The unexpected never takes a holiday

You’re on the holiday of a lifetime, driving your rental car from small town to big city across France, Spain, Italy…and everywhere in-between. A must-do is visiting cafés and restaurants to sample the local cuisine. The tastes and flavours of Europe are enticing - but when things go wrong, it can leave a bad taste in your mouth.

All of a sudden you are in a local hospital, can’t speak the language and someone is asking you to pay a medical bill. Luckily you bought travel insurance and your travel insurer’s emergency assistance hotline is there to help!

In a time of need assistance is just a phone call away. They take a personal interest, helping with the unexpected and providing the reassurance you want. They will assist you with: • assessing and monitoring your condition after an accident or illness providing medical repatriation, if required assisting with payment of hospital and medical bills rescheduling disrupted travel plans providing advice and contact details for airlines, local embassies in the event of lost tickets, passports or travel documents providing contact details for bank/credit card provider to assist with arrangements for emergency transfer of funds urgent messages to your family or travel agent Critically, travel insurance protects you against significant financial loss caused by serious accidents, illness or delay in travel, while giving you peace of mind during your travel.

Travel insurance is recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as essential for all travellers, as it covers emergency medical expenses, medical evacuation or repatriation.

For instance, overseas medical treatments can be expensive whether it is for injury from an accident or for an illness such as food poisoning or appendicitis. Daily hospitalisation costs in the USA can exceed $5,000; repatriation from Australia on a stretcher can be $15,000; • • • •

•

• medical evacuation from the USA can range from $90,000 to $300,000. Even travelling to Australia you can incur an ambulance charge exceeding $800.

Serious illness or injury, if uninsured, can become a long-term financial burden, which would have easily been prevented through purchasing travel insurance.

What to look for in a policy?

All travel insurance policies should cover medical expenses, repatriation, lost luggage and liability cover. Most policies include cover for trip interruption and delay, ensuring that you can be accommodated overseas and rebooked on the next available flight.