Travel Insurance

What is travel insurance?

Warning: While the Australian Government travel ban remains in place, travel insurance policies may not provide protection for international travel and many travel insurers will not cover COVID-19-related claims. Star Ratings in our travel insurance comparison tables were awarded and assessed against criteria in August 2019. For the most up-to-date information, please contact your policy provider directly. You may also visit www.smartraveller.gov.au for more information.

Travel insurance covers emergencies or accidents while you are on holiday. Depending on your destination and choice of policy, it could also include cover for the cost of medical emergencies, lost or stolen luggage, and even the car insurance excess charged in the event of a hire car accident. There are two main types of travel insurance – domestic and international.

Domestic travel insurance covers you for trips taken within Australia, and could include cover for things such as:

• Lost or stolen luggage or other belongings
• Cancelling your trip unexpectedly due to illness, accident, natural disasters, or certain other reasons outside your control;
• Rental vehicle excess if you have an accident driving a hire car
• Legal liability if you accidentally break a local law.

One thing domestic travel insurance generally does not include is medical cover. However, as you’re still in Australia you can still access both Medicare and private health insurance (if you have it).

International travel insurance will cover you for overseas trips, which typically covers slightly different things than domestic cover. For example, policies could include cover for:

• Medical emergencies for admission to hospital in another country (typically not including scheduled treatments such as dental tourism)
• Lost or stolen luggage or other belongings
• Lost or stolen travel documents (such as a passport) or cash
• Cancelling your trip unexpectedly due to illness, accident, natural disasters, or other reasons outside your control;
• Legal liability if you accidentally break a local law and need a lawyer and/or interpreter (note that ignorance of the law is no excuse in most countries);
• Repatriation cover to fly you and your belongings back home if you pass away while travelling.

No travel policy will cover you for every single thing that could possibly go wrong while you’re away. It’s important to carefully read the policy terms and conditions in the product disclosure statement (PDS) for any policy you’re considering, so you know what is and is not covered.

Typical exclusions could include:

• Costs or cancellations that arise from a pandemic or an epidemic (such as COVID-19)
• Skiing or other snow activities (typically, you’ll need snow cover for that)
• Dangerous activities (‘hazardous pursuits’) such as such as scuba diving or bungee jumping (some insurers may cover this automatically, but it’s possible you may need to pay extra or buy a separate adventure travel policy)
• High-value belongings (unless you tell your insurer about them)
• Risky or irresponsible behaviour on your part, including behaviour while under the influence of alcohol
• Pre-existing medical conditions that you didn’t tell your insurer about when applying for insurance
• Intentional illegal behaviour, or breaking local laws and regulations more generally
• Lost items where you left your belongings unattended
• Driving a motorbike overseas (you may be able to obtain cover in some cases if you have a motorbike licence and are driving a low-power vehicle – check with your insurer)
• Acts of war
• Suicide or attempted suicide
• Claims where you didn’t notify your insurer within a set timeframe, e.g. 24 hours.

How Canstar compares travel insurance

Canstar’s Travel Insurance Star Ratings and Awards use a sophisticated methodology, unique to Canstar, that compares travel insurance products from our database offered to Australians travelling domestically or overseas. They provide an analysis of a shortlist of travel insurance policies, enabling consumers to narrow their search to products that have been assessed and ranked.

Some of the features Canstar compares for travel insurance policies are:

• Policy inclusions and exclusions
• The claim process
• Policy flexibility
• Medical and dental cover
• Lost luggage and travel documents cover
• Cancellation fee cover
• Emergency travel cover
• Rental vehicle cover
• Legal liability cover

You can read the full Star Ratings report or compare travel insurance products yourself, based on your own requirements, using the comparison selector tool at the top of the page before proceeding to get a quote.

Author: Nina Tovey

As Canstar’s Editor-in-Chief, Nina heads up a team of talented  journalists committed to helping empower consumers to take greater control of their finances. Previously Nina founded her own agency where she provided content and communications support to clients around Australia for eight years. She also spent four years as the PR Manager for American Express Australia, and has worked at a Brisbane communications agency where she supported dozens of clients, including Sunsuper and Suncorp.

Nina has ghostwritten dozens of opinion pieces for publications including The Australian and has been interviewed on finance topics by the Herald Sun and the Sydney Morning Herald. When she’s not dreaming up ways to put a fresh spin on finance, she’s taking her own advice by trying to pay her house off as quickly as possible and raising two money-savvy kids.

Nina has a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in English Literature from the University of Queensland. She’s also an experienced presenter, and has hosted numerous events and YouTube series.

You can follow her on Instagram or Twitter, or Canstar on Facebook.

You can also read more about Canstar’s editorial team and our robust fact-checking process.