Travel Insurance?

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quick
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Travel Insurance?

Post by quick »

Since no one answered me in the travel thread, I thought I'd start my own to get some info...

Does anyone have any recomendations? Who's good, who isn't, what do I need etc...

Its actually for my girl who is going to Europe for 3 months, so any help is appreciated.... ta.
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lynt
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Post by lynt »

Thanks for the reminder, gotta get mine sorted.

Worth every cent man. I've used MBF (I think), coz they're my private health crew. It's not too expensive, and if you get your shit knocked off then you're covered.

If you fall down and break your ankle, you're covered.

Etc.
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Post by quick »

nice... cheers for that. :D
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Post by dj awesome »

ouch.com.au has numerous plans.

Flight Centre also have a good policy

All policies are generally similar.
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Post by fmf »

Oi stevie.
we're using the flight centre one.. there's also medibank private,
the fuckers make it difficult to compare them as they have different definitions/allowance etc for different areas of the world. go ask someone at a travel agent
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Post by gnat »

Have a waaaah why don't you Sir Quickness.

'seeing no one answered me...'

You better renew your Waaambulance subscription while Jax is getting her insurance :p

I'm with Karlos- always use my health insurance coverer that i'm with here :aust unity:

However, can also recommend zuji on behalf of my friends who have used them.
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quick
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Post by quick »

ta all... shut up gnat... :P
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Friday
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Post by Friday »

airline lost my luggage last time i went to europe for just over 24 hours.

my insurance paid out $250 for stuff i bought: socks and underwear and a new shirt, a pair of sneakers... and a really nice ring! :P

the shoes i had on were ok, but i wanted new ones and knew they'd pay for it so got newies. and the ring i bought had no description on the receipt so i thought what the hell i'd give it a go and they paid it :shock: 8)

definitely worth the $80 or so i paid for the insurance.

it was 'travellers assist' i think...
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Post by quiet roar »

Never used to bother with insurance when I was travelling solo but I'm travelling with the clan this year so I will have to get some this time 'round.

I have also heard it's all much of a muchness - please correct me if I'm wrong.
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Friday
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Post by Friday »

does she have a credit card quick? gold?

if she has one and can upgrade it to gold (it's not an increase on the limit, just an extra $50-$100 per year or so annual fee) you get free travel insurance with it. i believe it's pretty good policy.

the increase in annual fee is about the same as the cost of insurance but you get all the other bonuses as well such as extra frequent flyer points, reduced interest rates etc etc...

an option worth looking at if she already has a credit card or is planning on getting one for the trip.
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quick
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Post by quick »

cheers Friday, I'll let her know...
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Post by gnat »

quick wrote:ta all... shut up gnat... :P

:P :hiding:
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Post by Polecat »

I'm going to go with the QBE & STA travel insurance policy when I go OS soon. I think their policy looks pretty good.

I compared it to the Harvey World Travel policy and for the same money the claim limits are higher. You really need to line all your policy brochures up at once to compare which is best.
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Post by fooishbar »

i ended up with mondial when I got my phone flogged in bcn, they were okay. just needed to send them a police report and the original receipt for the phone (?!?), and they paid out minus excess, but the phone had gotten cheaper, so I ended up about $5 ahead. they're not the quickest though.
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Post by DBoy »

i can give anyone 10% off travel insurance. CAn't remember the company name, but will post tommorrow. PM me.
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Post by Blush »

Travel expensive is so expensive in Aus ... I never bother, but if doing a few countries it's probably worthwhile...

I don't know her itinerary, but if she is going to London early in the 3 months I'd say fly there without it, and get it there for the rest of the trip... It's sooo cheap there, and multi country for up to a year at about a quarter of what we pay
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by JAMESSSS »

Any new recommendations?

So hard to find good info on any insurer. All comments are like "OMG best insurer good website and good price. Didn't have to claim though touch wood 111!!! Lol imo"

I am thinking World Nomads, who will insure T and I for $1300 between us for a year anywhere in the world. They are reccomended by Travelfish and Lonley Planet but on closer inspection they seem to have some sort of financial arrangement with both.

They look OK except for the 5k $250 item limit $100 excess luggage cover and the $500 between us dental.

Vero is way better with 12K, $300 item limit and 3.5k for camera but it would cost 1.3k each.

I've been reading way too many policies and it sucks cause I just end up noticing all these loopholes which they could refuse to pay out over.


Meh.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by nic »

its basically all the same tbh, you get what you pay for. i dont even know what we got, it was a year long, all countries type thing. cost 1200 all up.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Polecat »

jbs wrote:I am thinking World Nomads, who will insure T and I for $1300 between us for a year anywhere in the world. They are reccomended by Travelfish and Lonley Planet but on closer inspection they seem to have some sort of financial arrangement with both.
I went with World Nomads on my last trip to Europe. I found them very good to deal with when I had to cancel and redo my policy because I hadn't bought enough days of cover. It was easy to do and they were helpful on the phone. I compared them to QBE who I had used on a different trip (to China) and Nomad had higher limits set on their claim cover.

