Best Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance in the new COVID World?

[mel-world]

I'm diving into the PDS's to see the cover levels and inclusions of a number of options for an annual multi-trip travel insurance.

On my list for companies to go through are now 1Cover, Allianz, CoverMore, NIB, RACQ, Southern Cross, and TID (and BankWest MC 'upgraded benefits', as they call it). Any other companies I ought to check while at it?

Please let us know your findings. I guess cost will be an point of comparison as well.

 

[tdimdad]

Here we go, an Excel workbook(1) with the cover levels of eight different annual policies side by side and scored in two different ways. It's a rudimentary one but I tried to make it a little neater = legible so that it can be used by others.
(1) Uploaded as a ZIP file because the AFF platform allows only certain file formats.

First caveat is the difficulty of comparing policies against each other. Each company writes them differently, placing items in different orders, using different terminology, etc. But I've tried to uncover the essential from them all but there are plenty of details and nuances that would need a closer inspection, if we wanted to show them, too.

If you want to add policy items, add rows in the middle (after the first and before the last) so that you can easily copy the formulas across to the new rows. The same with columns, if you want to add more companies to your own comparisons.

The pricing allows for a single trip and annual pricing. The annual policies seem to be at the highest / most comprehensive single policy level = if you are after a single-trip policy and choose the highest cover level, it usually matches the covers listed for the annual policies. the prices I have there are for my own parametres and you'll get different pricing based on your age, etc. I have left all kinds of extra packs out (cruise, snow, moped, etc).

Observations​

1. The inclusions & exclusions vary a lot between companies. I started the whole comparison because my current provider excludes an activity which I've booked to do in June. Some companies offer it in an add-on pack, one as a standard inclusion. The same goes with e.g. the cost of essential medication in case of travel delays or loss of luggage, return of rental cars, and many other things. With medical evacuation, some bring you to Australia only, some may also choose another country.
   --> Read your policies carefully so that you know what to expect.
2. The clarity of the policy texts varies from easy to awful. E.g. CoverMore and Allianz I can follow easily, NIB & TID need more reading and 1Cover I found sometimes difficult to parse together (which is why their policy lacks data points). This may unnecessarily favour or punish some policies but I go with a strict'ish "if it's not written there, it does not exist" view, though I've made some assumptions (which are shown in comments in the respective cells).
3. Geographical areas covered vary. Some policies force you to name individual countries, some can go by regions (e.g. 'All of Europe'), some are either worldwide or worldwide except for A/B/C.
   1. Notice also that connections and stopovers are covered differently. The most limited version I came across was 24h at the airport (airside) only, the most generous a 72 h stopover without needing to list the country in the policy.

How to read the workbook​

The policy cover levels are in columns B to I, rows 10-55. If your cover looks different, edit the figures there.
The prices go to rows 5-6.
You can add weighting for any item you want to (the workbook I uploaded has some marked). The multiplier you use is up to you. It's a simple multiplier for the first set of scores (but not the second - it could be added but I wanted to release this into the wild instead of tinkering more).
Grey cell = policy exclusion or omission, white cell without data = couldn't confirm the detail from the PDS.

Results are presented in two ways: ranking and points. They are far from any science but give you an indication of which policies to check out more closely. You will also notice that the different methods produce slightly different results but the big picture remains (good policies float to the top in both methods, weaker ones score low both ways).

Ranking scores the policies against each other as a relative measure. The scores you see in the area K10:R55 show which company has the "best" vs "worst" cover for each item (high vs low score, respectively). Tied/shared placements happen when several policies offer the the same cover (e.g. $1,000 for dental work). The total score on row 7 is the sum of all ranking points given.
Points use the level of cover compared to the highest for that item and uses the %-scores for that. The total score on row 7 is the average of all individual %-figures.

Rows 5-6 show the "how many points does a dollar buy?" score. This compares the results against the price if you want to seek value for money instead of high points only.

You are free to use, edit and share the workbook as you please, if it provides any value to you.
Bankwest MasterCard insurance add-on I have not been able to confirm fully and get the price for it. If it's of interest to you, send me a message and I'll reply when I have those details in.

 

[tassie6]

Here we go, an Excel workbook(1) with the cover levels of eight different annual policies side by side and scored in two different ways. It's a rudimentary one but I tried to make it a little neater = legible so that it can be used by others.
(1) Uploaded as a ZIP file because the AFF platform allows only certain file formats.

Wow what a resource! Thanks so much for sharing your hard work putting that together. Now just need to sit down and digest it all...