New research by Allianz Global Assistance (AGA) Travel Insurance has revealed an alarming 80% increase in overseas repatriations.
Last year, AGA nurses dealt with 150 repatriations, the most common cause of which was multi-trauma, or having multiple injuries.
Despite this, many Australians were found to still treat travel insurance as an afterthought - with 39% of customers purchasing travel insurance in the last week of departure, and another 19% taking out insurance on the day of, or the day before, departure.
Rebecca Goodchap, AGA senior nurse, who has seen a lot of repatriation cases during her nine-year career, commented: “In some cases, travellers choose not to purchase it at all, running the gauntlet and leaving themselves open to potentially disastrous consequences.”
The top destinations travelled by AGA nurses last year on their repatriation cases, include Thailand, US, New Zealand, China, France, the UK, Italy, Greece, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.
Goodchap also stressed the importance of travel insurance in ensuring travellers don’t suffer large financial losses.
“Medical treatment and repatriation can have a huge impact on your holiday and finances if you’re not covered, with the costs for each varying drastically from country to country,” she said. “In reality, travel insurance is the one essential item you can’t leave home without.”
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