This information was put out by Australian Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Smart Traveller on 4th July 2024
The latest research from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Smartraveller and Insurance Council of Australia shows Australians’ common misunderstandings when it comes to travel insurance.
Thought it may be useful for all travellers.
Happy, stress free travel to all.
My mind boggles at the amount of people that travel to Indonesia, Thailand or other SEA lands and think hiring a scooter without a license while being thoroughly sauced will be covered by travel insurance.
Im surprised people are still contributing to their gofundmes
The ol' FAFO.
I swear FAFO gets the biggest work out in South east Asia.
Lol, just had a quick skim of the website:
Two in 5 didn't know that leaving luggage unattended or riding a motorcycle without a license is not covered in their policy.
What you're covered for depends on the type of policy you get. But you usually won't be covered if something goes wrong while you are:
breaking the law. For example, not wearing a helmet on a moped.
Is it concerning that 40% of people surveyed don’t comprehend insurance requirements or that an even bigger % just don’t care and think they can lie to the insurance and say they had a helmet on or weren’t drinking/drunk while riding?
What I think is worse is then those people starting a GoFundMe to pay their medical bills after a drunken scooter accident while not wearing a helmet.
These are the worst…… Then you find out they didn't even have travel insurance, so now want people to cough up money for them!
and think hiring a scooter without a license
while being thoroughly saucedwill be covered by travel insurance.
Fixed it for you….. Most policies don't cover scooter/motor bikes.
Yep, its usually an additional fee or something that needs to be nominated while taking out insurance.
Yep not covered by default, they are extra cost when taking the policy out, sometimes you need a international drivers licence and a few other boxes ticked. All too hard so people just wing it, only to find out they are not covered.
@JimmyF: Not to mention there is usually a maximum cc limit while abroad (usually 250cc max) regardless of your Australian license.
But none of it is hard to find if you check.
But none of it is hard to find if you check.
Yep, its all there if you go looking.
Plus if you don't know you're not covered on a bike in these countries, you have been living under a rock!! There has been so many media sob stories, everyone has been warned!!
would any one like to tell us what the BAC limit for driving is in Bali?
Things on that list are pretty obvious. I know that the pdfs can be confusing but not that confusing.
Pregnancy when travelling is another issue. If someone goes into premature labour they might be covered under travel insurance but, if the baby survives, it probably won't be. We know of a case where "grandma" had to sell an apartment to cover the medical costs the new grandchild needed until they could get it home. The babymoon is absolutely not worth it.
I don't know why you were downvoted for that - here, have an upvote… I saw on 7.30 one evening a story about a couple whose baby was born prematurely in New York and the costs were astronomical, over a million dollars. Parents had cover but bub was not included. Just not worth risking that.
I think I might have a troll that is following me. I've noticed some weird downvotes I've been getting lately. Whatever makes them happy I suppose.
Pregnancy is not one I would have thought of. I am sure if you informed your insurer before you went and you were not a certain amount of months pregnant you would be covered. If you didn’t well that would suck.
To be fair, insurance a lot of the time is designed to not pay. It will ask “do you have any medical conditions” but won’t specify what medical conditions they mean. Is pregnancy a condition?
Some policies won’t cover you if you travel after a certain stage in the pregnancy. Also once the baby is born it is a separate person who wasn’t included in the original policy. From a health and insurance perspective pregnancy is a condition. Many health insurance companies consider it a precondition if you are trying to take out insurance.
I know that the pdfs can be confusing
Not just PDFs, PDS can be confusing too! ;)
Often the PDS is a PDF :) good point though.
Nothing new here, same could apply for any type of insurance, always read the PDS.
Yep, never assume you are covered for something. Always double check!
Reading is hard these days. Easier to ask people and make assumptions that their cover will be the same as yours.
I presume this relates to:
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/family-s-plea-after…
Warning: That Scan image isn't pretty.
Or maybe this is the latest in a long line of "like" incidents.
As soon as I read the preliminary news reports, I suspected a Motorcyclist w/No Helmet happening that later became clearer.
Part of the problem with Insurance is IF it is taken out, it is Months prior to the Holiday or Trip, it is chosen on price and wrapped in the excitement of a holiday or trip.Often (additional) cover isn't taken for risky events or people "thought" that had included it.
That said, the Federal Government will only render support, they won't give you the money when it all goes wrong.
I agree the Insurance Companies probably "know" but it probably is in the Policy Offering although the Alcohol Level varying is possible to overlook.
But once you tick, I read that and I agree…
This whole go fund me thing is just a sad reaction to a train wreck of happenings.
As soon as I read the preliminary news reports, I suspected a Motorcyclist w/No Helmet happening that later became clearer.
That exact incident was the one i was thinking of when i wrote the above.
As soon as i saw the article saying a woman was injured and found on the road with head injuries but no bike mentioned, i thought… yep, bike accident but they can’t or don’t want to admit it as they know they won’t be covered.
Its crazy how many foreigners cruise around in just shorts or bikini with no helmet in Bali. I would say 9/10 i saw around Uluwatu or Ubud last trip didn’t have one and i would guess a large proportion don’t have a license either.
That said, the Federal Government will only render support, they won't give you the money when it all goes wrong.
No reason to imo.
There was also sadly:
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/family-of-kevin-ma…
I know it is hard to say something nice about Flight Centre but…
One time I booked a flight in a Bricks and Mortar Flight Centre Office and they offered me Travel Insurance.
Then when I said, "I'll arrange my own" they had me sign a document to say I had been offered it, and refused.
I got a copy and they kept a copy.
I think that is a good policy.
As soon as i saw the article saying a woman was injured and found on the road with head injuries but no bike mentioned, i thought… yep, bike accident but they can’t or don’t want to admit it as they know they won’t be covered.
So you think it might be a case of friend found 'her', got rid of the bike so she was covered? Sounds inline with her being found on a road.
Insurance companies are not silly. They'll be able to tell from where she was found and the injuries how it most likely happened.
Love this quote
“No one know if it was a motorbike, no one knows if it was an accident. We had just seen the best version of Bec we had ever seen, now this awful tragedy.”
So was she renting a motorbike? If so, where is it!? Seems just a strange statement to make about the motorbike.
So you think it might be a case of friend found 'her', got rid of the bike so she was covered? Sounds inline with her being found on a road.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Or some kind locals were the ones to help her and no police report was done.
Either way, even to the uneducated like myself it was clear it was a motor accident as the injuries they showed were traumatic and strange for someone found outside.
Insurance companies are not silly. They'll be able to tell from where she was found and the injuries how it most likely happened.
If even the general public can make an educated guess, you better believe insurance will track the truth down.
I would say they probably do a more thorough check than the police in Indonesia haha.
That quote is also what cemented in my mind that it was a bike accident…
Was such a strange statement to make and seemed to me like it was aimed at getting sympathy for the gofundme before the truth about it been a bike came out.
If even the general public can make an educated guess, you better believe insurance will track the truth down.
While I dislike insurance companies not wanting to pay out, I dislike insurance fraud even more. So I'm pretty sure they'll be able to track down the truth and it will be what we all think.
That quote is also what cemented in my mind that it was a bike accident…
Was such a strange statement to make
Agreed, it was such a strange statement to make, sounds like she did have a motorbike and they are trying to play dumb on how it happened.
All gofundme for people without travel insurance should be banned! Just rewarding people not doing the right thing.
Because I've had cancer in the last year, (in remission) my travel insurance is fairly expensive. But it's not worth it to lie and not be covered in case of some emergency.
I'd rather be upfront and pay the cost and be covered.
Best of luck with beating your cancer.
Certainly you should give them full disclosure so they don’t wriggle out.
What!