Travel Insurance - A Small Price to Pay for Peace of Mind

4 March 2003

Having family in Canberra, I kept pretty up to date with the bushfires, and one thing that outraged many people was the large percentage of people who did not insure their homes prior to the bushfires. There were about 25% of people who lost homes who had not bothered to take out this basic step in protecting their home, assets and precious items. It is easy to get angry about this, because everyone else pays through higher premiums, and through the Fire Levy and also through our state and federal revenue because these people receive special government grants. But these days it is important to look at other areas of our lives which may be underinsured.

When it comes to travel insurance, I am often surprised by the number of people who don?t insure themselves. There is really no reason not to be insured, particularly if you are travelling in Australia. I know people tend to think that they don?t need it as they have access to Medicare, however Medicare won?t get you or your partner back home if you are sick or injured whilst on holiday. It won?t replace your lost luggage, or put you or your partner up if you are hospitalised, or refund your money if your trip has to be cancelled due to something like the bushfires.

I know during January, when the Thredbo resort was evacuated due to the bushfires, we had to cancel our tour. Luckily for our customers, we took the loss of income to our business on the chin, and refunded them on the day we cancelled, even though we had to wait the four weeks before we got our deposit back from the motel. Under most booking terms and conditions, operators would be entitled to have customers claim any loss against their own travel insurance, leaving those who were uninsured out of pocket.

The amazing thing about the fact that only 25% of our customers on that trip had insured themselves, is how easy it is to slip and fall when bushwalking and do oneself an injury. The total cost of insurance for the trip to cover accidents or cancellations would have been only $46 per person, for a trip that cost $765 per person twin share (or 6% of the cost of the trip). That is not too much to pay for peace of mind. It is hard enough to cope with the disappointment of having your holiday cut short, without knowing you are going to lose money trying to get back home!

These days, many of the travel insurers have better conditions for people travelling solely within Australia. I know with CGU (whose products we sell), they only request a health assessment if you are over 70 years of age if you are going overseas. Even then, this is your own assessment unless you have a pre-existing medical condition, meaning you don?t have to pay to get a doctor?s signature.

Even for people with a pre-existing medical condition, it is up to you whether or not you insure for it. If for some reason, your pre-existing medical condition is not approved for cover, or you decide you do not want to pay extra to cover it, you can choose to be covered for everything else. This means that if you slip over and break your ankle, you will still be covered, even though the insurer may not cover you for pneumonia if you have chronic asthma or emphysema.

In all cases, it costs very little to check out any additional costs, and most travel agents will work with you to ensure you get the most appropriate cover for your needs. It really is worth checking out all your options once you have paid your deposit in order to protect your investment in your holiday.