Overseas holidays can be expensive. So when you’re in the middle of booking big-ticket things such as flights and accommodation, it might feel challenging to justify spending money on anything that doesn’t seem absolutely essential, such as travel insurance.
Here are a few commonly held myths around travel insurance that are worth busting.
Hopefully you won’t need to make an insurance claim on your holiday – but that doesn’t mean that travel insurance is a waste of money. If you’re injured or become ill you could find yourself with a serious hospital bill that exceeds six figures. A relatively small amount on travel insurance now can save you a lot of money later on.
Even if the country you’re going to isn’t known for pickpockets, travel insurance can still help you out should your luggage be lost, a flight missed or there’s any damage to your rental car.
Some travel insurance claims have nothing to do with illness or injury. Travel insurance is just as likely to come to your rescue for a dropped camera or stolen property as it is for a trip to the emergency room.
This isn’t always the case. The Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) of the travel insurance policy you’re looking at may have a list of pre-existing medical conditions that are automatically covered under your policy.
If in doubt, ask the insurer for more information.
If you can, it’s worthwhile trying to purchase travel insurance as soon as you start booking your holiday.
It shouldn’t cost you any more to take out travel insurance in the weeks leading up to your trip because you’ll still be entering the same travel dates. But by purchasing it sooner rather than later, you may be covered should something happen in the lead-up to your trip that means you can no longer travel on those dates or have to make other changes.
It’s great if your credit card includes international travel insurance that you simply need to activate.
But, as with any insurance policy, it’s important to read the policy terms and conditions to check whether you need to do anything to activate insurance cover and to make sure you’re covered for everything you want to be covered for.
If you’re not, see if you can upgrade the cover you’ve already activated, or look at what additional insurance you may want to add to give yourself peace of mind.
For 24 hour travel insurance emergency assistance, call Cover-More in Australia direct and toll free on +61 2 8907 5641. You can also call from:
Charges apply if calling from a pay phone or a mobile phone.
Things you should know
This article is intended to provide general information of an educational nature only. It does not have regard to the financial situation or needs of any reader and must not be relied upon as financial product advice.
Insurance issued and managed by Cover-More Insurance Services Pty Ltd (AFSL 241713, ABN 95 003 114 145) on behalf of the insurer Zurich Australian Insurance Limited (AFSL 232507, ABN 13 000 296 640) for Commonwealth Bank of Australia (‘CBA’) (ABN 48 123 123 124, AFSL 234945). CBA and its related bodies corporate do not issue or guarantee this insurance. It does not represent a deposit with or liability of either CBA or any of its related bodies corporate.
Terms, conditions, exclusions, (including for pre-existing medical conditions and persons aged 80 years or over for international travel insurance included with an eligible CommBank credit card or persons aged 74 years or over for CBA Travel Insurance) limits and excesses apply. Before making a decision, refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement for full conditions at commbank.com.au.
You need to activate your international travel insurance included with eligible CommBank credit cards before each trip in order to have comprehensive level of cover. If you don’t activate, you’ll receive personal liability cover and overseas emergency medical assistance and overseas emergency medical and hospital expenses cover only. We (CBA) do not provide any advice on this insurance based on any consideration of your objectives, financial situation or needs. If you purchase or upgrade a policy, we (CBA) receive a commission which is a percentage of your premium.
