What is comprehensive travel insurance?
Comprehensive travel insurance is the highest level of travel insurance you can buy. It can cover you for unexpected medical expenses, such as hospital admission, emergency care and medical evacuation, as well as other specified costs incurred while overseas.
What does comprehensive travel insurance cover?
Compared with basic forms of travel insurance which will only cover you for overseas emergency medical and dental costs, comprehensive travel insurance policies provide additional coverage for things like:
Loss or theft of luggage, passports or other items
Replacing luggage, personal effects, credit cards, cash and travel documents are the most common claims for travel insurance. These claims often come with limits and sub-limits that can be found in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). It’s important to note that if your belongings were stolen or damaged due to being left unattended, your claim is likely to be rejected.
Unexpected delays or cancellations to your trip
Cancellations and delays due to illness, accident, your employer cancelling your holiday leave or a natural disaster at home or at your intended destination will generally be covered. Some policies may also cover the cost of meals, accommodation and transport should you have to extend your stay due to circumstances that are out of your control.
Legal liability
If you break a local law and need a lawyer/interpreter (e.g. if you injure someone or are found responsible for damage caused to someone’s property), comprehensive travel insurance could help cover the cost of legal services.
Repatriation
If you fall ill, are seriously injured or pass away while overseas, comprehensive travel insurance can cover the costs of repatriation (returning you and your belongings to Australia). Some policies may also help cover the costs of you returning home if you have a family emergency.
Optional extras
Some policies offer a variety of useful extras depending on what you plan to do on your trip, such as cover for rental vehicles excesses, adventurous activities and sports (like skiing and snowboarding), cruises, kennels and catteries for your pets at home, and some even provide coverage if you suffer a loss of income or a permanent disability while overseas.
Comprehensive travel insurance policies may also give you the option to choose your own excess or waive it entirely (often for a higher premium) and increase the limits and sub-limits for expensive items (like laptops, mobile phones and jewellery) that you plan on travelling with.
It’s important to check your policy’s PDS to see what you will and won’t be covered for, as well as what limits and sub-limits apply.
Why should you get Comprehensive travel insurance?
The Australian Government’s Smartraveller website strongly recommends purchasing a travel insurance policy if you plan on leaving the country. This can be important if you plan to travel to a country that doesn’t have a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia, as the Australian Government will not cover the cost of any medical treatment you require. This means you could be out-of-pocket thousands of dollars, especially if you require medical evacuation.
Comprehensive travel insurance also gives you peace of mind, as it generally covers you for a larger amount of situations. For example, you’d be covered if your luggage was lost in transit, if your trip was delayed due to a natural disaster or if you contracted COVID-19 while abroad.
Who should purchase Comprehensive travel insurance?
Accidents can happen while away from home or abroad, which is why it’s important for these types of travellers especially to consider comprehensive travel insurance:
International travellers
Travelling overseas often comes with its own set of risks and can be more logistically complicated than a domestic holiday. Comprehensive policies can cover emergency medical and hospital expenses, which can be important if you plan on visiting a country without a reciprocal healthcare agreement with Australia. Flight delays and cancellations, loss of belongings and general sickness and injury can also occur while abroad, in which comprehensive policies will usually provide cover for.
Adventure travellers
Some of the best locations for adventurous activities and sports, such as skiing, hiking and scuba diving, can only be found overseas. This is why many Aussies choose to travel abroad in search of these experiences. That being said, adventurous activities often come with higher risk, with injuries happening more frequently on these trips as compared to relaxing destination holidays.
Adventure travellers may opt for a comprehensive travel insurance policy in the form of ‘adventure travel insurance’, which covers a host of adventurous activities as standard. If their chosen sport or activity is not covered, there may be specific add-on coverage, such as for winter and water sports, that can be purchased in addition to a policy. These policies and add-ons often provide coverage for injuries sustained during high-risk activities, as well as for equipment, like snowboards or diving gear, if they are lost or damaged.
Families and groups
Some travel insurance providers offer specific family travel insurance policies, which cover an entire family, as opposed to a singular person. These types of family policies may provide coverage for children under a certain age and do so free of charge (if the child is travelling with a parent). Comprehensive cover may provide some peace of mind to parents, especially if they’re dealing with a sick or injured child in a foreign country.
Travellers with expensive bookings
For travellers who have put a considerable amount of money towards a trip, the last thing they’d want is for it to be cancelled or delayed or for them to incur significant out-of-pocket costs as a result of illness, injury or loss of belongings. Comprehensive cover can be especially important to consider if travellers have prepaid for non-refundable flights, accommodation and/or tours.
Frequent flyers
Travellers who head overseas multiple times a year, whether it be for business, to visit family or for a holiday, may be able to purchase comprehensive cover under an annual or multi-trip policy. This may save you time and money, as policies like these may be cheaper than taking out two separate policies and would mean you’d only have to organise the insurance once.
Comprehensive travel insurance can be a great choice for travellers who want extensive coverage for their trip, but as always you should review the PDS and other relevant policy documentation to ensure that the policy aligns with your personal needs and travel plans.
As Canstar’s Group Manager, Research, Ratings & Product Data, Josh Sale is responsible for the methodology and delivery of Canstar’s Travel Insurance Star Ratings. With tertiary qualifications in economics and finance, Josh has worked behind the scenes for the last five years to develop Star Ratings and Awards that help connect consumers with the right product for them.
