Help when you are abroad from World First and the FCO

All World First travel insurance policyholders have 24-hour access to a multi-lingual emergency helpline for travellers who have medical and legal problems abroad. World First work with the Foreign & Commonwealth office can provide help to British travellers who have all sorts of problems whilst away from home. Our assistance personnel work closely with the FCO and will often take advice and liaise with the FCO whilst assisting our travel insurance clients in the event of an emergency overseas.

Who the FCO can help

The FCO can provide support to people outside the UK who are:

• British nationals
• in certain limited circumstances, British nationals with another nationality - 'dual nationals'
• European Union or Commonwealth nationals whose country does not have a local mission, in circumstances where the FCO have agreed to help their nationals.

The FCO cannot provide this support to other countries' nationals, even if they may have been lawfully living in the UK.

How the FCO can help

If you do get into difficulty whilst abroad the FCO offers help which is appropriate to the individual circumstances of each case, including:

• issuing replacement passports;
• providing information about transferring funds;
• providing appropriate help if you have suffered rape or serious assault, are a victim of other crime, or are in hospital;
• helping people with mental illness;
• providing details of local lawyers, interpreters and doctors and funeral directors;
• doing all we properly can to contact you within 24 hours of being told that you have been detained;
• offering support and help in a range of other cases, such as child abductions, death of relatives overseas, missing people and kidnapping;
• contacting family or friends for you if you want; and
• making special arrangements in cases of terrorism, civil disturbances or natural disasters.

The FCO can not.....

• get you out of prison, prevent the local authorities from deporting you after our prison sentence, or interfere in criminal or civil court proceedings;
• help you enter a country, for example, if you do not have a visa or your passport is not valid, as we cannot interfere in another country's immigration policy or procedures;
• give you legal advice, investigate crimes or carry out searches for missing people, although we can give you details of people who may be able to help you in these cases, such as English-speaking lawyers;
• get you better treatment in hospital or prison than is given to local people;
• pay any bills or give you money (in very exceptional circumstances we may lend you some money from public funds, which you will have to pay back);
• make travel arrangements for you, or find you work or accommodation; or
• make business arrangements on your behalf.