Tips on Travel Insurance

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Essentials; Published: 09 December 2008

Tips on travel insurance for Australia

Planning to travel down under? Should you take out travel insurance?

If your destination is Australia, taking out travel insurance is recommended. As with any international or overseas trip, taking out travel insurance before you leave on that big trip is always strongly recommended to protect yourself against unforeseen events and emergencies.

Unforeseen events such as flight cancellations, accidents, lost baggage are amongst a few of the hiccups that can occur whilst travelling and cost you big time especially in dollars if you have not taken out adequate travel insurance.

These days a considerable amount of planning and research for your trip can be done on the internet before you even leave home. In terms of travel insurance, preliminary research can be done online to shop for cheap travel insurance and to obtain competitive quotes before you make your final decision.

It's best to source insurance companies that you are familiar with in your home country. Or you could try online travel insurance providers as long as they cover Australia. It is recommended to take out your insurance before arriving in Australia although it is possible to organise insurance upon arrival as a last resort.

The main types of companies to source for insurance are usually travel agencies, insurance companies, and specific organisations catering to different groups such as cheap student travel for students. In Australia, popular travel agencies include Flight Centre and for student travel STA Travel.

Australia is a relatively easy country to travel around and holiday in. However, to get from one end of the country to another involves long distances. A flight from Perth, Western Australia to Sydney, New South Wales will take around 4 to 5 hours. A train journey on The Indian Pacific, from Perth to Sydney will take you around 3 days to travel 4352 kilometres. If you fancy a taste of Australian outback towns, travel up north to Western Australia or parts of the Northern Territory or through the Nullarbor desert.

The level of insurance cover also depends on the type of holiday you are having and what activities you engage in. Whether for a short or extended holiday, gap year, or backpacker travel, the recommendation is still to take out travel insurance. If you are intending to partake in extreme activities you might consider taking out separate insurance cover as these types of activities are often excluded in policies or will require paying a higher premium.

Health insurance is an essential component of your overall travel insurance cover. If you do end up in a situation where you need to access medical treatment in Australia, it's best to check with your home country what reciprocal Health Agreement it has with Australia, if any at all. Some countries like the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand have reciprocal health arrangements with Australia. Medicare Australia is the Australian Government organisation that provides access to medical treatment for Australian residents. To find out whether your country has a reciprocal Health Agreement with Australia, it's best to contact Medicare Australia or check their website for further information.

Other handy tips when taking out travel insurance are to check the fine print of your product disclosure statement and travel insurance policy to ensure you are covered for what you thought you were covered for. It's important to be aware of any conditions, limitations and exclusions associated with your policy.

And off course, the other handy tip is to keep a couple of spare copies of your insurance policy, preferably one copy with you whilst travelling and another copy at home. Keeping an electronic copy of your insurance policy on a memory stick is a handy way these days to store essential travel documents.

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