For my next trip I am looking at CoverMore. I had to get them to email me their policies though because the link on their website was broken. Not too cool, but the email reply was quick and helpful. Next to do the boring thing and line up the policies and read the fine print.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by JAMESSSS »

Why are you not using World Nomads again if you liked them tbh?
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by nic »

change is as good as a holiday imo
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Polecat »

jbs wrote:Why are you not using World Nomads again if you liked them tbh?
On intial investigation Covermore is cheaper and offers higher limits for the same thing as Nomad. I will be checking it out further though.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by JAMESSSS »

I see.

I shall have to investigate as well!
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by breaksRbest »

jbs, speak to Sammy. she works in Travel Insurance and can get you a discount
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by almax »

I had a BAD experience with 1 cover/Allianz absolute bastards when i had to make a claim after getting drugged and mugged in Thailand, took 10 months to settle, lost documents that i sent in (lucky i kept copies) said one thing over the phone then sent letters requesting different things. Absolute shambles.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by elysium »

Covermore, which is one of the policies available through flight centre, was pretty good. They paid for my repatriation from Argentina due to a bereavement and then for my flight back to London. They were really fast too compared with ones I have gone with through the airlines before.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by deviant »

almax wrote:I had a BAD experience with 1 cover/Allianz absolute bastards when i had to make a claim after getting drugged and mugged in Thailand, took 10 months to settle, lost documents that i sent in (lucky i kept copies) said one thing over the phone then sent letters requesting different things. Absolute shambles.

I remember you posting about that.... what was the outcome? did you end up taking it further?
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Polecat »

elysium wrote:Covermore, which is one of the policies available through flight centre, was pretty good. They paid for my repatriation from Argentina due to a bereavement and then for my flight back to London. They were really fast too compared with ones I have gone with through the airlines before.
Thanks heaps for that feedback Elysium. Much appreciated :D
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Lil MiSbreaks »

quick wrote:Since no one answered me in the travel thread, I thought I'd start my own to get some info...

Does anyone have any recomendations? Who's good, who isn't, what do I need etc...

Its actually for my girl who is going to Europe for 3 months, so any help is appreciated.... ta.

I work for AIG - massive travel insurance company.

Here is a link for anyone who wants a 50% discount (legit)

https://aigtravel.com.au/aigemployees/default.aspx

Our policies have unlimited medical coverage, with a free call emergency thingy as well. You can log onto ISOS website if you wanna see the service. Heliopters, dr's, nurses on standy for emergencies. If you need to be evacuated, this can happen.

A lot of policies are very very similar, the more expensive ones usually giving you a higher limit of luggage, or rental vehicle excess waivers and some other cover you may not want to pay for. eg, Pets housing, haha.

Its worth thinking about what your taking, where your going too and what sort of things your going to be doing. Skiing for example, some of the cheaper policies (like covermore) CAN exclude certain activies, or make you pay higher premium if your doing them.

Most medical coverage will be much of a muchness - but if your going to USA and given an uninsured appendix removal for example costs around $250,000, a small limit of cover might not be as much as you think.

Happy to answer any specific queries as well (i work in claims, so kinda a good reference!!) :mrgreen:
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Polecat »

Thanks Lil MissBreaks. I'll check out your link because I'll need to get myself organised soon :)
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by same o »

Lil MiSbreaks wrote:
quick wrote:Since no one answered me in the travel thread, I thought I'd start my own to get some info...

Does anyone have any recomendations? Who's good, who isn't, what do I need etc...

Its actually for my girl who is going to Europe for 3 months, so any help is appreciated.... ta.

I work for AIG - massive travel insurance company.

Here is a link for anyone who wants a 50% discount (legit)

https://aigtravel.com.au/aigemployees/default.aspx

Our policies have unlimited medical coverage, with a free call emergency thingy as well. You can log onto ISOS website if you wanna see the service. Heliopters, dr's, nurses on standy for emergencies. If you need to be evacuated, this can happen.

A lot of policies are very very similar, the more expensive ones usually giving you a higher limit of luggage, or rental vehicle excess waivers and some other cover you may not want to pay for. eg, Pets housing, haha.

Its worth thinking about what your taking, where your going too and what sort of things your going to be doing. Skiing for example, some of the cheaper policies (like covermore) CAN exclude certain activies, or make you pay higher premium if your doing them.

Most medical coverage will be much of a muchness - but if your going to USA and given an uninsured appendix removal for example costs around $250,000, a small limit of cover might not be as much as you think.

Happy to answer any specific queries as well (i work in claims, so kinda a good reference!!) :mrgreen:
will be in touch lil miss
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by almax »

deviant wrote:
almax wrote:I had a BAD experience with 1 cover/Allianz absolute bastards when i had to make a claim after getting drugged and mugged in Thailand, took 10 months to settle, lost documents that i sent in (lucky i kept copies) said one thing over the phone then sent letters requesting different things. Absolute shambles.

