(03) 9020 2905They say “you get what you pay for”. But my experience with travel insurance suggests, um, not so much.
Two years ago, mine and two other families were Bali-bound. Airline (whom I won’t name, but their jets usually offer star service) cancelled the flight.
While this is inconvenient, I see it positively. Planes have a nasty habit of randomly falling out of the sky (ignoring the potential of pilots “going rogue”). So, if an airline has concerns … go ahead, cancel my flight. I’m good on the ground here, thanks, till that light stops flashing.
“Next available” was two days later. No good, as we’d hired a villa. Next flight on another airline was the following morning. Big bucks.
When there, two kids attended hospital. A few hundred bucks each.
Two travel insurance policies. One was freakingly expensive. The other was half the cost.
The expensive one covered nothing. The cheap-arsed one covered the new flights, taxes, taxies, meals and hospital visit.
I was out of pocket a bundle … plus the higher cost of the damn policy. My fellow bogan traveller Steve profited from the cheaper policy!
My only other claim was marginally better. In Guatemala in 2005, Mrs DebtMan and I got robbed. New flights and replacement passport were covered, but none of the other incidental costs of the crime (more than $1000), were.
Sure, price doesn’t equal quality. But insurance never covers everything. Hopefully, if the really expensive stuff happens – like medical evacuation – you will be covered.
I would never travel overseas without insurance. But, with all insurances, read the policy conditions.
Bruce Brammall is the principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting (www.castellanfinancial.com.au) and author of Debt Man Walking.