Fintech company Fast Cover has launched the inaugural Travel Insurance Week, prompted by findings that one in six Australians have travelled internationally without arranging travel insurance.
The initiative, sponsored by Hollard Insurance, was rolled out just in time for the busy Christmas holiday travel season, to educate travellers on the importance of buying travel insurance cover to avoid potential out-of-pocket expenses that may occur when holidaying.
The 2019 Great Australian Travel Survey revealed that of those one in six travellers who weren’t insured, 44% chose to travel without insurance, 21% forgot to buy cover, and 2.7% reasoned being young, stupid, naïve, or bulletproof. A further 27% justified not buying cover as they were visiting a reciprocal healthcare agreement country.
What some travellers may not know is that reciprocal healthcare agreements only cover medical costs in those country and not Medivac repatriation home, which could cost them $100,000.
Another worrying finding was that less than 30% of travellers read all of the PDS and 56% only read the sections that interest them.
“Travel insurance is all about the unexpected, so not reading the PDS at all or only reading the bits that you’ve thought about, could leave you open to a whole lot of situations you may never of thought could happen to you,” said Dean Van Es, Fast Cover Travel Insurance CEO.
Van Es also urged travellers to research their travel insurance options in order “to avoid massive medical bills should the unexpected happen and being blindsided by benefits they were not 100% aware of.”
“This especially important during peak travel periods and the Christmas rush when travellers may not give the appropriate time to what can be a very important decision,” Van Es said.
