Hello everyone. Unfortunately, I needed to use my insurance to cover emergencies. Here is my review of how Genki handled it and what you can expect. I had two cases in the first two months while in Bali.

1. Scooter Accident — Outpatient Visit
A car braked suddenly in front of me, which was enough to make me fall and injure my hand. It was nothing major, and my girlfriend is a nurse, so she applied the bandages and treated my wounds. I did need a tetanus vaccine after the crash since there was livestock in the area, and it's generally a good idea to get a tetanus shot in Bali anyway.

I emailed Genki, went to a private clinic of my choosing, got the vaccine, and submitted the reimbursement form on their site. Everything was compensated except the €50 deductible for outpatient visits. Approval came in two days — very fast. Money arrived instantly on my SEPA card. Genki did not ask me for my license too even though I had one.

2. Bacterial Gastroenteritis — Hospitalization
This happened to my girlfriend, who was on the same plan as me. Could've been contaminated water or food. Fever, massive headaches, pain throughout her whole body — very nasty. We went to the hospital and got treated at the ER. After that, we thought she could handle recovery at home, so I paid the bill and. Shortly after payment, her condition worsened once she was off the IV, and we decided hospitalization was necessary.

The wait for approval was stressful. The hospital requested a Guarantee of Payment (GOP) from Genki, and it took 7 full hours. The hospital refused to do anything without the GOP, so we paid a refundable deposit just to get treatment started — she needed antibiotics and someone had to pay.

According to various sources, including @knitterBali on Telegram, average approval time from Genki in Indonesia is 8–9 hours but can be up to 24 hours. (@knitterBali is a Russian doctor who regularly posts about medical cases in Bali and helps people receive proper treatment, since 90% of doctors in Bali have no idea what they are doing and do useless operations that hurt the patient to pocket the money. The content is not for the fainthearted.) To be fair to Squarelife/MCI Assist, response times vary by country — the same doctor shared that approvals in Bangkok come in less than an hour.

My advice for Genki: improve response times in Indonesia, at least in Bali, since it's one of the most popular destinations for your target users. It's understandable if delays happen on some remote island, but Bali is a major hub. Taking 7+ hours is concerning, even if eventually approved.

What was covered:
Squarelife approved only what was medically necessary. Probiotics were not covered, which is typical for insurance, though one could argue that in this case they would have helped boost her immune system during recovery. They also declined a neurologist consultation for persistent headaches on day three and a follow-up checkup visit. Honestly, those were probably unnecessary and looked more like the hospital trying to pad the bill (we didn't pick the best hospital — don't trust Google Reviews), so I can't complain much.

Everything critically necessary for recovery was covered. In total, approximately $1250–1500 USD was covered. The hospital wouldn't show me the final bill, but the initial estimate was $1750 USD, so I believe it came in lower. The initial ER payment was reimbursed in full without deducting the €50 deductible because the case converted to a hospitalization. This required some explanation to Genki, but they honored it. Everything happened again very quickly and in less than three days the money was back into my account.

When I needed information, I emailed MCI Assist requesting a callback (as instructed on their materials) and usually received a call within 5 minutes. Sometimes MCI assist ignored my emails in the hospital and needed to re ask.

My experience with Genki was very positive, and I will gladly continue using them. However, the response time for GOP approval in Indonesia needs serious improvement.

It's not difficult for me to pay hospital deposits in emergencies since I keep allocated funds for this, but that shouldn't be necessary. Ideally, hospitals would start treatment without waiting for insurance guarantees, but that depends on where you end up. Some insurers are genuinely terrible — I've heard of cases where insurance companies ignore life-threatening patients who need operations. Genki is not one of them, but the wait time adds unnecessary stress during already stressful situations.

I signed up for Genki because the interface was slick, but the actual service is a disaster when you are sick and stranded. Even though I submitted every receipt for my emergency room visit, I was forced into an eight-week waiting game just to get an acknowledgment while my bank account drained. They rejected my initial documents because they demand hyper-specific medical reports and diagnostic codes that local clinics in Southeast Asia don't usually provide, forcing me to make multiple trips back to the hospital while still recovering. To top it off, the marketing is incredibly misleading regarding the Explorer plan; I thought I was buying comprehensive health coverage for my nomad life, only to find out it functions like a bare-bones travel policy that excludes almost everything except major accidents. If you want an insurance company that actually supports you instead of burying you in paperwork and delays, look elsewhere.

Writing another review as I’m unable to respond to Genki’s comments.

So Genki, I will write directly to you in the public eye…

You and I both know this is not a chronic condition, as you say. As stated by the doctor, this is an acute situation from a sports injury in December.

You are clearly looking for any loophole in your underwriting to get out of covering your client. This is the shame of the insurance companies in this world.

An elective surgery, by definition, is something that is not necessary or cosmetic. As I am unable to move, can’t get out of the bed in the morning and in constant pain, this is far from elective. It is medically necessary, as the doctor said.

I understand you are well trained in communication and have Compassionate sounding language in your responses. But we both know that underneath your outward facing projection is anything but compassion. It is lust for money and to make as much as you can while denying your clients the care you so well promised in your ads and on your website.

Your company is shameful and I couldn’t give you a worse review.

I am extremely disappointed with Genki. My experience shows that they will do anything to avoid paying a legitimate claim, constantly changing their excuses.
I submitted a claim for a first-time diagnosis made during a home country visit (covered under the 42-day rule). Here is how they handled it:
First excuse: They claimed my documents were "illegible." To resolve this, I had to provide electronic receipts and detailed clarifications, which they simply ignored for a long time.
Second excuse: Once they had the electronic receipts, they claimed the treatment was "preventive care," despite a clear medical diagnosis and prescribed hormonal medication.
Third excuse: When I pointed out the absurdity of the "preventive" claim, they switched tactics again, calling it a "pre-existing condition" by misinterpreting non-specific symptoms (like fatigue), while ignoring the actual date of the official medical diagnosis.

On December 15, 2025, they promised a "careful re-examination" of my case. Since then — 19 days of total silence. They ignore my follow-ups but continue to charge me for my monthly premium.

If you are a digital nomad, be aware: Genki is great at taking your money, but when it comes to fulfilling their contract, they will ghost you and cycle through contradictory excuses.

UPDATE (2026-01-10):
Thank you for your clarification, Pedro. However, your response confirms the core issue: a lack of transparency and consistency in how my claim has been handled.

If my claim was ultimately denied because it was not “life-threatening” under your home country rule, why did DR-WALTER first officially give two completely different reasons: “preventive care” and then “pre-existing condition”? This pattern looks like classic “denial fishing” – searching for any possible excuse to avoid payment, instead of applying the policy in a clear and consistent way.

As the licensed agent and contractual point of contact, Genki remains responsible for the information provided to customers and for the conduct of your chosen administrator. Simply pointing to DR-WALTER while continuing to charge my premium is not acceptable customer care. If their communication remains a “black box” even for you, it raises serious doubts about Genki’s reliability for nomads. I am now preparing a formal complaint to BaFin regarding these inconsistent denial reasons and the communication failures.

I did take a claim with Genki and since it was my first time I didn't realise you need medical notes and things from the doctor, I went back to get this and uploaded it to the claim a little apprehensive I was wasting time and money doing so, However their customer service is good and they did pay out. I would go with them again, I have just temporarily stopped as they don't cover travel insurance for flights or theft etc only medical. But overall, very pleased and they earned my trust for future medical travel needs.

“When you get up after an accident, take off your shoe, and realize your toe didn’t come out with your foot — it stayed in the shoe — you immediately understand what a ‘real emergency’ looks like. Then you arrive at the hospital and see a $3,000 bill that has to be paid right away for surgery, and the alternative feels like: ‘Thank you… here’s your toe on ice.’ That’s the moment the word ‘thank you’ gets a whole new meaning.

Thank you, Genki, for being there with me when it truly mattered.

If you’re considering Genki only for minor issues like a stomach ache or a few scratches, think twice — you’ll value it most when something serious happens. (And yes, for the horror fans with a strong stomach, I can share photos.)”

