Travel Insurance: Buying Travel Insurance for Australia

Never thought about buying domestic travel insurance? Australia spends $60.5 billion plus on our domestic travel. It’s an investment that should be protected.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), upwards of $60.5 billion is spent on Australian domestic travel each year (upwards of $81 billion on overseas travel). In fact, the ABS say holidays and recreation are listed within our top five household expenses. There’s no doubting, Australians love to get away.

Domestic holiday and travel insurance for residents is markedly different from overseas travel medical insurance. Travelling within Australia, residents are covered by Medicare or one of the standard private health funds. For this reason, domestic travellers often forget the myriad of other hiccups that can go wrong – hiccups such as additional accommodation and other flow on expenses should they become sick and unable to travel.

Comparing Travel Insurance for Domestic Travel

When you’re making an insurance comparison for domestic travel, watch out for the level at which each component of the policy is capped. ‘Capped’ means the upper most limit the company will payout on any one claim. For example, you have a $1,000 camera and it is stolen. If the insurer has capped personal effects at $500 the most you will receive is $500 and you will need to pay any extra to replace the camera. The ‘capped’ amount is an extremely important point to compare when you’re looking to purchase the best travel insurance – as there can be quite a difference between companies.

Other aspects to consider include:

• Does the policy cover non-medical expenses that may arise due to an accident or illness or other emergency situation
• How about expenses that may arise from your flight being delayed?
• Are cancellation fees and deposits included in the event you can no longer go on that expensive holiday you’ve already pre-paid
• Is rental vehicle excess covered in the event you have an accident – purchasing via the travel insurer is invariably cheaper than via the rental company
• How much personal liability is included as standard

Family groups, single travellers and backpackers visiting Australia from overseas will need to either already have cover taken out in their own country, or will need to purchase travel insurance, including emergency medical and evacuation, upon arrival.

Both residents and visitors purchasing domestic travel insurance Australia should consider buying direct. Travel insurance purchased direct from the insurer is less expensive than that purchased via a travel agent, and purchasing online is often much cheaper still due to reduced overheads.