Travel Insurance

[roego]

Do not know who is the best but be very beware of Atlas sold through Atlas Club.
Only contactable through email and they do not answer when you have a claim.

 

[straitman]

Another way to consider your travel insurance if you need to buy it.

Look at Columbus Direct Travel Insurance. For an annual policy the price is:
Single $250.00
Couple $389.00
and other variations for families.

If you like the policy and it works for you join AFF as a Gold member ($50) and get the associated benefits including:
1. 15% discount off Expert Flyer Subscription,
2. 40% discount off Frequent Flyer Friend License,
3. 5% discount off Hotel Club Reservations and
4. 20% discount off Columbus Direct Travel Insurance.

The rates then become:
Single $200.00 / break even,
Couple $311.20 / saving $27.80,
and 20% on the other variations for families.

At worst you come out even in $ terms and you help admin by supporting the site.

Just a thought :!:

 

[Dave Noble]

At worst you come out even in $ terms and you help admin by supporting the site.

Plus all the adverts disappear without trace

Dave

 

[straitman]

Plus all the adverts disappear without trace

Dave

Oops I forgot the most important :!: :shock: :mrgreen:

 

[roego]

Thank you for the information about Columbus.I will go and have a look .

As for Atlas Club Insurance I contacted the australian Insurance Ombudsman and Atlas is not on their list.
I will try NSW Depart of Consumer affairs.

 

[roego]

Had a quick look at Columbus and no good to me as they do not offer over 65 years. I am 66 but still like to,and do, travel a lot.

 

[ethernet]

Australian Travel Insurance is grossly overpriced, and fails global benchmarks on several points. By comparison Singapore Travel Insurance was less than half the price, as were US policies. (1 year cover is better).
The online 11 day stuff is a joke, same fare, community rating, no age factor, no claim history, and scabby fine print like $12,500 for loss of eyes/limbs. And one, just added tour operator going broke, and forseeable events - well another Tsuami or Bali is forseeable, so WT..

I have no Jewelry and am not a frail over 55 waiting to get whacked, nor loaded with expensive trappings, and as single, no kid factors, no skiiing. Now I know State govt skims 20 odd, HIH effects some more.

Covermore is useless - I just need something should I need evacuation, hit by car etc, or bugging out because smartraveller.gov.au blacklists the country and locales for where there is no troop/UN involvement.

I'm no actuary, but it seems the handling costs 3/4ths, with 1/4 to the underwriter. I do hope an online system that COMPUTES the risks slaughters the incumberents someday. The FTA with Singapore and USA means transborder online insurance is near.

 

[straitman]

Australian Travel Insurance is grossly overpriced, and fails global benchmarks on several points. By comparison Singapore Travel Insurance was less than half the price, as were US policies. (1 year cover is better).
The online 11 day stuff is a joke, same fare, community rating, no age factor, no claim history, and scabby fine print like $12,500 for loss of eyes/limbs. And one, just added tour operator going broke, and forseeable events - well another Tsuami or Bali is forseeable, so WT..

I have no Jewelry and am not a frail over 55 waiting to get whacked, nor loaded with expensive trappings, and as single, no kid factors, no skiiing. Now I know State govt skims 20 odd, HIH effects some more.

Covermore is useless - I just need something should I need evacuation, hit by car etc, or bugging out because smartraveller.gov.au blacklists the country and locales for where there is no troop/UN involvement.

I'm no actuary, but it seems the handling costs 3/4ths, with 1/4 to the underwriter. I do hope an online system that COMPUTES the risks slaughters the incumberents someday. The FTA with Singapore and USA means transborder online insurance is near.

I'm not sure that anyone is totally disagreeing with you, however do you actually have an alternative to offer :?:

Remember that different people, circumstances, ages, situations and travel patterns all have different needs and/or requirements from the insurance.

 

[drron]

Sorry for bringing back this old thread but an important topic.As has been said it is when claims are made that your policy is put to the test.Just found this unsolicited testament for Travel Insurance - Save for your Holiday with Travel Insurance Direct .
New York City forum: My health update - TripAdvisor
This was good news for me as I use tid and spend a month a year in NYC.

 

[JohnK]

It is that time of the year to renew the annual travel insurance policy. I need to do this before 18 March 2008.

I have had a look at Travel Insurance Direct again and the policy costs $340 plus $25 to waive the $100 excess payable on some claims. Note they include rental car insurance excess cover of $3000.

I have also had a look at Columbus and the policy costs $250 but has an excess of $250 for medical expenses and $125 excess for a range of other items including luggage claims. I have not seen anywhere where I can reduce the excess payable. Note they only have a collision damage waiver cover of $2000. I guess this is the same as rental car insurance excess cover but just worded differently.

We all hope we never have to claim on travel insurance but if I have the same issues I had in the USA in August then with Columbus I would lose the first $125 of the claim for clothes bought during delayed luggage which makes the cost of the Columbus policy higher than Travel Insurance Direct. And that is only for one claim. What if there are other related claims at the same time?