Great reimbursement experience. We had calculations problems because I submitted 1 request for 2 invoices, but assistance was great and we figured out quickly.

Genki Nomad was a 2 year programme which commenced with Allianz as the partner.
We never made a single claim.
Unfortunately we were misdirected by our broker that in effect Genki would be highly likely to come up with an affordable ongoing Genki programme at the conclusion of the 2 years. That didn’t happen. Now at age 65 and 70 respectively we have to look for an affordable new insurance plan elsewhere which will be mighty difficult.
It would be good if Genki considered offering its loyal clients whom had not made any claims during the 2 years, with a discounted ongoing insurance programme. Right now the Genki alternative to continue is way out of our budget range.
Genki did reply to this on Trust Pilot but unfortunately the they don’t have an affordable plan even after applying deductibles. Key message. Be careful what your broker is recommending especially if you are basing yourselves in Thailand.

After more than a year with Genki, I can honestly say the customer experience is nowhere near what they promise.

Claims take months to be paid (if they are paid at all) and you have to constantly chase, remind, and push support just to get basic updates. The support team feels more like a bot than real humans – no ownership, no initiative, no visible desire to actually solve problems, just scripted replies and deflection.

A few months ago, the price of my plan was suddenly increased by about 2X just before the next renewal, without any clear explanation or meaningful justification. It felt like, “we decided to charge double, take it or leave it”.

After watching the quality of service steadily decline over roughly 1.5 years, I honestly cannot rate Genki higher than 2 stars. For the price level they’ve moved to, both support and claims handling are far below what I would expect.

I'm using Genki for a less then a year, and will not prolong it for sure. Claiming process payout is hell (i'm waiting more then 2 month for ~$200 claim), customer support at Genki doesn't exist by default (scripted answers from people worse then their bot).
I’m writing this review after closely following a friend’s case with Genki / DR-WALTER who used it over the last two years. I’ve seen the emails, approvals, screenshots and the final Trustpilot response from Genki that tries to downplay what actually happened.

Genki’s public reply says they understand how stressful claim delays can be and that “several important parts” of the review are not accurate. From what I have personally seen, the most misleading part of their answer is the picture they paint of their own support.

For months my friend was getting nothing but copy-paste script answers. Nearly every time he asked about the status of his claim, Genki’s response was just: “Please contact the DR-WALTER claims email” or some variation of “we escalated this, wait for DR-WALTER.” No concrete timelines, no real ownership, no proactive follow-up with visible results. If Genki’s role is simply to forward an email address and paste boilerplate, it is very hard to call that “support”.

Genki claims their chat was “restricted only after repeated offensive messages”, but they leave out the context:
– the customer had been waiting for months,
– two claims had been officially approved but never paid out,
– all this time he was bounced between generic scripted replies and “please contact DR-WALTER directly”.

When you ignore a paying customer for weeks and respond with nothing but templates, it is sadly not surprising that at some point frustration spills over into strong language. That is not ideal, but it is a predictable reaction to being stonewalled – and it does not change the underlying issue: approved claims still weren’t paid, and meaningful help never arrived.

The part of Genki’s answer that is especially shocking is the attempt to shift all responsibility to DR-WALTER:

“Genki does not pay out claims.”

The contract, however, was purchased from Genki. From a consumer perspective, that is the brand you trust and the company you hold responsible. Hiding behind the administrator and endlessly repeating “we don’t pay claims, ask them instead” is, in my opinion, the opposite of professional customer care. A serious company takes ownership, coordinates with its partners, and gets the issue resolved – not just forwards an email address and walks away.

Genki also writes that they “remain committed to transparency” and that accusations of “scam” and “blocked communication to avoid payment” are not accurate. But when:
• claims are approved,
• money doesn’t arrive for weeks or months,
• support gives only scripted answers and no real solution,
• and then the main chat channel is disabled for the unhappy customer,

it absolutely looks like a company trying to avoid dealing with a problem rather than fixing it. Whether that legally qualifies as fraud is for regulators to decide, but from the outside it feels dangerously close to scam-like behavior.

