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General
Visitor Information
Tips on travel
insurance for Australia
Planning to
travel down under? Should you take out travel insurance?
If your destination
is Australia, taking out travel insurance is recommended.
As with any international
or overseas trip, taking out travel insurance before you leave on
that big trip is always strongly recommended to protect yourself
against unforeseen events and emergencies.
Unforeseen
events such as flight cancellations, accidents, lost baggage are
amongst a few of the hiccups that can occur whilst travelling and
cost you big time especially in dollars if you have not taken out
adequate travel insurance.
These days a
considerable amount of planning and research for your trip can be
done on the internet before you even leave home. In terms of travel
insurance, preliminary research can be done online to shop for cheap
travel insurance and to obtain competitive quotes before you make
your final decision.
It's best to
source insurance companies that you are familiar with in your home
country. Or you could try online travel insurance providers as long
as they cover Australia. It is recommended to take out your insurance
before arriving in Australia although it is possible to organise
insurance upon arrival as a last resort.
The main types
of companies to source for insurance are usually travel agencies,
insurance companies, and specific organisations catering to different
groups such as cheap student travel for students. In Australia,
popular travel agencies include Flight Centre and for student travel
STA Travel.
Australia is
a relatively easy country to travel around and holiday in. However,
to get from one end of the country to another involves long distances.
A flight from Perth, Western Australia to Sydney, New South Wales
will take around 4 to 5 hours. A train journey on The Indian Pacific,
from Perth to Sydney will take you around 3 days to travel 4352
kilometres. If you fancy a taste of Australian outback towns, travel
up north to Western Australia or parts of the Northern Territory
or through the Nullarbor desert.
The level of
insurance cover also depends on the type of holiday you are having
and what activities you engage in. Whether for a short or extended
holiday, gap year, or backpacker travel, the recommendation is still
to take out travel insurance. If you are intending to partake in
extreme activities you might consider taking out separate insurance
cover as these types of activities are often excluded in policies
or will require paying a higher premium.
Health insurance
is an essential component of your overall travel insurance cover.
If you do end up in a situation where you need to access medical
treatment in Australia, it's best to check with your home country
what reciprocal Health Agreement it has with Australia, if any at
all. Some countries like the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand
have reciprocal health arrangements with Australia. Medicare Australia
is the Australian Government organisation that provides access to
medical treatment for Australian residents. To find out whether
your country has a reciprocal Health Agreement with Australia, it's
best to contact Medicare Australia or check their website for further
information.
Other handy
tips when taking out travel insurance are to check the fine print
of your product disclosure statement and travel insurance policy
to ensure you are covered for what you thought you were covered
for. It's important to be aware of any conditions, limitations and
exclusions associated with your policy.
And off course,
the other handy tip is to keep a couple of spare copies of your
insurance policy, preferably one copy with you whilst travelling
and another copy at home. Keeping an electronic copy of your insurance
policy on a memory stick is a handy way these days to store essential
travel documents.
Coming Up
Perth Walkabout
section - Living in Perth
Handy tips on insurance resources for new residents to Perth
Go
to General Visitor
Information main page.
Go
to Living
in Perth main page.
Need
some information about Perth, Western Australia that you can't locate?
Contact
us at Perth Walkabout and we will endeavour to answer your enquiry.
Or
hop onto our Forum and chat to visitors or locals to exchange information
and chat about Perth. Go to Perth
Walkabout Forum.
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