Travel Insurance

[oz_mark]

I renewed my insurance tonight (with QBE), so had spent a few hours looking around for a good insurance policy. Did find a 25% off offer, but ended up re-using my 20% Entertainment Book discount (due to QBE changing their travel insurance around, and the Entertainment book still being on the old PDS). Paid just under $400.

Prices are all over the shop, todays hunting threw up:

Citibank (QBE) $362
Westpac (Vero) $939 :shock::shock::shock:
Medibank Pirvate (Allianz) $393

 

[Aray]

Is it just me or has Travel Insurance actually come *down* in price in last few years ?

Got a quote for $70 (Covermore) for 2 weeks in Japan .. min cover $250 excess but still I cannot remember getting a quote this low for my last trip in 2005 ??

 

[Mal]

Is it just me or has Travel Insurance actually come *down* in price in last few years ?

A few things...
You may have purchased through a travel agent previously, whereas on the Internet will normally be cheaper due to (normally) high retail mark-up.
Prices (that I've seen) have stayed relatively stable - which is pretty good actually.
The number of exclusions, excess amounts and other fine print have likely increased. Check carefully!

 

[johntoo]

I obtained two online quotes from Covermore the other night, one through the Flightcentre website. All input conditions were identical, but see if you can spot the one variable....it is at the bottom left hand corner. (I should have grabbed the cheaper quote at the time!).

But seriously, folks, with a variation of 4 and five times the price between insurance conpanies, with essentially the same product, who thinks it's time for a shake up in the travel insurance industry?

I'm all for competition and market independence, but this is getting ridiculous.

John

 

[JohnK]

But seriously, folks, with a variation of 4 and five times the price between insurance conpanies, with essentially the same product, who thinks it's time for a shake up in the travel insurance industry?

I'm all for competition and market independence, but this is getting ridiculous.

The company I work for, which provides car and home & contents insurance, has recently started selling travel insurance underwritten by Allianz.

I had a look at the website and got a quote for an annual multi-trip insurance policy which was ~$100 more than my current Travel Insurance Direct polixy. I sent an email to the person at our company who is managing the product and I received some interesting answers. Basically Allianz has an established partnership with TID and they are not going to risk that partnership and provide similar discounts to a new entrant in the market.

 

[vet]

Not travel insurance but it is the company I'm commenting on here.

Whilst recently looking at a new H&C insurance policy the broker gave me several quotes. Allianz was the cheapest BUT he advised also that they were quite difficult to deal with, compared to the others, if/when you needed to make a claim.

I bought elsewhere :!:

At a seminar to potential recruits for an invesrnent/insurance co, we were told 'The best policy is the one that pays the highest commission'. How good is your policy???

 

[JohnK]

Whilst recently looking at a new H&C insurance policy the broker gave me several quotes. Allianz was the cheapest BUT he advised also that they were quite difficult to deal with, compared to the others, if/when you needed to make a claim.

I bought elsewhere :!:

Going OT here but did you even consider the company where your cars are insured? I am not sure if they would have beaten your other quotes though....

 

[serfty]

Given your indicated location of employment John, I'm pretty sure I use your company for my vehicle insurance.

No other company has come near it in price since I first utilised their product several years ago - and I do, indeed, review other option before renewing every year.

 

[JohnK]

Given your indicated location of employment John, I'm pretty sure I use your company for my vehicle insurance.

Wow! That is a nice car and with a low excess and low premium.

Compare that to my 1989 VN Commodore insured with NRMA valued at ~$2200 with an excess of $600 and annual premium of $629. Unfortunately the company I work for could not come close to the NRMA premium. Works for some people not for others. Oh well....

 

[Sharkbait]

My 2c worth is this. I travelled through Thailand late last year with a mate during the riots and airport closure. I bought a Covermore insurance policy through my agent, he bought (a cheaper AAMI) policy over the net. We were delayed out of Bangkok for 4 days whcih cost us (unbudgetted) $$$ of around $800 each. I was covered under my insurance plan, but my mate wasnt due to some technical interpretaion of the policy. All I can say is you get what you pay for in the end.... but you never know what might happen when you are out and about.

