🇳🇵 Travel Insurance for Nepal

Last updated: 26 August 2026

Quick Facts: Visa on arrival • Trekking permits now require proof of evacuation cover • Never board a rescue helicopter without your insurer authorising it first

Do You Need Travel Insurance for Nepal?

Not to enter — a visa on arrival asks nothing about insurance. But if you are trekking, the requirement has moved from advisory to practical: trekking agencies and permit issuers consistently report that since 2026 a TIMS or restricted-area permit will not be issued without proof of a policy covering high-altitude trekking and helicopter evacuation, typically to 6,000 m. This is enforced through the agency and the permit system rather than at the border, so confirm the exact wording your agency needs before you buy. A licensed guide booked through a registered agency has also been mandatory on every route inside a national park or conservation area since April 2023, and the old independent Green TIMS card no longer exists.

That permit paperwork is not bureaucracy you can skip. Trekking on a regulated route without correct documentation is a strong ground for an insurer to refuse an evacuation claim — the two systems are linked, and a permit gap can void the single most expensive thing your policy would ever pay for.

The 2026 Rescue Fraud, and Why It Is Now Your Problem

In April 2026 Nepal's Central Investigation Bureau concluded a long investigation into fraudulent helicopter rescues and recommended charges against more than thirty people. Police put the amount defrauded from international insurers at close to US$20 million between 2022 and early 2026, concentrated on the Everest Base Camp routes. Reviewing 4,782 foreign patients treated at suspect hospitals, investigators confirmed 171 rescues as fraudulent, with hundreds more flights under examination. A 2018 inquiry had identified fifteen companies doing the same thing and produced no action, which is why it grew.

The mechanics matter because they tell you what to watch for. Guides allegedly persuaded tired trekkers finishing the Base Camp walk that they were at risk of dying and needed an airlift. In some cases symptoms were induced outright — baking soda in food, or altitude medication given with excessive water — to make the emergency plausible. Hospitals then exaggerated the diagnosis and ordered expensive scans and intensive care, reportedly returning 20 to 25 per cent of the insurance payment to the trekking company that referred the patient, with a similar cut to the helicopter operator. One flight carrying four tourists could generate four separate full-price invoices billed to four different insurers.

Most Himalayan rescues are legitimate and save lives. But the fallout lands on the next honest trekker in three ways: insurers now demand pre-authorisation before a helicopter lifts, several have historically threatened to stop covering Nepal altogether, and a claim that looks like the fraud pattern gets scrutinised whether or not you did anything wrong.

What To Do If Someone Suggests a Helicopter

Call your insurer's emergency line first, before you agree to anything. Rescue in Nepal is effectively cash on delivery — the operator wants a payment guarantee — and that same call is what protects your claim. If the situation is genuinely urgent the assistance team will authorise it in minutes.
Be alert when the suggestion comes from the guide rather than from you. Mild headache, fatigue or an upset stomach after finishing a trek is not automatically an evacuation. Descending on foot is the standard treatment for altitude symptoms and usually resolves them.
Note who else is on the flight. Shared flights billed as separate private rescues were the core of the fraud. Photograph the aircraft and the other passengers.
Do not sign blank forms or documents in Nepali at the heliport or hospital. Ask for an English copy and an itemised bill.
Keep your own record — symptoms, times, who recommended what. If your claim is later questioned, that is your evidence.

Going along with an unnecessary evacuation is not a free ride. If the insurer rejects the claim, the bill — commonly US$5,000 to $20,000 for a flight out of the Everest region, and more once the hospital adds its own — comes to you.

The Altitude Clause

Everest Base Camp is 5,364 m and the Thorong La pass on the Annapurna Circuit is 5,416 m. Many standard policies cap trekking cover at 3,000 or 4,000 m, which means the exact place you are going is outside the policy. Read the altitude limit before the medical limit, and check that acute mountain sickness is not separately excluded — some wordings cover accidents but exclude altitude illness, which is the condition you are most likely to get.

Healthcare

Kathmandu has adequate facilities, and CIWEC Travel Medicine Center is the one built for travellers. Nepal Mediciti and Grande International are the other usual referrals. Outside the valley care thins fast, and the Everest and Annapurna regions have no hospitals at all — which is precisely why evacuation is the line on the policy that matters and why it attracted the fraud. A CIWEC visit runs $50–100 and a hospital day $100–300, so the treatment is cheap; the flight is not.

Other real risks: earthquakes (the 2015 quake killed around 9,000), monsoon landslides and flooding from June to September, and food-borne illness in teahouses.

What Cover to Look For

Medical cover from $100,000 with helicopter evacuation named explicitly and no altitude ceiling below 6,000 m. Acute mountain sickness covered rather than excluded. An assistance line that answers at 3 a.m. Nepali time and can issue a payment guarantee. Trekking listed as a covered activity at the grade you are doing. Emergency numbers in Nepal: 102 for an ambulance, 1144 for the tourist police, 100 for police and 101 for fire.

Recommended Providers for Nepal

EKTA

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Compensair

Claim up to €600 for delayed or cancelled flights. No win, no fee.

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Klook

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Because hospitals in Nepal commonly want payment before treatment, the payment model of your policy matters more than its headline limit. See SafetyWing vs Heymondo for reimbursement versus direct settlement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not to enter on a visa on arrival. For trekking it effectively is: agencies and permit issuers report that since 2026 a TIMS or restricted-area permit will not be issued without proof of cover for high-altitude trekking and helicopter evacuation, usually to 6,000 m. Confirm the exact wording with your agency before buying.

In April 2026 Nepal's Central Investigation Bureau recommended charges against more than thirty people over fraudulent airlifts that cost international insurers close to US$20 million between 2022 and early 2026. Guides pressured healthy trekkers into evacuations, hospitals inflated diagnoses, and single flights were billed to several insurers at once.

Call your insurer's emergency line before agreeing. A genuine emergency will be authorised in minutes, and that call is also what protects your claim. Be especially careful when the suggestion comes from the guide rather than from how you feel — descending on foot is the standard treatment for altitude symptoms.

You do. A flight out of the Everest region commonly runs US$5,000 to $20,000 before the hospital adds its own bill. Going along with an evacuation you did not need is not a free ride.

Check the altitude limit first. Everest Base Camp is 5,364 m and Thorong La is 5,416 m, while many standard policies cap trekking at 3,000 or 4,000 m. Also check that acute mountain sickness is not separately excluded, since some wordings cover accidents but not altitude illness.

Not on regulated routes. A licensed guide booked through a registered agency has been mandatory inside national parks and conservation areas since April 2023, and the independent Green TIMS card no longer exists. Since March 2026 solo travellers can obtain restricted-area permits without a partner, but the guide requirement still applies.

Yes. Trekking a regulated route without correct documentation gives an insurer strong grounds to refuse an evacuation claim, on top of the on-the-spot fine and removal from the trail. The permit system and the insurance are linked.