Find out more about William Russell
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William Russell provides international health, life, and income protection insurance for expats, remote workers, and global citizens. For over 30 years, we’ve helped people live and work abroad with confidence — offering flexible, reliable cover and a personal touch you can count on.
Wherever you go, go with total peace of mind.
1000+ members have rated our service as excellent
Countries with William Russell members
Consecutive years winning the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award
We’re headquartered in the UK and Belgium and regulated by respected, internationally recognised UK and EU regulators.
Our policies are underwritten by financially strong, fully licensed insurers to provide you with extra security and peace of mind.
In 1992, Inez Cooper had an idea—one born from empathy. She saw how daunting it could be for people moving overseas to find high-quality healthcare, plan their finances, and protect their families. So she left her job and started a specialist insurance company that could make expat life simpler and safer.
From a spare room in Surrey, Inez built William Russell around one promise: to treat every member as personally as family.
Three decades later, we’re a global company with members in over 160 countries, a hospital network of more than 40,000 clinics, and we’ve partnered with huge insurance firms to ensure our policies are secure and comprehensive.
Yet we remain family-owned, independent, and true to our founding principle: personal service to our members and brokers above all else.
William Russell isn’t a person—it’s a story. When Inez founded the business in the early 1990s, she knew that it would need to have a man’s name to be taken seriously. She named the business ‘William’ after her son, and ‘Russell’, the name of one of her favourite TV characters. Times have changed, but the name has stuck. For Inez, it’s a reminder of how far the business has come.
William Russell is not an insurance provider, but an insurance intermediary. The difference is that while we offer policies under our own name, claims are paid by our underwriter AWP Health & Life SA, part of the Allianz Group. Over the years, we’ve built a strong network of partners throughout the insurance world. For example, our UAE policies are underwritten by Dubai Insurance Company, our Indonesian policies are underwritten by PT Lippo General Insurance Tbk and our medical evacuation cover is provided by Charles Taylor. These partnerships ensure every policy we offer our members is robust, regulated, and reliable—combining global strength with our signature personal service.
Our mission is simple: to be the number one partner for expats around the world. To do that, we’re always evolving—improving the extent of our coverage, strengthening our policies, and investing in technology that supports modern global living. Wherever our members move, we move with them.
We’re not just an insurance company. We are a place where people can feel safe and secure. Our values permeate across our entire organisation, from our offices in Surrey through to our relationships with brokers and into the policies we create for our members. We are guided by four principles that shape our organisation and set us apart.
Whether you’re a valued member, a broker or part of our team, we’ll always treat you with the dignity and respect you deserve. We’re always here with open hearts and open minds.
We understand the vital role we play in your life, and we take a conscientious approach to ensure we meet your expectations. We hold ourselves accountable for every action.
We are always looking for ways to improve, whether by strengthening our policies, adding new features or improving our technology to meet your needs.
We’re building a different kind of insurance company – one with a welcoming culture, where everyone can develop personally and professionally.
These values have earned us multiple customer service awards — and the loyalty of members who’ve trusted us for decades.
It’s not luck that has won us multiple awards for customer service. It’s a commitment to hiring the best people who live and breathe our values, and who understand our commitment to delivering the best customer service.
We’re a company with a conscience, which means we want our staff to do the right thing every time.
We look for people who embody authenticity through kindness, compassion and thoughtfulness.
As an ambitious company, we expect our people to have equally high expectations for themselves.
What makes William Russell stand out from other providers is their great service, international coverage, and the ability to pick the plan that fit our lifestyle. When we first signed up we were dating and traveling the world, then married and pregnant, and now have two beautiful boys and we have been able to pick plans that best suit our needs.
William Russell have always been very sympathetic and extremely helpful. I never had any issues with William Russell – Reimbursements/Letters of Guarantee were always prompt. It was an excellent service – no issues, no questions and no delays.
The biggest draw to William Russell in the beginning was that they offered direct payment in China. As the cost of any treatment even for common medical conditions could be quite high, the fact that William Russell would pay for the treatment directly to the medical provider made them stand out from other providers.
Whether you’re protecting your health, securing your family’s future, or safeguarding your income, William Russell gives you confidence wherever life takes you.
Inez Cooper
We’re here to help you make the most of your life abroad.
I know first-hand how stressful it is to move abroad. There’s so much to think about, whether it’s finding a new job, shipping your precious possessions, or getting your children into the right school.
There’s also the matter of healthcare. If you’re disabled, use prescription medication, or if you’re generally health-conscious, moving abroad can fill you with all sorts of dread.
But beyond that stress, moving abroad is an enriching and fulfilling experience – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We all dream of starting a new life overseas. If it wasn’t for the anxiety, I think we’d all give it a go.
That’s why I started William Russell. We’re here to help expats live their lives to the fullest, to help them settle into their new homes free from the worry and uncertainty that comes with choosing the right insurance, and to give them the freedom that comes with knowing they have a partner who cares for them.
Over four decades, we’ve refined our policies to make them perfectly tailored to the expat lifestyle. With our international life insurance, you can walk into any hospital or clinic and receive the highest quality medical care money can buy. Our international life insurance is truly global, meaning it protects you wherever you go, and our income protection insurance policy ensures you won’t have to give up your dream life if you’re unable to work.
All of this is delivered with expert, round-the-clock customer service. You can call us any time, day or night, and we’ll be there to help. No matter where you move, you’ll never be more than a phone call away from us.
You have all sorts of options when it comes to insurance. But only William Russell promises to work side-by-side with you, to keep you safe and healthy while you build your dream life abroad.
That’s my promise. And that’s what we stand for at William Russell.
With flexible policies providing access to top-quality healthcare facilities worldwide and medical evacuation care as standard, our international health insurance policies are designed to meet your every need.
Guarantee your family’s prosperity with our international life insurance policy. No matter where you pass away, and no matter where your beneficiaries live, we’ll provide for you after you’re gone.
Protect your family’s lifestyle, wherever you go. We’ll ensure your family still receives your income if you’re unable to work because of illness or injury.
If you’re not happy with your insurance policy or the service we provide, and you haven’t yet made a claim, then we’ll refund the premium you’ve paid—no questions asked.
We put our members at the heart of everything we do. We’re proud of our award-winning customer service and our members rate it highly.
Our global underwriting partners ensure every policy we offer our members is robust, regulated, and reliable—combining global strength with our signature personal service.
Find out some of the things we do differently which contribute to our award-winning customer experience.
Find out how William Russell are offering a better standard of international health insurance.
Insurance policy renewals are all too often impersonal. Find out how we are making a difference to our members.
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