Leaving travel insurance until the last minute may not be the best idea. Here’s CANSTAR’s guide on when to buy travel insurance and how to book travel insurance.
We Aussies are an adventurous bunch, known worldwide for our love of travelling and friendly attitudes. According to the ABS, an amazing 764,000 Aussies went overseas in May 2016 alone; that’s the equivalent of 1 in 31 Australian residents travelling overseas in one month!
With so many people travelling, there’s a pretty high change of things going wrong – lost luggage, crime, accidents and plenty more. It’s for situations like these that we have travel insurance; buying a comprehensive policy before you leave means you’ll be covered for a huge range of problems that might occur on your wide and varied travels. Like most insurance however, travel insurance can be a bit confusing, so we’ve explained exactly how you go about buying travel insurance these days.
Compare Travel Insurance With CANSTAR
When to buy travel insurance
The best time to buy travel insurance is as soon as you have booked or finalised your holiday. Taking out insurance early means you’re covered for arguably the most common travel disruption there is: cancelling your holiday.
The three main reasons for trip cancellations are unexpected events:
Personal illness or injury
Illness of a family member
World events such as volcanic ash clouds Bali, earthquake in Nepal, floods in India
If events beyond your control force you to cancel your trip before you leave, travel insurance allows you to claim back the money you lose. In general, you can claim lost funds related to non-refundable flights, accommodation, tours, activities, and travel agency fees – and possibly even more.
Many travellers mistakenly believe they will save money if they wait till the last minute to book travel insurance, but unlike last-minute flights and accommodation deals, this isn’t the case.
Unlike most travel-related bookings, you won’t get a cheaper price if you organise your travel insurance at the eleventh hour – instead, you could miss out on valuable benefits such as cancellation cover along the way. For more info, check out our article on when to book travel insurance.
Case Study
Jane booked herself on a holiday to China, but decided to leave her travel insurance arrangements until a few days before she left. However, Jane’s mother suddenly became very ill and she ended up cancelling the trip. The airlines and hotels had a non-refundable booking policy and would not refund Jane any of the money she’d already paid.
Since she did not have travel insurance, she wasn’t able to make a cancellation claim, either. Jane found herself without a holiday and out of pocket for $6,200. If she had organised her travel insurance early on, Jane could have made a claim for the funds she lost and then used the money to re-book her trip later on.
Source: insureandgo.com.au
How to choose travel insurance
Getting the right travel insurance for your trip is as important as getting it early. You should make sure that your insurance covers you for:
The destination you will be visiting. This is typically categorised by insurers under the following areas: Domestic (Australia), Pacific (New Zealand, Fiji), Asia, America, Europe, Africa, Cruising Domestic (Australia), or Cruising Pacific. Each destination has its own risks and medical costs varies greatly between countries, so the insurance premiums will reflect these varying levels of risk and potential cost to the insurer.
Your general level of risk. What type of tourist you are and what you will be doing on your trip will be of interest to insurers. Will you be taking a leisurely river cruise through Germany, or do you intend to use Vietnamese roads as practice for your learner motorbike riding (we don’t recommend it)?
Planned activities and sports while away. Most travel insurers cover a wide range of activities, but there are still some usual exclusions. Typical no-nos include parachuting, hang gliding, mountaineering using support ropes, and more (your insurer will list these online). If you’re planning a white and wintery holiday, normal travel insurance will not cover it, but a separate snow cover policy can be purchased for snow sports.
Luggage and baggage items. Check the fine print carefully regarding how much luggage is covered and what excess, in any, is charged if you make a claim. Computer tablets, notebooks, laptops, tablets, and cameras should be automatically covered up to a certain value per item. Check that the amount of cover (the “benefit limit”) would actually be enough to replace each item if you lost it!
Additional valuables you decide to bring. While it’s not a good idea to flash too much bling when you’re travelling, there are some items you probably want to take with you, such as your engagement ring or wedding ring, mobile phone, and camera. Check these are covered and the maximum amount paid in the event of loss or theft – you may have to list valuable items separately and pay an additional premium.
Age or pre-existing medical conditions. This can be a minefield but don’t despair, success is just a matter of searching and you can compare travel insurance policies right here. Most insurers place restrictions on age-related needs and medical conditions they deem to be pre-existing but some will cover you at an additional premium. There are now other insurers on the market that specialise in insurance for the ‘medically-challenged’.
For more detail on what your travel insurance policy should generally cover, read this article.
What does travel insurance cost?
Travel insurance costs vary according to whether it’s domestic or international cover you’re after, your age, and whether you’re travelling as a single, a couple, or a family.
If you’re travelling within Australia, the price is the same whether you’re going to Alice Springs or Adelaide.
Unlike car insurance, home insurance, or life insurance, travel insurance is just a one-off payment rather than an ongoing monthly bill, so what you see on your quote really is all you pay.
International travel takes into account the destination you’re heading for, as well as who you’re travelling with. We have listed average premiums for 14 different destinations in our 2016 star ratings report.
For example, based on the domestic travel insurance policies analysed by CANSTAR, insurance for a single person on a 10-day trip around Australia will cost around $61 on average.
A couple can travel for less than twice that amount on average – $114 for a 10-day trip. Amazingly, a family of 2 adults and 2 kids can travel for almost the same as a couple – $120 for a 10-day trip!
You can research travel insurance for each of the 14 destinations on our website. Read more about travel insurance for:
Bali
Brazil
China
Fiji
France
Japan
New Zealand
South Africa
Thailand
UK
USA
Researching the cost of domestic and international travel insurance is easy: just check out CANSTAR’s ratings to compare travel insurance policies.
Compare Travel Insurance With CANSTAR
The post How To Buy Travel Insurance appeared first on Canstar.