Single Trip TI Recommendations

[Lynda2475]

Back in March I booked with InsureandGo for my December Hong Kong trip based on a Choice recommendation, then realised today that their single trip cover excludes cruises and defines a cruise as "Any travel on sea, ocean or river by any commercially operated ship, boat or other sea vessel with scheduled journey time longer than 2 hours.", so basically useless for any sightseeing or dinner boat trips. I bet heaps of people get caught out by that, especially in locations where a day boat trip is common, or they are taking ferries between european islands. I was able to upgrade that policy for $9 to a Cruise policy just in case.

But it got me thinking about who to use for next years big trip? I want to get a policy this week, and need to have unlimited cancellation and medical coverage, as it is an expensive trip from a pre-paid land component pov.

I've always just done single trip policies as usually no more than 4-6 weeks overseas any calendar year across 1-2 trips and dont bother for domestic trips.

So who are people recommending these days: TID, InsureandGo, WorldNomads? Are there any awesome discount codes?

Or shoudl I look at an annual policy, and if I do does that mean Im junking my December policy; as it would start now?

 

[VPS]

I have used Good to Go annual TI for the last two years and have been happy with them

 

[Lynda2475]

Bump - anyone else?

Semms World2Cover are same company as InsureandGo just different pricing - lots of bad reviews for claims.

The policy that comes with my St George Amplify Visa seems great but i will have cancelled that card before the trip as apart from sign-on bonus its a poor points earner. And although I paid the taxes on my Amex, the policy that comes with the Amex Qantas Ultimate is reviewed poorly in comparison with other policies on other AMex cards and doesn't have unlimited medical so prefer a paid policy.

 

[Hvr]

I have no idea if this is a good policy but it may be worth looking at if you're over 50.

Travel | COTA Insurance

COTA Travel Insurance - our range of plans means you can choose the level of cover you need to suit the trip you're taking.

www.cota.com.au

 

[Lynda2475]

Thanks Hvr but Im under 50 for a few years yet.

 

[Carrots]

Within our brokerage we've recently made the decision to move to Travel Card from QBE as our personal travel insurance primary insurer - the sale of their business to NIB was a good catalyst for us.

I don't have too much involvement in personal insurances, however the Travel Card option seems quite good, admittedly it is also a tick box for Cruise cover from what I understand (although unsure what their defintion of cruise is).

Personally I prefer an annual corporate travel policy option - far less of a headache, with the right insurer is all encompassing and generally no pre ex medical issues.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

... so basically useless for any sightseeing or dinner boat trips. I bet heaps of people get caught out by that, especially in locations where a day boat trip is common, or they are taking ferries between european islands. I was able to upgrade that policy for $9 to a Cruise policy just in case.

Realistically, is this actually an issue? If lots of people were getting caught out by it, surely we would have heard more? (or maybe there are reports but we just haven't looked for them?)

It's hard to imagine what sort of insurance is going to be needed for a two-hour dinner cruise. I suppose you culd slip on deck and break a leg or something. But I wonder if the boat company would then pay for it anyway?

A longer cruise I could imagine 'regular' medical issues could arise.

 

[Lynda2475]

is this actually an issue?

Well i was getting quotes for this trip which is mainly flights and land travel (Private vehicle, train, a few shorter ferry trips), but it includes 1 overnight ferry. On the tokyo marine policies to be covered for this one night Id have to pay a large cruise premium! Enough to make me steer clear from them going forward. Whereas other companies cover this without a premium.

Ended up giving World Nomads a go. TID and some other sites added around $80 to the policy as soon as I added in ME stop-overs. I only have 1 night in Dubai and don't intend to leave the airport in Doha, but like to name them in case of extensive delays/missed connections meaning i need to spend more time.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Ended up giving World Nomads a go. TID and some other sites added around $80 to the policy as soon as I added in ME stop-overs. I only have 1 night in Dubai and don't intend to leave the airport in Doha, but like to name them in case of extensive delays/missed connections meaning i need to spend more time.

Transits would normally be included, and if something goes wrong, you'd be automatically covered for an extended stay. (But as awlways, the PDS is key.) Worldnomads is probably just as good a choice as any. I know they are one of only two providers that provide cover for missed connections on separate tickets, even if you aren't attending a 'special event'. We use them for this prupose if we have to have separate tickets.

 

[serfty]

In recent times I have found Woolworths TI the cheapest or short trips.

 

[Lynda2475]

Thanks Serfty, but i try not to give the Woolworths any of my hard earned $. They used to be a client, they were not only some of the rudest management I ever dealt with (and crazy needy) they also treated their non store staff horribly.

 

[get me outta here]

I saw a discount code of 15% on TID last night and was able to get a quote showing that discount. Maybe worth trying that if you haven’t already bought. The code is FRENZY.

 

[Lynda2475]

Thanks, already purchased World Nomads. Even with TID 15% discount, World Nomads was less expensive.

 

[Spongbob]

Within our brokerage we've recently made the decision to move to Travel Card from QBE as our personal travel insurance primary insurer - the sale of their business to NIB was a good catalyst for us.

I am not too sure what you mean by this comment. I think QBE had the best policy for what was covered, but not the cheapest.

Are you suggesting Travel Card policies are as extensive as QBE's?

My understanding is QBE sold the TI because it was only a very small part of their overall business. Are you suggesting some other reason?

Has anyone used NIB since the sale?

 

[Lynda2475]

As my Health Insurance is with NIB, I got a quote from NIB for same trip was over $120 more expensive for less coverage than what TID or World Nomads were offering - so I ruled them out. I didn't get as far as checking who was underwriting the policy.

 

[Spizz]

I would steer clear of TID. Just read the stream of negative reviews on product reviews for those that have had to claim lately. Not like they used to be.

 

[get me outta here]

Choice has an article from earlier this year. Compare the best travel insurance - CHOICE

 

[Lynda2475]

Choice ratings based on a really small sample size - i chose to pay more attention to reviews from people who have actually had to claim . For reasons stated above the top recommendation from Choice (Tick which is underwritten by Insure&Go, Insure&Go and Good2Go).

Policies have a cooling off period I will research a little more - i most concerned about medical and coverage for upfront costs.

 

[get me outta here]

Claims score - where does Choice get this info from? “The higher the rating the better they perform. Based on the number of consumers that lodged a dispute about an insurer with the Financial Ombudsman Service, how far they progressed through that process and what the chance was of achieving an agreeable outcome”.

 

[Lynda2475]

Yes but ombudsman complaints doesn't account for all the successful claims. All the research is doing my head in though.

Interesting part of choice review is that :
Good2Go - only 32% or 7 of 22 members of the CHOICE community who reviewed this product would recommend it
Insure&Go - only 27% or 6 of 22 members of the CHOICE community who reviewed this product would recommend it.
Tick - noone - 0 of 4 members of the CHOICE community who reviewed this product would recommend it.