 

[straitman]

My 2c worth is this. I travelled through Thailand late last year with a mate during the riots and airport closure. I bought a Covermore insurance policy through my agent, he bought (a cheaper AAMI) policy over the net. We were delayed out of Bangkok for 4 days whcih cost us (unbudgetted) $$$ of around $800 each. I was covered under my insurance plan, but my mate wasnt due to some technical interpretaion of the policy. All I can say is you get what you pay for in the end.... but you never know what might happen when you are out and about.

I've seen AAMI squirrel out of various policies like this.

 

[opus9743]

I am thinking of buying the CBA Gold Card for Travel Insurance. This is supplied by Zurich. Has anyone had any experience of Zurich Travel Insurance?

 

[egoode]

I just thought I would add my travel insurance experience for you all. I had what is probably the worse thing to happen while travelling happen. My mother died after contracting pneumonia in Germany over Christmas. I live in London so they had come over to have their first white christmas and also to visit me.

They had CoverMore insurance and the company was absolutely brilliant in getting things sorted with as little hassle to us as possible. We didn't have to pay a cent for any of the hospital / ambulance / repatriation costs. We never even saw the bill which I'm sure was quite high as it included nearly 2 weeks in intensive care and also dialysis everyday. They also agreed to pay for a flight from Australia for one of my siblings and all the cancellation costs they incurred for missing the remaining 2 weeks of their trip.

Obviously situations like this rarely happen while travelling but CoverMore definitely made a stressful and upsetting situation as easy as possible for us to deal with.

I also should add that Qantas were fantastic at getting my brother and sister on flights from Australia to Germany quickly and also getting us all on flights back to Australia for the funeral. And even though it was all last minute they discounted the tickets for us due to the situation.

 

[k_sheep]

I am thinking of buying the CBA Gold Card for Travel Insurance. This is supplied by Zurich. Has anyone had any experience of Zurich Travel Insurance?

I use the Westpac altitude gold insurance, which is underpinned by Zurich. I've only made a claim once, but it was brilliant (our rental car had a truck ram it deliberately in NZ - repairs were $1200NZ). It took maybe 2 weeks all up, and we got a cheque quickly for the repairs minus the $200 excess. It might have helped that all our documentation was very clear - we had police reports, bank statements, rental agreements etc.

One bonus too - your partner is also covered (I only find out this after paying for mr sheeps separate insurance several times :evil: oops!).

 

[bazzam]

I am thinking of buying the CBA Gold Card for Travel Insurance. This is supplied by Zurich. Has anyone had any experience of Zurich Travel Insurance?

Zurich offers different policies for each credit card (they provide insurance for many credit cards and for different banks) so make sure to check the policy that applies to your card as some features may vary between cards.

I got extremely sick a few days prior to leaving for a 6 week trip and had insurance through Zurich with a Citibank card. I found them easy to deal with and I received payment for all the flights and land arrangements a few weeks after lodging the claim. I have no experience with the CBA gold card though so again I advise you to read the policy applicable to that card.

 

[Cocitus23]

I don't know if any of you are as old as me and sometimes take a grandchild on a trip, but if so this might interest you. I have a QBE annual policy and pay the surcharge for Family coverage, which gives me coverage for me, my wife and "accompanying dependent children". So is my grandchild covered or not? She is certainly totally dependent on me when she is travelling with me. I asked this question at the time of renewal and was told that if she was named specifically in the policy she would be covered, so long as she was travelling with me. So she is named, as is my wife.
Moral of the story: If you take out an annual policy with family cover, make sure that you have the name of any grandchild who is likely to be travelling with you included on the policy.
Does anyone else have relevant experience?