Finally, the threat that the customer “will not be eligible to purchase new coverage in the future” is almost ironic. By the time Genki sent that message, my friend had already made it very clear that he would never renew with them anyway. Using future ineligibility as a kind of punishment for a customer who is desperately trying to get legitimate claims paid out only reinforces the impression of a provider that does not value its clients.

From what I see in the South-East Asia digital nomad community, people are already actively researching alternatives and competitors, precisely because of cases like this and the way Genki chooses to respond to criticism. Instead of addressing the root problem – unpaid approved claims and useless, scripted communication – their public replies focus on defending themselves and subtly blaming the customer.

In my opinion, this is exactly how a service slowly loses the trust of its user base.

I am a Genki customer since the early days. I started with the traveller insurance and now since almost 2 years I am a customer of the „big“ product. I am very happy due to the following reasons: They are always fair and even if a payout was declined at first, we could always find a way by discussing the issue and with further documentation from my side. Also the payouts are extremely fast. And last not least the support team is very friendly and always there to help. That’s why I give 5 stars.

I’ve been using Genki insurance (administered by Dr. Walter) for almost two years. From the very beginning, every claim has been a struggle: payouts routinely took 2–4 months and only happened if I constantly chased them, sent repeated follow-ups and pushed support. I never experienced anything close to a smooth, transparent claims process.

The breaking point was my last two claims. Both were officially approved – all documents accepted, I received emails confirming that the claims were approved and would be paid under their new payment system. The money never arrived to my bank account. No clear explanation, no proper update, nothing.

After that it got even worse:
• weeks of complete silence from the claims team,
• no answers from Genki,
• no replies to emails to any of the official addresses,
• the chat in my online account was simply blocked right after I wrote that, if they don’t pay, I will escalate the case to regulators and authorities in their jurisdictions.

So the current situation is:
• two approved claims remain unpaid,
• the company does not respond for weeks,
• my main communication channel (the chat) has been disabled for my account.

At this point I’m done wasting time trying to get any reaction from “support”. I will file formal complaints with the relevant authorities in the jurisdictions of Genki and Dr. Walter (insurance regulators, chambers, financial supervisors and ombudsman/mediation bodies in Germany and France), and I am also considering reporting this to law enforcement so they can ask why approved payouts disappear and why a customer gets blocked when he insists on his rights.

My personal experience after two years: constant delays, no transparency, and ultimately non-payment of approved claims with complete silence and blocked communication. I would be extremely cautious about relying on this insurance provider.

Underwriting operates in enigmatic ways. They denied insurance to a child without pre-existing conditions for two consecutive years. When asked for an explanation, they provided fabricated reasons.

I was backpacking for a few months and needed something flexible and budget friendly. Genki offered just that. Thankfully I didn't have any serious medical situations, but when I did need to go to the doctor I received my money back the same day. The whole process was very simple and the support chat system very helpful. Only annoying part is that you pay the first 50 euro of any medical expense.

I went to hospital in Kenya for consultation as felt very bad. I received the claim and the payment from Genki the day after on my bank account . Great Service

Easy and reliable, have used before and never any problems

Great experience so far (after 18 months and now a pregnancy). They are pretty fair with what they cover, approving or denying claims based on the rules without nitpicking. Reimbursements are quick and you usually get your money back within three days after filing a claim (awesome!). 100% recommend.

Great experience with Genki. Had three outpatient medical bills for a particular illness over the course of two weeks, totalling around 800 EUR. Sent the invoices each time and was approved within a matter of hours. Received payment links within 2 hours of being approved and the money arrived in my Revolut instantly. Highly recommended.

Setup a basic insurance for myself and my wife, and got a severe food poisoning in Indonesia right a month after getting Genki insurance.

Got treated, filled claim - got payout in 2 working days, saved around 500 usd for provided treatments. No issue with claiming whatsoever, can definitely recommend.

I'm travelling in Thailand, had my policy for 10 months. This was the first time I needed it for two separate outpatient issues.

Paid the bills up front and the claims process was super simple, ZERO issues and 100% of claims paid minus excess.

I was sceptical as the bills came to around $1300 and you hear horror stories of companies not paying.

Not with Genki. Highly recommended!!!