Other than that both policies look very similar. My instinct tells me to stick with Travel Insurance Direct. I think 1Cover is useless and I do not trust the travel insurance offered for free with credit card for comprehensive travel insurance cover.

On another note I have heard some people discuss that you are not covered for accidents if the driver of the car you are a passenger is not a licensed taxi but is a fully insured vehicle. Is this correct? What is the difference having an accident in an unlicensed taxi or getting a lift from a friend. Both are fully insured. Any thoughts?

 

[Dave Noble]

If it costs $365 to have a zero excess vs $250 ($200 if AFF Gold member) to have a $125 excess, then unless Im expecting to have multiple claims a year, then the lower price would seem to work out better

Having an accident in an unlicensed taxi means that you are screwed in many cases. The taxi is, in many cases, not insured since it was being used outside the insurance terms so you would have to sue the taxi owner

Taking unlicensed taxis is a mad idea imo

Dave

 

[NM]

What is the difference having an accident in an unlicensed taxi or getting a lift from a friend. Both are fully insured. Any thoughts?

The difference would be whether or not you have a commercial arrangement (i.e. are paying for the service) with the driver. Commercial arrangement would make it an unlicensed taxi, while no commercial arrangement would make it a ride in a private vehicle.

 

[JohnK]

If it costs $365 to have a zero excess vs $250 ($200 if AFF Gold member) to have a $125 excess, then unless Im expecting to have multiple claims a year, then the lower price would seem to work out better

Yes I know about the discount with AFF Gold membership but it still costs $250 compared to $365 for zero excess.

So even with 1 claim a year, which is very realistic these days, for delayed luggage then the cheaper option becomes more expensive. Only need to read the number of posts/threads on AFF to realise just how common this problem is now. It has recently happened to me, simongr, mal and even littl_flier the other day and he was only going BNE-CBR and his luggage ended up in CNS and then SYD!

Does anyone know any other travel insurance that may work out cheaper and have $0 excess on claims? I know it is a longshot but worth a try.

Taking unlicensed taxis is a mad idea imo

That is sound advice but I like to live on the edge and save some money at the same time. I despise the AOT mafia anyway and better off giving the money to the guy who works hard for his living.

 

[NM]

So even with 1 claim a year, which is very realistic these days, for delayed luggage then the cheaper option becomes more expensive. Only need to read the number of posts/threads on AFF to realise just how common this problem is now. It has recently happened to me, simongr, mal and even littl_flier the other day and he was only going BNE-CBR and his luggage ended up in CNS and then SYD!

And then there are those of us that in 15+ years of travelling have never had to make a claim on travel insurance. So that would represent a saving of $1725. There is no way I would pay more for a travel insurance policy with a lower excess. I have an ongoing expectation that I will not be paying out multiple excess payments a year, and if I do need to then I can use the $1725 savings from the last 15 years to cover it.

 

[serfty]

The only time I have made a claim is when mini serfty's case decided to spend a day in Zurich on the way from DUB to LGW.

This was on the old QBE Qantas FF insurance annual policy (before I found better options).

Mrs serfty saw it as having an additional £100 to spend. :shock:

 

[rwatts]

While on the topic of Travel Insurance...

From the Tips And Rumours section of today's Crikey - Political news, business news, arts, media and independent commentary served daily.

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]

A colleague has just switched her flights for a holiday in Hawaii from Jetstar to Hawaiian Airlines after cancellation insurance was denied for her first choice of airline. She was told the risk of Jetstar cancelling flights was too high because of the volume of previous claims for cancellation insurance to be issued.

[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Richard.
[/FONT]

 

[JohnK]

The only time I have made a claim is when mini serfty's case decided to spend a day in Zurich on the way from DUB to LGW.

I finally put my claim in to Travel Insurance Direct for delayed luggage during my Oneworld RTW in August 2007. I put the claim in around 2 weeks ago and have already received ~$350 for clothes, mobile phone charger and damaged luggage. Very happy overall with the service and efficiency of processing the claim.

 

[oz_mark]

Seemed like the best place to ask.

Has anyone looked at the Zuji Annual policy-quoting at $233 per year and underwritten by Allianz. Just wondering if anyone has looked at it/has comments?

 

[Mal]

Seemed like the best place to ask.

Has anyone looked at the Zuji Annual policy-quoting at $233 per year and underwritten by Allianz. Just wondering if anyone has looked at it/has comments?

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.

IIRC, Allianz have a few clauses I'm not too happy with. 37 days max cover for personal travel, luggage/delay coverage is low and doesn't apply for 12 hours, and the exclusions for coverage in countries that the Govt has warned you not to travel to are extensive (including if you don't take advice to avoid a strike!)

 

[straitman]

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 :!: