baht a year per child.
• A move home — flights, shipping and a deposit on a home in the UK, if the family would return.
• An income for the surviving partner while they retrain or return to work.

Subtract what's already there

Take away savings and investments, any existing life cover that still works abroad, employer death-in-service benefits that would continue, and pension death benefits. The gap is the amount of cover to consider. Many families find the answer is larger than they expected — mainly because of school fees — and that a decreasing or level term policy can fill it at a manageable cost.

Review the figure every couple of years. As the children move through school and savings grow, the gap usually shrinks, and you may be able to reduce cover and premiums.

The most common mistakes

1. Arriving without health cover "to sort it out once settled".
2. Assuming UK policies still cover you abroad.
3. Relying entirely on employer cover that ends with the job.
4. Cancelling old cover before new cover starts.
5. No emergency fund for the expensive first year.
6. Old wills and beneficiaries that don't reflect the move.
7. No guardians named for the children.
8. A non-working partner with no money or cover of their own.

Three real-world examples

Ben and Sophie: the gap week

Ben's new Bangkok employer's health cover started a month after arrival. A protection review arranged short-term international cover for the family from the day they landed — a week later, their daughter needed hospital treatment for dengue.

Raj and Anita: the employer package

Raj's relocation package included life cover of two times salary, for him only. With school fees for two children and Anita not working, they added personal term cover in trust, sized to their real needs.

Karen: the forgotten will

Karen moved to Phuket with her two children after her divorce. Her UK will still named her ex-husband as executor and didn't name guardians. She updated her UK will, made a Thai will and named her sister as guardian.

Your relocation protection checklist

• Health cover for the whole family starts the day we arrive.
• Life cover works in Thailand, is big enough and is in trust.
• Income protection considered for the main earner.
• Emergency fund of three to six months, in pounds and baht.
• Wills, guardians and beneficiaries updated for two countries.
• Powers of attorney made before leaving.
• Home and vehicle cover arranged once we arrive.
• No old cover cancelled until new cover is confirmed.

Staying safe during a move

A relocation means lots of new accounts, transfers and documents — and fraudsters know it. Confirm payment details for landlords, schools and movers directly, keep copies of passports and policies secure, and use a private, protected connection on hotel and café Wi-Fi while you're setting up.

How we researched this guide

This guide draws on our protection, healthcare, estate and banking guides and their sources: Thaiger (July 2026) and Pacific Prime (August 2026) on healthcare costs and insurance; TheThailandLife (May 2026) on life cover for expats; ThaiLawOnline (October 2026) on frozen accounts and Thai wills; Emerhub (2026) and Thai Visa Services (27 September 2026) on visa money; Thailand Starter Kit (4 August 2026) on school fees; and the FSCS and Thailand's Deposit Protection Agency on deposit protection. Checked 14 October 2026. JLIT takes leads for insurance and introduces specialists; it does not sell insurance. This guide is general information, not personal financial or insurance advice.