Key benefits of Cover-More travel insurance

Travel insurance is a specific type of insurance that helps cover a number of costs and disruptions associated with travelling both domestically and overseas. Levels of cover differ per policy, however, travel insurance typically protects against trip cancellation, delays, lost luggage and personal belongings, 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. The destination, length of trip, specific activity add-ons and pre-existing medical conditions all help determine the cost of a travel insurance policy. Policies can be purchased at the time of booking a trip up until the time a traveller leaves their home.

Travel insurance varies for individual travellers based on the options selected by them, so prices vary from person-to-person. The cost of a travel insurance policy is determined by:

Travel insurance protects you when travelling domestically or internationally by providing coverage against unforeseen circumstances that may negatively impact your travel plans.

By purchasing travel insurance prior to departure, your policy can help cover the costs of trip cancellations should you no longer be able to travel, as well as the costs of 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 a police report or medical bill to confirm the incident occurred.

Always read the Policy Wording 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 Policy Wording before purchasing to avoid becoming frustrated when claims are unsuccessful. It will contain details on the situations you likely won’t be covered in, including:

• Cancellation: simply changing your mind prior to your trip may not be sufficient for a successful claim.
• Pre-existing conditions: if medical conditions aren’t disclosed or covered by the policy at time of purchase, exclusions may apply to coverage related to those conditions. 
• Theft or loss of belongings while left unattended: travellers must take care of their belongings as they would as home.
• Incidents occurring as a result of reckless behaviour: claims arising from excessive drinking or taking recreational drugs will likely be rejected.
• Winter and adventure sports: claims resulting from participation in high-risk sports will be void unless covered by the policy.
• Terrorism and extreme weather events: travelling to specific regions against the advice of the government or your insurer may result in unsuccessful claims because the events are no longer unforeseeable circumstances.

For full details of exclusions within a travel insurance plan, consult the Policy Wording.

Purchasing a policy soon after a trip is booked has a number of benefits and increases a traveller’s protection.

When purchased ahead of time, a traveller can cancel their travel insurance policy for a full refund within the cooling-off period. If the policy is purchased before the customer leaves their home to depart for their trip, claims for rearrangements and cancellations caused by unforeseen circumstances can also be made.

By considering travel insurance as an essential part of booking a holiday - not an afterthought when at the airport - travellers are likely to be covered should an incident arise before take-off.