I remember you posting about that.... what was the outcome? did you end up taking it further?
Yeah i took it further, threatned to take them to FICS (financial industry complaints service, free for punters) which would have cost them more to dispute it with me than to pay me out. They then dicked me around for months and months, asking me to send in one more form of proof after another.
(PS they declined the payout originally as they have a clause that you cannot be affected by drugs or alcohol and i said i had had 3 beers that night, but they screwed up by declining me on that basis without asking over what duration of time i had those 3 beers as by the time i was drugged, there is no way i would have been over 0.05 BAC so there was my loophole)
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by JAMESSSS »

Hello all (esp LMB, oh hi there!)

Has anyone ever claimed from a bank Platinum card insurance plan? The ones where they come one automatically under x condition (in ANZ's case when you spend $250 pre trip).

Chartis underwrites the ANZ one and apart from a little worrying legal guff at the start it is exactly the same as the friends and fam policy .. except it's free!!!

There is an $85 yearly fee, they waive the first one though. Cancellation of the card is free also.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by JAMESSSS »

Meh couldn't do it anyway

Nowhere in Japan will take my credit card number and charge it prior to arriving!

They are too nice!
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by autumnleaves »

Just for everyone's information, we have a reciprocal agreement with a few countries:

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/tips/travelwell.html
Australia has health care agreements with Finland, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
So, basically, we can use their health care systems as if we were citizens. You still might want to get private insurance if you wanna be covered for your belongings, but if you're mostly in one of those countries and trying to do it on the cheap...

Also Choice magazine did a good comparison of travel insurance. I've never claimed, personally, but there's a huge discrepancy in prices, so definitely do your homework. Also, you have to remember things like 'new for old', most don't replace goods lost/stolen with new goods. Also, premiums, etc. From memory, the Choice magazine said credit card-related insurance schemes often had a lot of loopholes and very lax coverage. Be wary of the fineprint.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by kiss & tell »

get the cheapest policy you can find, take it to student flights and then take quote around town getting price beats!
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Lil MiSbreaks »

JAMESSSS wrote:Hello all (esp LMB, oh hi there!)

Has anyone ever claimed from a bank Platinum card insurance plan? The ones where they come one automatically under x condition (in ANZ's case when you spend $250 pre trip).

Chartis underwrites the ANZ one and apart from a little worrying legal guff at the start it is exactly the same as the friends and fam policy .. except it's free!!!

There is an $85 yearly fee, they waive the first one though. Cancellation of the card is free also.
:waves:

James, the activation was to be done before you left... so all or part of your flights, taxes, accomodation, pre-paid stuff before departure.

NAB and ANZ cards actually have excellent policies. Choice mag might need to do some actual research cos there actually better in some areas than paid for policies. Its rather surprising to think your getting something for nothing!!
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by gnat »

i gots LMB stylez insurance all locked and loaded. now get me on the plane!
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Lil MiSbreaks »

Good girl

As much as you all have to be subjected to reading my gripes and whines about actually working here, its a dam good policy for the cost, it really is.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by witty_pseudonym »

agreed. excellent value and customer service. ;)
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Lil MiSbreaks »

:wink:
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by JAMESSSS »

I got LMB style too.

Next time it's ANZ credit card free one though.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by FoundationStepper »

heres a +1 to travel insurance direct (online purchase) - on the ground its mondial i think

we just used them for my sons gastro/rotovirus hospital admission, they actually approved the claim within a few hours of us being admitted + receipt of medical statement

lots of calls to check up on us, no dicking around, and clear health recommendation in terms of initally taking him to emergency

they seemed same price ballpark as world nomads but a little more transparent + good reviews of people who had used them
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Blaxter »

FoundationStepper wrote:heres a +1 to travel insurance direct (online purchase) - on the ground its mondial i think

we just used them for my sons gastro/rotovirus hospital admission, they actually approved the claim within a few hours of us being admitted + receipt of medical statement

lots of calls to check up on us, no dicking around, and clear health recommendation in terms of initally taking him to emergency

they seemed same price ballpark as world nomads but a little more transparent + good reviews of people who had used them
Good to hear, hope everythings is okay with the family.
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Re: Travel Insurance?

Post by Sociopathic »

Mondial under write for medibank travel as well.

I haven't really posted here basically cause I really only know what the PDS tells me, albeit I'm prob a bit better at understanding the PDS than the average joe.

Our's is fairly good, fairly basic decent limits for most things and no excess or age limits.

We do exclude alot of medical conditions though or make you pay more for some, simple basic things are coered but theres a large chunk that you have to pay extra for and certain things where we just say "if you were to fall and break a leg you can't claim we just won't cover you medical" but it's stuff alot of companies won't cover and you find the ones who do cost FUCKLOADS.

Like LMB said alot of the more expensive ones do tend to start covering for random shit where you just go "wtf i do not need my camel that I'm travelling on across the sahara whilst i'm actually travelling to antarctica covered"

My main suggestions (which is also the absolute bain of my exsistence with travel calls) is ask a fuckload of questions, you would be surprised the senarios I've had customer throw at me which then results in me calling the underwriter and then escalating it higher because of just how obscure it actually is.

I did have a customer who cost some random overseas credit card company MILLIONS of dollars because of something that happened to his wife, company paid out without an issue though.
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