Kiwi sports fans sidestep insurance
Half of Kiwis travelling to the Gold Coast to see the Commonwealth Games will go without travel insurance.
Insurer Allianz Partners says that while 20 per cent of overseas trips by Kiwis last year were uninsured, the figure for jaunts to Australia was just over 50 per cent.
Many New Zealanders view Australia as a low-risk destination, but Renato Mattos, chief executive of Allianz Partners, said that of the 40 claims made last year by Kiwis to Allianz for more than $50,000, two were by holidaymakers in Australia.
Big claims on travel insurance are usually the result of medical emergencies, especially those which end in an air ambulance being needed to fly a traveller back to their home country.
In 2016, Allianz Partners handled 9601 medical repatriations for travellers worldwide, where people had to be flown back to their home countries after medical emergencies, said Mattos.
Most made it back on commercial airlines, but 1164 had to be taken by air ambulance.
The New Zealand Government will not ordinarily pay for Kiwis stranded overseas to be repatriated.
When it comes to tripping across to Australia, many Kiwis viewed the risks as low, market testing by Allianz Partners found.
The top five reasons New Zealanders provided for not covering up when nipping across to Australia were:
They didn’t think it was worth it
They’d never had problems there before Australia just wasn’t a risky country They’d not thought about it
Australia and New Zealand have reciprocal health agreements
But there were some misconceptions about the health agreements, leading to a false sense of security.
‘‘Many of the most common medical costs incurred by our travellers such as ambulance travel aren’t covered under the scheme,’’ said Allianz’ Will Ashcroft.
Depending on the distance travelled, an ambulance ride in Australia could result in a bill of up to $7000, he said.
And historically, 40 per cent of all Australian claims were for cancellations before a trip even began.