Travel insurance is a specific type of insurance that helps cover several costs and disruptions when travelling both domestically and overseas. Levels of cover differ per plan; however, travel insurance typically protects against trip cancellation, delays, lost luggage and personal belongings, overseas medical expenses and repatriation, and personal liability.

Most travel insurance providers offer single or multi-trip policies, which can cover multiple countries within a specific timeframe. Things like the destination, length of trip, optional additional cover for specific activities and pre-existing medical conditions all help determine the cost of a travel insurance policy.

The cost of a travel insurance policy varies from traveller to traveller because various factors affect the amount payable.

At Cover-More, we consider a number of factors when calculating the total amount payable. The following is a guide on these key factors, how they combine and how they may impact the assessment of risk and therefore the premium paid:

• Area: higher risk areas cost more.
• Departure date and trip duration: the longer the period until you depart and the longer your trip duration, the higher the cost may be.
• Age: higher risk age groups cost more.
• Plan: International Comprehensive+, which provides more cover, costs more than International Comprehensive or Domestic.
• Excess: the higher the excess the lower the cost.
• Cruise cover: additional premium applies.
• Cancellation cover: on some policies you can choose your own level of cancellation cover. The more cancellation cover you require, the higher the cost may be.
• Adding cover for Existing Medical Conditions and pregnancy (where available): additional premium may apply if a medical assessment is completed and cover is accepted by us.
• Options to vary cover (where available): additional premium applies.

While a cheaper policy cost upfront may seem appealing, always read the Product Disclosure Statement to ensure your needs are adequately covered should an incident occur.

Travel insurance protects you when travelling domestically or internationally by providing coverage against unforeseen circumstances that may impact your travel plans. By purchasing travel insurance with cancellation cover prior to departure, your policy can help by providing cover for the costs of trip cancellations should you no longer be able to travel, as well as the costs of overseas medical treatment, lost passports, and personal items while you’re travelling.

The customer usually pays for these costs upfront, before being reimbursed by the travel insurer upon claim approval. To approve a claim, travel insurers require documentation such as medical reports, itemised medical bills or police reports to confirm the incident occurred.

However, at Cover-More, if our customer becomes ill overseas, they can also contact our 24-Hour Emergency Assistance team for support and to seek approval for expensive medical bills to be paid directly by us to the medical care provider/s instead.

Always read the Product Disclosure Statement before purchasing a travel insurance policy to ensure it provides adequate coverage for your circumstances.

Unfortunately, travel insurance can’t cover absolutely everything. This highlights the importance for travellers to read the Product Disclosure Statement before purchasing to avoid becoming frustrated if claims are unsuccessful. It will contain details on the situations you likely won’t be covered in, including cancellation, pre-existing medical conditions, theft or loss of belongings, adventure sports, COVID-19 scenarios and more.

For full details of the exclusions within our Cover-More travel insurance plans, consult the Product Disclosure Statement .

The best time to purchase travel insurance is as soon as a trip is booked, as this can increase protection. When purchased ahead of time, a Cover-More customer can cancel their travel insurance policy for a full refund within the 21-day cooling-off period. If the policy is purchased before departing on the trip, claims for rearrangements and cancellations caused by unforeseen circumstances can also be made where cancellation cover is added to the policy.