Travel Insurance

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invisibleman18

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#1327062 18-Jun-2015 09:44

Sideface:
invisibleman18: Southern Cross were good the one time I had to make a claim. Got sick in USA and ended up having to go to a Doctor and they insisted on mailing me an invoice even though I explained I would not be back home in NZ for another 3 months and could pay on the spot. My Mum back home received the bill and tried to pay it over the phone but for some reason the NZ credit card wouldn't go through so in the end my Aunt who lived in LA (who I was staying with at the time of going to the Doctor though by this stage I was in Europe) paid it with a US chequ and wasn't able to get a receipt. My Mum then reimbursed her according to the exchange rate on the day. When I returned home I reimbursed my Mum and wrote a letter to Southern Cross explaining all this, claiming for this amount and they paid out no questions asked. Thought I'd be out of luck without any form of receipt.

Don't get ill in the US.

A friend of mine broke his leg in a car accident in LA (not his fault) and required brief hospitalization before flying home.
The bill? - USD $60,000 - and that was 10 years ago. He was insured.
Minimum medical cover for the US should be USD $1,000,000.

Thankfully it wasn't that serious. Only food poisoning (probably from the buffet at Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas) and the 2 minute Doctor checkup cost about $350 (and someone came to see me with all sorts of questions about whether I could pay and had insurance etc before I saw a Doctor). I figured it would just pass in a few days (it did) but my Aunt insisted on taking me to a Doctor and since I had travel insurance I thought it would be OK. Was all fine in the end, just a hassle to pay the bill since they wouldn't accept payment on the day. Doctor did give me a prescription for nausea tablets but they were going to cost $1000 or something insane so just left it.

lxsw20

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#1327066 18-Jun-2015 09:48

bazzer:
nathan: +1

"free" credit card cover is pretty much always suboptimal

I normally always buy a SCTI travel policy myself

It's easy to say this, and a common opinion but have you actually compared the policy wordings?

I think I've seen Steve Biddle make the point before here that with the ANZ Platinum card you have to take out any offered additional insurances by a rental car company, which make it pretty crap value if you're renting a car.

nathan

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#1327093 18-Jun-2015 10:13

bazzer:
nathan: +1

"free" credit card cover is pretty much always suboptimal

I normally always buy a SCTI travel policy myself

It's easy to say this, and a common opinion but have you actually compared the policy wordings?

Yes

There were significantly more outs on the credit card policy

And why wouldn't there be, nothing is "free"

gnfb

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#1327156 18-Jun-2015 11:23

In the end I went with SCTI at $139 mainly for the slightly higher personal belongings cover . I also waived cover for pre existing conditions. Lets face it another heart attack and "so long and thanks for all the fish"

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bazzer

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#1327167 18-Jun-2015 11:38

lxsw20:
bazzer:
nathan: +1

"free" credit card cover is pretty much always suboptimal

I normally always buy a SCTI travel policy myself

It's easy to say this, and a common opinion but have you actually compared the policy wordings?

I think I've seen Steve Biddle make the point before here that with the ANZ Platinum card you have to take out any offered additional insurances by a rental car company, which make it pretty crap value if you're renting a car.

nathan:
bazzer:
nathan: +1

"free" credit card cover is pretty much always suboptimal

I normally always buy a SCTI travel policy myself

It's easy to say this, and a common opinion but have you actually compared the policy wordings?

Yes

There were significantly more outs on the credit card policy

And why wouldn't there be, nothing is "free"

I guess my point is that things change all the time and, as above, different cards have different conditions, so it would pay to compare policy wordings each time you take out insurance rather than just parrot long held beliefs. Nothing is "free" of course, but CC travel insurance is general only available on the higher end (Gold, Platinum etc.) cards which means higher annual fees, likely higher annual spend which adds up to more money for someone. CC travel insurance is not free because it's crap or vice versa.

I also used to buy a SCTI travel policy myself, but this last trip I compared wordings and found the CC cover did not warrant me spending the extra money. It wasn't quite the same cover, but it was good enough.

Specifically, my understanding is the rental car cover in both policies only covers any non-refundable excess payable to the rental car company up to a limit ($5k for SCTI, lower limit for my card, Air NZ Platinum). I decided that both those options are pretty crap if you don't take out waivers with the rental company and you're liable for the full value of the car. I also wasn't entirely sure with either policy where cover to other vehicles is covered. In the end, I just got a price (including all insurance etc.) for my rentals that was comparable to other prices I'd seen and covered my bases.

Everything else seemed much of a muchness but, often, with a lower (albeit adequate for me) limit.

MileHighKiwi

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#1327169 18-Jun-2015 11:40

+1 for Southern Cross.

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dickytim

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#1327230 18-Jun-2015 12:35

Always buy travel insurance usually through SCTI as their limits are higher than 1 cover and the rest (for the most part) but as I have never made a claim I cannot comment on the best company to use.

jimbob79

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#1329926 23-Jun-2015 14:41

One thing people don't realise about credit card travel insurance is for the cover to be active you have to actually purchase the flights using your Credit Card. This is true for BNZ Global Plus.

graemeh

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#1329941 23-Jun-2015 14:51

jimbob79: One thing people don't realise about credit card travel insurance is for the cover to be active you have to actually purchase the flights using your Credit Card. This is true for BNZ Global Plus.

No it is not true. It depends on the terms and conditions of the insurance which I suggest everyone reads before spending one cent on the holiday costs.

The BNZ Global Plus Platinum did not require you to put any of your travel costs on the card.

jimbob79

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#1329979 23-Jun-2015 15:20

graemeh:
jimbob79: One thing people don't realise about credit card travel insurance is for the cover to be active you have to actually purchase the flights using your Credit Card. This is true for BNZ Global Plus.

No it is not true. It depends on the terms and conditions of the insurance which I suggest everyone reads before spending one cent on the holiday costs.

The BNZ Global Plus Platinum did not require you to put any of your travel costs on the card.

Buying the flights on your CC is the simplest way to making sure your insurance is activate. Travel insurance is not about just when you are overseas. There may be a emergency or medical reason why you to can't travel.

Also I've realised what I've said in my previous post could be misleading. If you are relying on CC travel Insurance, it's best to actually call the your CC company about your travel itinerary. Don't just assume that you are automatically covered.

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