Travel Insurance

Cheap Travel Insurance Deals
Travel insurance is an essential part of any trip abroad.

The most important thing is to make sure you have enough cover and if you are doing activities whilst away make sure these are covered under your policy.

Travel agents often charge over the odds for the convenience of booking all the deals with them. They are often making commission on selling this insurance to you making it more expensive. It is often better to buy online.

There are many companies providing online insurance with different levels of cover depending on whether you want comprehensive, backpacker or different levels of cover so check what your covered for. Here are some companies with the cheapest prices:

Travel Insurance Deals Compared

We checked prices for a 14 day trip to SE Asia prices were:

(remember there are different levels of cover, we quote the cheapest prices):

 

Kango from $42

1Cover from $50 (One of the largest online Travel Insurance firms, backed by Allianz)

iTrek from $55.64.

Worldcare $66

Ouch from $70

Southern Cross Travel Insurance $70

Down Under Travel Insurance $71

Insure for Less from $75

Cheap Travel Insurance $78

Travel Insurance Direct $82

QBE $102

SureSave $107

AussieTravelCover $113

Chi Travel Insurance $116

Chartis Travel Insurance $154

(Prices can change at any time)

 

Choice Magazine recommended in a travel insurance article:

1Cover

Worldcare

Covermore tends to cover you for more activities (but check the fine print)

1Cover
Offers some of the cheapest insurance policies around. It apparently has 1 Million Satisfied customers

iTrek

World Nomads

www.worldnomads.com.au

If you do buy online, check the agent has an Australian Financial Services Licence or is an Authorised Representative of a licence holder by checking with ASIC, www.asic.gov.au.

 

Pre-existing Medical Conditions
Many insurers will cover pre-existing medical conditions with an extra fee & sometimes a medical assessment.Several automatically cover some conditions in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). Few cover mental illnesses.

 

Other exclusions

 

If you hire a motorcycle do you have a motorcycle licence. Are you wearing a helmut even if the hire company doesn’t supply it.

There is often no coverage for valuable items such as mobiles, jeweller, cameras & laptops in check in luggage or stolen from a vehicle.

 

 

 

 

Gold Card Travel Insurance

Always check the terms & conditions of this policy very carefully to make sure your covered as it often means you have free ocver but you must activate the cover correctly or you may not be covered!! You could always make sure before you travel that the cover has been activated so that you don’t get any nasty surprises.

Otherwise this can be a free way to get travel insurance.

Check your credit card provider does in fact provide proper travel insurance on your card. Some cards only provide cover for injuries at the trip’s point of departure or arrival, not while you’re at your destination; others don’t cover domestic travel, even for trips to Norfolk Island; and there may also be a time limit to your trip, such as three months.

Make sure you always have proof of purchase for anything in your baggage you may want to claim as the insurance company will always ask for this.

You may need to call your insurance company before you can get medical treatment.

Moral of the story: always check your policy before leaving home to check what it covers and to see if there are any requirements before you can submit a claim.

Reciprocal agreement countries with Medicare

In countries that have a reciprocal agreement with Medicare (Finland, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden and the UK), you’re entitled to benefits similar to Medicare for immediately necessary medical and public hospital treatment.

Exactly what you’re entitled to varies from country to country and Medicare says the agreements don’t replace the need for private travel insurance. If you use a private hospital in a country with a reciprocal agreement, most insurers will pay some expenses, but some only do this on a case-by-case basis, so double-check